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Purpose: This study examined children's ability to perceive speech from multiple locations on the horizontal plane. Children with hearing loss were compared to normal-hearing peers while using amplification with and without advanced noise management. Method: Participants were 21 children with normal hearing (9-15 years) and 12 children with moderate symmetrical hearing loss (11-15 years). Word recognition, nonword detection, and word recall were assessed. Stimuli were presented randomly from multiple discrete locations in multitalker noise. Children with hearing loss were fit with devices having separate omnidirectional and noise management programs. The noise management feature is designed to preserve audibility in noise by rapidly analyzing input from all locations and reducing the noise management when speech is detected from locations around the hearing aid user. Results: Significant effects of left/right and front/back lateralization occurred as well as effects of hearing loss and hearing aid noise management. Children with normal hearing experienced a left-side advantage for word recognition and a right-side advantage for nonword detection. Children with hearing loss demonstrated poorer performance overall on all tasks with better word recognition from the back, and word recall from the right, in the omnidirectional condition. With noise management, performance improved from the front compared to the back for all three tasks and from the right for word recognition and word recall. Conclusions: The shape of children's local speech intelligibility on the horizontal plane is not omnidirectional. It is task dependent and shaped further by hearing loss and hearing aid signal processing. Front/back shifts in children with hearing loss are consistent with the behavior of hearing aid noise management, while the right-side biases observed in both groups are consistent with the effects of specialized speech processing in the left hemisphere of the brain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stationary visual targets often become far more salient when they move against an otherwise static background–the so-called "pop out" effect. In two experiments conducted over loudspeakers, we tested for a similar pop-out effect in the auditory domain. Tone-in-noise and noise-in-noise detection thresholds were measured using a 2-up, 1-down adaptive procedure under conditions where target and masker(s) were presented from the same or different locations and when the target was stationary or moved via amplitude-panning. In the first experiment, target tones of 0.5 kHz and 4 kHz were tested, maskers (2–4, depending on the condition) were independent Gaussian noises, and all stimuli were 500-ms duration. In the second experiment, a single pink noise masker (0.3–12 kHz) was presented with a single target at one of four bandwidths (0.3–0.6 kHz, 3–6 kHz, 6–12 kHz, 0.3–12 kHz) under conditions where target and masker were presented from the same or different locations and where the target moved or not. The results of both experiments failed to show a decrease in detection thresholds resulting from movement of the target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: For bilaterally implanted patients, the automatic gain control (AGC) in both left and right cochlear implant (CI) processors is usually neither linked nor synchronized. At high AGC compression ratios, this lack of coordination between the two processors can distort interaural level differences, the only useful interaural difference cue available to CI patients. This study assessed the improvement, if any, in the utility of interaural level differences for sound source localization in the frontal hemifield when AGCs were synchronized versus independent and when listeners were stationary versus allowed to move their heads. Method: Sound source identification of broadband noise stimuli was tested for seven bilateral CI patients using 13 loudspeakers in the frontal hemifield, under conditions where AGCs were linked and unlinked. For half the conditions, patients remained stationary; in the other half, they were encouraged to rotate or reorient their heads within a range of approximately ± 30° during sound presentation. Results: In general, those listeners who already localized reasonably well with independent AGCs gained the least from AGC synchronization, perhaps because there was less room for improvement. Those listeners who performed worst with independent AGCs gained the most from synchronization. All listeners performed as well or better with synchronization than without; however, intersubject variability was high. Head movements had little impact on the effectiveness of synchronization of AGCs. Conclusion: Synchronization of AGCs offers one promising strategy for improving localization performance in the frontal hemifield for bilaterally implanted CI patients. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha. 14681412 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Evidence suggests that somatic rather than cognitive depressive symptoms are risk factors for recurrent cardiac events in at-risk patients. However, this has never been explored using a time-dependent approach in a narrow time-frame, allowing a cardiac event-free time-window. Methods: The analysis was performed on 595 participants [70.6% male, median age 72 (27–98)] drawn from the UPBEAT-UK heart disease patient cohort with 6-monthly follow-ups over 3 years. Depressive symptomatology was measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) (four somatic, five cognitive items). New cardiac events (NCEs) including cardiac-related mortality were identified by expert examination of patient records. Analyses were performed using Cox proportional hazard models with delayed entry, with time-dependent depressive dimensions and covariates measured 12–18 months (median: 14.1, IQR: 3.5) prior to the event, with a 12-month cardiac event-free gap. Results: There were 95 NCEs during the follow-up [median time-to-event from baseline: 22.3 months (IQR: 13.4)]. Both the somatic (HR 1.12, 95% CI 1.05–1.20, p = 0.001) and cognitive dimensions (HR 1.11, 95% CI 1.03–1.18, p = 0.004) were time-dependent risk factors for an NCE in the multi-adjusted models. Specific symptoms (poor appetite/overeating for the somatic dimension, hopelessness and feeling like a failure for the cognitive dimension) were also significantly associated. Conclusion: This is the first study of the association between depressive symptom dimensions and NCEs in at-risk patients using a time-to-event standardised approach. Both dimensions considered apart were independent predictors of an NCE, along with specific items, suggesting regular assessments and tailored interventions targeting specific depressive symptoms may help to prevent NCEs in at-risk populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirty-two listeners participated in experiments involving five filtered noises when listeners kept their eyes open or closed, for stimuli of short or long duration, and for stimuli that were presented at random locations or in a largely rotational procession. Individual differences in the proportion of front–back reversals (FBRs) were measured. There were strong positive correlations between the proportion of FBRs for any one filtered noise, but not when FBRs were compared across different filtered-noise conditions. The results suggest that, for each individual listener, the rate of FBRs is stable for any one filtered noise, but not across filtered noises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Normal hearing listeners discriminated a change in the number of talkers speaking consonant-vowel pairs between two auditory scenes. The number of talkers (n = 2, 4, 6, or 8) in one scene was incremented by Δn talkers (Δn = 1–8 talkers, depending on n) in the other scene. The perceptual size of the auditory scene seems to be small, as discrimination performance reached an approximate 0.75 proportion correct asymptote for n > 4. The independent variable of overall level differences affected performance, but both spatial configuration and talker similarity had very little effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When two similar sounds are presented from different locations, with one (the lead) preceding the other (the lag) by a small delay, listeners typically report hearing one sound near the location of the lead sound source—this is called the precedence effect (PE). Several questions about the underlying mechanisms that produce the PE are asked. (1) How might listeners' relative weighting of cues at onset versus ongoing stimulus portions affect perceived lateral position of long-duration lead/lag noise stimuli? (2) What are the factors that influence this weighting? (3) Are the mechanisms invoked to explain the PE for transient stimuli applicable to long-duration stimuli? To answer these questions, lead/lag noise stimuli are presented with a range of durations, onset slopes, and lag-to-lead level ratios over headphones. Monaural, peripheral mechanisms, and binaural cue extraction are modeled to estimate the cues available for determination of perceived laterality. Results showed that all three stimulus manipulations affect the relative weighting of onset and ongoing cues and that mechanisms invoked to explain the PE for transient stimuli are also applicable to the PE, in terms of both onset and ongoing segments of long-duration, lead/lag stimuli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wallach [J. Exp. Psychol. 27, 339–368 (1940)] described a "2-1" rotation scenario in which a sound source rotates on an azimuth circle around a rotating listener at twice the listener's rate of rotation. In this scenario, listeners often perceive an illusionary stationary sound source, even though the actual sound source is rotating. This Wallach Azimuth Illusion (WAI) was studied to explore Wallach's description of sound-source localization as a required interaction of binaural and head-position cues (i.e., sound-source localization is a multisystem process). The WAI requires front-back reversed sound-source localization. To extend and consolidate the current understanding of the WAI, listeners and sound sources were rotated over large distances and long time periods, which had not been done before. The data demonstrate a strong correlation between measures of the predicted WAI locations and front-back reversals (FBRs). When sounds are unlikely to elicit FBRs, sound sources are perceived veridically as rotating, but the results are listener dependent. Listeners' eyes were always open and there was little evidence under these conditions that changes in vestibular function affected the occurrence of the WAI. The results show that the WAI is a robust phenomenon that should be useful for further exploration of sound-source localization as a multisystem process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Listeners discriminated changes in the spatial configuration of two-to-eight consonant-vowel (CV) stimuli spoken by different talkers, all simultaneously presented from different loudspeakers in various azimuthal spatial configurations. The number of CVs, spatial configuration of the sound sources, and similarity of the talkers speaking the CVs were varied. Experiment I used a same–different procedure to determine the discriminability of different spatial configurations of multiple sound sources. In experiment II, listeners determined the direction (clockwise or counterclockwise) of sound source rotation over eight rotational steps. In both experiments, performance declined as the number of sound sources increased beyond two. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Normal hearing listeners judged loudness differences between two complex speech sounds, one consisting of "n" consonant-vowel (CV) pairs each spoken by a different talker and one consisting of "2n" CV pairs. When n was less than four, listeners' judgments of loudness differences between the two sounds was based on the level of the individual CVs within each sound, not the overall level of the sounds. When n was four or more, listeners' judgments of loudness differences between the two sounds was based on the overall level of the two sounds consisting of n or 2n CVs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Masked detection thresholds were measured for a noise target in the presence of a masker composed of (1) a lead/lag noise pair with the lead interaural time difference (ITD) set the same or opposite to the target, (2) a diotic masker, and (3) a dichotic pair of decorrelated noises. If the precedence effect actually eliminates a second, later arriving stimulus, a spatial release from masking would be expected when the lead ITD is opposite that of the target. Results for a range of lead/lag delays suggest that the precedence effect is not the result of a perceptual removal of the lag. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, architectural room acoustic metrics make no real distinction between a room impulse response and the auditory system's internal representation of a room. These metrics are generally based on impulse responses, and indirectly assume that the internal representation of the acoustic features of a room is independent of the sound source. However, while a room can be approximated as a linear, time-invariant system, auditory processing is highly non-linear and varies a great deal over time in response to different acoustic inputs. Listeners were presented with various signals (clicks, long-duration noise, music, and speech) convolved with impulse responses consisting of Gaussian noises with different rates of exponential decay. Listeners were asked to adjust the reverberation time of one of the signals to match the other. Analyses of the data show that the source signal has a significant influence on perceived reverberance. Also, listeners were less accurate when matching reverberation times between different signals than they were with identical signals, suggesting that predicting subjective measures of reverberance from room impulse responses faces severe limitations that cannot be neglected. Results further suggest that the auditory system does not have a well-developed temporal representation of the diffuse reverb tail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We carry out quasi-classical trajectory calculations for the C + CH+→ C+2 + H reaction on an ad hoc computed high-level ab initio potential energy surface. Thermal rate coefficients at the temperatures of relevance in cold interstellar clouds are derived and compared with the assumed, temperature-independent estimates publicly available in kinetic data bases KIDA and UDfA. For a temperature of 10 K the data base value overestimates by a factor of 2 the one obtained by us (thus improperly enhancing the destruction route of CH+ in astrochemical kinetic models) which is seen to double in the temperature range 5-300 K with a sharp increase in the first 50 K. The computed values are fitted via the popular Arrhenius-Kooij formula and best-fitting parameters α = 1.32 ? 10-9 cm³ s-1, β = 0.1 and γ = 2.19 K to be included in the online mentioned data bases are provided. Further investigation shows that the temperature dependence of the thermal rate coefficient better conforms to the recently proposed so-called 'deformed Arrhenius' law by Aquilanti and Mundim. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to gather behavioral data concerning the precedence effect as manifested by the localization-dominance of the leading elements of compound stimuli. This investigation was motivated by recent findings of Shackleton and Palmer [(2006). J. Assoc. Res. Otolaryngol. 7, 425-442], who measured the electro-physiological responses of single units in the inferior colliculus of the guinea pig. The neural data from Shackleton and Palmer indicated that processing of binaural cues like those relevant to understanding localization dominance is greatly affected by internal, neural noise. In order to evaluate the generality of their physiological results to human perception, the present study measured localization dominance so that behavioral responses within and across sets of samples (i.e., tokens) of frozen noises could be compared. Conceptually consistent with Shackleton and Palmer's neural data, the variability of perceived intracranial lateral positions produced by repeated presentations of the same tokens of noise was greater than the variability of intracranial lateral positions measured across different tokens of noise. This was true for each of the four individual listeners and for each of the 72 stimulus conditions studied. Thus, measured either neuro-physiologically (Shackleton and Palmer, 2006) or behaviorally (this study), the import of within-listener variability appears to be a general, intrinsic aspect of binaural information processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When a pair of sounds arrive from different directions with a sufficiently short delay between them, listeners hear a perceptually fused image with a perceived location that is dominated by the first arriving sound. This is called the precedence effect. To test the limits of this phenomenon, 200-ms noise stimuli were presented over headphones to model a temporally overlapping direct sound (lead) with a single reflection (lag) at inter-stimulus intervals (ISIs) of 0-5 ms. Lag intensity exceeded that of the lead by 0-10 dB. Results for 16 listeners show that lateralization shifted from the position of the lead towards the lag as lag level increased. Response variability also increased with lag level. An oscillatory pattern emerged across ISIs as lag level increased, to a degree that varied greatly between listeners. Analysis of modeled binaural cues suggests that these oscillatory patterns are correlated with ILDs produced by the physical interference of lead and lag during the ongoing portion of the stimulus, especially in the 764-Hz frequency band. Different listeners apparently weighted cues from the onset versus ongoing portions of the stimulus differently, as evidenced by the varying degree of influence the ongoing ILD cues had on listeners' perceived lateralization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to evaluate molar bite force (BF) magnitude and its correlation to the signs of temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD), gender, weight, height and age in 101 students ranging in age from 6 to 18 years (32 boys/21 girls with mixed dentition and 23 boys/25 girls with permanent dentition). TMD clinical signs were evaluated using the Craniomandibular Index (CMI), and two subscales, the Dysfunction Index (DI) and the Palpation Index (PI). BF was determined with a pressurized tube connected to a sensor (MPX5700-Motorola SPS).anova, Tukey's test, and Pearson's and Spearman's coefficients were evaluated. BF was higher in the permanent dentition ( P < 0·05). There was no difference in BF between genders within the groups, but boys with permanent dentition had higher values than children with mixed dentition ( P < 0·05). The girls with permanent dentition presented negative correlation in BF with PI and CMI ( P < 0·05). BF was positively correlated with weight, height and age in the permanent dentition group ( P < 0·05). It was concluded that BF increased from mixed to permanent dentition, with an assumed enhancing influence of body variables and ageing. The TMD signs in older girls were correlated to decreasing BF, suggesting an influence of muscle tenderness preventing subjects from exerting maximum BF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the appearance of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and the detection of infectious prions in the peripheral organs of persons with sporadic CJD, the development of decontamination methods that are compatible with medical equipment has become a major issue. Here, we show that a formulation of copper metal ions in combination with hydrogen peroxide dramatically reduces the level of prion protein (PrP)(Sc) (the scrapie isoform of PrP) present in homogenates of samples from prion-infected brains, including brain samples from humans with CJD. An animal bioassay confirmed the reduction in prion infectivity, indicating that this novel Cu(2+)-H(2)O(2) formulation has great potential for prion decontamination. Copyright © 2006 Infectious Diseases Society of America [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlabelled: Several gastrointestinal motor abnormalities have been detected in patients with celiac disease, but it is unclear whether they are able to influence the gastric emptying rate. The aim of this work was to evaluate the gastric emptying rate of solids in children with celiac disease before and after a gluten-free diet. Nine children with celiac disease and nine healthy controls (age range 4-16 y) underwent a 13C-octanoic acid breath test to measure gastric emptying. Half emptying time (t1/2) and lag phase (t(lag)) were calculated. After 6 mo of a gluten-free diet, all celiac children underwent a repeat 13C-octanoic acid breath test. The gastric motility parameters, t1/2 and t(lag), were significantly longer in patients than in controls. No significant correlation between abnormal gastric emptying and specific symptom patterns or severity of histological damage was found. On a gluten-free diet, the gastric emptying rate normalized in all celiac patients. This finding supports the hypothesis that gluten-driven mucosal inflammation might determine motor abnormalities by affecting smooth muscle contractility or impairing the release of neurotransmitters. Alternatively, nutrient malabsorption might determine significant changes in intraluminal milieu, which, in turn, may affect intestinal motor functions.Conclusion: patients affected by celiac disease have a markedly delayed gastric emptying of solids, which returns to normal after gluten withdrawal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the population structure and reproduction of Polycheles typhlops on the upper slope of the Ionian Sea. Abundance of females more than males; Longest carapace length recorded; Peak of ovigerous females.

Lung diseases are amongst the main healthcare issues in the general population, having a high burden of morbidity and mortality. The cardiovascular system has a key role in patients affected by respiratory disorders. More specifically, the right ventricle (RV) enables the impaired lung function to be overcome in an initial stage of disease process, reducing the severity of dyspnoea. In addition, two of the main causes of death in this setting are RV failure and sudden cardiac death (SCD). Echocardiography is regarded as a useful and easily available tool in assessing RV function. Several noninvasive echocardiographic parameters of elevated pulmonary pressures and RV function have been proposed. The combination of different parameters and imaging methods is paramount and researches regarding RV impairment using these indices has been specifically addressed in relation to the chronic obstructive and restrictive lung disease in order to guide the clinicians in the management of these patients. Cardiac involvement in lung diseases is often observed, and RV changes are reported also in early stages of pulmonary diseases. The role of right ventricle in chronic respiratory disease patients has to be evaluated in detail to describe the response to therapy and the degree of disease progression through multimodality and advanced imaging techniques. The aim of this review is to describe the different pathophysiological mechanisms of cardiac impairment in primary lung disease (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and sarcoidosis) and to summarize the role of cardiac multimodality imaging in the diagnosis and the prognosis of these diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The occurrence of Marginaster capreensis in the Taranto seas (Ionian Sea, Italy) is reported. The specimens were mostly found in the Gulf of Taranto (N = 17) and only one specimen in the first inlet of the Mar Piccolo Lagoon. The sizes in the sampled population ranged from 6 to 16 mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The occurrence of Marginaster capreensis in the Taranto seas (Ionian Sea, Italy) is reported. The specimens were mostly found in the Gulf of Taranto (N = 17) and only one specimen in the first inlet of the Mar Piccolo Lagoon. The sizes in the sampled population ranged from 6 to 16 mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reviews the publication of a paper on effects of personality on metabolic control in IDDM patients in Vol. 18 of Diabetes Care of February 1995.

[Display omitted] In this work, we present theoretical investigations of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) using linear response time-dependent density functional theory (LR-TDDFT) and electron dynamics within the hybrid TDDFT/configuration interaction methodology. To evaluate the potential of local hybrid density functionals for such hybrid systems, we study the electronic properties of two organic dyes, both isolated and anchored on a typical semiconductor substrate (TiO 2). The implemented strategies can accurately predict electronic structures, optical properties, and energetic alignments of the investigated dye@TiO 2 systems. The accuracy of charge transfer excited states and the hybridization between the interfacial states depend appreciably on the used exchange correlation functional. This work emphasizes the performance of local hybrid functionals in comparison to the most commonly used global hybrid and range-separated hybrid functionals. Investigation of laser-induced charge migration dynamics sheds light on the effect of hybridization between the dye and the substrate at the interface on both the population transfer dynamics and the charge injection rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) aims to optimize pharmacotherapy treatment. Knowledge, availability and use of TDM for psychiatric patients, however, differ between countries. In this survey we analysed the practice in Italy of TDM for psychoactive drugs.A semi-structured questionnaire was sent out to 211 mental health centres (centro di salute mentale) and 10 university hospitals from each region in Italy.Feedback was obtained from 44 centres. Information collected by the questionnaires indicated that in Italian psychiatry TDM is used for lithium, valproic acid and carbamazepine. With regard to clozapine, TDM was regarded as the blood cell counting which is obligatory when prescribing this drug. TDM was not employed for antidepressant or antipsychotic drug prescribing. Moreover, it appeared that only a few laboratories in Italy offer TDM services for psychiatric patients. Nevertheless, interest was expressed about receiving further information about TDM in psychiatry and participating in training programmes.This nationwide survey revealed that in Italy, TDM of psychoactive drugs is restricted to only a few drugs. In response to interest expressed, mental health workers should be educated about TDM and more laboratories should be encouraged to establish TDM services for psychotropic drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relations between antisocial behavior and depressive symptoms were examined both longitudinally and concurrently in a sample of Italian early-adolescents. Structural equation modelling was applied to 10-month longitudinal data from a sample of 107 youths (54 girls; mean age at baseline = M = 12.5). Early adolescents completed a questionnaire in which they reported antisocial behaviors and depressive symptoms. Results show temporal stability for both constructs. Moreover, results show a significant longitudinal relation between depression at t1 and antisocial behavior at t2. This relation dropped to not significant when controlling for concurrent relations between these two measures of psychosocial adjustment at t2. A multigroup comparison suggests that these findings are similar across gender. Implications of the results for theory and intervention are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The urea breath test (UBT) has been proposed as the most accurate test for diagnosing Helicobacter pylori infection. The aim of this work was to evaluate the accuracy of the UBT and to compare the results with histologic and endoscopic findings in H. pylori infected patients. Methods: One-hundred-and-seventy-two consecutive dyspeptic outpatients were studied by means of endoscopy (with histology and culture), UBT (75 mg [sup 13]C-urea), and serology. Gastritis was classified in accordance with the Sydney criteria. In H. pylori positive patients, the bacterial load was assessed semiquantitatively, the number of bacteria in histologic specimens being counted. UBT results were expressed either as percentage cumulative dose of [sup 13]CO[sub 2] excreted at 1 h (CD60) or delta over baseline at 30′ (DOB30). Results: Of 172 patients, 126 (73%) were H. pylori positive on histology or culture. Using a cut-off value of 3.3 for DOB30, the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the UBT were 96%, 93.5%, and 95.3%, respectively. A significant correlation was observed between DOB30 values and intragastric bacterial load (r = 0.32). Moreover, a significant difference in DOB30 values was found between patients sorted by the depth of inflammation (χ[sup 2] = 4.36, p = 0.036). No correlation was observed between DOB30 and endoscopic findings in H. pylori positive subjects. Conclusions: The UBT is an accurate non-invasive diagnostic tool and can be used to predict both the intragastric bacterial load and the severity of related gastritis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction We evaluated the basic performance of Microsemi CRP, an unique automated hematology analyzer which can simultaneously measure CBC including 3-part WBC differential (3-Diff) and CRP using whole blood treated with EDTA-2K anticoagulant. Method We found that it produced generally the acceptable results for all parameters performed (repeatability, reproducibility, linearity, interference effect, carry over, and correlation) using control materials, fresh human whole bloods, and serum samples. Results CBC data examined using Microsemi CRP showed the good correlation with the previous model, Micros CRP200 ( r ≧ 0.9), and also those obtained using the routine analyzer, ADVIA 2120i ( r ≧ 0.989). Concerning the 3-Diff, both GRA (%) and LYM (%) showed the excellent correlation coefficient between Microsemi CRP and Micros CRP200 ( r ≧ 0.992) as well as ADVIA 2120i ( r ≧ 0.957). MON (%) showed good correlation between Microsemi CRP and Micros CRP200 ( r = 0.959), but lower correlation between Microsemi CRP and ADVIA 2120 i ( r = 0.471). CRP data showed the good correlation with HITACHI7600 ( r ≧ 0.997) and Micros CRP200 ( r ≧ 0.997). Conclusion From these findings, we concluded that Microsemi CRP seemed the convenient laboratory analyzer in the setting of point of care testing ( POCT) especially at NICU or primary care unit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although research has attempted to quantify the effects of the menstrual cycle on sexual desire, we lack a clear understanding of how the menstrual cycle, and the many physical and psychological changes of the menstrual cycle, are related to changes in sexual desire. For example, whereas evolutionary theories predict that women should converge on increased sexual interest around ovulation, methodologically strong tests of this idea are lacking, and there is reason to hypothesize that there are significant individual differences in these associations. This study has three main objectives. First, to quantify the contributions of (a) mean-level differences across individuals, (b) average effects of the menstrual cycle, and (c) individual differences in the effects of the menstrual cycle, to sexual desire. Second, to test for the influence of day-to-day changes in physical and psychological symptoms on day-to-day changes in sexual desire, independent of the menstrual cycle. Third, to test for associations between cyclical changes in physical and psychological symptoms attributable to the menstrual cycle and cyclical changes in sexual desire attributable to the menstrual cycle. A sample of n = 213 university-aged women with regular menstrual cycles, who were not using hormonal birth control, completed daily questionnaires for two full menstrual cycles (M = 58 daily reports per participant). Measurement included changes in sexual desire (increase and decrease), as well as physical (headaches, back and joint pain, cramps, breast changes) and psychological changes (anxiety, depression, happiness, mood swings, low energy) that are commonly associated with the menstrual cycle. Multilevel modeling with random intercepts and slopes, as well as linear regression of cosine coefficients of all physical and psychological symptom scores, were used to test these hypotheses. Relative to the three objectives described above, results showed that: mean-level differences across participants accounted for 21.5% of the overall variance in changes in sexual desire; the average/fixed effects of the menstrual cycle accounted for 1.6% of the variance; and random effects of the menstrual cycle (e.g., individual differences in menstrual cycle effects) accounted for 7.8% of the variance. Only day-to-day changes in psychological symptoms, but not day-to-day changes in physical symptoms, were associated with day-to-day changes in sexual desire (independent of the menstrual cycle). Finally, only menstrual cycle-related cyclical changes in depression were associated with menstrual cycle-related changes in sexual desire. Results from the present study demonstrate that average effects of the menstrual cycle play a very small role in influencing changes in sexual desire (see left panel of Figure 1). Most variance in changes in sexual desire, instead, is explained by individual differences in mean levels, and in individual differences in the effects of the menstrual cycle (see right panel in Figure 1). Thus, women differ significantly in their average levels of desire and how the menstrual cycle influences changes in their desire. Moreover, only psychological symptoms, and not physical symptoms, are associated with changes in sexual desire. Of the psychological symptoms, happiness is the most strongly associated with changes in sexual desire. Any of the authors act as a consultant, employee or shareholder of an industry for: ApexNeuro [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cottrell CE, Mendell J, Hart-Kothari M, Ell D, Thrush DL, Astbury C, Pastore M, Gastier-Foster JM, Pyatt RE. Maternal uniparental disomy of chromosome 4 in a patient with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy 2E confirmed by SNP array technology. The limb-girdle muscular dystrophies (LGMDs) are a heterogenous group of diseases characterized by shoulder-girdle and pelvic muscle weakness and wasting. LGMD 2E is an autosomal recessively inherited form of the disease caused by mutations in the β-sarcoglycan ( SGCB) gene located at 4q12. In this report, we describe a patient who demonstrates non-Mendelian inheritance of a homozygous missense mutation in SGCB resulting in disease expression. A combination of single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array technology and microsatellite analysis revealed the occurrence of maternal uniparental disomy (UPD) for chromosome 4 in the patient. As a consequence of segmental isodisomy at 4q12, the patient inherited two identical SGCB alleles carrying a missense mutation predicted to result in abnormal protein function. SNP array technology proved to be an elegant means to determine the most probable mechanism of UPD formation in this case, and enabled us to determine the location of recombination events along chromosome 4. In our patient, UPD likely arose from a trisomy rescue event due to maternal meiotic non-disjunction that we speculate may have been caused by abnormal recombination at the pericentromeric region. Maternal UPD 4 is a rare finding, and to our knowledge this is the first reported case of UPD in association with LGMD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The present study was aimed at determining the impact of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) on postoperative bioprosthetic structural valve degeneration. METHODS AND RESULTS: Twelve Italian centers participated in the study. Patient data refer to bioprosthetic implantations performed from November 1988 to December 2009, which resulted in 6184 patients (mean age 71.3±5.4 years, 60.1% male) being enrolled. Of these patients, 1731 (27.9%) had type 2 DM. The propensity score-matching algorithm successfully matched 1113 patients with type 2 DM with the same number of no-DM patients. The postmatching standard differences were less than 0.1 for each of the covariates, and 64.2% of DM patients were matched. The early (30 days) mortality rate was 7.8% (n=87) versus 2.9% (n=33) in patients with or without type 2 DM (P<0.001), respectively. Seven-year freedom from valve deterioration was significantly lower in patients with DM (73.2% [95% confidence interval, 61.6-85.5] versus 95.4% [95% confidence interval, 83.9-100], P<0.001). In Cox regression models with robust SEs that accounted for the clustering of matched pairs, DM was the strongest predictor of structural valve degeneration (hazard ratio 2.39 [95% confidence interval 2.28-3.52]). When we allowed for interaction between type 2 DM and other key risk factors, DM remained a significant predictor beyond any potentially associated variable. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with type 2 DM undergoing bioprosthetic valve implantation are at high risk of early and long-term mortality, as well as of structural valve degeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electronic energy levels of some representative isolated and oxide-supported organic dyes, relevant for photovoltaic applications, are investigated using many-body perturbation theory within the GW approximation. We consider a set of all-organic dyes (denominated L0, L2, L3, and L4) featuring the same donor and anchor groups and differing for the linker moieties. We first calculate the energy levels of the isolated molecules, thus allowing us to address the effects of the different linker groups, and resulting in good agreement with photo-electron spectroscopic and electrochemical data. We then consider the L0 dye adsorbed on the (101) surface of anatase-TiO2. We find a density of occupied states in agreement with experimental photo-electron data. The HOMO-LUMO energy gap of the L0 dye is found to be reduced by ∼1 eV upon adsorption. Our results validate the reliability of GW calculations for photovoltaic applications and point to their potential as a powerful tool for the screening and rational design of new components of electrochemical solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]