Search

Background and purposeAn investigational trial examined safety and efficacy of targeted subthreshold cortical stimulation in patients with chronic stroke. The anatomical location for the target, hand motor area, varies across subjects, and so was localized with functional MRI (fMRI). This report describes the experience of incorporating standardized fMRI into a multisite stroke trial.MethodsAt 3 enrollment centers, patients moved (0.25 Hz) the affected hand during fMRI. Hand motor function was localized at a fourth center guiding intervention for those randomized to stimulation.ResultsThe fMRI results were available within 24 hours. Across 12 patients, activation site variability was substantial (12, 23, and 11 mm in x, y, and z directions), exceeding stimulating electrode dimensions.ConclusionsUse of fMRI to guide decision-making in a clinical stroke trial is feasible.

Some treatments under development to improve motor outcome after stroke require information about organization of individual subject's brain. The current study aimed to characterize normal inter-subject differences in localization of motor functions, and to consider these findings in relation to a potential treatment of motor deficits after stroke. Functional MRI (fMRI) scanning in 14 subjects examined right index finger tapping, shoulder rotation, or facial movement. The largest activation cluster in left sensorimotor cortex was identified for each task, and its center expressed in Talairach stereotaxic coordinates. Across subjects, each task showed considerable variability in activation site coordinates. For example, during finger tapping, the range for center of activation was 7 mm in the x-axis, 19 mm in the y-axis, and 11 mm in the z-axis. The mean value for center of activation was significantly different for all three coordinates for all pairwise task comparisons. However, the distribution of activation site centers for the finger task overlapped with the other two tasks in the x- and y-axes, and with the shoulder task in the z-axis. On average, the center of activation for the three motor tasks were spatially separated and somatotopically distributed. However, across the population, there was considerable overlap in the center of activation site, especially for finger and shoulder movements. Restorative therapies that aim to target specific body segments, such as the hand, in the post-stroke motor system may need to map the individual brain rather than rely on population averages. Initial details are presented of a study using this approach to evaluate such a therapy.

The clinical management of metastatic melanoma requires predictors of the response to checkpoint blockade. Here, the authors use immunological assays to identify potential prognostic/predictive biomarkers in circulating blood cells and in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes from patients with resected stage III melanoma.

The threat capture hypothesis states that threatening stimuli are automatically processed with higher priority than non-threatening stimuli, irrespective of observer intentions or focus of attention. We evaluated the threat capture hypothesis with respect to the early perceptual stages of face processing. We focused on an electrophysiological marker of face processing (the lateralized N170) in response to neutral, happy, and angry facial expressions displayed in competition with a non-face stimulus (a house). We evaluated how effects of facial expression on the lateralized N170 were modulated by task demands. In the pixel task, participants were required to identify the gender of the face, which made the face task-relevant and entailed structural encoding of the face stimulus. In the pixel task, participants identified the location of a missing pixel in the fixation cross, which made the face task-irrelevant and placed it outside the focus of attention. When faces were relevant, the lateralized N170 to angry faces was enhanced compared to happy and neutral faces. When faces were irrelevant, facial expression had no effect. These results reveal the critical role of task demands on the preference for threatening faces, indicating that top-down, voluntary processing modulates the prioritization of threat.

This article discusses how the practice of open defecation influences the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations (UN) and accepted by all countries. Unfortunately, the practice of open defecation still exists. Public health is at stake because open defecation enables transmission of infectious diseases via the fecal–oral route. Open defecation could hinder achieving the targets set for sustainable development. Poverty is one of the prime reasons for open defecation and this in turn has negative effects on social outcomes, wellbeing, ecosystems, and the economy. This article highlights the areas in which open defecation could prevent attainment of SDGs, and justifies the recent sanitation interventions by various countries to curb the practice of open defecation.

Cassava mosaic disease, one of the ten most economically important crop viral diseases in the world, was first reported in Southeast Asia from a single plantation in Cambodia in 2015. To determine the presence and incidence of Sri Lankan cassava mosaic virus (SLCMV) one year after first detection, a total of 6,480 samples from 419 fields were systematically collected from cassava production areas across Cambodia (3,840 samples; 240 fields) and Vietnam (2,640samples; 179 fields) in the 2016 cropping season. Using PCR-based diagnostics, we identified 49 SLCMV-infected plants from nine fields, representing 2% of the total number of fields sampled. Infected fields were geographically restricted to two provinces of Eastern Cambodia, while no infection was detected from any of the other sampled sites in either country. Symptom expression patterns in infected plants suggested that SLCMV may have been transmitted both through infected planting materials, and by Bemisia tabaci, the known whitefly vector of SLCMV. In addition, 14% of virus infected plants did not express typical symptoms of cassava mosaic disease on their leaves, highlighting that molecular-based validation is needed to confirm the presence of SLCMV in the field. None of the owners of the SLCMV-infected fields indicated acquired planting materials from the plantation in Ratanakiri where SLCMV was first reported. The surveillance baseline data generated for both countries is discussed in light of future options to control and manage cassava mosaic disease.

The self-assembly of tau into paired helical filaments (PHFs) in neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) is a significant event in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathogenesis. Numerous post-translational modifications enhance or inhibit tau assembly into NFTs. Oxidative stress, which accompanies AD, induces multiple post-translational modifications in proteins, including the formation of dityrosine (DiY) cross-links. Previous studies have revealed that metal-catalysed oxidation (MCO) using Cu2+ and H2O2 leads to the formation of DiY cross-links in two misfolding proteins, Aβ and α-synuclein, associated with AD and Parkinson’s disease respectively. The effect of MCO on tau remains unknown. Here, we examined the effect of MCO and ultra-violet oxidation to study the influence of DiY cross-linking on the self-assembly of the PHF-core tau fragment. We report that DiY cross-linking facilitates tau assembly into tau oligomers that fail to bind thioflavin S, lack β-sheet structure and prevents their elongation into filaments. At a higher concentration, Cu2+ (without H2O2) also facilitates the formation of these tau oligomers. The DiY cross-linked tau oligomers do not cause cell death. Our findings suggest that DiY cross-linking of pre-assembled tau promotes the formation of soluble tau oligomers that show no acute impact on cell viability.

While objective memory performance in older adults was primarily shown to be affected by education as indicator of life course socioeconomic conditions, other life course socioeconomic conditions seem to relate to subjective memory complaints. However, studies differ in which life course stages were investigated. Moreover, studies have explored these effects in an isolated way, but have not yet investigated their unique effect when considering several stages of the life course simultaneously. This study, therefore, examined the respective influence of socioeconomic conditions from childhood up to late-life on prospective memory (PM) performance as an objective indicator of everyday memory as well as on subjective memory complaints (SMC) in older age using structural equation modeling. Data came from two waves of the Vivre-Leben-Vivere aging study (n=993, Mage=80.56). The results indicate that only socioeconomic conditions in adulthood significantly predicted late-life PM performance. PM performance was also predicted by age and self-rated health. In contrast, SMC in older age were not predicted by socioeconomic conditions at any stage of the life course but were predicted by level of depression. In line with the cognitive reserve hypothesis, present results highlight the significance of education and occupation (adulthood socioeconomic conditions) for cognitive functioning in later life.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has recently been shown as an excellent tool for the study of the liver; however, many obstacles still have to be overcome for the digitalization of real-world hepatology. The authors present an overview of the current state of the art on the use of innovative technologies in different areas (big data, translational hepatology, imaging, and transplant setting). In clinical practice, physicians must integrate a vast array of data modalities (medical history, clinical data, laboratory tests, imaging, and pathology slides) to achieve a diagnostic or therapeutic decision. Unfortunately, machine learning and deep learning are still far from really supporting clinicians in real life. In fact, the accuracy of any technological support has no value in medicine without the support of clinicians. To make better use of new technologies, it is essential to improve clinicians' knowledge about them. To this end, the authors propose that collaborative networks for multidisciplinary approaches will improve the rapid implementation of AI systems for developing disease-customized AI-powered clinical decision support tools. The authors also discuss ethical, educational, and legal challenges that must be overcome to build robust bridges and deploy potentially effective AI in real-world clinical settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was aimed to examine the protective effects of supplementation with calcium + zinc (Ca + Zn) or vitamin E (Vit-E) on Cd-induced renal oxidative damage. Young albino Wistar rats (180 ± 10 g) (n = 6) control rats, Cd, Cd + Ca + Zn, and Cd + Vit-E experimental groups and the experimental period was 30 days. Rats were exposed to Cd (20 mg/kg body weight) alone treated as Cd treated group and the absence or presence of Ca + Zn (2 mg/kg each) or Vit-E (20 mg/kg body weight) supplementation treated as two separate groups. The activities of the stress marker enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and lipid peroxidase (LPx) were determined in renal mitochondrial fractions of experimental rats. We observed quantitative changes in SOD isoenzymatic patterns by non-denaturing PAGE analysis, and quantified band densities. These results showed that Cd exposure leads to decreases in SOD, CAT, GR, and GPx activities and a concomitant increase in LPx and GST activities. Ca + Zn and Vit-E administration with Cd significantly reversed Cd-induced perturbations in oxidative stress marker enzymes. However, Vit-E showed more inhibitory activity against Cd than did Ca + Zn, and it protected against Cd-induced nephrotoxicity. Keywords: Cadmium (Cd), Oxidative stress, Lipid peroxidation, Nephrotoxicity, PAGE analysis

Illusory visual phenomena, such as palinopsia, polyopsia or allesthesia, are rare manifestations of posterior cortical damage. Symptoms are characterized by illusory perceptions, ranging from isolated stationary objects to scenes and moving persons. Such illusions may appear while the original object is still in view, or become manifest with a delay and last for minutes, hours or even days. Some authors have suggested a disinhibited cortical response underlying visual illusions, but experimental studies supporting this hypothesis are lacking. Here, we examined a rare patient who after focal right parietal injury consistently reported a second stimulus on the left when briefly shown a target in his right hemifield. The patient perceived the illusory stimulus as less intense, and therefore concluded that it must have a different shape than the original stimulus. A masking experiment revealed that the frequency of the illusion was inversely related to the visibility of the original stimulus, suggesting that it depended on early, feedforward visual processing. We propose that illusory perceptions reflect the interplay of two physiological processes: a fast and automatic activation of contralateral, homotopic visual cortex after unilateral stimulation, and the lack of top-down inhibition following damage to the posterior parietal cortex.

Session Description: The session will address what and who the stakeholders are in healthcare, and how smart contracts can be deployed in decentralized payment system in healthcare, types of platforms that can be deployed, the structure of private blockchains, what the best public platforms for smart contracts with payments are, and if scalable, technological limitations. In addition, best case implementations ,where smart contracts are deployed , specifically, with healthcare payments and reimbursements.

Cassava is one of the most important annual crops in Southeast Asia, and faces increasing seed borne pest and disease pressures. Despite this, cassava seed systems have received scant research attention. In a first analysis of Vietnamese and Cambodian cassava seed systems, we characterized existing cassava seed systems in 2016–2017 through a farmer survey based approach at both national and community scales, with particular focus on identifying seed system actors, planting material management, exchange mechanisms, geographies, and variety use, and performed a network analysis of detected seed movement at the provincial level. Despite their status as self-organized “informal” networks, the cassava seed systems used by farmers in Vietnam and Cambodia are complex, connected over multiple scales, and include links between geographically distant sites. Cassava planting material was exchanged through farmer seed systems, in which re-use of farm-saved supply and community-level exchanges dominated. At the national level, use of self-saved seed occurred in 47 and 64% of seed use cases in Cambodia and Vietnam, respectively. Movement within communes was prevalent, with 82 and 78% of seed provided to others being exchanged between family and acquaintances within the commune in Cambodia and Vietnam, respectively. Yet, meaningful proportions of seed flows, mediated mostly by traders, also formed inter-provincial and international exchange networks, with 20% of Cambodia's seed acquisitions imported from abroad, especially neighboring Vietnam and Thailand. Dedicated seed traders and local cassava collection points played important roles in the planting material distribution network at particular sites. Sales of planting material were important means of both acquiring and providing seed in both countries, and commercial sale was more prevalent in high-intensity than in low-intensity production sites. Considerable variability existed in local seed networks, depending on the intensity of production and integration with trader networks. Adapted innovations are needed to upgrade cassava seed systems in the face of emerging pests and diseases, taking into account and building on the strengths of the existing systems; including their social nature and ability to quickly and efficiently distribute planting materials at the regional level.

Biological control, a globally-important ecosystem service, can provide long-term and broad-scale suppression of invasive pests, weeds and pathogens in natural, urban and agricultural environments. Following (few) historic cases that led to sizeable environmental up-sets, the discipline of arthropod biological control has—over the past decades—evolved and matured. Now, by deliberately taking into account the ecological risks associated with the planned introduction of insect natural enemies, immense environmental and societal benefits can be gained. In this study, we document and analyze a successful case of biological control against the cassava mealybug, Phenacoccus manihoti (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) which invaded Southeast Asia in 2008, where it caused substantial crop losses and triggered two- to three-fold surges in agricultural commodity prices. In 2009, the host-specific parasitoid Anagyrus lopezi (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) was released in Thailand and subsequently introduced into neighboring Asian countries. Drawing upon continental-scale insect surveys, multi-year population studies and (field-level) experimental assays, we show how A. lopezi attained intermediate to high parasitism rates across diverse agro-ecological contexts. Driving mealybug populations below non-damaging levels over a broad geographical area, A. lopezi allowed yield recoveries up to 10.0 t/ha and provided biological control services worth several hundred dollars per ha (at local farm-gate prices) in Asia’s four-million ha cassava crop. Our work provides lessons to invasion science and crop protection worldwide. Furthermore, it accentuates the importance of scientifically-guided biological control for insect pest management, and highlights its potentially large socio-economic benefits to agricultural sustainability in the face of a debilitating invasive pest. In times of unrelenting insect invasions, surging pesticide use and accelerating biodiversity loss across the globe, this study demonstrates how biological control—as a pure public good endeavor—constitutes a powerful, cost-effective and environmentally-responsible solution for invasive species mitigation.

Background. Nonselective β-blockers (NSBB) have been associated with increased incidence of paracentesis-induced circulatory dysfunction (PICD) and reduced survival in patients with cirrhosis and refractory ascites. Aim. To prospectively evaluate a hemodynamic response to NSBB in cirrhotics listed for liver transplantation with refractory ascites undergoing large volume paracentesis (LVP). Methods. Patients with cirrhosis and refractory ascites, with an indication to start NSBB in primary prophylaxis for variceal bleeding, were enrolled. During two consecutive LVP, while being, respectively, off and on NSBB, cardiac output (CO), systemic vascular resistances (SVR), peripheral vascular resistances (PVR), and plasma renin activity (PRA) were noninvasively assessed. Results. Seventeen patients were enrolled, and 10 completed the study. Before NSBB introduction, SVR (1896 to 1348 dyn·s·cm−5; p=0.028) and PVR (47 to 30 mmHg·min·dl·ml−1; p=0.04) significantly decreased after LVP, while CO showed an increasing trend (3.9 to 4.5 l/m; p=0.06). After NSBB introduction, LVP was not associated with a significant increase in CO (3.4 to 3.8 l/m; p=0.13) nor with a significant decrease in SVR (2002 versus 1798 dyn·s·cm−5; p=0.1). Incidence of PICD was not increased after NSBB introduction. Conclusion. The negative inotropic effect of NSBB was counterbalanced by a smaller decrease of vascular resistances after LVP, probably due to splanchnic β2-blockade. This pilot study showed that NSBB introduction may be void of detrimental hemodynamic effects after LVP in cirrhotics with refractory ascites.

The data provided in this article are related to the research article entitled “Unaided trifluoroacetic acid pretreatment solubilizes polyglutamine (polyGln) peptides and retains their biophysical properties of aggregation” by Burra and Thakur (in press) [1]. This research article reports data from size exclusion chromatography (SEC), reversed phase-high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) and mass spectrometry (MS) assays. This data show that trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) has the ability to convert insoluble polyGln peptides to soluble monomers. The data also clarify the possibility of trifluoroacetylation modification caused due to TFA. We hope the data presented here will enhance the understanding of polyGln disaggregation and solubilization. For more insightful and useful discussions, see the research article published in Analytical Biochemistry: Methods in the Biological Sciences (Burra and Thakur, in press [1]).

The Basel II regulatory framework significantly increased the resilience of the banking system, but proved ineffective in preventing the 2008/9 financial crisis. The subsequent introduction of Basel III aimed, inter alia, to supplement bank capital using buffers. The countercyclical buffer boosts existing minimum capital requirements when systemic risk surges are detected. Bolstering capital in favourable economic conditions cushions losses in unfavourable conditions, thereby addressing capital requirement procyclicality. This paper contains an overview of the countercyclical capital buffer and a critical discussion of its implementation as proposed in Basel III. Consequences of the buffer's introduction for South African banks are explored, and in particular, potential systemic risk indicator variables are identified that may be used by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) as early warning indicators of imminent systemic financial distress. These indicators may be of value to the SARB, which could use them in taking decisions on the build-up and release of the countercyclical buffer for South African banks.