87value/wos11967 huggingface dataset:
Background Three competing theories about the mechanism of mitral coaptation in normal subjects were evaluated by color Doppler and vector flow mapping (VFM): (1) beginning of ventricular (LV) ejection, (2) breaking of the jet of diastolic LV inflow, and (3) returning diastolic vortices impacting the leaflets on their LV surfaces. Methods and Results We analyzed 80 color Doppler frames and 320 VFM measurements. In all 20 normal subjects, coaptation occurred before LV ejection, 78 +/- 16 ms before onset. On color Doppler frames the larger anterior, and smaller posterior vortices circle back and, in all cases, strike the ventricular surfaces of the leaflets. On the first closing-begins frame, for the first time, vortex velocity normal to the ventricular surface of the anterior leaflet (AML) is greater than that in the mitral orifice, and the angle of attack of LV vortical flow onto the AML is twice as high as the angle of flow onto the valve in orifice. Thus, at the moment coaptation begins, vortical flow strikes the mitral leaflet with higher velocity, and higher angle of attack than orifice flow, and thus with greater force. According to the breaking of the jet theory, one would expect to see de novo LV flow perpendicular to the leaflets beginning after transmitral flow terminates. Instead, the returning continuous LV vortical flow that impacts the valve builds continuously after the P-wave. Conclusions Late diastolic vortices strike the ventricular surfaces of the mitral leaflets and contribute to valve coaptation, permitted by concomitant decline in transmitral flow.
While the initial treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) usually relies on surgical resection followed by systemic cytotoxic chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy, recent advances in understanding of NSCLC biology and immunology have spurred the development of numerous targeted therapies. In particular, a class of immune modulatory drugs targeting the immune checkpoint pathways has demonstrated remarkable durable remissions in a select minority of advanced NSCLC patients, potentially heralding the elusive cancer cure. This review focuses on the clinical evidence for one of these agents, nivolumab, and clarifies the role of this drug in the context of the other targeted therapies currently available for the treatment of NSCLC. We also discuss the impact of nivolumab on patient quality of life and health economics.
Currently, serious investigations are made now in road security as a critical research domain. However, the majority of them are based on expensive infrastructure. In this paper, we propose a new scheme for warnings spreading between vehicles without any dependence on road foundation. A new concept of Active vehicle that combines the power of the intelligence ambient and the V2V technologies is introduced. For alert endorsement, we suggest a new model for trust management for VANET based on only the cooperation between Active vehicles in order to enhance their security states and to cut with the spread of false warnings through a vehicular network. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Of the 57 human cytochromes P450 (P450) and 58 pseudogenes discovered to date, (http:// drinelson.utmem.edu/CytochromeP450.html), 1/4 still remain orphans in the sense that their function, expression sites, and regulation are still largely not elucidated. The posthuman genome-sequencing project era has presented the research community with novel challenges. Despite many insights gathered about gene location and genetic variations in our human genome, we still lack important knowledge about these novel P450 enzymes and their functions in endogenous and exogenous metabolism, as well as their possible roles in the metabolism of toxicants and carcinogens. Our own list of such orphans currently consists of 13 members: P450 2A7, 2S1, 2U1, 2W1, 3A43, 4A22, 4F11, 4F22, 4V2, 4X1, 4Z1, 20A1, and 27C1. Some of the orphans, e.g. P450s 2W1 and 2U1, already have putative assigned functions in arachidonic acid metabolism and may activate carcinogens. However, at this point, for the majority of them more knowledge is available about their genes and single nucleotide polymorphisms than of their biological functions. It is noteworthy that most P450 orphans express high interspecies sequence conservation and have orthologs in rodents (e.g. CYP4X1/Cyp4x1, CYP4V2/Cyp4v3). This review summarizes recent knowledge about the P450 orphans and questions remaining about their specific roles in human metabolism.
Occupational and recreational aquatic activity predisposes our population to a wide variety of dermatoses. Sunburn, urticaria, jellyfish stings, and contact dermatitis to rubber equipment are common allergies that are encountered in the aquatic environment. Among the infections, tinea versicolor, intertrigo, and verruca vulgaris are widespread. Swimmer's itch may occur due to skin penetration by schistosome cercariae, while free-floating nematocysts of marine coelenterates may precipitate seabather's eruption. Suit squeeze due to cutaneous barotrauma and lymphoedematous peau d'orange due to decompression are rare, described entities. This review serves as a ready reckoner for Indian dermatologists and medical practitioners to identify and manage these conditions.
What cognitive processes specify understanding of humans' behavior in communicative situations? 51 healthy controls and 50 schizophrenia patients were presented with social silent video clips and then they performed flicker task and predicted characters' behavior. During the experiment eye movements were recorded. Observers, who have made successful predictions, evaluated the characters' actions, specified how they categorized the objects and events, and then profiled the objects' features, on which just these categorizations were based. Information about these features remained in working memory and directed a communicative situation's perception. Observers noticed the events, relevant to the viewpoints of the characters, and understood their gazes, gestures and actions. Those, who have made unsuccessful predictions, advanced hypotheses about how the characters categorized the objects and events, but they did not profile the objects' features, on which categorizations were based. They demonstrated blindness to the events, relevant to the viewpoints of the characters, and did not understand a coherence of their actions.
Based on similarities between overconsumption of food and addictive drugs, there is increasing interest in food addiction, a compulsive eating pattern defined using symptoms parallel to substance use disorders. Impulsivity, a multidimensional construct robustly linked to drug addiction, has been increasingly examined as an obesity determinant, but with mixed findings. This study sought to clarify relations between three major domains of impulsivity (i.e., impulsive personality traits, discounting of delayed rewards, and behavioral inhibition) in both obesity and food addiction. Based on the association between impulsivity and compulsive drug use, the general hypothesis was that the impulsivity-food addiction relation would be stronger than and responsible for the impulsivity-obesity relation. Using a cross-sectional dimensional design, participants (N = 181; 32% obese) completed a biometric assessment, the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS), the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scales, a Go/NoGo task, and measures of monetary delay discounting. Results revealed significantly higher prevalence of food addiction among obese participants and stronger zero-order associations between impulsivity indices and YFAS compared to obesity. Two aspects of impulsivity were independently significantly associated with food addiction: (a) a composite of Positive and Negative Urgency, reflecting proneness to act impulsively during intense mood states, and (b) steep discounting of delayed rewards. Furthermore, the results supported food addiction as a mediator connecting both urgency and delay discounting with obesity. These findings provide further evidence linking impulsivity to food addiction and obesity, and suggest that food addiction may be a candidate etiological pathway to obesity for individuals exhibiting elevations in these domains. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
The aggregation of specific proteins plays a pivotal role in the etiopathogenesis of several neurodegenerative diseases (NDs). beta-Amyloid (A beta) peptide-containing plaques and intraneuronal neurofibrillary tangles composed of hyperphosphorylated protein tau are the two main neuropathological lesions in Alzheimer's disease. Meanwhile, Parkinson's disease is defined by the presence of intraneuronal inclusions (Lewy bodies), in which alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn) has been identified as a major protein component. The current literature provides considerable insights into the mechanisms underlying oligomericrelated neurodegeneration, as well as the relationship between protein aggregation and ND, thus facilitating the development of novel putative biomarkers and/or pharmacological targets. Recently, alpha-syn, tau and A beta have been shown to interact each other or with other pathological proteins to form toxic heteroaggregates. These latest findings are overcoming the concept that each neurodegenerative disease is related to the misfolding of a single specific protein. In this review, potential opportunities and pharmacological approaches targeting alpha-syn, tau and A beta and their oligomeric forms are highlighted with examples from recent studies. Protein aggregation as a biomarker of NDs, in both the brain and peripheral fluids, is deeply explored. Finally, the relationship between biomarker establishment and assessment and their use as diagnostics or therapeutic targets are discussed. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
In recent work, Baez, Fong and the author introduced a framework for describing Markov processes equipped with a detailed balanced equilibrium as open systems of a certain type. These open Markov processes serve as the building blocks for more complicated processes. In this paper, we describe the potential application of this framework in the modeling of biological systems as open systems maintained away from equilibrium. We show that non-equilibrium steady states emerge in open systems of this type, even when the rates of the underlying process are such that a detailed balanced equilibrium is permitted. It is shown that these non-equilibrium steady states minimize a quadratic form which we call dissipation. In some circumstances, the dissipation is approximately equal to the rate of change of relative entropy plus a correction term. On the other hand, Prigogine's principle of minimum entropy production generally fails for non-equilibrium steady states. We use a simple model of membrane transport to illustrate these concepts.
Background: Against the background that crystal methamphetamine (colloquially known as tik) is extensively used by the emerging working class Coloured youth in Cape Town, South Africa, this exploratory qualitative study was conducted to explore the experience of mothers whose children use methamphetamine. Methods: The researchers conducted one-to-one semi-structured in-depth interviews with sixteen (16) purposively selected caregivers (mothers) whose sons use methamphetamine. Interviews were recorded and simultaneously translated and transcribed. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes related to the experiences of caregivers of youth with methamphetamine problems. Results: Findings showed that youth misbehaviour provided a context that led to feelings of shame and embarrassment. Participants also experienced personal challenges which included emotional problems, fear and self-blame. Participants also expressed family disruptions and financial drain as adverse experiences as a results of their sons' misbehaviour. Conclusion: The study results highlight the psychosocial challenges for caregivers of children who use methamphetamine. These findings underscore the need for effort to be directed at the development of formal support interventions for mothers of youth who are troubled with addiction.
Polymeric drag reducers, such as partially hydrolysed polyacrylamide (PHPAAm), are important chemical additives in hydraulic fracturing fluids as they can significantly decrease the frictional pressure drop in the casing (by up to 80%), resulting in an increase of the injection rate that can be delivered to the fracturing point. The incorporation of sodium 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulphonic acid (NaAMPS) moieties into polyacrylamide (PAAm) can further improve the performance of fracturing fluids by addressing some compatibility issues related to the use of PHPAAm, e.g., the sensitivity to water salinity. In this study, three types of poly(acrylamide-co-NaAMPS) and pure PHPAAm were investigated with respect to polymer induced drag reduction and mechanical polymer degradation in turbulent pipe flow in a pressure-driven pipe flow facility. The test section comprised a horizontal 1 bore circular cross-section pipe. The facility was modified in order to allow long time/length experiments by automatically recirculating the polymer solution in a closed-loop through the test section. The presence of NaAMPS groups in the copolymer backbone is found to increase the ability of PHPAAm to reduce frictional drag while the vulnerability to mechanical degradation remains unaffected. The drag reduction of NaAMPS copolymer solutions can be described by a modified version of Virk?s correlation (1967), extended to include the effect of Reynolds number. Polymer mechanical degradation is found to proceed until the friction reducer is almost ineffective in reducing drag. This phenomenon is in contrast with the most common correlation for polymer degradation, which predicts the existence of an asymptotic (but finite) limit to the reduced drag reduction. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
We investigated adolescent prosocial relations by examining social networks based on the question Who helps you (e.g., with homework, with repairing a flat [bicycle] tire, or when you are feeling down?). The effects of individual characteristics (academic achievement, symptoms of depressive mood, and peer status) on receiving help and giving help were examined, and we investigated the contribution of (dis)similarity between adolescents to the development of prosocial relations. Gender, structural network characteristics, and friendship relations were taken into account. Data were derived from the Social Network Analysis of Risk behavior in Early adolescence (SNARE) study, and contained information on students in 40 secondary school classes across 3 waves (N = 840, M age = 13.4, 49.7% boys). Results from longitudinal social network analyses (RSiena) revealed tendencies toward reciprocation of help and exchange of help within helping groups. Furthermore, boys were less often mentioned as helpers, particularly by girls. Depressed adolescents were less often mentioned as helpers, especially by low-depressed peers. Moreover, lower academic achievers indicated that they received help from their higher achieving peers. Rejected adolescents received help more often, but they less often helped low-rejected peers. Last, low-and high-popular adolescents less often helped each other, and also high-popular adolescents less often helped each other. These findings show that (dis) similarity in these characteristics is an important driving factor underlying the emergence and development of prosocial relations in the peer context, and that prosocial behavior should be defined in terms of benefitting particular others.
Although metagenomics is a relatively new scientific trend, it has managed to become popular in many countries, including Russia, over its 20-year history. This division of molecular genetics studies ecosystem-extracted nucleic acids (DNA and RNA), which contain full information about the microbial community of a habitat. Owing to metagenomic methods, soil microbiology has undertaken to study not only known cultivated types of microorganisms but also noncultivated forms, the biological properties of which can be suggested exclusively from the genetic information coded in their DNA. It turns out that such phantom types constitute the overwhelming majority within soil microbial communities; to all appearances, they actively participate in ensuring soil fertility, and, hence, in the opinion of the authors of this paper, study of them is topical for both basic research and agricultural practice. The development of metagenomic technologies will help understand biological phenomena determined by close plant-microbe interactions, such as increasing the productivity of agricultural crops and protecting them against phytopathogens. However, the introduction of new methods has always presented difficulties; in metagenomics, they are associated with the acquisition, storage, and bioinformational analysis of a huge array of genetic information.
Electric machines are a key component of electric/hybrid electric vehicle (EV/HEV) powertrains. Thus, computationally efficient models for electric machines are essential for powertrain-level design, simulation, and optimization. In this paper, a finite-element-based method for quickly generating torque-speed curves and efficiency maps for electric machines is presented. First, magnetostatic finite-element analysis (FEA) is conducted on a  base machine design. This analysis produces torque, normalized losses, flux linkage, and the maximum magnetic field intensity in the permanent magnets for a wide range of currentmagnitudes and phase angles. These values are then scaled based upon changing the size of the machine and the effective number of turns of the machine windings to quickly generate a variety of new machine designs and their corresponding efficiency maps using postprocessing techniques. Results suggest that, by avoiding resolving the FEA for the scaled designs, the proposed techniques can be used to quickly generate efficiency maps, and thus are useful for EV/HEV powertrain-level simulation and optimization.
Social-categorical knowledge is partially grounded in proprioception. In Study 1, participants describing hard and soft politicians, and hard and soft scientists used different hard and soft traits for the two groups, suggesting that the meaning of these traits is context specific. Studies 2 to 4 showed that both meanings were supported by hard and soft proprioception. Consistent with political stereotypes, perceivers viewing faces while handling a hard ball were more likely to categorize them as Republicans rather than as Democrats, compared to perceivers viewing the same faces while handling a soft ball (Study 2). Similarly, consistent with stereotypes of hard and soft academic disciplines, perceivers were more likely to categorize photographs of professors as physicists than historians when handling a hard versus soft ball (Study 3). Finally, thinking about Republicans and Democrats led participants to perceive a ball as harder or softer, respectively, suggesting that simulating proprioception might aid social-categorical thinking (Study 4).
Analytical methods used for pharmaceuticals and drugs of abuse in sewage play a fundamental role in wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) studies. Here quantitative analysis of drug metabolites in raw wastewaters is used to determine consumption from general population. Its great advantage in public health studies is that it gives objective, real-time data about community use of chemicals, highlighting the relationship between environmental and human health. Within a WBE study on salbutamol use in a large population, we developed a procedure to distinguish human metabolic excretion from external source of contamination, possibly industrial, in wastewaters. Salbutamol is mainly excreted as the sulphate metabolite, which is rapidly hydrolyzed to the parent compound in the environment, so this is currently not detected. When a molecule is either excreted un-metabolized or its metabolites are unstable in the environment, studies can be completed by monitoring the parent compound. In this case it is mandatory to assess whether the drug in wastewater is present because of population use or because of a specific source of contamination, such as industrial manufacturing waste. Because commercial salbutamol mainly occurs as a racemic mixture and is stereoselective in the human metabolism, the enantiomeric relative fraction (EFrel) in wastewater samples should reflect excretion, being unbalanced towards one of two enantiomers, if the drug is of metabolic origin. The procedure described involves chiral analysis of the salbutamol enantiomers by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) and calculation of EFrel, to detect samples where external contamination occurs. Samples were collected daily between October and December 2013 from the Milano Nosedo wastewater treatment plant. Carbamazepine and atenolol were measured in the sewage collector, as control drugs. Salbutamol EFrel was highly consistent in all samples during this three-month period, but a limited number of samples had unexpectedly high concentrations where the EFrel was close to that observed of the un-metabolized, commercially available drug, supporting the idea of an external source of contamination, besides human metabolic excretion. Results showed that, when present, non-metabolic daily loads could be evaluated indicating an average of 4.12 g/day of salbutamol extra load due to non-metabolic sources. The stereoselectivity in metabolism and enantiomeric ratio analysis appears to be a useful approach in WBE studies to identify different sources of drugs in the environment, when no metabolic products are present at useful analytical levels. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
The noise induced by quantization in digitally controlled systems can be modelled as small amplitude chaotic behaviour described by a simple piecewise linear map, the micro-chaos map. The chaotic nature of certain micro-chaos maps was proved rigorously in the last 20 years. It was also pointed out that several disconnected strange attractors or repellers may coexist far from the desired state of the system. The control error is influenced by the number of these strange sets and the local behaviour of trajectories in their neighbourhoods. In the present paper we focus on the exploration of the possible attractor/repeller structures in the phase space of a PD-controlled system and estimate the expected control error by several methods.