bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Intrinsic Optical Signals in Rat Hippocampal Slices During Hypoxia-Induced Spreading Depression-Like Depolarization
Authors: Müller Michael , Somjen George G.
Published: December 2017

In interfaced rat hippocampal slices spreading depression (SD) and hypoxia-induced SD-like depolarization are associated with increased light reflectance and decreased light transmittance, indicating increased light scattering. By contrast, mild hypotonicity or electrical stimulation decrease light scattering, which is usually taken to be caused by cell swelling. This difference has been attributed to experimental conditions, but in our laboratory moderate osmotic challenge and SD produced opposite intrinsic optical signals (IOSs) in the same slice under identical conditions. To decide whether the SD-induced IOS is related to cell swelling, we investigated the effects of Cl− transport inhibitors and Cl−withdrawal on both light reflectance and transmittance, as well as on changes in interstitial volume and tissue electrical resistance. In normal [Cl−]o, early during hypoxia, there was a slight decrease in light reflectance paired with increase in transmittance. At the onset of hypoxic SD, coincident with the onset of cell swelling (restriction of TMA+ space), the IOS signals suddenly inverted, indicating sharply increased scattering. The SD-related IOSs started in a single spot and spread out over the entire CA1 region without invading CA3. Application of 2 mM furosemide decreased IOS intensity. When [Cl−]o was substituted by methylsulfate or gluconate, the SD-related reflectance increase and transmittance decrease were suppressed and replaced by opposite signals, indicating scattering decrease. Yet Cl−withdrawal did not prevent cell swelling measured as shrinkage of TMA+ space. The SD-related increase of tissue electrical resistance was reduced when bath Cl− was replaced by methylsulfate and almost eliminated when replaced by gluconate. The TMA+ signal is judged to be a more reliable indicator of interstitial space than tissue resistance. Neither application of cyclosporin A nor raising [Mg2+]o depressed the SD-related reflectance increase, suggesting that Cl−flux through mitochondrial “megachannels” may not be a major factor in its generation. Fluoroacetate poisoning of glial cells (5 mM) accelerated SD onset and enhanced the SD-induced reflectance increase threefold. This suggests, first, that glial cells normally moderate the SD process and, second, that neurons are the predominant generators of the light-scattering increase. We conclude that light scattering by cerebral tissue can be changed by at least two different physical processes. Cell swelling decreases light scattering, whereas a second process increases scattering. During hypoxic SD the scattering increase masks the swelling-induced scattering decrease, but the latter is revealed when Cl− is removed. The scattering increase is Cl− dependent, nevertheless it is apparently not related to cell volume changes. Its underlying mechanism is as yet not clear; possible factors are discussed.
Physiological Properties of Central Medial and Central Lateral Amygdala Neurons
Authors: Martina Marzia , Royer Sébastien , Paré Denis
Published: December 2017

Mounting evidence implicates the central (CE) nucleus of the amygdala in the mediation of classically conditioned fear responses. However, little data are available regarding the intrinsic membrane properties of CE amygdala neurons. Here, we characterized the physiological properties of CE medial (CEM) and CE lateral (CEL) amygdala neurons using whole cell recordings in brain slices maintained in vitro. Several classes of CE neurons were distinguished on the basis of their physiological properties. Most CEM cells (95%), here termed “late-firing neurons,” displayed a marked voltage- and time-dependent outward rectification in the depolarizing direction. This phenomenon was associated with a conspicuous delay between the onset of depolarizing current pulses and the first action potential. During this delay, the membrane potential ( V m) depolarized slowly, the steepness of this depolarizing ramp increasing as the prepulse V m was hyperpolarized from −60 to −90 mV. Low extracellular concentrations of 4-aminopyridine (30 μM) reversibly abolished the outward rectification and the delay to firing. Late-firing CEM neurons displayed a continuum of repetitive firing properties with cells generating single spikes at one pole and high-frequency (≥90 Hz) spike bursts at the other. In contrast, only 56% of CEL cells displayed the late-firing behavior prevalent among CEM neurons. Moreover, these CEL neurons only generated single spikes in response to membrane depolarization. A second major class of CEL cells (38%) lacked the characteristic delay to firing observed in CEM cells, generated single spikes in response to membrane depolarization, and displayed various degrees of inward rectification in the hyperpolarizing direction. In both regions of the CE nucleus, two additional cell types were encountered infrequently (≤ 6% of our samples). One type of neurons, termed “low-threshold bursting cells” had a behavior reminiscent of thalamocortical neurons. The second type of cells, called “fast-spiking cells,” generated brief action potentials at high rates with little spike frequency adaptation in response to depolarizing current pulses. These findings indicate that the CE nucleus contains several types of neurons endowed with distinct physiological properties. Moreover, these various cell types are not distributed uniformly in the medial and lateral sector of the CE nucleus. This heterogeneity parallels anatomic data indicating that these subnuclei are part of different circuits.
Cutaneous Receptive Field Organization in the Ventral Posterior Nucleus of the Thalamus in the Common Marmoset
Authors: Wilson P. , Kitchener P. D. , Snow P. J.
Published: December 2017

The organization of cutaneous receptive fields in the ventroposterior (VP) thalamus of the common marmosets ( Callithrix jacchus) was determined from single-unit recordings, and these data were correlated with the cytochrome oxidase (CO) histochemistry of the thalamus in the same animals. Under continuously maintained ketamine anesthesia, the receptive fields of a total of 192 single units were recorded from the right VP thalamus using 2 MΩ glass microelectrodes. After the receptive fields were mapped, the brains were reacted for CO histochemistry on 50-μm coronal frozen sections through the entire VP thalamus. The majority of units were localized to the CO-reactive regions that define the medial and lateral divisions of VP (VPm and VPl). Apart from the expected finding of the face being represented in VPm and the body in VPl, reconstructing the electrode tracks and unit locations in the histological sections revealed a general association between discrete regions of CO reactivity and the representation of specific body regions. Some low-threshold cutaneous units were apparently localized to VPi (the CO weak regions dorsal, ventral, and interdigitating with, the CO regions of VP). These VPi units were clearly part of the same representational map as the VPl and VPm units. We conclude that the low-threshold cutaneous receptive fields of the marmoset are organized in a single continuous representation of the contralateral body surface, and that this representation can most simply be interpreted as being folded or crumpled into the three-dimensional space of VP thalamus. The folded nature of the body map in VP may be related to the folded nature of VP as revealed by CO histochemistry.
Comparative Study of Viscerosomatic Input Onto Postsynaptic Dorsal Column and Spinothalamic Tract Neurons in the Primate
Authors: Al-Chaer Elie D. , Feng Yi , Willis William D.
Published: December 2017

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine, in the primate, the role of the postsynaptic dorsal column (PSDC) system and that of the spinothalamic tract (STT) in viscerosensory processing by comparing the responses of neurons in these pathways to colorectal distension (CRD). Experiments were done on four anesthetized male monkeys ( Macaca fascicularis). Extracellular recordings were made from a total of 100 neurons randomly located in the L6–S1 segments of the spinal cord. Most of these neurons had cutaneous receptive fields in the perineal area, on the hind limbs or on the rump. Forty-eight percent were PSDC neurons activated antidromically from the upper cervical dorsal column or the nucleus gracilis, 17% were STT neurons activated antidromically from the thalamus, and 35% were unidentified. Twenty-one PSDC neurons, located mostly near the central canal, were excited by CRD and three were inhibited. Twenty-four PSDC neurons, mostly located in the nucleus proprius, did not respond to CRD. Of the 17 STT neurons, 7 neurons were excited by CRD, 4 neurons were inhibited, and 6 neurons did not respond to CRD. Of the unidentified neurons, 23 were excited by CRD, 7 were inhibited, and 5 did not respond. The average responses of STT and PSDC neurons excited by CRD were comparable in magnitude and duration. These results suggest that the major role of the PSDC pathway in viscerosensory processing may be due to a quantitative rather than a qualitative neuronal dominance over the STT.
Mossy Fiber–Granule Cell Synapses in the Normal and Epileptic Rat Dentate Gyrus Studied With Minimal Laser Photostimulation
Authors: Molnár Péter , Nadler J. Victor
Published: December 2017

Dentate granule cells become synaptically interconnected in the hippocampus of persons with temporal lobe epilepsy, forming a recurrent mossy fiber pathway. This pathway may contribute to the development and propagation of seizures. The physiology of mossy fiber–granule cell synapses is difficult to characterize unambiguously, because electrical stimulation may activate other pathways and because there is a low probability of granule cell interconnection. These problems were addressed by the use of scanning laser photostimulation in slices of the caudal hippocampal formation. Glutamate was released from a caged precursor with highly focused ultraviolet light to evoke action potentials in a small population of granule cells. Excitatory synaptic currents were recorded in the presence of bicuculline. Minimal laser photostimulation evoked an apparently unitary excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC) in 61% of granule cells from rats that had experienced pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus followed by recurrent mossy fiber growth. An EPSC was also evoked in 13–16% of granule cells from the control groups. EPSCs from status epilepticus and control groups had similar peak amplitudes (∼30 pA), 20–80% rise times (∼1.2 ms), decay time constants (∼10 ms), and half-widths (∼8 ms). The mean failure rate was high (∼70%) in both groups, and in both groups activation of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors contributed a small component to the EPSC. The strong similarity between responses from the status epilepticus and control groups suggests that they resulted from activation of a similar synaptic population. No EPSC was recorded when the laser beam was focused in the dentate hilus, suggesting that indirect activation of hilar mossy cells contributed little, if at all, to these results. Recurrent mossy fiber growth increases the density of mossy fiber–granule cell synapses in the caudal dentate gyrus by perhaps sixfold, but the new synapses appear to operate very similarly to preexisting mossy fiber–granule cell synapses.
Responses of Contralateral SI and SII in Cat to Same-Site Cutaneous Flutter Versus Vibration
Authors: Tommerdahl M. , Whitsel B. L. , Favorov O. V. , Metz C. B. , O’Quinn B. L.
Published: December 2017

The methods of14C-2-deoxyglucose (14C-2DG) metabolic mapping and optical intrinsic signal (OIS) imaging were used to evaluate the response evoked in the contralateral primary somatosensory receiving areas (SI and SII) of anesthetized cats by either 25 Hz (“flutter”) or 200 Hz (“vibration”) sinusoidal vertical skin displacement stimulation of the central pad on the distal forepaw. Unilateral 25-Hz stimulation consistently evoked a localized region of elevated14C-2DG uptake in both SI and SII in the contralateral hemisphere. In contrast, 200-Hz stimulation did not evoke elevated14C-2DG uptake in the contralateral SI but evoked a prominent, localized region of increased 14C-2DG uptake in the contralateral SII. Experiments in which the OIS was recorded yielded results that complemented and extended the findings obtained with the 2DG method. First, 25-Hz central-pad stimulation evoked an increase in absorbance in a region in the contralateral SI and SII that corresponded closely to the region in which a similar stimulus evoked increased 14C-2DG uptake. Second, 200-Hz stimulation of the central pad consistently evoked a substantial increase in absorbance in the contralateral SII but very little or no increase in absorbance in the contralateral SI. And third, 200-Hz central-pad stimulation usually evoked a decrease in absorbance in the same contralateral SI region that underwent an increase in absorbance during same-site 25-Hz stimulation. Experiments in which the OIS responses of both SI and SII were recorded simultaneously demonstrated that continuous (>1 s) 25-Hz central-pad stimulation evokes a prominent increase in absorbance in both SI and SII in the contralateral hemisphere, whereas only SII undergoes a sustained prominent increase in absorbance in response to 200-Hz stimulation to the same central-pad site. SI exhibits an initial, transient increase in absorbance in response to 200-Hz stimulation and at durations of stimulation >1 s, undergoes a decrease in absorbance. It was found that the stimulus-evoked absorbance changes in the contralateral SI and SII are correlated significantly during vibrotactile stimulation of the central pad—positively with 25-Hz stimulation and negatively with 200-Hz stimulation. The findings are interpreted to indicate that 25-Hz central-pad stimulation of the central pad evokes spatially localized and vigorous neuronal activation within both SI and SII in the contralateral hemisphere and that although 200-Hz stimulation evokes vigorous and well maintained neuronal activation within the contralateral SII, the principal effect on the contralateral SI of a 200-Hz stimulus lasting >1 s is inhibitory.
Model for the Translational Vestibuloocular Reflex (VOR)
Authors: Musallam Wissam S. , Tomlinson R. D.
Published: December 2017

The function of the translational vestibuloocular reflex (tVOR) and the angular vestibuloocular reflex (aVOR) is to stabilize images on the retina during translational and rotational motion, respectively. It has generally been assumed that these two reflexes differ in their central processing because they differ significantly in their primary afferent behavior and characteristics at the motor level. So far, models of the tVOR have focused on the type of processing that the primary afferent signal must undergo before reaching the neural integrator. Here, we propose a model that does not require any prefiltering. It is known that the eye plant requires signals in phase with velocity and position. We propose that the velocity signal is obtained directly from the neural integrator, whereas the position signal is obtained directly from the primary afferents synapsing onto the oculomotor nuclei. This design proved sufficient to simulate eye movements in response to translational motion.
Priming-Induced Shift in Synaptic Plasticity in the Rat Hippocampus
Authors: Wang Hongyan , Wagner John J.
Published: December 2017

The activity history of a given neuron has been suggested to influence its future responses to synaptic input in one prominent model of experience-dependent synaptic plasticity proposed by Bienenstock, Cooper, and Munro (BCM theory). Because plasticity of synaptic plasticity (i.e., metaplasticity) is similar in concept to aspects of the BCM proposal, we have tested the possibility that a form of metaplasticity induced by a priming stimulation protocol might exhibit BCM-like characteristics. CA1 field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) obtained from rat hippocampal slices were used to monitor synaptic responses before and after conditioning stimuli (3–100 Hz) of the Schaffer collateral inputs. A substantial rightward shift (>5-fold) in the frequency threshold between long-term depression (LTD) and long-term potentiation (LTP) was observed <1 h after priming. This change in the LTD/P crossover point occurred at both primed and unprimed synaptic pathways. These results provide new support for the existence of a rapid, heterosynaptic, experience-dependent mechanism that is capable of modifying the synaptic plasticity phenomena that are commonly proposed to be important for developmental and learning/memory processes in the brain.
Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis and Cognition: A Review of Clinical, Neuropsychologic, and Neuroradiologic Features
Authors: Ekmekci Ozgul
Published: December 2017

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory demyelinating and neurodegenerative disease. Although cognitive impairment has been well established in adult patients with MS, its occurrence in patients with pediatric-onset MS has recently been reported. In this review, I discuss the main features of cognitive impairment in pediatric MS as determined by long-term follow-up studies, neuropsychiatric test batteries, and the results of neuroradiological imaging studies that investigated the pathogenesis of pediatric MS. The most commonly affected cognitive domains in adults are attention, processing speed, and visuomotor skills; language and intelligence are also affected in pediatric MS. A young age at disease onset is the strongest risk factor for these impairments, which may be due to the effect of inflammatory demyelination and neurodegeneration on the developing central nervous system and neural networks in children. Cognitive impairment has long-term effects on patients’ academic life and the quality of their social life. Therefore, all patients with pediatric MS should be screened and monitored for cognitive impairment. This review also highlights the need for neuropsychological test batteries that assess different cognitive domains in children and adolescents with multiple sclerosis and for cognitive rehabilitation programs to improve the quality of their academic and social life.
Tumor Burden and Intraosseous Metabolic Activity as Predictors of Bone Marrow Failure during Radioisotope Therapy in Metastasized Prostate Cancer Patients
Authors: Fiz Francesco , Sahbai Samine , Campi Cristina , Weissinger Matthias , Dittmann Helmut , Marini Cecilia , Piana Michele , Sambuceti Gianmario , la Fougère Christian
Published: December 2017

Rationale. Radium-223-Dichloride (Ra-223) is an alpha-emitter, used to treat bone metastases. Patients with high metastatic burden and/or with increased trabecular bone uptake could present a higher incidence of hematologic toxicity. We hypothesized that these two factors are predictors of bone marrow failure. Material and Methods. A computer algorithm discriminated between trabecular bone (BVol) and tumor metastases (MVol) within pretherapeutic whole-body skeletal SPECT/CT (N=47). The program calculated the metastatic invasion percent (INV%) as the MVol/(MVol+BVol) ratio and extracted the BVol mean counts. BVol counts were correlated to % drop of hemoglobin (Hb), leukocytes (WBC), and platelets (PLT) after 3/6 Ra-223 cycles. Patient-specific and computational-derived parameters were tested as predictors of hematologic toxicity with MANOVA. Results. BVol counts correlated with drop of Hb (R = 0,65, p<0.01) and PLT (R = 0,45, p<0.01). Appendicular BVol counts showed a better correlation (p<0.05, p<0.01, and p<0.001 for Hb, WBC, and PLT, resp.). INV% directly correlated with BVol counts (R = 0.68, p<0.001). At MANOVA, grade III/IV toxicity was predicted by INV% (p<0.01), by long-bone invasion (p<0.005), and by BVol counts (p<0.05). Conclusions. In patients with significant bone tumor burden, degree of bone invasion and trabecular bone uptake are predictors of subsequent bone marrow failure.
The High Order Conservative Method for the Parameters Estimation in a PM2.5 Transport Adjoint Model
Authors: Li Ning , Liu Yongzhi , Lv Xianqing , Zhang Jicai , Fu Kai
Published: December 2017

We propose to apply Piecewise Parabolic Method (PPM), a high order and conservative interpolation, for the parameters estimation in a PM2.5 transport adjoint model. Numerical experiments are taken to show the accuracy of PPM in space and its ability to increase the well-posedness of the inverse problem. Based on the obtained results, the PPM provides better interpolation quality by employing much fewer independent points. Meanwhile, this method is still well-behaved in the case of insufficient observations. In twin experiments, two prescribed parameters, including the initial condition (IC) and the source and sink (SS), are successfully estimated by the PPM with lower interpolation errors than the Cressman interpolation. In practical experiments, simulation results show good agreement with the observations of the period when the 21th APEC summit took place.
Evaluation of High-Resolution Multisatellite and Reanalysis Rainfall Products over East Africa
Authors: Sahlu Dejene , Moges Semu A. , Nikolopoulos Efthymios I. , Anagnostou Emmanouil N. , Hailu Dereje
Published: December 2017

The performance of six satellite-based and three newly released reanalysis rainfall estimates are evaluated at daily time scale and spatial grid size of 0.25 degrees during the period of 2000 to 2013 over the Upper Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia, with the view of improving the reliability of precipitation estimates of the wet (June to September) and secondary rainy (March to May) seasons. The study evaluated both adjusted and unadjusted satellite-based products of TMPA, CMORPH, PERSIANN, and ECMWF ERA-Interim reanalysis as well as Multi-Source Weighted-Ensemble Precipitation (MSWEP) estimates. Among the six satellite-based rainfall products, adjusted CMORPH exhibits the best accuracy of the wet season rainfall estimate. In the secondary rainy season, unadjusted CMORPH and 3B42V7 are nearly equivalent in terms of bias, POD, and CSI error metrics. All error metric statistics show that MSWEP outperform both unadjusted and gauge adjusted ERA-Interim estimates. The magnitude of error metrics is linearly increasing with increasing percentile threshold values of gauge rainfall categories. Overall, all precipitation datasets need further improvement in terms of detection during the occurrence of high rainfall intensity. MSWEP detects higher percentiles values better than satellite estimate in the wet and poor in the secondary rainy seasons.
Standardized Digital Colposcopy with Dynamic Spectral Imaging for Conservative Patient Management
Authors: Kaufmann Angelika , Founta Christina , Papagiannakis Emmanouil , Naik Raj , Fisher Ann
Published: December 2017

Background. Colposcopy is subjective and management of young patients with high-grade disease is challenging, as treatments may impair subsequent pregnancies and adversely affect obstetric outcomes. Conservative management of selected patients is becoming more popular amongst clinicians; however it requires accurate assessment and documentation. Novel adjunctive technologies for colposcopy could improve patient care and help individualize management decisions by introducing standardization, increasing sensitivity, and improving documentation. Case. A nulliparous 27-year-old woman planning pregnancy underwent colposcopy following high-grade cytology. The colposcopic impression was of low-grade changes, whilst the Dynamic Spectral Imaging (DSI) map of the cervix suggested potential high-grade. A DSI-directed biopsy confirmed CIN2. At follow-up, both colposcopy and DSI were suggestive of low-grade disease only, and image comparison confirmed the absence of previously present acetowhite epithelium areas. Histology of the transformation zone following excisional treatment, as per patient’s choice, showed no high-grade changes. Conclusion. Digital colposcopy with DSI mapping helps standardize colposcopic examinations, increase diagnostic accuracy, and monitor cervical changes over time, improving patient care. When used for longitudinal tracking of disease and when it confirms a negative colposcopy, it can help towards avoiding overtreatment and hence decrease morbidity related to cervical excision.
Profile of the Phenolic Compounds ofRosa rugosaPetals
Authors: Cendrowski Andrzej , Ścibisz Iwona , Mitek Marta , Kieliszek Marek , Kolniak-Ostek Joanna
Published: December 2017

Rosa rugosapetals are a rich source of phenolic compounds, which determined their antioxidant properties. The aim of this study was to determine the polyphenolic composition of not processed petals ofRosa rugosacollected from the commodity crops and to determine the variability of the contained therein polyphenols between harvesting seasons. Twenty polyphenols were identified by UPLC-ESI-MS. The main fraction of polyphenols was ellagitannins, which are 69 to 74% of the total polyphenols of the petals. In the petals ofRosa rugosa, four anthocyanins have been identified: cyanidin 3,5-di-O-glucoside, peonidin 3-O-sophoroside, peonidin 3,5-di-O-glucoside, and peonidin 3-O-glucoside, of which the predominant peonidin 3,5-di-O-glucoside represented approx. 85% of all the determined anthocyanin compounds. It was found that the petals ofRosa rugosaare a valuable source of bioactive compounds and can be considered as a healthy valuable resource.
Prevalence of Urinary Schistosomiasis in Migrants in Apulia, a Region of Southern Italy, in the Years 2006–2016
Authors: Brindicci Gaetano , Santoro Carmen Rita , De Laurentiis Vittoriana , Capolongo Carmen , Solarino Maria Elena , Papagni Roberta , Ciracì Emanuela , Gatti Pietro , Loconsole Daniela , Monno Rosa , Monno Laura , Miragliotta Giuseppe , Angarano Gioacchino
Published: December 2017

Schistosomiasis is the most prevalent tropical disease in the world after malaria. According to the World Health Organization, the disease afflicts more than 240 million people in about 80 countries. Recently, an epidemiological surveillance study performed between 1997 and 2010 by the European Network for Tropical Medicine and Health Travel regarding schistosomiasis between immigrants and travelers has been published. No data are available in the literature regarding the situation in South Italy. Herein, we report the prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis in a population of migrants in Apulia referring to our outpatient clinic for immigrant diseases in the period 2006–2016. Since all cases of schistosomiasis were related to the last three years of observation, the demographic and clinical characteristics of the study population were compared before and after 2014. Nearly 51% of all patients visited (1762) were from high/moderate endemic countries for schistosomiasis, and nine cases of urinary schistosomiasis were diagnosed. Prevalence was 1% among migrants from endemic areas and 10% in those from Mali and Senegal. Our findings confirm that schistosomiasis is a widespread infection among immigrants, even if it is often underdiagnosed because of the multifaceted clinical presentation. Changes in migratory dynamics can affect clinical observations very quickly.
Heterogeneous Periostin Expression in Different Histological Variants of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma
Authors: Giusca Simona Eliza , Amalinei Cornelia , Lozneanu Ludmila , Ciobanu Apostol Delia , Andriescu Elena Corina , Scripcariu Alex , Balan Raluca , Avadanei Elena Roxana , Căruntu Irina-Draga
Published: December 2017

Background. Periostin (PN) epithelial and stromal overexpression in tumor pathology has been studied according to tumor growth, angiogenesis, invasiveness, and metastasis, but a limited number of studies address PN in thyroid tumors. Aim. Our study aimed to analyze PN expression in different histological variants of PTC and to correlate its expression with the clinicopathological prognostic factors. Material and Methods. PN expression has been immunohistochemically assessed in 50 cases of PTC (conventional, follicular, oncocytic, macrofollicular, and tall cell variants), in tumor epithelial cells and intratumoral stroma. The association between PN expression and clinicopathological characteristics has been evaluated. Results. Our results show that PTC presented different patterns of PN immunoreaction, stromal PN being significantly associated with advanced tumor stage and extrathyroidal extension. No correlations were found between PN overexpression in tumor epithelial cells and clinicopathological features, except for specific histological variants, the highest risk of poor outcome being registered for the conventional subtype in comparison to the oncocytic type. Conclusions. Our study demonstrates differences in PN expression in histological subtypes of PTC. Our results plead in favor of a dominant protumorigenic role of stromal PN, while the action of epithelial PN is less noticeable.
A Transdermal Measurement Platform Based on Microfluidics
Authors: Huang Wen-Ying , Huang Jung-Ping , Lin Chia-Ching , Lin Yung-Sheng
Published: December 2017

The Franz diffusion cell is one of the most widely used devices to evaluate transdermal drug delivery. However, this static and nonflowing system has some limitations, such as a relatively large solution volume and skin area and the development of gas bubbles during sampling. To overcome these disadvantages, this study provides a proof of concept for miniaturizing models of transdermal delivery by using a microfluidic chip combined with a diffusion cell. The proposed diffusion microchip system requires only 80 μL of sample solution and provides flow circulation. Two model compounds, Coomassie Brilliant Blue G-250 and potassium ferricyanide, were successfully tested for transdermal delivery experiments. The diffusion rate is high for a high sample concentration or a large membrane pore size. The developed diffusion microchip system, which is feasible, can be applied for transdermal measurement in the future.
A Game Theory Based Approach for Power Efficient Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks
Authors: Hua Kun , Liu Xing , Chen Zheyi , Liu Mingyue
Published: December 2017

Green communications are playing critical roles in vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs), while the deployment of a power efficient VANET is quite challenging in practice. To add more greens into such kind of complicated and time-varying mobile network, we specifically investigate the throughput and transmission delay performances for real-time and delay sensitive services through a repeated game theoretic solution. This paper has employed Nash Equilibrium in the noncooperative game model and analyzes its efficiency. Simulation results have shown an obvious improvement on power efficiency through such efforts.
Discriminant WSRC for Large-Scale Plant Species Recognition
Authors: Zhang Shanwen , Zhang Chuanlei , Zhu Yihai , You Zhuhong
Published: December 2017

In sparse representation based classification (SRC) and weighted SRC (WSRC), it is time-consuming to solve the global sparse representation problem. A discriminant WSRC (DWSRC) is proposed for large-scale plant species recognition, including two stages. Firstly, several subdictionaries are constructed by dividing the dataset into several similar classes, and a subdictionary is chosen by the maximum similarity between the test sample and the typical sample of each similar class. Secondly, the weighted sparse representation of the test image is calculated with respect to the chosen subdictionary, and then the leaf category is assigned through the minimum reconstruction error. Different from the traditional SRC and its improved approaches, we sparsely represent the test sample on a subdictionary whose base elements are the training samples of the selected similar class, instead of using the generic overcomplete dictionary on the entire training samples. Thus, the complexity to solving the sparse representation problem is reduced. Moreover, DWSRC is adapted to newly added leaf species without rebuilding the dictionary. Experimental results on the ICL plant leaf database show that the method has low computational complexity and high recognition rate and can be clearly interpreted.
Multihop Data Delivery Virtualization for Green Decentralized IoT
Authors: Zhang Lifeng , Wu Celimuge , Yoshinaga Tsutomu , Chen Xianfu , Murase Tutomu , Ji Yusheng
Published: December 2017

Decentralized communication technologies (i.e., ad hoc networks) provide more opportunities for emerging wireless Internet of Things (IoT) due to the flexibility and expandability of distributed architecture. However, the performance degradation of wireless communications with the increase of the number of hops becomes the main obstacle in the development of decentralized wireless IoT systems. The main challenges come from the difficulty in designing a resource and energy efficient multihop communication protocol. Transmission control protocol (TCP), the most frequently used transport layer protocol for achieving reliable end-to-end communications, cannot achieve a satisfactory result in multihop wireless scenarios as it uses end-to-end acknowledgment which could not work well in a lossy scenario. In this paper, we propose a multihop data delivery virtualization approach which uses multiple one-hop reliable transmissions to perform multihop data transmissions. Since the proposed protocol utilizes hop-by-hop acknowledgment instead of end-to-end feedback, the congestion window size at each TCP sender node is not affected by the number of hops between the source node and the destination node. The proposed protocol can provide a significantly higher throughput and shorter transmission time as compared to the end-to-end approach. We conduct real-world experiments as well as computer simulations to show the performance gain from our proposed protocol.
A Rare Encounter with an Expanding Pseudocyst of the Spleen
Authors: Shrestha Ashish Lal , Shrestha Pradita
Published: December 2017

Background. Splenic Pseudocyst (SP) is a diagnostic rarity, with cystic lesions of spleen themselves being uncommon. Establishing a preoperative diagnosis could help in specific management but this is rather challenging. Here we present a common presentation of an uncommon diagnosis. Case Presentation. A 47-year-old lady, previously well, presented to the outpatient clinic with intermittent left hypochondrial pain radiating towards left shoulder for 2 months not associated with fever, jaundice, or weight loss. Abdominal examination revealed nontender hepatosplenomegaly. The initial abdominal ultrasonogram (USG) was suggestive of a hydatid cyst, for which she received a course of antihelminthics. At follow-up, after finding no clinical improvement and radiological worsening, she underwent an exploratory laparotomy. A cyst replacing entire lower pole and a significant portion of splenic hilum was found. Total splenectomy was performed. The specimen was reported to be a SP. Conclusion. SP is a unique entity, usually misdiagnosed as a parasitic lesion and often treated with antihelminthic medicines. The natural course of disease, however, follows a subsequent failure of symptom resolution and radiological worsening that ultimately demands surgical attention. Based on size, location, and intraoperative findings, either total or partial splenectomy is required. The final histopathological report often presents a diagnostic surprise.
Extraction De Reseaux Egocentres Dans Un (Tres Grand) Reseau Social
Authors: Prieur Christophe , Stoica Alina , Smoreda Zbigniew
Published: December 2017

Extracting Ego-Centered Networks From Very Large Social Networks: This article presents a method at the intersection of macro and micro approaches in social networks. In examining ego-centered network, it proposes an approach to this type of study for very large networks. The calculation of several local indicators makes it possible to create aggregate statistics for each of the nodes of the network, which can then be seen as a corpus of ego-centered networks. An application is made on a network of telephone conversations between two million people, and a comparison is made with a classic ego-centered network study, based on an ethnographic research project. Social Networks, Ego-Centered Networks, Large Social Networks, Density, Communication Networks, Macro versus Micro, Qualitative Approaches [a corrected machine translation in English of this article is available on request from bms@reveus.org].
Applications De La Theorie Des Jeux A L'Education: Pour Quels Types Et Niveaux D'Education, Quels Modeles, Quels Resultats?
Authors: Garrouste Christelle , Loi Massimo
Published: December 2017

Applications of Game Theory in Education – What Types and At What Levels: This paper examines the use of game theory in educational sciences. It describes the evolution of game theory from the defining axioms of Von Neumann and Morgenstern in 1944 to the present. After the Introduction and this description, the third part presents the methodology used to select research articles compared in this study. The final fourth part presents the results of this literature review. The study reveals a similar interest on the part of economists and educators for the application of game theory to issues of education. However, the extremely small number of published articles can be interpreted as the sign of a problem of adaptability of this method in this research discipline. The paper concludes with a discussion of the nature of this inadaptability. Game Theory, Educational Sciences.
The transition from over-the-counter to self-service sales of alcoholic beverages in Norwegian monopoly outlets: Implications for sales and customer satisfaction
Authors: Horverak øyvind
Published: December 2017

Aims

To study the impact of the introduction of self-service at the Norwegian alcohol monopoly outlets.

Design

Sales at outlets where self-service was introduced were compared with sales at outlets that remained over-the-counter. A regression model of the ARIMA type was used to estimate the gross effect on sales. Customer interviews were employed to correct for the effect on sales of purchases by new customers who were attracted to the self-service outlets. Changes in public opinion were gauged by means of nationwide interview surveys and by interview surveys of representative samples of the outlets' customers.

Results

Sales rose by a net average of about 10 per cent in terms of pure alcohol. The change in method of sale was greatly appreciated by the customers, especially by customers patronizing the self-service shops. Among these, the sentiment in favour of self-service shifted from 61 to 96 per cent during the experiment. For many customers, the sentiment in favour of self-service was strong enough to result in changes in shopping habits. This was evident in towns where customers were allowed to choose between the two forms of service. In these towns sales increased heavily in self-service outlets while it decreased in remaining over-the-counter outlets.

Conclusions

The introduction of self-service in what were previously over-the-counter outlets led to an increase in alcohol sales, at the same time as self-service alcohol sales proved popular among the alcohol monopoly's customers. Despite the fact that the introduction of self-service brought a substantial increase in alcohol sales, there was a desire in political quarters to expand the scheme. By the end of 2006, 198 of Vinmonopolet's total of 211 shops had been converted to self-service.
How do minors succeed in buying beer in Sweden?
Authors: Geidne Susanna , Eriksson Charli
Published: December 2017

Aims

This study examines the compliance with the law against selling beer to under-aged persons in Sweden. It also analyses determinants of compliance and the importance of checking IDs. The paper also aims to reveal the strategies used by youths when purchasing beer.

Methods & Data

The study is the result of a close collaboration between the Swedish Youth Temperance movement (UNF) and researchers at Örebro University. UNF has been responsible for the purchase attempts, and the research team for the analyses. The data consists of 681 purchase attempts in seven cities in Sweden during 2003–2004.

Results

Almost half of the purchase attempts made by under-aged persons (14–17 years old) resulted in successfully buying beer. The study reveals that the genders of the check-out clerk and the buyer are significant with regard to both selling/buying beer and asking for ID. The proportion of sales was significantly higher to girls than boys, both in total and when they were asked for ID first.

Conclusions

The study shows that under-aged teenagers succeed in purchasing beer in Sweden despite the present legislation. Some succeed because of the tricks they use, and some because of the check-out clerk's negligence. The procedure used in the present study – letting under-aged persons attempt to purchase beer – resembles the situation for ordinary teenagers trying to buy beer under normal circumstances.
Brief intervention, three decades on
Authors: Nilsen Per , Kaner Eileen , Babor Thomas F.
Published: December 2017

This paper provides an overview of brief intervention (BI) research to date and discusses future research needs as well as strategies for more widespread use of BI. Research has firmly established that significant reductions in drinking can be achieved by BI in a variety of health care settings. Despite convincing evidence, however, diffusion of BI in routine health care has been slow. Alcohol is a complex subject since it is often used moderately, without side-effects, and in a socially acceptable way. Although research on BI has accumulated rapidly during the last three decades, many important research challenges and development work remain before BI is widely implemented in routine health care.
Artikel
Authors: Richert Torkel
Published: December 2017

T. Richert: Injection drug using women and the means by which they support their drug use

Aims and Methods

The purpose of the present paper is to investigate the ways in which women who inject heroin or amphetamines procure drugs and finance their drug use. The results are based on standardised interviews conducted at the needle exchange programme in Malmö between 1 July 2005 and 30 September 2006. In total, 188 out of the 232 women who visited the programme during this period were interviewed.

Results

A vast majority of the women (93%) buy most of the drugs they use themselves. Among the women interviewed, the most common sources of income were; social benefits (45%), dealing (23%), prostitution (22%), theft (21%) and paid work (16%). A majority of the women (53%) reported use of both formal and informal incomes to finance their drug use over the last two weeks, just over a third of the women (36%) reported only formal incomes, and a small minority (12%) reported only informal incomes. A majority of the women also reported to have been provided with drugs by others. In most cases, the provider was a man (p>.01). Women with heroin as their principal drug more frequently reported multiple sources of income (p>.01), income through prostitution (p>.001), dealing (p>.01) or theft (p>.05), whereas women with amphetamines as their principal drug more frequently reported income through paid work (p>.05) or pensions (p>.01).

Conclusions

Few women correspond to the stereotypical image of the homeless and outcast street addict who supports her drug habit mainly through prostitution and illegal activities or by contacts with male addicts. The majority of the women in this study have a relatively stable housing situation, the vast majority (93%) are active actors on the drug market who buy most of the drugs they use themselves, and most of the women use incomes from both formal/legal and informal/illegal sources. For most of the women, drugs provided by others only constituted a complement to those obtained by the women themselves. A few women, however, who did not report any personal income, seem to be highly dependent on others to secure a safe supply of drugs. Some women also reported that they had had to perform sexual services in order to get access to drugs from male suppliers. For women with heroin as their principal drug, it seemed much more difficult to finance their drug use by legal incomes only.
Alkohol och äldre
Authors: Sulander Tommi
Published: December 2017

T. Sulander: Increasing numbers of older people use alcohol

The number of older people using alcohol has increased and abstinence has decreased over the past few decades in Finland. However, the average amount of consumed alcohol per week has remained the same.

The rapid lowering of alcohol taxes in 2004 led to a slight increase in alcohol use among people aged 65–84. The number of older people in need of care for their alcohol problems has increased parallel to the increasing trend of moderate drinking. It is, however, difficult to reach heavy drinkers by using different research methods. Therefore, their number in the population could only be estimated.

Alcohol use in Finland has been increasing steadily already before the alcohol tax was considerably lowered in 2004. To reverse this negative trend, alcohol taxes should be considerably increased and health promotion activities should be initiated.
Diagnosinstrument För Beroende och Missbruk
Authors: Gerdner Arne
Published: December 2017

The Swedish National Board on Health and Welfare recommends that structured assessment instruments should be used in medical as well as in social treatment of substance misusers. These should be validated in a Swedish context. Instruments for diagnoses of dependence/abuse (DSM-IV) and dependence/harmful use (ICD-10) have been used in Sweden for many years, although not yet validated in Swedish. ADDIS, the Swedish version of the American SUDDS, is used in four Nordic countries and the most often used diagnostic instrument in Sweden. This article investigates the psychometric properties of ADDIS alcohol module, including discriminant and construct validity and internal consistency. The two main constructs in DSM – dependence and abuse – as well as the seven criteria for dependence and the four criteria for abuse are studied. Further, the value of each of the 44 specific items in ADDIS for capturing these criteria is studied. Two samples are explored: 1) a clinical sample (n = 349; incl. 129 women) and 2) a sample of 400 men convicted for driving while intoxicated. Mean age was the same (41 ys.). Using discriminant analyses on lifetime prevalence, the items correctly classify 94% of the cases in the two samples. Using one-factor principal component analysis to explore homogeneity of the combined samples, all 28 items on dependence and 15 of 18 items on abuse have loadings above 0,40 (R2 dependence = 0,46; abuse = 0,40). Separate analyses of the two samples, as well as on women, show similar results. Cronbach's alpha is excellent for dependence and satisfactory for abuse in all analyses. Analyses of specific criteria show satisfactory results on dependence and acceptable on abuse. Minor revisions are proposed to make ADDIS more user-friendly and to improve some specific items. In conclusion: ADDIS has acceptable to excellent discriminant and construct validity as well as internal consistency and captures the specific criteria of DSM-IV. It has the preconditions for sensitive assessment of alcohol use disorders in men and women.