Sediments of the Lena River represent an important environmental archive for understanding the Quaternary history of North-Eastern Siberia. However, at present, the structure, origin and age of the ...Lena River terraces are poorly known. This article presents results of lithofacies analysis and absolute dating of the Ust’-Buotama section exposing the fourth (Bestyakh) terrace of the Lena River. We report the first quartz and K-feldspar luminescence ages, the reliability of which was argued by age relations and standard tests. Three stratigraphic units have been recognized in the section (depths from the top): lacustrine-alluvial deposits (85–120 m) of the Mavrinka Formation; aeolian sand deposits of the Dolkuma Formation (23–85 m), and Holocene aeolian dune sediments (0–23 m). The resulting chronology suggests that the sediments of the Mavrinka Formation were deposited no later than 300 ka (MIS 9 or later). Deposition of the Dolkuma Formation occurred from ∼30 ka to ∼15 ka (late MIS 3 - late MIS 2). Holocene aeolian dune formed during initial Neoglacial cooling post climatic optimum (c. 5.5 cal ka BP). More extensive Late Holocene dune sediments which formed ∼400 years ago are coeval with Little Ice Age (11th-19th centuries).
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Automated seizure detection promises to aid in the prevention of SUDEP and improve the quality of care by assisting in epilepsy diagnosis and treatment adjustment.
In this phase 2 exploratory study, ...the performance of a contactless, marker-free, video-based motor seizure detection system is assessed, considering video recordings of patients (age 0-80 years), in terms of sensitivity, specificity, and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves, with respect to video-electroencephalographic monitoring (VEM) as the medical gold standard. Detection performances of five categories of motor epileptic seizures (tonic-clonic, hyperkinetic, tonic, unclassified motor, automatisms) and psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) with a motor behavioral component lasting for >10 s were assessed independently at different detection thresholds (rather than as a categorical classification problem). A total of 230 patients were recruited in the study, of which 334 in-scope (>10 s) motor seizures (out of 1,114 total seizures) were identified by VEM reported from 81 patients. We analyzed both daytime and nocturnal recordings. The control threshold was evaluated at a range of values to compare the sensitivity (
= 81 subjects with seizures) and false detection rate (FDR) (
= all 230 subjects).
At optimal thresholds, the performance of seizure groups in terms of sensitivity (CI) and FDR/h (CI): tonic-clonic- 95.2% (82.4, 100%); 0.09 (0.077, 0.103), hyperkinetic- 92.9% (68.5, 98.7%); 0.64 (0.59, 0.69), tonic- 78.3% (64.4, 87.7%); 5.87 (5.51, 6.23), automatism- 86.7% (73.5, 97.7%); 3.34 (3.12, 3.58), unclassified motor seizures- 78% (65.4, 90.4%); 4.81 (4.50, 5.14), and PNES- 97.7% (97.7, 100%); 1.73 (1.61, 1.86). A generic threshold recommended for all motor seizures under study asserted 88% sensitivity and 6.48 FDR/h.
These results indicate an achievable performance for major motor seizure detection that is clinically applicable for use as a seizure screening solution in diagnostic workflows.
A method to rapidly identify the presence of chronic pain would enhance the care of HIV-infected individuals, but such an instrument has not been assessed in this population to date. We assessed the ...construct validity of the two-question Brief Chronic Pain Questionnaire (BCPQ) in HIV-infected patients by assessing the association between BCPQ responses and known correlates of chronic pain. Participants in the University of Alabama Center for AIDS Research Network of Integrated Clinical Systems cohort completed the BCPQ, along with the EuroQOL to assess physical function, the PHQ-9 to assess depression, and the PHQ-anxiety module to assess anxiety. Among 100 participants, 25% were female, the mean age was 45 (SD 12), 63% were African American, 27% were publicly insured, the median CD4(+) T cell count was 572 cells/mm(3) (IQR 307-788), and 82% had an undetectable viral load. Participants with chronic pain were more likely to have impaired mobility (43% vs. 12%, p=0.001), difficulty with usual activities (47% vs. 12%, p<0.001), lower overall health state (70 vs. 84, p=0.002), pain today (80% vs. 27%, p<0.001), depression (30% vs. 15%, p=0.10), and anxiety (43% vs. 10%, p<0.001) than those without chronic pain. This study provides preliminary evidence for the BCPQ as a brief questionnaire to identify the presence of chronic pain in HIV care settings.
A large fraction of dorsal wing surface ground scales show an unusual granulated nature, composed of material apparently extruded from the scale lumen in male individuals of both Trichonis Hewitson, ...1865 species in the tribe Eumaeini, a rare Guyanian–Amazonian genus. Only a few not-granulated male specimens are known, females are not granulated. The granulated scales are investigated by various microscopic (optical, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, focused ion beam lamella cutting) and spectroscopic (optical reflectance, energy-dispersive X-ray (EDS), Raman) techniques. The characteristic blue colour unique in the South American representatives of the tribe is documented and analysed. EDS spectra show that the granules contain additional calcium and oxygen as compared with the un-granulated regions of the same scale. Electron diffraction (inside the TEM) did not reveal any crystalline component in the granules. The granulated wing surfaces of the males exhibit a UV absorption band at 280 nm, characteristic for biogenic CaCO3; therefore, the material of the granules is tentatively identified as CaCO3. It is shown that the granules influence the optical properties of the dorsal wing surface resulting in a characteristic spectrum.
•Lycaenidae wings have layers of cover and ground scales.•In general cover scale lumen contains colour generating nanoarchitectures.•Ground scale lumen is undifferentiated structurally.•Trichonis male dorsal wingsurface ground scales are uniquely granulate-structured.•The granules influence the optical properties of the dorsal wingsurface.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Background and aims Plant-bacterial interactions in the rhizosphere are important in mediating soil nutrient transformations. Plants supply carbon-rich substrates to rhizobacteria as root exudates ...and bacteria mobilise soil-bound phosphate for plant nutrition. This study aimed to probe the specificity of the plant effect on bacterial gene expression in P-starved rhizosphere conditions. Methods DNA microarrays were employed to study gene expression in the rhizosphere of Lolium perenne grown under high and low phosphate regimes (330 μM vs. 3–6 μM phosphate). Root exudation under these regimes was also quantified. Phosphate-regulated gene expression of a panel of 22 genes was compared in rhizosphere, planktonic culture and during biofilm growth on an artificial root. Results Plant growth and root exudation were affected by P-availability. P-limited conditions induced increased expression of bacterial genes of an aromatic degradation pathway (catA), heavy metal sensing (PA2523), and membrane proteins (glpM, crcB), while genes involved in cell motility and amino acid uptake/ metabolism were downregulated. A crcB mutant was impaired in rhizosphere survival under low phosphate conditions, though glpM and catA mutants were not affected. Several of the genes studied were induced by phosphate limitation in all three lifestyles studied. Conclusions Our results show the importance of the plant-microbe interaction in controlling the bacterial transcriptional response in a phosphate-limited rhizosphere.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NMLJ, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
This study investigates how saprolization influences inherent rare-earth element (REE) source rock signatures and how depositional environment(s) and diagenetic reactions ultimately impact the REE ...signature within sedimentary kaolin bodies. Rare-earth element geochemistry signatures are particularly useful for tracking element sources and mobility and are, therefore, powerful tools in the investigation of clay mineral formation and diagenesis. Rare-earth element and bulk chemical compositions were determined using discrete chemical analyses and chemical imaging. Saprolitic materials show an enrichment in the light and heavy REEs, compared with the parent material, with enhanced Ce/Eu anomalies. Light REEs within sedimentary kaolins are associated with phosphate mineralogy and have experienced variable degrees of diagenetic fractionation and mobilization. Cretaceous kaolins display more light REE mobility compared with Tertiary kaolins, which show very little REE fractionation. Degrees of REE fractionation are driven primarily by differences in sedimentary kaolin physical properties and the presence of organic acids in groundwater. Unfortunately, the provenance of the Georgia kaolins could not be determined based solely on the trace-element and REE compositions because fractionations during saprolization and diagenesis mask much of the inherent provenance signatures. Finally, implications for the REEs as an economic deposit and their beneficiation are discussed.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
Ebola Virus Disease in West Africa — The First 9 Months Rebaudet, Stanislas; Moore, Sandra; Piarroux, Renaud ...
New England journal of medicine/The New England journal of medicine,
01/2015, Volume:
372, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
To the Editor:
The World Health Organization (WHO) Ebola Response Team (Oct. 16 issue)
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predicted that the current Ebola epidemic would claim a dreadful 20,000 combined cases by early November 2014, ...assuming no change in the control measures applied in West Africa. The threat that Ebola poses to national public health and social, economic, and security foundations may worsen if a secondary epidemic eventually explodes in the region. Since June 2014, nearby Ghana has been affected by a serious cholera epidemic that was responsible for 12,622 cases as of September 6.
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Current cholera and Ebola zones are separated by Ivory . . .
Chronic pain is a common, disabling, and costly comorbidity, particularly in people living with HIV (PLWH). This study developed and pilot tested a pain self-management intervention for chronic pain ...tailored to PLWH called Skills TO Manage Pain (STOMP).
Given the additional resources needed to deliver STOMP in HIV clinical settings, an important objective of the pilot study was to assess not only STOMP's preliminary efficacy, but also its cost-effectiveness.
The present study draws from a 44-participant, 2-arm randomized pilot trial of the STOMP intervention vs usual care among PLWH and at least moderate chronic pain (Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT02824562). Cost-effectiveness is presented as the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). Costs were considered from the clinic perspective over a 1-year time horizon using real costs from the pilot trial. It was conservatively assumed there would be no costs savings. The Standard Gamble (SG) method was used to directly measure utilities.
Thirty-six participants met inclusion criteria for the present analyses. Mean age was 52 years; 61% were female and 86% were black. The total cost of STOMP was $483.83 per person. Using the SG method, the change in QALYs was 0.15, corresponding to an ICER of $3,225.
STOMP's cost/QALY is substantially lower than the $50,000 to $100,000/QALY benchmark often used to indicate cost-effectiveness. Although based on a pilot trial and, therefore, preliminary, these findings are promising, and suggest the importance of cost analyses in future STOMP trials.
To date, most genetic association studies of tobacco use have been conducted in European American subjects using the phenotype of smoking quantity (cigarettes per day). However, smoking quantity is a ...very imprecise measure of exposure to tobacco smoke constituents. Analyses of alternate phenotypes and populations may improve our understanding of tobacco addiction genetics. Cotinine is the major metabolite of nicotine, and measuring serum cotinine levels in smokers provides a more objective measure of nicotine dose than smoking quantity. Previous genetic association studies of serum cotinine have focused on individual genes. We conducted a genetic association study of the biomarker in African American (N=365) and European American (N=315) subjects from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study using a chip containing densely-spaced tag SNPs in ∼2100 genes. We found that rs11187065, located in the non-coding region (intron 1) of insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE), was the most strongly associated SNP (p=8.91 × 10(-6)) in the African American cohort, whereas rs11763963, located on chromosome 7 outside of a gene transcript, was the most strongly associated SNP in European Americans (p=1.53 × 10(-6)). We then evaluated how the top variant association in each population performed in the other group. We found that the association of rs11187065 in IDE was also associated with the phenotype in European Americans (p=0.044). Our top SNP association in European Americans, rs11763963 was non-polymorphic in our African American sample. It has been previously shown that psychostimulant self-administration is reduced in animals with lower insulin because of interference with dopamine transmission in the brain reward centers. Our finding provides a platform for further investigation of this, or additional mechanisms, involving the relationship between insulin and self-administered nicotine dose.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
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