The evolutionary origin of the telencephalon, the most anterior part of the vertebrate brain, remains obscure. Since no obvious counterpart to the telencephalon has yet been identified in ...invertebrate chordates, it is difficult to trace telencephalic origins. One way to identify homologous brain parts between distantly related animal groups is to focus on the combinatorial expression of conserved regionalisation genes that specify brain regions.
Here, we report the combined expression of conserved transcription factors known to specify the telencephalon in the vertebrates in the chordate amphioxus. Focusing on adult specimens, we detect specific co-expression of these factors in the dorsal part of the anterior brain vesicle, which we refer to as Pars anterodorsalis (PAD). As in vertebrates, expression of the transcription factors FoxG1, Emx and Lhx2/9 overlaps that of Pax4/6 dorsally and of Nkx2.1 ventrally, where we also detect expression of the Hedgehog ligand. This specific pattern of co-expression is not observed prior to metamorphosis. Similar to the vertebrate telencephalon, the amphioxus PAD is characterised by the presence of GABAergic neurons and dorsal accumulations of glutamatergic as well as dopaminergic neurons. We also observe sustained proliferation of neuronal progenitors at the ventricular zone of the amphioxus brain vesicle, as observed in the vertebrate brain.
Our findings suggest that the PAD in the adult amphioxus brain vesicle and the vertebrate telencephalon evolved from the same brain precursor region in ancestral chordates, which would imply homology of these structures. Our comparative data also indicate that this ancestral brain already contained GABA-, glutamatergic and dopaminergic neurons, as is characteristic for the olfactory bulb of the vertebrate telencephalon. We further speculate that the telencephalon might have evolved in vertebrates via a heterochronic shift in developmental timing.
We provide timing solutions for 45 radio pulsars discovered by the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope. These pulsars were found in the Green Bank North Celestial Cap pulsar survey, an all-GBT-sky ...survey being carried out at a frequency of . We include pulsar timing data from the Green Bank Telescope and Low Frequency Array. Our sample includes five fully recycled millisecond pulsars (MSPs, three of which are in a binary system), a new relativistic double neutron star system, an intermediate-mass binary pulsar, a mode-changing pulsar, a 138 ms pulsar with a very low magnetic field, and several nulling pulsars. We have measured two post-Keplerian parameters and thus the masses of both objects in the double neutron star system. We also report a tentative companion mass measurement via Shapiro delay in a binary MSP. Two of the MSPs can be timed with high precision and have been included in pulsar timing arrays being used to search for low-frequency gravitational waves, while a third MSP is a member of the black widow class of binaries. Proper motion is measurable in five pulsars, and we provide an estimate of their space velocity. We report on an optical counterpart to a new black widow system and provide constraints on the optical counterparts to other binary MSPs. We also present a preliminary analysis of nulling pulsars in our sample. These results demonstrate the scientific return of long timing campaigns on pulsars of all types.
Women suffer more often from depression than males, indicating that hormones might be involved in the etiology of this disease. Low as well as high testosterone (T) levels are related to depression ...and well-being in women, T plasma levels correlate to depression in a parabolic curve: at about 0.4–0.6 ng/ml plasma free T a minimum of depression is detected. Lower levels are related to depression, osteoporosis, declining libido, dyspareunia and an increase in total body fat mass. Androgen levels in women decrease continuously to about 50% before menopause compared to a 20-year-old women. Androgen levels even decline 70% within 24 h when women undergo surgical removal of the ovaries. Conventional oral contraception or HRT cause a decline in androgens because of higher levels of SHBG. Hyperandrogenic states exist, like hirsutism, acne and polycystic ovary syndrome. Social research suggests high androgen levels cause aggressive behavior in men and women and as a consequence may cause depression. Higher androgen values are more pronounced at young ages and before and after delivery of a baby and might be responsible for the “baby blues”. It was found that depression in pubertal girls correlated best with an increase in T levels in contrast to the common belief that “environmental factors” during the time of growing up might be responsible for emotional “up and downs”. T replacement therapy might be useful in perimenopausal women suffering from hip obesity, also named gynoid obesity. Abdominal obesity in men and women is linked to type 2 diabetes and coronary heart diseases. Testosterone replacement therapy in hypoandrogenic postmenopausal women might not only protect against obesity but also reduce the risk of developing these diseases. Antiandrogenic progestins might be useful for women suffering from hyperandrogenic state in peri- and postmenopause. Individual dosing schemes balancing side effects and beneficial effects are absolutely necessary. Substantial interindividual variability in T plasma values exists, making it difficult to utilize them for diagnostic purposes. Therefore a “four-level-hormone classification scheme” was developed identifying when estradiol (E) and T levels are out of balance. (1) Low E–low T levels are correlated with osteoporosis, depression, and obesity; (2) high E–low T with obesity, decreased libido; (3) high T–low E levels with aggression, depression, increased libido, and substance abuse; (4) high E–high T with type II diabetes risk, breast cancer and cardiovascular risk. Testosterone delivery systems are needed where beneficial and negative effects can be balanced. Any woman diagnosed for osteoporosis should be questioned for symptoms of depression.
ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is one of the four major detectors located at the LHC at CERN, focusing on the study of heavy-ion collisions. The ALICE High Level Trigger (HLT) is a compute ...cluster which reconstructs the events and compresses the data in real-time. The data compression by the HLT is a vital part of data taking especially during the heavy-ion runs in order to be able to store the data which implies that reliability of the whole cluster is an important matter. To guarantee a consistent state among all compute nodes of the HLT cluster we have automatized the operation as much as possible. For automatic deployment of the nodes we use Foreman with locally mirrored repositories and for configuration management of the nodes we use Puppet. Important parameters like temperatures, network traffic, CPU load etc. of the nodes are monitored with Zabbix. During periods without beam the HLT cluster is used for tests and as one of the WLCG Grid sites to compute offline jobs in order to maximize the usage of our cluster. To prevent interference with normal HLT operations we separate the virtual machines running the Grid jobs from the normal HLT operation via virtual networks (VLANs). In this paper we give an overview of the ALICE HLT operation in 2016.
Abstract
Background
The purpose of the study is to evaluate the performance and agreement of the rapid point-of-care (POCT) urine dipstick testing in the emergency department (ED) to a ...laboratory-automated platform.
Methods
A total of 30 urine specimens were collected from the emergency department at our hospital and were simultaneously tested for urinalysis (UA) on the POCT Siemens Clinitek Status+ analyzer using the Multistix 10SG strip. In the laboratory, we performed the tests on the automated ARKRAY Aution MAXTM instrument, using the Aution Sticks 9EB strips. Samples with more than a trace of leukocyte esterase and/or nitrates are considered positive for a urinalysis and further, the samples were reflexed to urine culture. The performance of both platforms was analyzed using EP Evaluator (Data Innovations LLC.).
Results
A total of 30 urine specimens were analyzed for UA using both the POCT and automated laboratory analyzers. The agreement (95% CI) between leukocyte esterase, nitrites, and blood are as follows: 53.3% (36.1 to 69.8%); 96.7% (83.3 to 99.4%), and 70.0% (52.1 to 83.3%) (see Table 1). Furthermore, out of the 30 specimens that were tested on both platforms, there was prominent discordance between the POCT and lab UA test. The 7 urine samples that were negative on POCT were positive on the laboratory UA platform. All 7 were sent for urine culture, out of 7 only 1 sample was positive for culture which was abnormal: >100 000 CFU/ml Escherichia coli. Out of 30 urine samples specimens that were tested on both platforms, 23 urine samples were in concordance with both platforms out of which 8 urine samples tested positive for culture (5 were E. coli, 1 was E. coli combined with Klebsiella pneumoniae, 1 was solely Klebsiella pneumoniae, 1 was Staphylococcus saprophyticus, and 1 was Streptococcus agalactiae). The remaining 15 urine samples resulted in no significant growth of bacteria or suggesting contamination. The sensitivity of POCT UA and laboratory-performed UA was 89% and 100% respectively. Furthermore, the specificity of POCT UA and laboratory-performed UA was 36% and 7% respectively.
Conclusion
Our data shows although POCT UA is rapid, a prominent disparity is observed between the POCT UA and automated lab testing. The lab-performed UA has greater sensitivity and specificity compared to the POCT UA. Clinicians should interpret the urine dipstick test results in a clinical context that includes the patient’s history and symptoms, especially when using POCT in the ED.
Recent discoveries on endocrine, paracrine and autocrine involvement of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in the proliferation of many tissues raised the attention of its role in reproduction and ...in the growth of various cancers as well as of benign proliferations. The intention of this article is to focus on IGF-1 in the field of gynaecology. Perimenopausal women who exhibit high IGF-1 and low IGF binding protein (IGFBP) levels, like IGFBG-3, have an increased risk of developing breast cancer. A higher risk for cervical, ovarian and endometrial cancer is related to high IGF-1 levels in post- and premenopausal women. It has been shown that myomas, by far the most common benign uterine tumor in women, grow in the presence of IGF-1, in vitro as well as in vivo. Studies show that IGF-1 is involved in the differentiation of various reproductive tissues, like endometrium and ovarian tissues. Patients suffering from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCO) frequently show insulin resistance accompanied by an increase of IGF-1 in plasma. Plasma IGF-1 levels are higher in cases of severe endometriosis, however, in endometriosis and in PCO IGF levels locally in the endometrium are reduced, what might explain infertility. Recently, it was shown that IGF facilitates the implantation of the human embryo in the endometrium during IVF. Implantation is a paradox where different immune systems have to collaborate to make implantation and survival of the pregnancy possible. IGF seems to be the starter molecule so that the two epithelia can fuse. A disturbance can result in complications during pregnancy i.e. spontaneous miscarriage, preeclampsia as well as defects of the embryo. Therefore, IGF is a useful marker in successful pregnancy as well. A better mechanistic understanding of IGF-1 action on the cellular level not only provides more elegant mechanistic explanations for the scientist, but the practitioner might find it interesting to utilize its diagnostic potential as a marker for various diseases. The relation between systemic IGF levels and local tissue IGF-1 levels has not yet been determined for all conditions.
BN-naphthalene (2) and BN-tetralin (7) have been prepared by a short synthesis from allyltributylstannane (3). The reaction of 3 with BCl3 followed by diallylamine and Et3N afforded ...(diallylamino)diallylborane (5), which gave 1,4,5,8-tetrahydro1,2azaborino1,2-a1,2azaborine (6), on treatment with Grubbs (I) catalyst. The reaction of 6 with Pd gave 2 and 7. The reaction of 7 with Cr(CO)6 gave the corresponding Cr(CO)3 adduct 8, for which a crystal structure has been obtained. The isomerization of 6 to 7 has been examined using DFT calculations.
We present timing solutions for 10 pulsars discovered in 350 MHz searches with the Green Bank Telescope. Nine of these were discovered in the Green Bank Northern Celestial Cap survey and one was ...discovered by students in the Pulsar Search Collaboratory program during an analysis of drift-scan data. Following the discovery and confirmation with the Green Bank Telescope, timing has yielded phase-connected solutions with high-precision measurements of rotational and astrometric parameters. Eight of the pulsars are slow and isolated, including PSR J0930−2301, a pulsar with a nulling fraction lower limit of ∼30% and a nulling timescale of seconds to minutes. This pulsar also shows evidence of mode changing. The remaining two pulsars have undergone recycling, accreting material from binary companions, resulting in higher spin frequencies. PSR J0557−2948 is an isolated, 44 ms pulsar that has been partially recycled and is likely a former member of a binary system that was disrupted by a second supernova. The paucity of such so-called "disrupted binary pulsars" (DRPs) compared to double neutron star (DNS) binaries can be used to test current evolutionary scenarios, especially the kicks imparted on the neutron stars in the second supernova. There is some evidence that DRPs have larger space velocities, which could explain their small numbers. PSR J1806+2819 is a 15 ms pulsar in a 44-day orbit with a low-mass white dwarf companion. We did not detect the companion in archival optical data, indicating that it must be older than 1200 Myr.
The pineal hormone melatonin is the mediator of external light to physiologic adaptation to day and night rhythms, it regulates reproduction in animals but attempts to utilize melatonin in women for ...contraception have failed. Melatonin seems to be the natural hormone to facilitate sleep in insomniac patients and causes no hang over. When applied together with benzodiazepine it allows reduction of benzodiazepine without withdrawal effects. It should be applied 2 h before sleeping time in doses between 3 and 5 mg. Melatonin acts via the γ-aminobutyric acid- and benzodiazepine receptor explaining its success in treatment of seizures in children and in adults. Constant application of benzodiazepine reduced the production of natural melatonin in rats, supporting the evidence that long-term application of benzodiazepine in humans does not restore sleeping habits but reduces natural sleeping habits even more. Low melatonin levels were seen in bulimia or neuralgia and in women with fibromyalgia; replacement reduced pain, sleeping disorders, and depression in fibromyalgia and bulimia. Melatonin profiles are a diagnostic tool to distinguish between several forms of depression, like major depression, winter depression (SAD), unipolar depression, delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS). In patients with a major depression success with antidepressants correlated with an increase in their melatonin profiles but only patients suffering from DSPS can be successfully treated with melatonin. In perimenopausal women melatonin administration did produce a change in LH, FSH and thyroid hormones. Some oncostatic properties are supported by cell culture work and studies in animals. In Nordic countries indigenous people suffer less from breast and prostate cancer, winter darkness seems to protect. The supposedly increased melatonin levels created the ‘melatonin hypothesis’. Epidemiological studies did show that blind people indeed have half the rate of breast cancers, supporting the hypothesis. Controversial results concerning melatonin and insulin resistance and glucose tolerance have been published. In postmenopausal women application of melatonin reduced glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. Pregnant women should avoid melatonin, since its teratogenic effect is not known. Patients suffering from non-hormone dependent tumors, like leukemia, should avoid melanin, since tumor growth was promoted in animal experiments. It can be expected that melatonin will receive wide consideration for treatment of sleeping disturbances, jet lag, and fibromyalgia once an oral formulation becomes available in Europe.
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