Abstract
We perform a joint determination of the distance-redshift relation and cosmic expansion rate at redshifts z = 0.44, 0.6 and 0.73 by combining measurements of the baryon acoustic peak and ...Alcock-Paczynski distortion from galaxy clustering in the WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey, using a large ensemble of mock catalogues to calculate the covariance between the measurements. We find that D
A(z) = (1205 ± 114, 1380 ± 95, 1534 ± 107) Mpc and H(z) = (82.6 ± 7.8, 87.9 ± 6.1, 97.3 ± 7.0) km s−1 Mpc−1 at these three redshifts. Further combining our results with other baryon acoustic oscillation and distant supernovae data sets, we use a Monte Carlo Markov Chain technique to determine the evolution of the Hubble parameter H(z) as a stepwise function in nine redshift bins of width Δz = 0.1, also marginalizing over the spatial curvature. Our measurements of H(z), which have precision better than 7 per cent in most redshift bins, are consistent with the expansion history predicted by a cosmological constant dark energy model, in which the expansion rate accelerates at redshift z < 0.7.
Conclusions In INFUSE-AMI, women compared to men with anterior MI had longer times from presentation to PCI and higher unadjusted MACE rates which were attributable to baseline differences in risk ...factors and delayed treatment times, but not to different infarct size.
Purpose
This study aimed to assess the reliability of the preoperative occlusal matrix technique in terms of the surface Vickers microhardness (VMH) of the underlying composite restorative material.
...Materials and Methods
Two hundred microhybrid composite cylinders were built up and light‐cured in a single‐layer step, forming two experimental groups (N = 100) according to their heights (1.5 mm/2 mm). Each group was divided into five subgroups (N = 20) depending on the matrix thickness (no matrix/0.5 mm/1 mm/2 mm/3 mm). Half the specimens per subgroup (N = 10) were randomly polymerized with a quartz‐tungsten‐halogen (QTH) light‐curing unit (LCU). The remaining half were cured using a light‐emitting diode lamp. The top and bottom samples' sides were tested for VMH at 1 hour and 24 hours post‐curing using a universal VMH machine. A multiple analysis of variance with repeated measurements for the “surface” factor and the Student–Newman–Keuls test were run (α = 0.05). Bottom/top microhardness ratios were compared with the empirically accepted limit (0.8). Surface topography was analyzed under a scanning electron microscope.
Results
The thinnest matrices provided the significantly best VMH values. LCU, disc height, and time also contributed to VMH. At 24 hours, 2‐mm high discs polymerized with QTH resulted in inadequate microhardness ratios when 1‐mm thick to 3‐mm thick matrices were used.
Conclusion
The thinnest matrices are the most recommendable ones.
Clinical Significance
The esthetics and occlusal reproducibility achieved with customized occlusal matrices fabricated before cavity preparation have been widely demonstrated. However, their effect on the physical properties of the restorations deserves further investigation. Although more studies are necessary, the thinnest matrices seem to be the most suitable to preserve the composite surface VMH and the curing depth.
One possible channel for the formation of dwarf galaxies involves birth in the tidal tails of interacting galaxies. We report the detection of a bright UV tidal tail and several young tidal dwarf ...galaxy (TDG) candidates in the post-merger galaxy NGC 4922 in the Coma cluster. Based on a two-component population model (combining young and old stellar populations), we find that the light of tidal tail predominantly comes from young stars (a few Myr old). The Galaxy Evolution Explorer ultraviolet data played a critical role in the parameter (age and mass) estimation. Our stellar mass estimates of the TDG candidates are ~106-7 M, typical for dwarf galaxies.
Investigation into pre-nucleation aggregates indicating hydrate formation of caffeine and theophylline in aqueous acetonitrile showed hydrate crystallisation at much lower water fraction than ...significant solute self-association. Molecular dynamics simulations indicate that the solvent separates on the molecular scale and that solute molecules preferentially localise on the phase interface.
The microheterogeneous region of aqueous acetonitrile leads to preferred localisation and aggregation of caffeine and theophylline on the interface.
Chromium picolinate (CrPic) has been shown to attenuate weight gain, but the mechanism underlying this effect is unknown.
We assessed the effect of CrPic in modulating food intake in healthy, ...overweight, adult women who reported craving carbohydrates (Study 1) and performed confirmatory studies in Sprague-Dawley rats (Study 2). Study 1 utilized a double-blind placebo-controlled design and randomly assigned 42 overweight adult women with carbohydrate cravings to receive 1,000 mg of CrPic or placebo for 8 weeks. Food intake at breakfast, lunch, and dinner was directly measured at baseline, week 1, and week 8. For Study 2, Sprague-Dawley rats were fasted for 24 h and subsequently injected intraperitoneally with 0, 1, 10, or 50 microg/kg CrPic. Subsequently, rats were implanted with an indwelling third ventricular cannula. Following recovery, 0, 0.4, 4, or 40 ng of CrPic was injected directly into the brain via the intracerebroventricular cannula, and spontaneous 24-h food intake was measured.
Study 1 demonstrated that CrPic, as compared to placebo, reduced food intake (P<0.0001), hunger levels (P<0.05), and fat cravings (P<0.0001) and tended to decrease body weight (P=0.08). In study 2, intraperitoneal administration resulted in a subtle decrease in food intake at only the highest dose (P=0.03). However, when administered centrally, CrPic dose-dependently decreased food intake (P<0.05).
These data suggest CrPic has a role in food intake regulation, which may be mediated by a direct effect on the brain.
to identify the information and stress-management topics of most interest to low-income, predominantly African American cancer survivors.
descriptive, cross sectional.
outpatient oncology clinic in a ...public hospital in Birmingham, Alabama.
25 patients with cancer; 12 were men, 22 were African Americans, and 16 had a 12th-grade education or less.
patients ranked potential topics to be included in an educational curriculum.
quantitative rankings of information and stress-management priorities.
learning about cancer, understanding cancer treatments, relieving cancer pain, and keeping well in mind and body were the most highly ranked topics among those offered within the American Cancer Society's I Can Cope curriculum, which also included supportive topics such as mobilizing social support. The preferred stress-management topics were humor therapy, music therapy, meditation, and relaxation; lower-ranked topics included pet therapy and art as therapy.
cancer survivors appear most interested in topics specific to their illness and treatment versus supportive topics. Stress management also received high rankings.
nurses have a key role in providing patient education and support. Tailoring education programs may better target specific needs and improve the quality of cancer care of underserved patients.
Summary Background Bilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria (BPP), the most common form of regional polymicrogyria, causes the congenital bilateral perisylvian syndrome, featuring oromotor dysfunction, ...cognitive impairment, and epilepsy. The causes of BPP are heterogeneous, but only a few genetic causes have been reported. The aim of this study was to identify additional genetic causes of BPP and characterise their frequency in this population. Methods Children (aged ≤18 years) with polymicrogyria were enrolled into our research programme from July, 1980, to October, 2015, at two centres (Florence, Italy, and Seattle, WA, USA). We obtained samples (blood and saliva) throughout this period at both centres and did whole-exome sequencing on DNA from eight trios (two parents and one affected child) with BPP in 2014. After the identification of mosaic PIK3R2 mutations in two of these eight children, we performed targeted screening of PIK3R2 by two methods in a cohort of 118 children with BPP. First, we performed targeted sequencing of the entire PIK3R2 gene by single molecule molecular inversion probes (smMIPs) on 38 patients with BPP with normal to large head size. Second, we did amplicon sequencing of the recurrent PIK3R2 mutation (Gly373Arg) in 80 children with various types of polymicrogyria including BPP. One additional patient had clinical whole-exome sequencing done independently, and was included in this study because of the phenotypic similarity to our cohort. Findings We identified a mosaic mutation (Gly373Arg) in a regulatory subunit of the PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway, PIK3R2 , in two children with BPP. Of the 38 patients with BPP and normal to large head size who underwent targeted next-generation sequencing by smMIPs, we identified constitutional and mosaic PIK3R2 mutations in 17 additional children. In parallel, one patient had the recurrent PIK3R2 mutation identified by clinical whole-exome sequencing. Seven of these 20 patients had BPP alone, and 13 had BPP in association with features of the megalencephaly-polymicrogyria-polydactyly-hydrocephalus (MPPH) syndrome. 19 patients had the same mutation (Gly373Arg), and one had a nearby missense mutation (Lys376Glu). Mutations were constitutional in 12 patients and mosaic in eight patients. In patients with mosaic mutations, we noted substantial variation in alternate (mutant) allele levels, ranging from ten (3%) of 377 reads to 39 (37%) of 106 reads, equivalent to 5–73% of cells analysed. Levels of mosaicism varied from undetectable to 37 (17%) of 216 reads in blood-derived DNA compared with 2030 (29%) of 6889 reads to 275 (43%) of 634 reads in saliva-derived DNA. Interpretation Constitutional and mosaic mutations in the PIK3R2 gene are associated with developmental brain disorders ranging from BPP with a normal head size to the MPPH syndrome. The phenotypic variability and low-level mosaicism, which challenge conventional molecular methods, have important implications for genetic testing and counselling. Funding US National Institutes of Health.
In this review, we discuss recent work by the ENIGMA Consortium (http://enigma.ini.usc.edu) – a global alliance of over 500 scientists spread across 200 institutions in 35 countries collectively ...analyzing brain imaging, clinical, and genetic data. Initially formed to detect genetic influences on brain measures, ENIGMA has grown to over 30 working groups studying 12 major brain diseases by pooling and comparing brain data. In some of the largest neuroimaging studies to date – of schizophrenia and major depression – ENIGMA has found replicable disease effects on the brain that are consistent worldwide, as well as factors that modulate disease effects. In partnership with other consortia including ADNI, CHARGE, IMAGEN and others11Abbreviations: ADNI, Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (http://www.adni-info.org); CHARGE, the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology Consortium (http://www.chargeconsortium.com); IMAGEN, IMAging GENetics Consortium (http://www.imagen-europe.com)., ENIGMA's genomic screens – now numbering over 30,000 MRI scans – have revealed at least 8 genetic loci that affect brain volumes. Downstream of gene findings, ENIGMA has revealed how these individual variants – and genetic variants in general – may affect both the brain and risk for a range of diseases. The ENIGMA consortium is discovering factors that consistently affect brain structure and function that will serve as future predictors linking individual brain scans and genomic data. It is generating vast pools of normative data on brain measures – from tens of thousands of people – that may help detect deviations from normal development or aging in specific groups of subjects. We discuss challenges and opportunities in applying these predictors to individual subjects and new cohorts, as well as lessons we have learned in ENIGMA's efforts so far.
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