People demonstrate a memory advantage for animate (living) concepts over inanimate (nonliving) concepts in a variety of memory tasks, including free recall, but we do not know the mechanism(s) that ...produces this effect. We compared the retrieval dynamics (serial-position effects, probability of first recall, output order, categorical clustering, and recall contiguity) of animate and inanimate words in a typical free recall task to help elucidate this effect. Participants were more likely to recall animate than inanimate words, but we found few, if any, differences in retrieval dynamics by word type. The animacy advantage was obtained across serial position, including occurring in both the primacy and recency regions of the lists. Participants were equally likely to recall an animate or inanimate word first on the tests and did not prioritize recalling words of one type earlier in retrieval or demonstrate strong clustering by animacy at recall. Participants showed some greater contiguity of recall for inanimate words, but this outcome ran counter to the animacy effect. Together, the results suggest that the animacy advantage stems from increased item-specific memory strength for animate over inanimate words and is unlikely to stem from intentional or strategic differences in encoding or retrieval by word type, categorical strategies, or differences in temporal organization. Although the present results do not directly support or refute any current explanations for the animacy advantage, we suggest that measures of retrieval dynamics can help to inspire or constrain future accounts for this effect and can be incorporated into relevant hypothesis testing.
Nonoxidative methane dehydroaromatization (MDA: 6CH₄ ↔ C₆H₆ + 9H₂) using shape-selective Mo/zeolite catalysts is a key technology for exploitation of stranded natural gas reserves by direct ...conversion into transportable liquids. However, this reaction faces two major issues: The one-pass conversion is limited by thermodynamics, and the catalyst deactivates quickly through kinetically favored formation of coke. We show that integration of an electrochemical BaZrO₃-based membrane exhibiting both proton and oxide ion conductivity into an MDA reactor gives rise to high aromatic yields and improved catalyst stability. These effects originate from the simultaneous extraction of hydrogen and distributed injection of oxide ions along the reactor length. Further, we demonstrate that the electrochemical co-ionic membrane reactor enables high carbon efficiencies (up to 80%) that improve the technoeconomic process viability.
Background
Multiple rapid swallow has been proposed as a challenge test that can help diagnosis and management of patients with esophageal motility disorders. Our aim was to characterize specific ...pressure patterns in response to a rapid drink challenge test in patients with esophageal motility disorders, and to determine the potential of these patterns in the diagnosis of patients with esophageal symptoms but normal single swallow manometry.
Methods
Pressure responses to a rapid drink challenge test (rapid swallow of 200 mL water) were prospectively analyzed in 30 healthy controls and 285 patients with esophageal symptoms: 33 achalasia, 68 hypocontractile motility, 27 hypercontractile motility and 160 patients with normal manometry.
Key Results
Three different patterns of responses were characterized: (i) hypopressive or normal pattern that was shared by healthy subjects and patients with hypocontractile peristalsis, and discriminated patients with non‐obstructive hypercontractile motility or achalasia (p < 0.001; sensitivity 80% and specificity 93%), (ii) brief hyperpressive pattern observed in patients with non‐obstructive hypercontractile disorders (distal spasm and hypercontractile esophagus), and (iii) prolonged hyperpressive pattern, that discriminated achalasia from patients with non‐obstructive hypercontractile disorders (p < 0.001; sensitivity 70% and specificity 85%). Seventeen percent of patients with esophageal symptoms but normal single swallow manometry had abnormal responses to the drink challenge test: 14% a brief hyperpressive pattern, and 3% a prolonged hyperpressive pattern.
Conclusions & Inferences
Specific patterns of responses to a rapid drink challenge test could help identification of motility disorders in patients with esophageal symptoms but unclear or normal esophageal manometry.
Specific motor patterns elicited by a rapid drink challenge test discriminate between different groups of esophageal motility disorders, and detect abnormal motor responses in patients with clinical suspicion of esophageal motility disorders but normal HRM. To characterize specific pressure patterns in diverse esophageal motility disorders and to determine the potential of these patterns in the diagnosis of patients with normal manometry, a 200‐mL multiple swallow test was performed in 30 healthy controls and 285 patients with esophageal motility disorders. Three different patterns of responses were characterized, that discriminated: (i) healthy subjects and patients with hypocontractile disorders; (ii) patients with non‐obstructive hypercontractile disorders; and (iii) patients with achalasia. Seventeen percent of patients with esophageal symptoms but normal manometry had abnormal responses to the 200‐mL challenge test.
Summary
The International Prognostic Index (IPI) is the most widely used score for non‐Hodgkin lymphoma but lacks the ability to identify a high‐risk population in diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma ...(DLBCL). Low absolute lymphocyte count and high monocytes have proved to be unfavourable factors. Red‐cell distribution width (RDW) has been associated with inflammation and beta‐2 microglobulin (B2M) with tumour load. The retrospective study included 992 patients with DLBCL treated with R‐CHOP. In the multivariate analysis, age, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG‐PS), stage, bulky mass, B2M, RDW, and lymphocyte/monocyte ratio (LMR) were independently related to progression‐free survival (PFS). A new prognosis score was generated with these variables including age categorized into three groups (0, 1, 2 points); ECOG ≥ 3–4 with two; stage III/IV, bulky mass, high B2M, LMR < 2·25 and RDW > 0·96 with one each; for a maximum of 9. This score could improve the discrimination of a very high‐risk subgroup with five‐year PFS and overall survival (OS) of 19% and 24% versus 45% and 59% of R (revised)‐IPI respectively. This score also showed greater predictive ability than IPI. A new score is presented including complete blood cell count variables and B2M, which are readily available in real‐life practice without additional tests. Compared to R‐IPI, it shows a more precise high‐risk assessment and risk discrimination for both PFS and OS.
Pain usually results from activation of nociceptive afferents by actually or potentially tissue-damaging stimuli. Pain may also arise by activity generated within the nervous system without adequate ...stimulation of its peripheral sensory endings. For this type of pain, the International Association for the Study of Pain introduced the term neuropathic pain, defined as "pain initiated or caused by a primary lesion or dysfunction in the nervous system." While this definition has been useful in distinguishing some characteristics of neuropathic and nociceptive types of pain, it lacks defined boundaries. Since the sensitivity of the nociceptive system is modulated by its adequate activation (e.g., by central sensitization), it has been difficult to distinguish neuropathic dysfunction from physiologic neuroplasticity. We present a more precise definition developed by a group of experts from the neurologic and pain community: pain arising as a direct consequence of a lesion or disease affecting the somatosensory system. This revised definition fits into the nosology of neurologic disorders. The reference to the somatosensory system was derived from a wide range of neuropathic pain conditions ranging from painful neuropathy to central poststroke pain. Because of the lack of a specific diagnostic tool for neuropathic pain, a grading system of definite, probable, and possible neuropathic pain is proposed. The grade possible can only be regarded as a working hypothesis, which does not exclude but does not diagnose neuropathic pain. The grades probable and definite require confirmatory evidence from a neurologic examination. This grading system is proposed for clinical and research purposes.
Membranes of sodium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonate) imide (NaTFSI) complexed with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) salt have been prepared by a solvent-free hot-pressing technique with different EO:Na molar ...ratio. All membranes show good ionic conductivities in the range of 10-3 S cm-1 above 70 degree C. However, the more NaTFSI-concentrated samples are sticky gums due to the plasticizing nature of the anion. The PEO20:NaTFSI sample exhibits the compromise of conductivity, thermal and mechanical properties. The addition of nanometric SiO2 to the PEO20:NaTFSI membranes further enhances their mechanical properties. Moreover, the PEO20:NaTFSI + 5 wt.% SiO2 membranes show similar ionic conductivity and similar anodic electrochemical stability in comparison to the ceramic free PEO20:NaTFSI sample. In a Na(s)/polymer electrolyte/Na(s) symmetrical cell followed up to 30 days, the presence of the ceramic filler slightly increased the interface resistance in comparison to the ceramic-free membrane. Nuclear magnetic resonance determinations of anion diffusion coefficients and Na+ mobility suggest that presence of filler may have a positive affect on the cation transference number that is in accordance with the tNa+ transference number measurement.
Background and purpose: We have revised the previous EFNS guidelines on neuropathic pain (NP) assessment, which aimed to provide recommendations for the diagnostic process, screening tools and ...questionnaires, quantitative sensory testing (QST), microneurography, pain‐related reflexes and evoked potentials, functional neuroimaging and skin biopsy.
Methods: We have checked and rated the literature published in the period 2004–2009, according to the EFNS method of classification for diagnostic procedures.
Results: Most of the previous recommendations were reinforced by the new studies. The main revisions relate to: (i) the new definition of NP and a diagnostic grading system; (ii) several new validated clinical screening tools that identify NP components, and questionnaires which assess the different types of NP; (iii) recent high‐quality studies on laser‐evoked potentials (LEPs) and skin biopsy.
Conclusions: History and bedside examination are still fundamental to a correct diagnosis, whilst screening tools and questionnaires are useful in indicating probable NP; QST is also useful for indicating the latter, and to assess provoked pains and treatment response. Amongst laboratory tests, LEPs are the best tool for assessing Aδ pathway dysfunction, and skin biopsy for assessing neuropathies with distal loss of unmyelinated nerve fibres.
Exosomes are biomolecular nanostructures released from cells. They carry specific biomolecular information and are mainly researched for their exquisite properties as a biomarker source and delivery ...system. We introduce exosomes in the context of other extracellular vesicles, describe their biophysical isolation and characterisation and discuss their biochemical profiling. Motivated by our interest in early-life nutrition and health, and corresponding studies enrolling lactating mothers and their infants, we zoom into exosomes derived from human breast milk. We argue that these should be more extensively studied at proteomic and micronutrient profiling level, because breast milk exosomes provide a more specific window into breast milk quality from an immunological (proteomics) and nutritional (micronutrient) perspective. Such enhanced breast milk exosome profiling would thereby complement and enrich the more classical whole breast milk analysis and is expected to deliver more functional insights than the rather descriptive analysis of human milk, or larger fractions thereof, such as milk fat globule membrane. We substantiate our arguments by a bioinformatic analysis of two published proteomic data sets of human breast milk exosomes.
Understanding how gender norms affect parents' communication of genetic and cancer risk information to their children can enable healthcare professionals to better facilitate cascade genetic testing. ...We conducted a qualitative study with semi‐structured interviews to determine social factors associated with parents carrying the BRCA1/2 pathogenic variants who communicated cancer prevention practices to their children. Thirty adult carriers (23 women, 7 men) participated in the interviews. All had at least one child aged over 8 years old. Interview topics included their discovery of the variants, their relationship to their body and to the risk of cancer, as well as disclosure to and subsequent communication with their children after testing positive for BRCA1/2. The interviews were analyzed qualitatively, and the major themes identified were identified and compared. We described the roles played by the BRCA1/2 carriers and their partners in communicating cancer prevention practices to their children, from how they managed their own risk of cancer after testing positive, to how they disclosed the risks linked to these pathogenic variants to their children. We also described their involvement in the process of their children going for professional genetic consultation. Gender norms lead women to be more attentive than men to their own health and that of their loved ones. In the context of the transmission of genetic information to children, gender differences in behavior are reinforced by perceptions of the risks of BRCA1/2 variants and women's related health management practices. Cancer prevention is shaped by complex links between gender norms and health management practices.
The redefinition of neuropathic pain as "pain arising as a direct consequence of a lesion or disease affecting the somatosensory system," which was suggested by the International Association for the ...Study of Pain (IASP) Special Interest Group on Neuropathic Pain (NeuPSIG) in 2008, has been widely accepted. In contrast, the proposed grading system of possible, probable, and definite neuropathic pain from 2008 has been used to a lesser extent. Here, we report a citation analysis of the original NeuPSIG grading paper of 2008, followed by an analysis of its use by an expert panel and recommendations for an improved grading system. As of February, 2015, 608 eligible articles in Scopus cited the paper, 414 of which cited the neuropathic pain definition. Of 220 clinical studies citing the paper, 56 had used the grading system. The percentage using the grading system increased from 5% in 2009 to 30% in 2014. Obstacles to a wider use of the grading system were identified, including (1) questions about the relative significance of confirmatory tests, (2) the role of screening tools, and (3) uncertainties about what is considered a neuroanatomically plausible pain distribution. Here, we present a revised grading system with an adjusted order, better reflecting clinical practice, improvements in the specifications, and a word of caution that even the "definite" level of neuropathic pain does not always indicate causality. In addition, we add a table illustrating the area of pain and sensory abnormalities in common neuropathic pain conditions and propose areas for further research.
PDF
