Mapping cutaneous field carcinogenesis of nonmelanoma skin cancer using mesoscopic imaging of pro-inflammation cues.

Nonmelanoma skin cancers remain the most widely diagnosed types of cancers globally. Thus, for optimal patient management, it has become imperative that we focus our efforts on the detection and monitoring of cutaneous field carcinogenesis. The concept of field cancerization (or field carcinogenesis), introduced by Slaughter in 1953 in the context of oral cancer, suggests that invasive cancer may emerge from a molecularly and genetically altered field affecting a substantial area of underlying tissue including the skin. A carcinogenic field alteration, present in precancerous tissue over a relatively large area, is not easily detected by routine visualization. Conventional dermoscopy and microscopy imaging are often limited in assessing the entire carcinogenic landscape. Recent efforts have suggested the use of noninvasive mesoscopic (between microscopic and macroscopic) optical imaging methods that can detect chronic inflammatory features to identify pre-cancerous and cancerous angiogenic changes in tissue microenvironments. This concise review covers major types of mesoscopic optical imaging modalities capable of assessing pro-inflammatory cues by quantifying blood haemoglobin parameters and hemodynamics. Importantly, these imaging modalities demonstrate the ability to detect angiogenesis and inflammation associated with actinically damaged skin. Representative experimental preclinical and human clinical studies using these imaging methods provide biological and clinical relevance to cutaneous field carcinogenesis in altered tissue microenvironments in the apparently normal epidermis and dermis. Overall, mesoscopic optical imaging modalities assessing chronic inflammatory hyperemia can enhance the understanding of cutaneous field carcinogenesis, offer a window of intervention and monitoring for actinic keratoses and nonmelanoma skin cancers and maximise currently available treatment options.

Femtosecond response of polyatomic molecules to ultra-intense hard X-rays.

X-ray free-electron lasers enable the investigation of the structure and dynamics of diverse systems, including atoms, molecules, nanocrystals and single bioparticles, under extreme conditions. Many imaging applications that target biological systems and complex materials use hard X-ray pulses with extremely high peak intensities (exceeding 1020 watts per square centimetre). However, fundamental investigations have focused mainly on the individual response of atoms and small molecules using soft X-rays with much lower intensities. Studies with intense X-ray pulses have shown that irradiated atoms reach a very high degree of ionization, owing to multiphoton absorption, which in a heteronuclear molecular system occurs predominantly locally on a heavy atom (provided that the absorption cross-section of the heavy atom is considerably larger than those of its neighbours) and is followed by efficient redistribution of the induced charge. In serial femtosecond crystallography of biological objects-an application of X-ray free-electron lasers that greatly enhances our ability to determine protein structure-the ionization of heavy atoms increases the local radiation damage that is seen in the diffraction patterns of these objects and has been suggested as a way of phasing the diffraction data. On the basis of experiments using either soft or less-intense hard X-rays, it is thought that the induced charge and associated radiation damage of atoms in polyatomic molecules can be inferred from the charge that is induced in an isolated atom under otherwise comparable irradiation conditions. Here we show that the femtosecond response of small polyatomic molecules that contain one heavy atom to ultra-intense (with intensities approaching 1020 watts per square centimetre), hard (with photon energies of 8.3 kiloelectronvolts) X-ray pulses is qualitatively different: our experimental and modelling results establish that, under these conditions, the ionization of a molecule is considerably enhanced compared to that of an individual heavy atom with the same absorption cross-section. This enhancement is driven by ultrafast charge transfer within the molecule, which refills the core holes that are created in the heavy atom, providing further targets for inner-shell ionization and resulting in the emission of more than 50 electrons during the X-ray pulse. Our results demonstrate that efficient modelling of X-ray-driven processes in complex systems at ultrahigh intensities is feasible.

Hashimoto's thyroiditis and renal transplant rejection.

PURPOSE: Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is a common autoimmune thyroid disorder that can disrupt thyroid function and homeostasis. As HT results from a dysregulated immune system, we hypothesized that these patients might be more susceptible to transplant failure; however, literature on this association is limited. The purpose of this study is to examine the association of HT with the risk of renal transplant failure. METHODS: We utilized the United States Renal Database System dataset collected from 2005 to 2014 and compared the time from first renal transplant to transplant failure in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients with a HT diagnosis to ESRD patients without a HT diagnosis that underwent renal transplant. RESULTS: A total of 144 ESRD patients had International Classification of Disease-9 claim codes for HT prior to renal transplant, amongst a total cohort of 90,301 renal transplant patients aged 18-100 and meeting criteria. Patients with HT were significantly more likely to be female, white, and to have a diagnosis of cytomegalovirus compared to patients without. ESRD patients with a HT diagnosis that underwent renal transplant had a significantly increased risk of renal transplant failure compared to those ESRD renal transplant patients without an HT diagnosis. There was a significantly increased adjusted hazard ratio for graft failure in patients with a HT diagnosis compared to those without. CONCLUSION: Thyroid health and HT may play a significant role in the development of the increased risk of renal transplant failure observed in this study. Additional studies are needed to investigate the underlying mechanisms for this association.

Inflammatory markers, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and the symptomatic course of adolescent bipolar disorder: A prospective repeated-measures study.

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have found elevated pro-inflammatory markers and reduced brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) during symptomatic episodes of bipolar disorder (BD) in adults. There is a paucity of research examining these markers in youth with BD, or longitudinally in any BD age group. METHODS: 79 adolescents, ages 13-19 years, were enrolled, including 43 symptomatic adolescents with BD and 36 age-matched healthy controls (HC). Blood samples were collected from all participants at intake, and repeatedly from BD participants at pre-specified intervals over the course of two years. Serum was assayed for levels of pro-inflammatory markers (c-reactive protein [CRP], interleukin [IL]-6, tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-α]), BDNF and the anti-inflammatory marker, IL-10. Week-by-week severity of mood symptoms was assessed using semi-structured interviews. RESULTS: Adolescents with BD provided an average of 4.6 blood samples, on average every 5.0 months. During the most severe symptomatic interval (i.e., highest sum of mood symptom scores) among BD adolescents, levels of CRP (p = 0.01) and pro- to anti-inflammatory ratios (CRP/IL-10; p < 0.001 and IL-6/IL-10; p = 0.046) were significantly greater, and IL-10 levels (p = 0.004) were significantly lower, vs. HC. There were no differences between BD and HC in IL-6, TNF-α or BDNF. Within BD participants, higher BDNF (p = 0.01) and IL-10 levels (p = 0.001) significantly predicted greater burden of mood symptoms over the subsequent epoch. Moreover, higher CRP levels (p = 0.009) at intake predicted greater time to recovery from the index symptomatic episode. CONCLUSIONS: In the first repeated-measures study on this topic in adolescents with BD, we found evidence that CRP, an inexpensive and ubiquitous blood test, may be useful in predicting the prospective course of BD symptoms. Future larger studies are warranted.

A genome-scale nutrient minimization forecast algorithm for controlling essential amino acid levels in CHO cell cultures.

Mammalian cell culture processes rely heavily on empirical knowledge in which process control remains a challenge due to the limited characterization/understanding of cell metabolism and inability to predict the cell behaviors. This study facilitates control of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) processes through a forecast-based feeding approach that predicts multiple essential amino acids levels in the culture from easily acquired viable cell density data. Multiple cell growth behavior forecast extrapolation approaches are considered with logistic curve fitting found to be the most effective. Next, the nutrient-minimized CHO genome-scale model is combined with the growth forecast model to generate essential amino acid forecast profiles of multiple CHO batch cultures. Comparison of the forecast with the measurements suggests that this algorithm can accurately predict the concentration of most essential amino acids from cell density measurement with error mitigated by incorporating off-line amino acids concentration measurements. Finally, the forecast algorithm is applied to CHO fed-batch cultures to support amino acid feeding control to control the concentration of essential amino acids below 1-2 mM for lysine, leucine, and valine as a model over a 9-day fed batch culture while maintaining comparable growth behavior to an empirical-based culture. In turn, glycine production was elevated, alanine reduced and lactate production slightly lower in control cultures due to metabolic shifts in branched-chain amino acid degradation. With the advantage of requiring minimal measurement inputs while providing valuable and in-advance information of the system based on growth measurements, this genome model-based amino acid forecast algorithm represent a powerful and cost-effective tool to facilitate enhanced control over CHO and other mammalian cell-based bioprocesses.

The rapid formation of Sputnik Planitia early in Pluto's history.

Pluto's Sputnik Planitia is a bright, roughly circular feature that resembles a polar ice cap. It is approximately 1,000 kilometres across and is centred on a latitude of 25 degrees north and a longitude of 175 degrees, almost directly opposite the side of Pluto that always faces Charon as a result of tidal locking. One explanation for its location includes the formation of a basin in a giant impact, with subsequent upwelling of a dense interior ocean. Once the basin was established, ice would naturally have accumulated there. Then, provided that the basin was a positive gravity anomaly (with or without the ocean), true polar wander could have moved the feature towards the Pluto-Charon tidal axis, on the far side of Pluto from Charon. Here we report modelling that shows that ice quickly accumulates on Pluto near latitudes of 30 degrees north and south, even in the absence of a basin, because, averaged over its orbital period, those are Pluto's coldest regions. Within a million years of Charon's formation, ice deposits on Pluto concentrate into a single cap centred near a latitude of 30 degrees, owing to the runaway albedo effect. This accumulation of ice causes a positive gravity signature that locks, as Pluto's rotation slows, to a longitude directly opposite Charon. Once locked, Charon raises a permanent tidal bulge on Pluto, which greatly enhances the gravity signature of the ice cap. Meanwhile, the weight of the ice in Sputnik Planitia causes the crust under it to slump, creating its own basin (as has happened on Earth in Greenland). Even if the feature is now a modest negative gravity anomaly, it remains locked in place because of the permanent tidal bulge raised by Charon. Any movement of the feature away from 30 degrees latitude is countered by the preferential recondensation of ices near the coldest extremities of the cap. Therefore, our modelling suggests that Sputnik Planitia formed shortly after Charon did and has been stable, albeit gradually losing volume, over the age of the Solar System.

Convection in a volatile nitrogen-ice-rich layer drives Pluto's geological vigour.

The vast, deep, volatile-ice-filled basin informally named Sputnik Planum is central to Pluto's vigorous geological activity. Composed of molecular nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide ices, but dominated by nitrogen ice, this layer is organized into cells or polygons, typically about 10 to 40 kilometres across, that resemble the surface manifestation of solid-state convection. Here we report, on the basis of available rheological measurements, that solid layers of nitrogen ice with a thickness in excess of about one kilometre should undergo convection for estimated present-day heat-flow conditions on Pluto. More importantly, we show numerically that convective overturn in a several-kilometre-thick layer of solid nitrogen can explain the great lateral width of the cells. The temperature dependence of nitrogen-ice viscosity implies that the ice layer convects in the so-called sluggish lid regime, a unique convective mode not previously definitively observed in the Solar System. Average surface horizontal velocities of a few centimetres a year imply surface transport or renewal times of about 500,000 years, well under the ten-million-year upper-limit crater retention age for Sputnik Planum. Similar convective surface renewal may also occur on other dwarf planets in the Kuiper belt, which may help to explain the high albedos shown by some of these bodies.

Reorientation of Sputnik Planitia implies a subsurface ocean on Pluto.

The deep nitrogen-covered basin on Pluto, informally named Sputnik Planitia, is located very close to the longitude of Pluto's tidal axis and may be an impact feature, by analogy with other large basins in the Solar System. Reorientation of Sputnik Planitia arising from tidal and rotational torques can explain the basin's present-day location, but requires the feature to be a positive gravity anomaly, despite its negative topography. Here we argue that if Sputnik Planitia did indeed form as a result of an impact and if Pluto possesses a subsurface ocean, the required positive gravity anomaly would naturally result because of shell thinning and ocean uplift, followed by later modest nitrogen deposition. Without a subsurface ocean, a positive gravity anomaly requires an implausibly thick nitrogen layer (exceeding 40 kilometres). To prolong the lifetime of such a subsurface ocean to the present day and to maintain ocean uplift, a rigid, conductive water-ice shell is required. Because nitrogen deposition is latitude-dependent, nitrogen loading and reorientation may have exhibited complex feedbacks.

The formation of Charon's red poles from seasonally cold-trapped volatiles.

A unique feature of Pluto's large satellite Charon is its dark red northern polar cap. Similar colours on Pluto's surface have been attributed to tholin-like organic macromolecules produced by energetic radiation processing of hydrocarbons. The polar location on Charon implicates the temperature extremes that result from Charon's high obliquity and long seasons in the production of this material. The escape of Pluto's atmosphere provides a potential feedstock for a complex chemistry. Gas from Pluto that is transiently cold-trapped and processed at Charon's winter pole was proposed as an explanation for the dark coloration on the basis of an image of Charon's northern hemisphere, but not modelled quantitatively. Here we report images of the southern hemisphere illuminated by Pluto-shine and also images taken during the approach phase that show the northern polar cap over a range of longitudes. We model the surface thermal environment on Charon and the supply and temporary cold-trapping of material escaping from Pluto, as well as the photolytic processing of this material into more complex and less volatile molecules while cold-trapped. The model results are consistent with the proposed mechanism for producing the observed colour pattern on Charon.

Safety and efficacy analysis of pembrolizumab dosing patterns in patients with advanced melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer.

AIM: To evaluate the impact of discrepancy between prescribed and recommended fixed 200 mg dose (P-F discrepancy) on immune-related adverse events (irAEs) and treatment efficacy in patients with advanced melanoma and NSCLC. METHODS: This retrospective study included 177 patients with advanced melanoma or non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received at least one cycle of single-agent pembrolizumab. We defined P-F discrepancy as the differences between prescribed pembrolizumab dose and 200 mg recommended dose, expressed in percentages. Our primary outcome was immune-related adverse events (irAEs), and our secondary outcomes included overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS). RESULTS: The median P-F discrepancy was -21.5%, with the 25th and 75th percentile at -32% and -5.0% respectively. ROC curve analyses did not show any optimal cutoffs to prognosticate irAEs (AUC = 0.558 for all patients) or cancer mortality (AUC = 0.583 for melanoma; AUC = 0.539 for NSCLC) in either cancer type. Separate multivariable Cox analyses suggested no statistically significant association between P-F discrepancy and overall survival in patients with melanoma (HR 1.012, 95%CI 0.987-1.038, P = 0.362) or NSCLC (HR 0.998, 95%CI 0.978-1.019, P = 0.876). CONCLUSION: There was no optimal pembrolizumab cut-off point to predict irAEs or treatment efficacy. We supported the use of weight-based pembrolizumab dosing, given the potential cost-saving and no differences in terms of irAEs or treatment efficacy in patients with advanced melanoma or NSCLC. Future studies on province- or national-level would be important to validate our findings.

A Pearl Spectrometer.

Information recovery from incomplete measurements, typically performed by a numerical means, is beneficial in a variety of classical and quantum signal processing. Random and sparse sampling with nanophotonic and light scattering approaches has received attention to overcome the hardware limitations of conventional spectrometers and hyperspectral imagers but requires high-precision nanofabrications and bulky media. We report a simple spectral information processing scheme in which light transport through an Anderson-localized medium serves as an entropy source for compressive sampling directly in the frequency domain. As implied by the "lustrous" reflection originating from the exquisite multilayered nanostructures, a pearl (or mother-of-pearl) allows us to exploit the spatial and spectral intensity fluctuations originating from strong light localization for extracting salient spectral information with a compact and thin form factor. Pearl-inspired light localization in low-dimensional structures can offer an alternative of spectral information processing by hybridizing digital and physical properties at a material level.

Transgenic and Diet-Enhanced Silk Production for Reinforced Biomaterials: A Metamaterial Perspective.

Silk fibers, which are protein-based biopolymers produced by spiders and silkworms, are fascinating biomaterials that have been extensively studied for numerous biomedical applications. Silk fibers often have remarkable physical and biological properties that typical synthetic materials do not exhibit. These attributes have prompted a wide variety of silk research, including genetic engineering, biotechnological synthesis, and bioinspired fiber spinning, to produce silk proteins on a large scale and to further enhance their properties. In this review, we describe the basic properties of spider silk and silkworm silk and the important production methods for silk proteins. We discuss recent advances in reinforced silk using silkworm transgenesis and functional additive diets with a focus on biomedical applications. We also explain that reinforced silk has an analogy with metamaterials such that user-designed atypical responses can be engineered beyond what naturally occurring materials offer. These insights into reinforced silk can guide better engineering of superior synthetic biomaterials and lead to discoveries of unexplored biological and medical applications of silk.

Compressive recovery of smartphone RGB spectral sensitivity functions.

Spectral response (or sensitivity) functions of a three-color image sensor (or trichromatic camera) allow a mapping from spectral stimuli to RGB color values. Like biological photosensors, digital RGB spectral responses are device dependent and significantly vary from model to model. Thus, the information on the RGB spectral response functions of a specific device is vital in a variety of computer vision as well as mobile health (mHealth) applications. Theoretically, spectral response functions can directly be measured with sophisticated calibration equipment in a specialized laboratory setting, which is not easily accessible for most application developers. As a result, several mathematical methods have been proposed relying on standard color references. Typical optimization frameworks with constraints are often complicated, requiring a large number of colors. We report a compressive sensing framework in the frequency domain for accurately predicting RGB spectral response functions only with several primary colors. Using a scientific camera, we first validate the estimation method with direct spectral sensitivity measurements and ensure that the root mean square errors between the ground truth and recovered RGB spectral response functions are negligible. We further recover the RGB spectral response functions of smartphones and validate with an expanded color checker reference. We expect that this simple yet reliable estimation method of RGB spectral sensitivity can easily be applied for color calibration and standardization in machine vision, hyperspectral filters, and mHealth applications that capitalize on the built-in cameras of smartphones.

Pulse Energy and Pulse Duration Effects in the Ionization and Fragmentation of Iodomethane by Ultraintense Hard X Rays.

The interaction of intense femtosecond x-ray pulses with molecules sensitively depends on the interplay between multiple photoabsorptions, Auger decay, charge rearrangement, and nuclear motion. Here, we report on a combined experimental and theoretical study of the ionization and fragmentation of iodomethane (CH_{3}I) by ultraintense (∼10^{19} W/cm^{2}) x-ray pulses at 8.3 keV, demonstrating how these dynamics depend on the x-ray pulse energy and duration. We show that the timing of multiple ionization steps leading to a particular reaction product and, thus, the product's final kinetic energy, is determined by the pulse duration rather than the pulse energy or intensity. While the overall degree of ionization is mainly defined by the pulse energy, our measurement reveals that the yield of the fragments with the highest charge states is enhanced for short pulse durations, in contrast to earlier observations for atoms and small molecules in the soft x-ray domain. We attribute this effect to a decreased charge transfer efficiency at larger internuclear separations, which are reached during longer pulses.

Transgender health in medical education.

Transforming our world the 2030 agenda for sustainable development is working towards a world that reflects equity, with universal respect for human dignity, pledging to leave no one behind. However, transgender and gender-diverse individuals experience significant health inequities, including negative health outcomes and multiple barriers to accessing care. In this article, we first highlight the health inequities that transgender and gender-diverse people face globally. We describe important aspects of transgender and gender-diverse health care, including the design and provision of health services, epidemiological considerations, transition-related care, changes in transition-related goals, cultural considerations, and political and legal issues. We then review the existing global literature on incorporating transgender health into medical curricula. We make a case for prioritizing improved education in medical schools on the specific health needs of transgender and gender-diverse people as part of addressing global health inequities in care. Our recommendations for comprehensive education on transgender health include cultural humility and anti-oppression training; involvement of transgender and gender-diverse community members; integration of transgender and gender-diverse health into curricula; practice-focused and in situ training; staff development in medical schools; and improving access to careers in medicine for transgender and gender-diverse people.

Transformer notre monde: le Programme de développement durable à l'horizon 2030 aspire à un monde où règne l'équité, le respect universel de la dignité humaine, et s'engage à ce que personne ne soit oublié. Pourtant, les individus transgenres et de genre variant subissent de profondes inégalités sur le plan sanitaire, qui affectent leur état de santé et compliquent grandement l'accès aux soins. Dans cet article, nous commençons par souligner les inégalités sanitaires auxquelles sont confrontés les individus transgenres et de genre variant à travers le monde. Nous évoquons d'importants aspects à prendre en compte pour les soins de santé aux personnes transgenres et de genre variant, parmi lesquels la conception et la fourniture de services de santé, les considérations d'ordre épidémiologique, les soins liés à la transition, l'évolution des objectifs liés à la transition, les facteurs culturels, ainsi que les enjeux politiques et juridiques. Nous examinons ensuite la littérature internationale consacrée à l'intégration de la santé transgenre dans les programmes d'enseignement médical. Nous soutenons que, dans le cadre de la lutte contre les inégalités sanitaires au niveau mondial, il faut privilégier une amélioration de l'enseignement dans les écoles de médecine afin de sensibiliser aux besoins spécifiques des individus transgenres et de genre variant en matière de santé. Nous avons formulé plusieurs recommandations en vue d'instaurer un enseignement qui tient compte de la santé des personnes transgenres: apprentissage anti-oppressif intégrant la notion d'humilité culturelle; implication de membres de la communauté transgenre et de genre variant; ajout de la santé transgenre et de genre variant dans les programmes de cours; formation centrée sur la pratique, dispensée sur le terrain; développement du personnel des écoles de médecine; et enfin, amélioration de l'accès aux carrières médicales pour les individus transgenres et de genre variant.

Transforming our world: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development (Transformar de nuestro mundo: la Agenda 2030 para el desarrollo sostenible) trabaja por un mundo que refleje la igualdad, con respeto universal por la dignidad humana, comprometiéndose a no dejar a nadie atrás. Sin embargo, las personas transgénero y con género diverso experimentan importantes desigualdades en materia de salud, incluidos resultados sanitarios negativos y múltiples obstáculos para acceder a la atención sanitaria. En este artículo, destacamos, en primer lugar, las desigualdades sanitarias a las que se enfrentan las personas transgénero y de género diverso en todo el mundo. Describimos aspectos importantes de la atención sanitaria a las personas transgénero y con género diverso, como el diseño y la prestación de servicios sanitarios, las consideraciones epidemiológicas, la atención relacionada con la transición, los cambios en los objetivos relacionados con la transición, las consideraciones culturales y las cuestiones políticas y jurídicas. A continuación, revisamos la documentación global existente sobre la incorporación de la salud transgénero en los planes de estudio de medicina. Defendemos la necesidad de dar prioridad a la mejora de la formación en las facultades de medicina sobre las necesidades sanitarias específicas de las personas transgénero y con género diverso como parte del tratamiento de las desigualdades sanitarias globales en la atención sanitaria. Nuestras recomendaciones para una educación integral sobre la salud de las personas transgénero incluyen la formación en humildad cultural y lucha contra la opresión; la participación de los miembros de la comunidad transgénero y con género diverso; la integración de la salud de las personas transgénero y con género diverso en los planes de estudio; la formación centrada en la práctica e in situ; el desarrollo del personal en las facultades de medicina; y la mejora del acceso a las carreras de medicina para las personas transgénero y con género diverso.

Measurements meet perceptions: rheology-texture-sensory relations when using green, bio-derived emollients in cosmetic emulsions.

OBJECTIVE: Product aesthetics and sensory performance can strongly influence a cosmetic product's acceptance by consumers. However, classic sensory analysis is time-consuming, expensive and does not provide information on the target group's preference. In the previous phase of this project, we had untrained consumers evaluate six cosmetic emulsions based on their aesthetics using a check-all-that-apply (CATA) survey. In this project, our goals were to quantitatively characterize the rheology and textural properties of the six cosmetic emulsions containing green, bio-derived emollients and identify statistical relationships between the consumers' description of products and the instrumental measurements. METHODS: Six emulsions were prepared-three with olive oil and three with heptyl undecylenate as an emollient. Four sensory-like attributes, namely firmness, work of shear, stickiness and adhesiveness, were tested using a texture analyser. Rheological characterization included continuous flow testing and oscillatory measurements. Droplet size and stability were also evaluated. Statistical relationships were quantified between measurements in this study and sensory survey results published previously. RESULTS: The textural and rheological results indicated that the emulsions were different-as designed. The texture and rheology measurements had analogous grouping outcomes to the consumers' discrimination. Emulsions 1 and 2 were the firmest, hardest to spread, stickiest and had the highest viscosity, while Emulsions 5 and 6 were the least firm, easiest to spread, less sticky than Emulsions 1 and 2, and had the lowest viscosity. Emulsions 3 and 4 fell in between the other two groups. Using olive oil instead of heptyl undecylenate as an emollient increased firmness, spreading, stickiness, viscosity and droplet size of the emulsions in every case-when comparing emulsions within each pair. All six emulsions had a shear-thinning behaviour. Viscosity and firmness directly correlated for the emulsions. Emulsions were visually stable at room temperature over the course of 6 months and viscosity remained relatively constant over this period also. CONCLUSION: Certain sensory attributes can be reliably predicted with instrumental measurements. Identifying and quantifying sensory-texture-rheology relationships can contribute to achieving appropriate product characteristics tailored to suit market needs.

Resonant Inelastic X-Ray Scattering Reveals Hidden Local Transitions of the Aqueous OH Radical.

Resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) provides remarkable opportunities to interrogate ultrafast dynamics in liquids. Here we use RIXS to study the fundamentally and practically important hydroxyl radical in liquid water, OH(aq). Impulsive ionization of pure liquid water produced a short-lived population of OH(aq), which was probed using femtosecond x-rays from an x-ray free-electron laser. We find that RIXS reveals localized electronic transitions that are masked in the ultraviolet absorption spectrum by strong charge-transfer transitions-thus providing a means to investigate the evolving electronic structure and reactivity of the hydroxyl radical in aqueous and heterogeneous environments. First-principles calculations provide interpretation of the main spectral features.

Effects of Mating and Social Exposure on Cell Proliferation in the Adult Male Prairie Vole (Microtus ochrogaster).

Microtus ochrogaster is a rodent with a monogamous reproductive strategy characterized by strong pair bond formation after 6 h of mating. Here, we determine whether mating-induced pair bonding increases cell proliferation in the subventricular zone (SVZ), rostral migratory stream (RMS), and dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus in male voles. Males were assigned to one of the four groups: (1) control: males were placed alone in a clean cage; (2) social exposure to a female (SE m/f): males that could see, hear, and smell a sexually receptive female but where physical contact was not possible, because the animals were separated by an acrylic screen with small holes; (3) social exposure to a male (SE m/m): same as group 2 but males were exposed to another male without physical contact; and (4) social cohabitation with mating (SCM): males that mated freely with a receptive female for 6 h. This procedure leads to pair bond formation. Groups 2 and 3 were controls for social interaction. Male prairie voles were injected with 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) during the behavioral tests and were sacrificed 48 h later. Brains were processed to identify the new cells (BrdU-positive) and neuron precursor cells (neuroblasts). Our principal findings are that in the dorsal region of the SVZ, SCM and SE m/f and m/m increase the percentage of neuron precursor cells. In the anterior region of the RMS, SE m/f decreases the percentage of neuron precursor cells, and in the medial region SE m/f and m/m decrease the number of new cells and neuron precursor cells. In the infrapyramidal blade of the subgranular zone of the DG, SE m/m and SCM increase the number of new neuron precursor cells and SE m/m increases the percentage of these neurons. Our data suggests that social interaction, as well as sexual stimulation, leads to pair bonding in male voles modulating cell proliferation and differentiation to neuronal precursor cells at the SVZ, RMS, and DG.

Risk of neurosyphilis in HIV-infected persons with syphilis lacking signs or symptoms of central nervous system infection.

OBJECTIVES: People living with HIV (PLWH) are at increased risk of asymptomatic neurosyphilis; thus, it has been common practice to perform a lumbar puncture (LP) in all PLWH presenting with syphilis regardless of stage, signs or symptoms. However, this practice varies widely among clinicians. Our objective was to elucidate the number of LPs required to diagnose a single case of asymptomatic neurosyphilis. METHODS: We performed an electronic health record (EHR) review of PLWH who were diagnosed with syphilis of any stage over a 10-year period. EHRs were reviewed to determine the number of subjects who had an LP performed, what proportion had neurological signs or symptoms, and whether a diagnosis of neurosyphilis was made at presentation or follow-up. RESULTS: In 261 separate episodes of syphilis in 230 subjects, we found the major risk factors for asymptomatic neurosyphilis to be low CD4 T-cell count (P = 0.0007), high rapid plasma reagin (RPR) titre (P = 0.019) and lack of HIV virological suppression (P = 0.003). The majority of our subjects (78%) with neurosyphilis presented with central nervous system (CNS) symptoms. We estimate, if standard practice is to perform LP in all patients, that the number needed to test (NNTT) = 38. CONCLUSIONS: This large number of potentially unnecessary LPs, along with heterogeneity of presentation, and the never-nil risk of asymptomatic neurosyphilis should be incorporated into clinical decision-making. The majority of PLWH presenting with a serological diagnosis of syphilis, but no neurological signs or symptoms, do not necessarily require an LP for an evaluation of asymptomatic neurosyphilis.

Variability in sleep disturbance, physical activity and quality of life by level of depressive symptoms in women with Type 2 diabetes.

AIMS: To examine (1) the prevalence of depressive symptoms in women with Type 2 diabetes, (2) the associations between depressive symptoms and the following dependent variables: sleep disturbance; physical activity; physical health-related; and global quality of life, and (3) the potential moderating effects of antidepressants and optimism on the relationship between depressive symptoms and dependent variables. METHODS: Participants in the Women's Health Initiative who had Type 2 diabetes and data on depressive symptoms (N=8895) were included in the analyses. In multivariable linear regression models controlling for sociodemographic, medical and psychosocial covariates, we examined the main effect of depressive symptoms, as well as the interactions between depressive symptoms and antidepressant use, and between depressive symptoms and optimism, on sleep disturbance, physical activity, physical health-related quality of life; and global quality of life. RESULTS: In all, 16% of women with Type 2 diabetes reported elevated depressive symptoms. In multivariable analyses, women with depressive symptoms had greater sleep disturbance (P<0.0001) and lower global quality of life (P<.0001). We found evidence of significant statistical interaction in the models for quality-of-life outcomes: the increased risk of poor physical health-related quality of life associated with antidepressant use was stronger in women without vs with depressive symptoms, and the association between greater optimism and higher global quality of life was stronger in women with vs without depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: To improve health behaviours and quality of life in women with Type 2 diabetes, sociodemographic and medical characteristics may identify at-risk populations, while psychosocial factors including depression and optimism may be important targets for non-pharmacological intervention.