Estimate of Patients With Missed Seizures Because of Delay in Conventional EEG.

PURPOSE: There is frequent delay between ordering and placement of conventional EEG. Here we estimate how many patients had seizures during this delay. METHODS: Two hundred fifty consecutive adult patients who underwent conventional EEG monitoring at the University of Wisconsin Hospital were retrospectively chart reviewed for demographics, time of EEG order, clinical and other EEG-related information. Patients were stratified by use of anti-seizure medications before EEG and into low-risk, medium-risk, and high-risk groups based on 2HELPS2B score (0, 1, or >1). Monte Carlo simulations (500 trials) were performed to estimate seizures during delay. RESULTS: The median delay from EEG order to performing EEG was 2.00 hours (range of 0.5-8.00 hours) in the total cohort. For EEGs ordered after-hours, it was 2.00 hours (range 0.5-8.00 hours), and during business hours, it was 2.00 hours (range 0.5-6.00 hours). The place of EEG, intensive care unit, emergency department, and general floor, did not show significant difference (P = 0.84). Anti-seizure medication did not affect time to first seizure in the low-risk (P = 0.37), medium-risk (P = 0.44), or high-risk (P = 0.12) groups. The estimated % of patients who had a seizure in the delay period for low-risk group (2HELPS2B = 0) was 0.8%, for the medium-risk group (2HELPS2B = 1) was 10.3%, and for the high-risk group (2HELPS2B > 1) was 17.6%, and overall risk was 7.2%. CONCLUSIONS: The University of Wisconsin Hospital with 24-hour in-house EEG technologists has a median delay of 2 hours from order to start of EEG, shorter than published reports from other centers. Nonetheless, seizures were likely missed in about 7.2% of patients.

Association between perceived stress and motoric cognitive risk syndrome in an elderly population: Rugao longevity and ageing study.

Introduction Previous studies have indicated a correlation between perceived stress and cognitive decline. However, it remains unknown whether high levels of perceived stress can result in motoric cognitive risk (MCR) syndrome. This study investigated the relationship between perceived stress and MCR in a community-based population. Methods The study cohort comprised 852 elderly individuals from the Rugao Longitudinal Aging Cohort. Perceived stress was assessed using the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), while MCR was defined as the coexistence of subjective memory complaints (SMCs) and slow gait speed. Results The average age of the study participants is 79.84 ± 4.34 years. The mean score of PSS-10 among participants is 10.32 (range = 0-33; [SD] = 5.71), with a median score of 10.00 (6.00, 14.00). The prevalence of MCR is 9.3%. In the logistic regression analysis, for each 1-SD (5.71) increase in the global PSS-10 score, the risk of MCR increased by 40% (95% CI 1.09-1.80). Additionally, in the aspect of two components of MCR, with a 1-SD increase (5.71) in the global PSS-10 score, there was a 50% (95% CI 1.29-1.75) increase in the risk of SMCs and a 27% (95% CI 1.04-1.55) increase in the risk of slow gait speed. In terms of specific walking speed, there was a reverse correlation between the global PSS-10 score and walking speed (r = -0.14, p < 0.001). Conclusions This study provided preliminary evidence that high levels of perceived stress were associated with the risk of MCR in a community-dwelling population.

Sodium butyrate administration improves intestinal development of suckling lambs.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of sodium butyrate (SB) supplementation on growth performance, intestinal barrier functions, and intestinal bacterial communities in sucking lambs. Forty lambs of 7 d old, with an average body weight (BW) of 4.46 ±â€…0.45 kg, were allocated into the control (CON) or SB group, with each group having five replicate pens (n = 5). Lambs were orally administered SB at 1.8 mL/kg BW in the SB group or the same volume of saline in the CON group. Treatments were administered from 7 to 35 d of age, when one lamb from each replicate was slaughtered to obtain intestinal tissues and contents. The results showed that supplementation with SB tended to increase the BW (P = 0.079) and the starter intake (P = 0.089) of lambs at 35 d of age. The average daily gain of lambs in the SB group was significantly greater than that in the CON group (P < 0.05). The villus height of jejunum in the SB group was markedly higher (P < 0.05) than that in the CON group. In ileum, lambs in the SB group had lower (P < 0.05) crypt depth and greater (P < 0.05) villus-to-crypt ratio than those in the CON group. Compared with the CON group, the mRNA and protein expressions of Claudin-1 and Occludin were increased (P < 0.05) in the SB group. Supplementation with SB decreased the relative abundances of pathogenic bacteria, including Clostridia_UCG-014 (P = 0.094) and Romboutsia (P < 0.05), which were negatively associated with the intestinal barrier function genes (P < 0.05). The relative abundance of Succiniclasticum (P < 0.05) was higher in the SB group, and it was positively correlated with the ratio of villi height to crypt depth in the jejunum (P < 0.05). Compared with the CON group, the function "Metabolism of Cofactors and Vitamins" was increased in the SB group lambs (P < 0.05). In conclusion, SB orally administration during suckling period could improve the small intestine development and growth performance of lambs by inhibiting the harmful bacteria (Clostridia_UCG-014, Romboutsia) colonization, and enhancing intestinal barrier functions.

It is well known that butyrate and its derivatives have various benefits for the rumen development of ruminants, whereas its effects on the small intestine in preweaned lambs have received little attention. Therefore, the present study investigated the effects of sodium butyrate (SB) supplementation on growth performance, intestinal barrier functions, and intestinal bacterial communities in sucking lambs. The results indicated that SB dietary treatment has beneficial effects on the small intestine development and growth performance of suckling lambs.

Intrinsic capacity and 5-year late-life functional ability trajectories of Chinese older population using ICOPE tool: the Rugao Longevity and Ageing Study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Knowledge of how intrinsic capacity (IC) shape functional ability (FA) trajectories in later life remains unclear. We investigated the changes in IC and their impact on 5-years FA trajectories in the Chinese older population. METHODS: A total of 1640 older adults from the Rugao Longitudinal Ageing Study were included and analyzed. FA was assessed by The Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale (IADLs). We used cognition, psychology, locomotion, sensory capacity, and vitality to capture the multiple domains of IC according to the ICOPE method. The IC was derived retrospectively from variables collected before this was described by WHO. RESULTS: At baseline, a higher IC was associated with higher IADLs (ß = 0.98, 95% CI 0.90, 1.06, P < 0.001). Individuals with declines in IC between wave1 and wave2 experienced a faster decline in IADLs over time (ß = - 0.28, 95% CI - 0.40, - 0.16, P < 0.001) after considering covariates. One or more impairment IC scores at baseline strongly predicted death (HR = 1.20, 95% CI 1.11, 1.30, P < 0.001). In addition, according to the IC scores at baseline, we stratify IC in low, middle, and high, compared with those in the high IC score, those in the low were associated with a 2.56-fold (95% CI 1.64, 4.01, P < 0.001) higher risk of mortality, after adjustment for variables. CONCLUSION: Changes in IC shape FA trajectories. IC impairment is associated with an increased risk of death. Assessing intrinsic capacity would facilitate early identification of older adults at high risk of adverse outcomes and prompt targeted interventions.

High-power, sub-100-fs, 1600-1700-nm all-fiber laser for deep multiphoton microscopy.

The 1600-1700-nm ultrafast fiber lasers attract great interests in the deep multiphoton microscopy, due to the reduced levels of the tissue scattering and absorption. Here, we report on the 86.7-MHz, 717-mW, 91.2-fs, all-fiber laser located in the spectral range from 1600 nm to 1700nm. The soliton self-frequency shift (SSFS) was introduced into the Er:Yb co-doped fiber amplifier (EYDFA) to generate the high-power, 1600-1700-nm Raman soliton. Detailed investigations of the nonlinear fiber amplification process were implemented in optimizing the generated Raman soliton pulses. The miniature multiphoton microscopy was further realized with this home-built laser source. The clearly imaging results can be achieved by collecting the generated harmonic signals from the mouse tail skin tissue with a penetration depth of ∼500 µm. The experimental results indicate the great potential in utilizing this 1600-1700-nm fiber laser in the deep multiphoton microscopy.

Application of Multi-Scale Fusion Attention U-Net to Segment the Thyroid Gland on Localized Computed Tomography Images for Radiotherapy.

Objective: To explore the performance of Multi-scale Fusion Attention U-Net (MSFA-U-Net) in thyroid gland segmentation on localized computed tomography (CT) images for radiotherapy. Methods: We selected localized radiotherapeutic CT images from 80 patients with breast cancer or head and neck tumors; label images were manually delineated by experienced radiologists. The data set was randomly divided into the training set (n = 60), the validation set (n = 10), and the test set (n = 10). We expanded the data in the training set and evaluated the performance of the MSFA-U-Net model using the evaluation indices Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), Jaccard similarity coefficient (JSC), positive predictive value (PPV), sensitivity (SE), and Hausdorff distance (HD). Results: For the MSFA-U-Net model, the DSC, JSC, PPV, SE, and HD values of the segmented thyroid gland in the test set were 0.90 ± 0.09, 0.82± 0.11, 0.91 ± 0.09, 0.90 ± 0.11, and 2.39 ± 0.54, respectively. Compared with U-Net, HRNet, and Attention U-Net, MSFA-U-Net increased DSC by 0.04, 0.06, and 0.04, respectively; increased JSC by 0.05, 0.08, and 0.04, respectively; increased SE by 0.04, 0.11, and 0.09, respectively; and reduced HD by 0.21, 0.20, and 0.06, respectively. The test set image results showed that the thyroid edges segmented by the MSFA-U-Net model were closer to the standard thyroid edges delineated by the experts than were those segmented by the other three models. Moreover, the edges were smoother, over-anti-noise interference was stronger, and oversegmentation and undersegmentation were reduced. Conclusion: The MSFA-U-Net model could meet basic clinical requirements and improve the efficiency of physicians' clinical work.

Association Between Lateralized Periodic Discharge Amplitude and Seizure on Continuous EEG Monitoring in Patients With Structural Brain Abnormality in Critical Illness.

Objective: To investigate the association between lateralized periodic discharge (LPD) amplitude and seizure risk on an individual level in patients with structural brain abnormality. Methods: Retrospective case-control study of patients with structural brain abnormality undergoing continuous EEG monitoring was performed. We included 10 patients with LPDs and seizures as cases and 10 controls, patients with LPDs without seizure. Analysis was performed with a mixed-effects model with primary outcome measure of number of seizures per 8-h EEG epoch with fixed effects being variables of interest and random effect being subject ID. Results: Epochs with seizures showed a higher absolute amplitude (corrected p = 0.04) and a higher relative amplitude (corrected p = 0.04) of LPDs. Additionally, the number of seizures was higher in epochs that had LPDs with plus features (uncorrected p = 0.002) and LPDs with higher relative amplitude (uncorrected p = 0.005). Conclusion: Higher LPD amplitude is associated with increased risk of seizures on an individual patient level. A decreasing amplitude is suggestive of decreasing seizure risk, and may in fact be suggestive of decreasing ictal character of LPDs.

Lactobacillus rhamnosus LRa05 improves lipid accumulation in mice fed with a high fat diet via regulating the intestinal microbiota, reducing glucose content and promoting liver carbohydrate metabolism.

To elucidate the anti-obesity effect of Lactobacillus rhamnosus LRa05 through the analysis of gut microbiota and liver metabolomics, we investigated changes in gut microbiota and liver metabolomic phenotypes in mice by 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing and ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. C57BL/6J male mice were orally administered with LRa05 for 8 weeks. Body weight, serum lipid levels, and the lipid accumulation of liver cells and epididymal fat tissues in the mice fed with a high-fat diet were inhibited after treatment with LRa05 at 1 × 109 CFU per day per mouse. LRa05 also reshaped the gut microbiota, reduced the abundance of the pro-pathogen bacterial Streptococcus, suppressed blood and liver glucose content, and promoted liver carbohydrate and energy metabolism. Moreover, Intestinimonas and palmitoyl ethanolamide exhibited a positive correlation, whereas Enterorhabdus and vitamin B2 showed a negative correlation. Therefore, LRa05 can potentially be used as an anti-obesity probiotic in further interventions.

Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides improves microbiota dysbiosis and liver metabolism imbalance and ameliorates the correlation between dihydroceramide and strains of Firmicutes and Proteobacteria in high fat diet obese mice.

Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides is widely isolated from fermented foods; however, the underlying molecular mechanism behind its anti-obesity function has rarely been studied. This study aims to explore the role of alterations in gut microbes and liver metabolites mediated by Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides (Tu) in obese mice for a period of 8 weeks through UPLC/Q-TOF-MS and 16S rRNA sequencing. Our results showed that Tu administration at a dosage of 1 × 109 CFU per day per mouse effectively attenuated the weight of mice, significantly reduced serum lipids, and markedly improved fecal lipid output. Tu also ameliorated the lipid profiles in the liver and epididymal fat tissues, and restored intestinal disorder caused by a high-fat diet. Moreover, glycerophospholipid metabolism in the liver was altered by increased dihydroceramide levels. Surprisingly, the correlation between dihydroceramide and strains of Firmicutes and Proteobacteria was found for the first time. Collectively, these findings highlight that Tu could be a potential dietary supplement for weight control.

Bifidobacterium longum subsp. longum Remodeled Roseburia and Phosphatidylserine Levels and Ameliorated Intestinal Disorders and liver Metabolic Abnormalities Induced by High-Fat Diet.

Bifidobacterium longum is considered as a potential supplement in antiobesity treatment; however, the underlying molecular mechanism has rarely been studied. To understand the contributions of B. longum subsp. longum (BL21) in the prevention of obesity, we investigated alterations in the liver metabonomic phenotype and gut microbiota by ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry and 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing in C57BL/6J male mice orally administered with BL21 for 8 weeks [high-fat diet (HFD)]. BL21 at 1 × 109 CFU·day-1 per mouse reduced the weight of mice by 16.9% relative to that of the mice fed with HFD and significantly lowered the serum levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. BL21 also ameliorated fat vacuolization in liver cells and epididymal fat accumulation. BL21 also lowered the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, regulated liver remodeling in glycerophospholipids, and alleviated the levels of d-tryptophan. A positive correlation between the butyrate-producing strain Roseburia and the cell membrane component phosphatidylserine was found for the first time. Thus, BL21 can potentially prevent mice from being obese by rebalancing the gut microbiota and glycerophospholipid metabolism. BL21 can be a promising dietary supplement for weight control.

Relative Binding Affinity Prediction of Charge-Changing Sequence Mutations with FEP in Protein-Protein Interfaces.

Building on the substantial progress that has been made in using free energy perturbation (FEP) methods to predict the relative binding affinities of small molecule ligands to proteins, we have previously shown that results of similar quality can be obtained in predicting the effect of mutations on the binding affinity of protein-protein complexes. However, these results were restricted to mutations which did not change the net charge of the side chains due to known difficulties with modeling perturbations involving a change in charge in FEP. Various methods have been proposed to address this problem. Here we apply the co-alchemical water approach to study the efficacy of FEP calculations of charge changing mutations at the protein-protein interface for the antibody-gp120 system investigated previously and three additional complexes. We achieve an overall root mean square error of 1.2 kcal/mol on a set of 106 cases involving a change in net charge selected by a simple suitability filter using side-chain predictions and solvent accessible surface area to be relevant to a biologic optimization project. Reasonable, although less precise, results are also obtained for the 44 more challenging mutations that involve buried residues, which may in some cases require substantial reorganization of the local protein structure, which can extend beyond the scope of a typical FEP simulation. We believe that the proposed prediction protocol will be of sufficient efficiency and accuracy to guide protein engineering projects for which optimization and/or maintenance of a high degree of binding affinity is a key objective.

Phenotypic and Genotypic Resistance of Salmonella Isolates from Healthy and Diseased Pigs in China During 2008-2015.

The antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella strains is rapidly increasing worldwide, which poses significant threats to animal and public health. In this study, a total of 249 porcine Salmonella isolates collected in China during 2008-2015 were examined, including 155 clinical isolates from diseased pigs and 94 nonclinical isolates from healthy pigs. Based on the minimum inhibitory concentration of seven antimicrobial agents, 96.4% of the isolates were resistant to at least one of the tested antibiotics and 81.0% of them showed multidrug resistance. The highest antimicrobial resistance was observed for tetracycline (85.9%), and the lowest was found for cefotaxime (13.3%). The isolates from diseased pigs exhibited significantly higher levels of antimicrobial resistance than those from healthy pigs. Twenty-two isolates from healthy pigs were resistant to ciprofloxacin, which may inhibit the curative effectiveness of fluoroquinolones on bacterial food-borne poisoning and infections in humans caused by contaminated food. Moreover, cefotaxime resistance of the strains isolated from diseased pigs during 2013-2015 was significantly higher compared with the strains isolated during 2008-2010. Further study showed that the correlation between phenotypic and genotypic resistance varied among the isolates from different sources, and in many cases, the presence of resistance genes was not consistent with the resistance to the corresponding antimicrobials. These results are very significant for veterinary practice and public health.

Clickable Poly(ionic liquids): A Materials Platform for Transfection.

The potential applications of cationic poly(ionic liquids) range from medicine to energy storage, and the development of efficient synthetic strategies to target innovative cationic building blocks is an important goal. A post-polymerization click reaction is reported that provides facile access to trisaminocyclopropenium (TAC) ion-functionalized macromolecules of various architectures, which are the first class of polyelectrolytes that bear a formal charge on carbon. Quantitative conversions of polymers comprising pendant or main-chain secondary amines were observed for an array of TAC derivatives in three hours using near equimolar quantities of cyclopropenium chlorides. The resulting TAC polymers are biocompatible and efficient transfection agents. This robust, efficient, and orthogonal click reaction of an ionic liquid, which we term ClickabIL, allows straightforward screening of polymeric TAC derivatives. This platform provides a modular route to synthesize and study various properties of novel TAC-based polymers.