Optimal solid state neurons.

Bioelectronic medicine is driving the need for neuromorphic microcircuits that integrate raw nervous stimuli and respond identically to biological neurons. However, designing such circuits remains a challenge. Here we estimate the parameters of highly nonlinear conductance models and derive the ab initio equations of intracellular currents and membrane voltages embodied in analog solid-state electronics.

The Relationship Between Forward Head Posture and Neck Pain: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Purpose Of Review: Forward head posture (FHP) is the most common cervical postural fault in the sagittal plane that is found with different severity levels in almost all populations. Despite claims that FHP may be related to neck pain, this relation seems to be controversial. Thus, our purpose is to determine whether FHP differs between asymptomatic subjects and those with neck pain and to investigate if there is a relationship between head posture and neck pain.

A Pilot Study of Atezolizumab Plus Hypofractionated Image Guided Radiation Therapy for the Treatment of Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Purpose: Preclinical data and subset analyses from immunotherapy clinical trials indicate that prior radiation therapy was associated with better progression-free survival and overall survival when combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. We present a prospective study of hypofractionated image guided radiation therapy (HIGRT) to a single site of metastatic disease concurrently with atezolizumab in patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.

Methods And Materials: Patients meeting eligibility criteria received 1200 mg of atezolizumab intravenously every 3 weeks with concurrent 3- or 5-fraction HIGRT starting no later than the second cycle.

Radial artery dilatation to improve access and lower complications during coronary angiography: the RADIAL trial.

Aims: The aim of this study was to explore the use of prolonged occlusion flow-mediated dilatation (PO-FMD) to dilate the radial artery prior to cannulation to increase cannulation success, reduce puncture attempts and reduce access-site complications in transradial coronary angiography.

Methods And Results: A total of 1,156 patients undergoing transradial coronary angiography were randomised into PO-FMD and sham PO-FMD groups. PO-FMD was achieved by a 10-minute inflation of a blood pressure cuff on the arm to above systolic pressure, followed by deflation with resultant radial artery dilation.

The Role of Zinc Efflux during Infection.

is a ubiquitous Gram-negative bacterium, that is associated with significant disease in immunocompromised individuals. The success of is partly attributable to its high level of antibiotic resistance. Further, expresses a broad arsenal of putative zinc efflux systems that are likely to aid environmental persistence and host colonization, but detailed insights into how the bacterium deals with toxic concentrations of zinc are lacking.

Mouse Mast Cell Protease-4 Recruits Leukocytes in the Inflammatory Phase of Surgically Wounded Skin.

Mouse mast cell protease-4 (mMCP-4, also known as chymase) has both pro- and anti-inflammatory roles depending on the disease model. However, its effects have not been studied in surgically wounded skin. Given the significant clinical applications of modulating the inflammatory response in wound healing, we examined the role of mMCP-4 and the effect of its inhibitor chymostatin on leukocyte and polymorphonuclear cell (PMN) recruitment in our skin model.

Short-chain diamines are the physiological substrates of PACE family efflux pumps.

has rapidly emerged as a major cause of gram-negative hospital infections worldwide. encodes for the transport protein AceI, which confers resistance to chlorhexidine, a widely used antiseptic. AceI is also the prototype for the recently discovered proteobacterial antimicrobial compound efflux (PACE) family of transport proteins that confer resistance to a range of antibiotics and antiseptics in many gram-negative bacteria, including pathogens.

The Therapeutic Mechanisms of Propolis Against CCl -Mediated Liver Injury by Mediating Apoptosis of Activated Hepatic Stellate Cells and Improving the Hepatic Architecture through PI3K/AKT/mTOR, TGF-β/Smad2, Bcl2/BAX/P53 and iNOS Signaling Pathways.

Background/aims: Propolis is one of the most promising natural products, exhibiting not only therapeutic but also prophylactic actions. Propolis has several biological and pharmacological properties, including hepatoprotective activities. The present study aimed to investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms of propolis against CCl-mediated liver fibrosis.

Graphene Oxide Liquid Crystal Domains: Quantification and Role in Tailoring Viscoelastic Behavior.

Graphene oxide liquid crystals (GOLCs) were exfoliated in a wide variety of solvents (water, ethylene glycol (EG), -methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), and dimethylformamide (DMF)) by high-speed shearing of graphite oxide. Quantitative polarized light imaging of the equilibrium nematic phases of the lyotropic GOLCs gives insights into the extent of aggregation and quantifiable textural features such as domain size, . Large nematic domains >100 μm with a high overall degree of order were obtained in water and ethylene glycol, in contrast to ∼5-50 μm domains in NMP and DMF at comparable volume fractions.

Respiratory disease due to mixed viral infections in poultry flocks in Egypt between 2017 and 2018: Upsurge of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus subtype H5N8 since 2018.

For several years, poultry production in Egypt has been suffering from co-circulation of multiple respiratory viruses including highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) H5N1 (clade 2.2.1.

Manganese oxide synthesized from spent Zn-C battery for supercapacitor electrode application.

Manganese oxide (MnO) nanomaterials have promising potential to be used as supercapacitor electrode materials due to its high energy storage performance and environmental compatibility. Besides, every year huge volume of waste batteries including Zn-C battery ends up in landfill, which aggravates the burden of waste disposal in landfill and creates environmental and health threat. Thus, transformation of waste battery back into energy application, is of great significance for sustainable strategies.

Voltammetric determination of cadmium(II), lead(II) and copper(II) with a glassy carbon electrode modified with silver nanoparticles deposited on poly(1,8-diaminonaphthalene).

A glassy carbon (GC) electrode was modified with poly(1,8-diaminonaphthalene) (p-1,8-DAN) that was coated with silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) (size: 10.0-60.0 nm by TEM) by electrodeposition process using cyclic voltammetry (CV) technique.

Correction: The pleiotropic effects of TNFα in breast cancer subtypes is regulated by TNFAIP3/A20.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Non-Medical Use of Prescription Stimulants for Treatment of Attention Disorders by University Students: Characteristics and Associations.

BACKGROUND Non-medical use of prescription stimulants (NPS) for treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD), which are considered narcotic substances and medical drugs, are used to treat learning and attention disorders. The purpose of this study was to investigate associations between misuse of medications for treatment of ADHD and various characteristics and problem behaviors, such as impulsivity, deviant behavior, and drug use. MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 1280 undergraduate students (64% females; mean age 27; SD=6) completed an anonymous, structured, self-report questionnaire on health, well-being, and health risk behaviors.

Prevalence of Nephrotoxicity in HIV Patients Treated with Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate: A Single-center Observational Study.

Objectives: Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) has been reported to cause nephrotoxicity necessitating cessation in some patients. No information is available on the nephrotoxic effect of TDF in Omani or regional patients with HIV infection. We sought to determine the prevalence of the nephrotoxic effects of TDF in our cohort of Omani patients with HIV and investigate the nephrotoxic effects of other cofactors.

Prevalence and 30-day all-cause mortality of carbapenem-and colistin-resistant bacteraemia caused by Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Klebsiella pneumoniae: Description of a decade-long trend.

Background: Bacteraemia due to carbapenem-resistant gram-negative bacteria is challenging. This study examined the burden of carbapenem and colistin resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii bacteraemia in Oman.

Methods: Adult patients admitted to Sultan Qaboos University Hospital between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2016 with positive blood cultures for P.

Influence of low-level laser (LLL) on interleukin 6 (IL-6) levels in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) during orthodontic tooth movement of periodontally affected rabbits.

Aim: To evaluate the effects of LLL on IL-6 levels in the GCF and the Probing Pocket Depth measurements (PPD) during orthodontic tooth movement in periodontally affected rabbits.

Methods: Twenty-four rabbits were divided into 3 groups: Group 1(G1), healthy rabbits with orthodontic movement, Group 2(G2) periodontally affected rabbits and orthodontic movement, Group 3(G3) periodontally affected rabbits with orthodontic movement and LLL therapy. A 0.

Solitary contralateral adrenal metastasis of renal cell carcinoma 15 years following radical nephrectomy: A case report and review of literature.

Introduction: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is known to metastasize to almost every organ. A well-recognized phenomenon in RCC is late metastatic recurrence after nephrectomy which is arbitrarily defined as more than 10 years. The incidence of solitary ipsilateral and contralateral adrenal metastasis is 3% and 0.

High-efficiency and broadband photonic polarization rotator based on multilevel shape optimization.

We report on a novel photonic polarization rotator design obtained by multilevel shape optimization. The numerical method consists of a topological optimization scheme, improving iteratively the efficiency of the component by modifying its shape on two discrete levels along the etching direction. We numerically show that, compared to state-of-the-art single-level shape optimization, the performances can be drastically improved for a given device length.

Primary tumor-induced immunity eradicates disseminated tumor cells in syngeneic mouse model.

Although clinically apparent metastasis is associated with late stages of cancer development, micro-metastatic dissemination may be an early event. However, the fate of these early disseminated tumor cells (DTC) remains elusive. We show that despite their capacity to disseminate into secondary organs, 4T1 tumor models develop overt metastasis while EMT6-tumor bearing mice clear DTCs shed from primary tumors as well as those introduced by intravenous (IV) injection.

Identification of Novel Host Fatty Acid Stress Adaptation Strategies.

Free fatty acids hold important immune-modulatory roles during infection. However, the host's long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, not commonly found in the membranes of bacterial pathogens, also have significant broad-spectrum antibacterial potential. Of these, the omega-6 fatty acid arachidonic acid (AA) and the omega-3 fatty acid decosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are highly abundant; hence, we investigated their effects on the multidrug-resistant human pathogen Our analyses reveal that AA and DHA incorporate into the bacterial membrane and impact bacterial fitness and membrane integrity, with DHA having a more pronounced effect.

The Role of the CopA Copper Efflux System in Virulence.

has emerged as one of the leading causative agents of nosocomial infections. Due to its high level of intrinsic and adapted antibiotic resistance, treatment failure rates are high, which allows this opportunistic pathogen to thrive during infection in immune-compromised patients. can cause infections within a broad range of host niches, with pneumonia and bacteraemia being associated with the greatest levels of morbidity and mortality.

Cytosorb Adsorption During Emergency Cardiac Operations in Patients at High Risk of Bleeding.

Background: The purpose of this study was to analyze the results of Cytosorb (CytoSorbents, Monmouth Junction, NJ) adsorption during emergency open heart operations in patients at high risk of bleeding due to treatment with coagulation-active substances.

Methods: We investigated 55 consecutive patients (median age 70 years; interquartile range: 60 to 77) who underwent emergency cardiac surgery at our institution between June 2016 and June 2018. All patients were receiving therapy with either ticagrelor (n = 43) or rivaroxaban (n = 12).