Influence of probe flexibility and gelatin embedding on neuronal density and glial responses to brain implants.

To develop long-term high quality communication between brain and computer, a key issue is how to reduce the adverse foreign body responses. Here, the impact of probe flexibility and gelatine embedding on long-term (6w) tissue responses, was analyzed. Probes of same polymer material, size and shape, flexible mainly in one direction, were implanted in rat cerebral cortex (nimplants = 3 x 8) in two orientations with respect to the major movement direction of the brain relative to the skull: parallel to (flex mode) or transverse to (rigid mode).

Motion-induced position shifts are influenced by global motion, but dominated by component motion.

Object motion and position have long been thought to involve largely independent visual computations. However, the motion-induced position shift (Eagleman & Sejnowski, 2007) shows that the perceived position of a briefly presented static object can be influenced by nearby moving contours. Here we combine a particularly strong example of this illusion with a bistable global motion stimulus to compare the relative effects of global and component motion on the shift in perceived position.

Prolonged Outbreak of Mycobacterium chimaera Infection After Open-Chest Heart Surgery.

Background: Invasive Mycobacterium chimaera infections were diagnosed in 2012 in 2 heart surgery patients on extracorporeal circulation. We launched an outbreak investigation to identify the source and extent of the potential outbreak and to implement preventive measures.

Methods: We collected water samples from operating theaters, intensive care units, and wards, including air samples from operating theaters.

The artist emerges: visual art learning alters neural structure and function.

How does the brain mediate visual artistic creativity? Here we studied behavioral and neural changes in drawing and painting students compared to students who did not study art. We investigated three aspects of cognition vital to many visual artists: creative cognition, perception, and perception-to-action. We found that the art students became more creative via the reorganization of prefrontal white matter but did not find any significant changes in perceptual ability or related neural activity in the art students relative to the control group.

Permafrost thawing as a possible source of abrupt carbon release at the onset of the Bølling/Allerød.

One of the most abrupt and yet unexplained past rises in atmospheric CO2 (>10 p.p.m.

Shame, guilt, and stress: Community perceptions of barriers to engaging in prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) programs in western Kenya.

While global scale-up of prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) services has been expansive, only half of HIV-infected pregnant women receive antiretroviral regimens for PMTCT in sub-Saharan Africa. To evaluate social factors influencing uptake of PMTCT in rural Kenya, we conducted a community-based, cross-sectional survey of mothers residing in the KEMRI/CDC Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) area. Factors included referrals and acceptability, HIV-related stigma, observed discrimination, and knowledge of violence.

Community-based evaluation of PMTCT uptake in Nyanza Province, Kenya.

Introduction: Facility-based assessments of prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) programs may overestimate population coverage. There are few community-based studies that evaluate PMTCT coverage and uptake.

Methods: During 2011, a cross-sectional community survey among women who gave birth in the prior year was performed using the KEMRI-CDC Health and Demographic Surveillance System in Western Kenya.

Dosimetric effects of swelling or shrinking tissue during helical tomotherapy breast irradiation. A phantom study.

During radiation therapy of the female breast, the actual target volume compared to the planning target volume may change due to swelling or shrinking of the tissue. Under- or overdosage is to be expected, especially when performing IMRT or tomotherapy techniques. The objective of this study is to develop a model-based quantification of these dose effects, with a particular focus on the changes in the surface dose.

Unconscious neural processing differs with method used to render stimuli invisible.

Visual stimuli can be kept from awareness using various methods. The extent of processing that a given stimulus receives in the absence of awareness is typically used to make claims about the role of consciousness more generally. The neural processing elicited by a stimulus, however, may also depend on the method used to keep it from awareness, and not only on whether the stimulus reaches awareness.

Estimation of vegetation photosynthetic capacity from space-based measurements of chlorophyll fluorescence for terrestrial biosphere models.

Photosynthesis simulations by terrestrial biosphere models are usually based on the Farquhar's model, in which the maximum rate of carboxylation (Vcmax ) is a key control parameter of photosynthetic capacity. Even though Vcmax is known to vary substantially in space and time in response to environmental controls, it is typically parameterized in models with tabulated values associated to plant functional types. Remote sensing can be used to produce a spatially continuous and temporally resolved view on photosynthetic efficiency, but traditional vegetation observations based on spectral reflectance lack a direct link to plant photochemical processes.

Collaborative EDNAP exercise on the IrisPlex system for DNA-based prediction of human eye colour.

The IrisPlex system is a DNA-based test system for the prediction of human eye colour from biological samples and consists of a single forensically validated multiplex genotyping assay together with a statistical prediction model that is based on genotypes and phenotypes from thousands of individuals. IrisPlex predicts blue and brown human eye colour with, on average, >94% precision accuracy using six of the currently most eye colour informative single nucleotide polymorphisms (HERC2 rs12913832, OCA2 rs1800407, SLC24A4 rs12896399, SLC45A2 (MATP) rs16891982, TYR rs1393350, and IRF4 rs12203592) according to a previous study, while the accuracy in predicting non-blue and non-brown eye colours is considerably lower. In an effort to vigorously assess the IrisPlex system at the international level, testing was performed by 21 laboratories in the context of a collaborative exercise divided into three tasks and organised by the European DNA Profiling (EDNAP) Group of the International Society of Forensic Genetics (ISFG).

Geographic distribution of HIV stigma among women of childbearing age in rural Kenya.

Objective(s): HIV stigma is considered to be a major driver of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, yet there is a limited understanding of its occurrence. We describe the geographic patterns of two forms of HIV stigma in a cross-sectional sample of women of childbearing age from western Kenya: internalized stigma (associated with shame) and externalized stigma (associated with blame).

Design: Geographic studies of HIV stigma provide a first step in generating hypotheses regarding potential community-level causes of stigma and may lead to more effective community-level interventions.

Towards a computational model of a methane producing archaeum.

Progress towards a complete model of the methanogenic archaeum Methanosarcina acetivorans is reported. We characterized size distribution of the cells using differential interference contrast microscopy, finding them to be ellipsoidal with mean length and width of 2.9  μ m and 2.

Quantification of isotope-labeled and unlabeled folates and folate catabolites in urine samples by stable isotope dilution assay.

Dual-label stable isotope dilution assays for the simultaneous quantification of isotopologic folates in clinical samples offer the perspective for differentiating between unlabeled folates from endogenous body pools and administered [13C5]-labeled folates from a test dose when performing bioavailability trials. In contrast to intact folates, this methodology could hitherto not be applied to the quantification of the folate catabolites, p-aminobenzoyl glutamate and p-acetamidobenzoyl glutamate. In this study, [2H4]-p-aminobenzoyl glutamate, [2H4]-p-acetamidobenzoyl glutamate, and unlabeled p-acetamidobenzoyl glutamate were synthesized.

First documented outbreak of KPC-2-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae in Switzerland: infection control measures and clinical management.

We report the epidemiological and clinical features of the first outbreak of Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase-producing K. pneumoniae (KPC-KP) type 2 in Switzerland. The outbreak took place in the medical intensive care unit (MICU) of our tertiary care hospital and affected three severely ill patients.

The global slowdown effect: why does perceptual grouping reduce perceived speed?

The percept of four rotating dot pairs is bistable. The "local percept" is of four pairs of dots rotating independently. The "global percept" is of two large squares translating over one another (Anstis & Kim 2011).

μ-Foil Polymer Electrode Array for Intracortical Neural Recordings.

We have developed a multichannel electrode array-termed [Formula: see text]-foil-that comprises ultrathin and flexible electrodes protruding from a thin foil at fixed distances. In addition to allowing some of the active sites to reach less compromised tissue, the barb-like protrusions that also serves the purpose of anchoring the electrode array into the tissue. This paper is an early evaluation of technical aspects and performance of this electrode array in acute in vitro/in vivo experiments.

Responses of ocean circulation and carbon cycle to changes in the position of the Southern Hemisphere westerlies at Last Glacial Maximum.

We explore the impact of a latitudinal shift in the westerly wind belt over the Southern Ocean on the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) and on the carbon cycle for Last Glacial Maximum background conditions using a state-of-the-art ocean general circulation model. We find that a southward (northward) shift in the westerly winds leads to an intensification (weakening) of no more than 10% of the AMOC. This response of the ocean physics to shifting winds agrees with other studies starting from preindustrial background climate, but the responsible processes are different.

Male, mobile, and moneyed: loss to follow-up vs. transfer of care in an urban African antiretroviral treatment clinic.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to analyze characteristics, reasons for transferring, and reasons for discontinuing care among patients defined as lost to follow-up (LTFU) from an antiretroviral therapy (ART) clinic in Nairobi, Kenya.

Design: The study used a prospective cohort of patients who participated in a randomized, controlled ART adherence trial between 2006 and 2008.

Methods: Participants were followed from pre-ART clinic enrollment to 18 months after ART initiation, and were defined as LTFU if they failed to return to clinic 4 weeks after their last scheduled visit.

Prolonged capnoperitoneum does not cause postoperative ileus in pigs: safety of prolonged capnoperitoneum.

Introduction: Operative time is an accepted risk factor for the development of postoperative ileus (POI). Innovative surgical procedures such as robotic surgery and natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) will be associated with longer operative times. Although intraabdominal manipulation is a major factor for POI the impact of prolonged capnoperitoneum on postoperative gastrointestinal transit time (GIT-TT) has rarely been studied.

Network structure and dynamics of the mental workspace.

The conscious manipulation of mental representations is central to many creative and uniquely human abilities. How does the human brain mediate such flexible mental operations? Here, multivariate pattern analysis of functional MRI data reveals a widespread neural network that performs specific mental manipulations on the contents of visual imagery. Evolving patterns of neural activity within this mental workspace track the sequence of informational transformations carried out by these manipulations.

High-affinity inhibitors of Zymomonas mobilis tRNA-guanine transglycosylase through convergent optimization.

The tRNA-modifying enzyme tRNA-guanine transglycosylase (TGT) has been recognized as a drug target for the treatment of the foodborne illness shigellosis. The active site of TGT consists of three pockets: the central guanine/preQ1 recognition site and the ribose-33 and ribose-34 pockets. In previous work, lin-benzoguanines and lin-benzohypoxanthines, which differ by the presence of an exocyclic NH2 group in the former and its absence in the latter, were used as central scaffolds that bind to the guanine/preQ1 recognition site and allow suitable functionalization along exit vectors targeting the two ribose pockets.

Menaquinone analogs inhibit growth of bacterial pathogens.

Gram-positive bacteria cause serious human illnesses through combinations of cell surface and secreted virulence factors. We initiated studies with four of these organisms to develop novel topical antibacterial agents that interfere with growth and exotoxin production, focusing on menaquinone analogs. Menadione, 1,4-naphthoquinone, and coenzymes Q1 to Q3 but not menaquinone, phylloquinone, or coenzyme Q10 inhibited the growth and to a greater extent exotoxin production of Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus anthracis, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Streptococcus agalactiae at concentrations of 10 to 200 μg/ml.

Presumably hospital-transmitted Clostridium difficile infections based on epidemiological linkage.

Objectives: Given the traditionally low CDAD (Clostridium difficile associated diarrhoea) prevalence in Switzerland, CDAD patients are not routinely contact-isolated in our institution. In light of the globally changing C. difficile epidemiology, we sought to determine our institutional CDAD rate and to detect possible hospital transmission by means of epidemiological linkage.

Staphylococcal and streptococcal superantigen exotoxins.

SUMMARY This review begins with a discussion of the large family of Staphylococcus aureus and beta-hemolytic streptococcal pyrogenic toxin T lymphocyte superantigens from structural and immunobiological perspectives. With this as background, the review then discusses the major known and possible human disease associations with superantigens, including associations with toxic shock syndromes, atopic dermatitis, pneumonia, infective endocarditis, and autoimmune sequelae to streptococcal illnesses. Finally, the review addresses current and possible novel strategies to prevent superantigen production and passive and active immunization strategies.