An Agent-Based Model of Metabolic Signaling Oscillations in Biofilms.

Microbes of nearly every species can form biofilms, communities of cells bound together by a self-produced matrix. It is not understood how variation at the cellular level impacts putatively beneficial, colony-level behaviors, such as cell-to-cell signaling. Here we investigate this problem with an agent-based computational model of metabolically driven electrochemical signaling in biofilms.

Evaluating ARG-estimation methods in the context of estimating population-mean polygenic score histories.

Scalable methods for estimating marginal coalescent trees across the genome present new opportunities for studying evolution and have generated considerable excitement, with new methods extending scalability to thousands of samples. Benchmarking of the available methods has revealed general tradeoffs between accuracy and scalability, but performance in downstream applications has not always been easily predictable from general performance measures, suggesting that specific features of the ARG may be important for specific downstream applications of estimated ARGs. To exemplify this point, we benchmark ARG estimation methods with respect to a specific set of methods for estimating the historical time course of a population-mean polygenic score (PGS) using the marginal coalescent trees encoded by the ancestral recombination graph (ARG).

Plasmodium malariae infections as a cause of febrile disease in an area of high Plasmodium falciparum transmission intensity in Eastern Uganda.

Background: Plasmodium falciparum is responsible for the vast majority of (severe) clinical malaria cases in most African settings. Other Plasmodium species often go undiagnosed but may still have clinical consequences.

Case Presentation: Here, five cases of Plasmodium malariae infections from Eastern Uganda (aged 2-39 years) are presented.

Building a Tailored, Patient-Guided, Web-Based Self-Management Intervention 'ReumaUitgedaagd!' for Adults With a Rheumatic Disease: Results of a Usability Study and Design for a Randomized Control Trail.

Background: The chronic nature of rheumatic diseases imposes daily challenges upon those affected and causes patients to make daily decisions about the way they self-manage their illness. Although there is attention to self-management and evidence for the desirability of tailored interventions to support people with a rheumatic disease, interventions based on individual needs and preferences are scarce.

Objective: To provide a systematic and comprehensive description of the theoretical considerations for building a Web-based, expert, patient-guided, and tailored intervention for adult patients with a rheumatic disease.

Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures--definition, etiology, treatment and prognostic issues: a critical review.

In this review we systematically assess our currently available knowledge about psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) with an emphasis on the psychological mechanisms that underlie PNES, possibilities for psychological treatment as well as prognosis. Relevant studies were identified by searching the electronic databases. Case reports were not considered.

A multicenter, randomized clinical study to evaluate the effect on cognitive function of topiramate compared with valproate as add-on therapy to carbamazepine in patients with partial-onset seizures.

Purpose: This study compares the cognitive effects of topiramate (TPM) with those of valproate (VPA) using efficacious doses of each drug when used as adjunctive therapy to carbamazepine (CBZ). A key question of the study is to what extent a more gradual introduction of TPM improves tolerability and prevents cognitive impairment.

Methods: The study is a multicenter, randomized, observer-blinded, parallel-group clinical trial with VPA or TPM given as first-line add-on therapy to steady-state treatment with CBZ.

Behavioural mechanisms involved in pseudo-epileptic seizures: a comparison between patients with epileptic seizures and patients with pseudo-epileptic seizures.

The diagnosis of pseudo-epileptic seizures (PES) is confirmed in 7-10% of the patients that are considered to suffer from 'refractory epilepsies'. As yet no consistent model is available to explain the development of PES in individual patients. This open non-randomized clinical study aimed at assessing behavioural mechanisms that trigger PES, independent of the underlying personality characteristics.

Effect of epilepsy, seizures and epileptiform EEG discharges on cognitive function.

Patients with an established diagnosis of epilepsy were included in three groups on the basis of the absence (Group 2) or presence (Group 3) of epileptiform EEG discharges or subtle seizures (Group 4) during the cognitive assessment procedure. A separate age-matched non-epileptic control group (Group 1) was formed. Twenty-five patients were included in each of the four groups.

Effect of sabeluzole (R 58,735) on memory functions in patients with epilepsy.

Sabeluzole, a new benzothiazol derivative, has shown positive effects on memory function in animals and in normal volunteers. The present study reports the results of sabeluzole, in memory-impaired patients with localization-related (partial) epilepsy. A randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled parallel-group design was used.

Gamma-vinyl GABA (vigabatrin) and mood disturbances.

We explored factors that may predispose patients to adverse mood effects during treatment with vigabatrin (gamma-vinyl GABA; VGB): mood disorders before VGB treatment, type of epilepsy, seizure type and seizure frequency, type and number of comedication, and VGB dose. The clinical relevance of such a study is that it may help identify circumstances in which VGB should be administered with caution. Seventy-three patients (40 males, 33 females), all with refractory epilepsies, who received VGB as add-on therapy, were assessed by the Amsterdamse Stemmingslyst (ASL), a mood-rating scale, before the start of treatment, and demographic and clinical data were recorded.

Epilepsy and sports.

Millions of healthy people participate in sport on a regular basis. Moreover, in the last decade patients with chronic disorders have been encouraged to take part in sporting activities as a part of their rehabilitation. Can epileptic patients freely participate in sport or whether they are restricted to a certain extent by their disorder? An important factor is freedom from seizures.