Gender dysphoria in Klinefelter's syndrome: three cases.

Background: Previous reports have found the incidence of gender dysphoria in Klinefelter's patients greater than in the general male population.

Methods: A cohort of patients with gender dysphoria was reviewed.

Results: Of the 220 patients with gender dysphoria, three had Klinefelter's syndrome.

Predicting QRS and PR interval prolongations in humans using nonclinical data.

Background And Purpose: Risk of cardiac conduction slowing (QRS/PR prolongations) is assessed prior to clinical trials using in vitro and in vivo studies. Understanding the quantitative translation of these studies to the clinical situation enables improved risk assessment in the nonclinical phase.

Experimental Approach: Four compounds that prolong QRS and/or PR (AZD1305, flecainide, quinidine and verapamil) were characterized using in vitro (sodium/calcium channels), in vivo (guinea pigs/dogs) and clinical data.

Blastomycotic Osteomyelitis: An Unusual Cause of Hand Swelling.

Isolated blastomycosis hand infections are extremely rare, and are often clinically unsuspected, leading to delays in clinical diagnosis. Conclusive diagnosis often necessitates fungal cultures and histopathological demonstration of budding yeasts in tissues. In this report, we describe the rare occurrence of isolated blastomycotic hand infection, without any other organ involvement, in a 42-year-old male patient.

Racing an Opponent: Alteration of Pacing, Performance, and Muscle-Force Decline but Not Rating of Perceived Exertion.

Purpose: Performing against a virtual opponent has been shown to invite a change in pacing and improve time-trial (TT) performance. This study explored how this performance improvement is established by assessing changes in pacing, neuromuscular function, and perceived exertion.

Methods: After a peak-power-output test and a familiarization TT, 12 trained cyclists completed two 4-km TTs in randomized order on a Velotron cycle ergometer.

Ipsilateral Rupture of Quadriceps Tendon with Distal Tibia Fracture: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Traumatic rupture of the quadriceps tendon by itself is not an uncommon clinical condition. However, its association with concurrent ipsilateral closed distal tibia oblique fracture is exceedingly rare with only one previously reported case in English literature. The dual diagnosis of this atypical combination of injury may be masked by pain and immobilization of the more obvious fracture and may be missed, unless the treating physician maintains a high index of suspicion.

Survival Outcomes of Elderly Patients With Glioblastoma Multiforme in Their 75th Year or Older Treated With Adjuvant Therapy.

Purpose: To assess the outcomes of the most elderly cohort of patients with a diagnosis of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) after intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT).

Methods And Materials: The data of patients with GBM who had underwent IMRT from May 2007 to December 2015 were entered into a prospective database. Analysis was performed on the data from patients diagnosed during or after 75 years of age.

Chemogenetic Interrogation of a Brain-wide Fear Memory Network in Mice.

Behavior depends on coordinated activity across multiple brain regions. Within such networks, highly connected hub regions are assumed to disproportionately influence behavioral output, although this hypothesis has not been systematically evaluated. Previously, by mapping brain-wide expression of the activity-regulated gene c-fos, we identified a network of brain regions co-activated by fear memory.

Metabolomic Profiling of the Synergistic Effects of Melittin in Combination with Cisplatin on Ovarian Cancer Cells.

Melittin, the main peptide present in bee venom, has been proposed as having potential for anticancer therapy; the addition of melittin to cisplatin, a first line treatment for ovarian cancer, may increase the therapeutic response in cancer treatment via synergy, resulting in improved tolerability, reduced relapse, and decreased drug resistance. Thus, this study was designed to compare the metabolomic effects of melittin in combination with cisplatin in cisplatin-sensitive (A2780) and resistant (A2780CR) ovarian cancer cells. Liquid chromatography (LC) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) was applied to identify metabolic changes in A2780 (combination treatment 5 μg/mL melittin + 2 μg/mL cisplatin) and A2780CR (combination treatment 2 μg/mL melittin + 10 μg/mL cisplatin) cells.

PopNet: A Markov Clustering Approach to Study Population Genetic Structure.

With the advent of low cost, high-throughput genome sequencing technology, population genomic data sets are being generated for hundreds of species of pathogenic, industrial, and agricultural importance. The challenge is how best to analyze and visually display these complex data sets to yield intuitive representations capable of capturing complex evolutionary relationships. Here we present PopNet, a novel computational method that identifies regions of shared ancestry in the chromosomes of related strains through clustering patterns of genetic variation.

Idiopathic intradural dorsal thoracic arachnoid cysts: A case series and review of the literature.

Background: Spinal intradural arachnoid cysts (SIAC) are cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) filled sacs formed by arachnoid membranes and may be either idiopathic or acquired. Idiopathic cysts represent a separate entity and their aetiology remains uncertain. By far the most difficult differential diagnosis is distinguishing between idiopathic anterior spinal cord herniation (IASCH) and dorsal thoracic intradural arachnoid cysts (TIAC), due to their similarity in radiological appearance.

Measuring the benefits of using market based approaches to provide water and sanitation in humanitarian contexts.

The use of cash transfers and market based programming (CT/MBP) to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of emergency responses is gaining prominence in the humanitarian sector. However, there is a lack of existing indicators and methodologies to monitor activities designed to strengthen water and sanitation (WaSH) markets. Gender and vulnerability markers to measure the impact of such activities on different stakeholders is also missing.

Malaria parasites possess a telomere repeat-binding protein that shares ancestry with transcription factor IIIA.

Telomere repeat-binding factors (TRFs) are essential components of the molecular machinery that regulates telomere function. TRFs are widely conserved across eukaryotes and bind duplex telomere repeats via a characteristic MYB-type domain. Here, we identified the telomere repeat-binding protein PfTRZ in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, a member of the Alveolate phylum for which TRFs have not been described so far.

Genomics of apicomplexan parasites.

The increasing prevalence of infections involving intracellular apicomplexan parasites such as Plasmodium, Toxoplasma, and Cryptosporidium (the causative agents of malaria, toxoplasmosis, and cryptosporidiosis, respectively) represent a significant global healthcare burden. Despite their significance, few treatments are available; a situation that is likely to deteriorate with the emergence of new resistant strains of parasites. To lay the foundation for programs of drug discovery and vaccine development, genome sequences for many of these organisms have been generated, together with large-scale expression and proteomic datasets.

Clinical Performance Measures and Quality Improvement System Considerations for Dental Education.

Quality improvement and quality assurance programs are an integral part of providing excellence in health care delivery. The Dental Quality Alliance and the Commission on Dental Accreditation recognize this and have created standards and recommendations to advise health care providers and health care delivery systems, including dental schools, on measuring the quality of the care delivered to patients. Overall health care expenditures have increased, and the Affordable Care Act has made health care, including dentistry, available to more people in the United States.

Determination of the equilibrium constant of C fullerene binding with drug molecules.

We report a new analytical method that allows the determination of the magnitude of the equilibrium constant of complexation, K, of small molecules to C fullerene in aqueous solution. The developed method is based on the up-scaled model of C fullerene-ligand complexation and contains the full set of equations needed to fit titration datasets arising from different experimental methods (UV-Vis spectroscopy, H NMR spectroscopy, diffusion ordered NMR spectroscopy, DLS). The up-scaled model takes into consideration the specificity of C fullerene aggregation in aqueous solution and allows the highly dispersed nature of C fullerene cluster distribution to be accounted for.

Signaling Consequences of Structural Lesions that Alter the Stability of Chemoreceptor Trimers of Dimers.

Residues E402 and R404 of the Escherichia coli serine chemoreceptor, Tsr, appear to form a salt bridge that spans the interfaces between neighboring dimers in the Tsr trimer of dimers, a key structural component of receptor core signaling complexes. To assess their functional roles, we constructed full sets of single amino acid replacement mutants at E402 and R404 and characterized their signaling behaviors with a suite of in vivo assays. Our results indicate that the E402 and R404 residues of Tsr play their most critical signaling roles at their inner locations near the trimer axis where they likely participate in stabilizing the trimer-of-dimer packing and the kinase-ON state of core signaling complexes.

Networked Chemoreceptors Benefit Bacterial Chemotaxis Performance.

Unlabelled: Motile bacteria use large receptor arrays to detect and follow chemical gradients in their environment. Extended receptor arrays, composed of networked signaling complexes, promote cooperative stimulus control of their associated signaling kinases. Here, we used structural lesions at the communication interface between core complexes to create an Escherichia coli strain with functional but dispersed signaling complexes.

Parameter Identifiability of Fundamental Pharmacodynamic Models.

Issues of parameter identifiability of routinely used pharmacodynamics models are considered in this paper. The structural identifiability of 16 commonly applied pharmacodynamic model structures was analyzed analytically, using the input-output approach. Both fixed-effects versions (non-population, no between-subject variability) and mixed-effects versions (population, including between-subject variability) of each model structure were analyzed.

Don't make me angry, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry: Volitional choices to act or inhibit are modulated by subliminal perception of emotional faces.

Volitional action and self-control-feelings of acting according to one's own intentions and in being control of one's own actions-are fundamental aspects of human conscious experience. However, it is unknown whether high-level cognitive control mechanisms are affected by socially salient but nonconscious emotional cues. In this study, we manipulated free choice decisions to act or withhold an action by subliminally presenting emotional faces: In a novel version of the Go/NoGo paradigm, participants made speeded button-press responses to Go targets, withheld responses to NoGo targets, and made spontaneous, free choices to execute or withhold the response for Choice targets.

Illusory Temporal Binding in Meditators.

We investigate conditions in which more accurate metacognition may lead to greater susceptibility to illusion and thus conditions under which mindfulness meditation may lead to less accurate perceptions. Specifically, greater awareness of intentions may lead to an illusory compression of time between a voluntary action and its outcome ("intentional binding"). Here, we report that experienced Buddhist mindfulness meditators rather than non-meditators display a greater illusory shift of the timing of an outcome toward an intentional action.

The genome of Onchocerca volvulus, agent of river blindness.

Human onchocerciasis is a serious neglected tropical disease caused by the filarial nematode Onchocerca volvulus that can lead to blindness and chronic disability. Control of the disease relies largely on mass administration of a single drug, and the development of new drugs and vaccines depends on a better knowledge of parasite biology. Here, we describe the chromosomes of O.

Metabolic dysfunction following weight cycling in male mice.

Background: Combatting overweight or obesity can lead to large fluctuations in an individual's body weight, often referred to as weight cycling or 'yo-yo' dieting. Current evidence regarding the potentially damaging effects of these changes is conflicting.

Methods: Here, we assess the metabolic effects of weight cycling in a murine model, comprising three dietary switches to normal or high-fat diets at 6 week intervals; male C57BL/6 mice were fed either a control (C) or high-fat (F) diet for 6 weeks (n=140/group).

National Registry Data and Record Linkage to Inform Postmarket Surveillance of Prosthetic Aortic Valve Models Over 15 Years.

Importance: Postmarket evidence generation for medical devices is important yet limited for prosthetic aortic valve devices in the United Kingdom.

Objective: To identify prosthetic aortic valve models that display unexpected patterns of mortality or reintervention using routinely collected national registry data and record linkage.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This observational study used data from all National Health Service and private hospitals in England and Wales that submit data to the National Adult Cardiac Surgery Audit (NACSA).

Efficacy of the attention control training program on reducing attentional bias in obese and overweight dieters.

Evidence indicates that attentional bias and dieter's eating styles (i.e., external, emotional, restraint) play important roles in the success or failure of dieters.