Effects of extracellular calcium and surgical techniques on restoration of axonal continuity by polyethylene glycol fusion following complete cut or crush severance of rat sciatic nerves.

Complete crush or cut severance of sciatic nerve axons in rats and other mammals produces immediate loss of axonal continuity. Loss of locomotor functions subserved by those axons is restored only after months, if ever, by outgrowths regenerating at ∼1 mm/day from the proximal stumps of severed axonal segments. The distal stump of a severed axon typically begins to degenerate in 1-3 days.

Mode of drinking fluoridated milk: effect on intraoral fluoride concentrations.

Objective: To determine the effect of the mode of drinking fluoridated milk on salivary and plaque fluoride concentrations.

Methods: Fluoridated milk was ingested by 32 children in three ways: (a) directly from the container (1.0 and 5.

Axonal fusion via conduit-based delivery of hydrophilic polymers.

Background: Hydrophilic polymers have been shown to improve physiologic recovery following repair of transected nerves with microsutures. Our study was designed to combine hydrophilic polymer therapy with nerve tubes (NT) to enhance polymer delivery to the site of nerve injury.

Methods: Using a rat sciatic nerve injury model, a single transection injury was repaired in an end-to-end fashion with NT + polyethylene glycol (PEG) to NT alone.

Laboratory measurements of resistivity in warm dense plasmas relevant to the microphysics of brown dwarfs.

Since the observation of the first brown dwarf in 1995, numerous studies have led to a better understanding of the structures of these objects. Here we present a method for studying material resistivity in warm dense plasmas in the laboratory, which we relate to the microphysics of brown dwarfs through viscosity and electron collisions. Here we use X-ray polarimetry to determine the resistivity of a sulphur-doped plastic target heated to Brown Dwarf conditions by an ultra-intense laser.

Clinimetric Analysis of the Motor Section of the Progressive Supranuclear Palsy Rating Scale: Reliability and Factor Analysis.

Introduction: PSP is a rare degenerative disorder associated with significant morbidity. Recently, investigations of the etiology and treatment of PSP have been initiated. The aim of the present study was to validate the motor domain of the Progressive Supranuclear Palsy Rating Scale (PSPRS) as part of a larger epidemiological study.

Thrips Settling, Oviposition and IYSV Distribution on Onion Foliage.

Thrips tabaci Lindeman (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) adult and larval settling and oviposition on onion (Allium cepa L.) foliage were investigated in relation to leaf position and leaf length at prebulb plant growth stages under controlled conditions. In the laboratory, four and six adult females of T.

Technical note: Digital quantification of eye pigmentation of cattle with white faces.

Cancer of the eye in cattle with white faces occurs less frequently in cattle with pigmented eyelids. Corneoscleral pigmentation is related to eyelid pigmentation and occurrence of lesions that may precede cancer. Objectives of this study were to assess 1) variation in the proportion of eyelid and corneoscleral pigmentation in Hereford, Bos taurus, and Bos indicus crossbreds and 2) the occurrence of lesions with the presence of pigmentation in those areas.

Selective small-molecule inhibition of an RNA structural element.

Riboswitches are non-coding RNA structures located in messenger RNAs that bind endogenous ligands, such as a specific metabolite or ion, to regulate gene expression. As such, riboswitches serve as a novel, yet largely unexploited, class of emerging drug targets. Demonstrating this potential, however, has proven difficult and is restricted to structurally similar antimetabolites and semi-synthetic analogues of their cognate ligand, thus greatly restricting the chemical space and selectivity sought for such inhibitors.

Engineering Ultra-Low Work Function of Graphene.

Low work function materials are critical for energy conversion and electron emission applications. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that an ultralow work function graphene is achieved by combining electrostatic gating with a Cs/O surface coating. A simple device is built from large-area monolayer graphene grown by chemical vapor deposition, transferred onto 20 nm HfO2 on Si, enabling high electric fields capacitive charge accumulation in the graphene.

4.7-T diffusion tensor imaging of acute traumatic peripheral nerve injury.

Diagnosis and management of peripheral nerve injury is complicated by the inability to assess microstructural features of injured nerve fibers via clinical examination and electrophysiology. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has been shown to accurately detect nerve injury and regeneration in crush models of peripheral nerve injury, but no prior studies have been conducted on nerve transection, a surgical emergency that can lead to permanent weakness or paralysis. Acute sciatic nerve injuries were performed microsurgically to produce multiple grades of nerve transection in rats that were harvested 1 hour after surgery.

Effects of Thrips Density, Mode of Inoculation, and Plant Age on Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus Transmission in Peanut Plants.

Spotted wilt caused by tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV; family Bunyaviridae; genus Tospovirus) is a serious disease of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) in the southeastern United States. Peanut genotypes with field resistance to TSWV are effective in suppressing spotted wilt.

Design, synthesis and anticancer activity of Michael-type thiol adducts of α-santonin analogue with exocyclic methylene.

A series of Michael-type analogues were generated on the C-ring of α-santonin (α-methylene-γ-butyrolactone) upon reaction with various thiols. All the thiol adducts synthesized were evaluated for their anticancer activity against four human cancer cell lines (PC-3, HCT-15, A-549 and MCF-7). Bioassay results indicated that even though most of the synthesized compounds exhibited a good anticancer activity against various cancer cells in vitro, some of the compounds like 9e, 9g and 9q were found to be the most promising analogues in this series, with compound 9e showing IC50 values of 1.

Improving Fellowship Training in Microsurgery: A Threshold Concepts Perspective on the Curricula of Fellowship Programs.

Background: The theory of "threshold concepts" argues that within every discipline there is knowledge that transforms understanding and leads to a previously inaccessible way of thinking, without which the learner cannot progress. This study investigates the factors influencing the development of the characteristic ways of thinking and practicing as a microsurgeon during a microsurgical fellowship. We analyze the challenges in the development of these characteristics during focused fellowship training in microsurgery, of which some could potentially represent "threshold concepts.

Antioxidants in Translational Medicine.

Significance: It is generally accepted that reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging molecules or antioxidants exert health-promoting effects and thus their consumption as food additives and nutraceuticals has been greatly encouraged. Antioxidants may be beneficial in situations of subclinical deficiency and increased demand or acutely upon high-dose infusion. However, to date, there is little clinical evidence for the long-term benefit of most antioxidants.

Genetic effects on birth weight in reciprocal Brahman-Simmental crossbred calves.

Brahman-cross calves exhibit unusual inheritance of birth weight: Brahman-sired crossbreds out of females are heavier with greater difference between sexes than calves of the reciprocal cross. The objectives of this work were to confirm that unusual inheritance and to investigate non-Mendelian genetic effects that may influence differences in Brahman × Simmental crossbred calves. Crossbred calves were produced by embryo transfer ( = 2,862) and natural service or artificial insemination ( = 2,125) from 1983 to 1991 by a private seedstock producer.

Personalized genomic analyses for cancer mutation discovery and interpretation.

Massively parallel sequencing approaches are beginning to be used clinically to characterize individual patient tumors and to select therapies based on the identified mutations. A major question in these analyses is the extent to which these methods identify clinically actionable alterations and whether the examination of the tumor tissue alone is sufficient or whether matched normal DNA should also be analyzed to accurately identify tumor-specific (somatic) alterations. To address these issues, we comprehensively evaluated 815 tumor-normal paired samples from patients of 15 tumor types.

Fast-electron refluxing effects on anisotropic hard-x-ray emission from intense laser-plasma interactions.

Fast-electron generation and dynamics, including electron refluxing, is at the core of understanding high-intensity laser-plasma interactions. This field is itself of strong relevance to fast ignition fusion and the development of new short-pulse, intense, x-ray, γ-ray, and particle sources. In this paper, we describe experiments that explicitly link fast-electron refluxing and anisotropy in hard-x-ray emission.

Beyond strong and weak: rethinking postdictatorship civil societies.

What is the impact of dictatorships on postdictatorial civil societies? Bottom-up theories suggest that totalitarian dictatorships destroy civil society while authoritarian ones allow for its development. Top-down theories of civil society suggest that totalitarianism can create civil societies while authoritarianism is unlikely to. This article argues that both these perspectives suffer from a one-dimensional understanding of civil society that conflates strength and autonomy.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy: contributions from the Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy.

Objective: Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease associated with repetitive brain trauma (RBT). Initially described in boxers, CTE has now been found in other contact sport athletes with a history of RBT. In recent years, there has been tremendous media attention regarding CTE, primarily because of the deaths of high profile American football players who were found to have CTE upon neuropathological examination.

Anticancer agents from diverse natural sources.

This review attempts to portray the discovery and development of anticancer agents/drugs from diverse natural sources. Natural molecules from these natural sources including plants, microbes and marine organisms have been the basis of treatment of human diseases since the ancient times. Compounds derived from nature have been important sources of new drugs and also serve as templates for synthetic modification.

An alarming presentation of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease following a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE), also known as prion diseases, are characterized by rapid and fatal neurological decline. They not only detrimentally affect the patient, but also present additional challenges to healthcare systems due to the infectivity of the tissues and the difficulty of inactivating the prion. The most common TSE is Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), which can occur after familial, spontaneous or acquired transmission.

Antibiotic Use in Children with Acute Respiratory or Ear Infections: Prospective Observational Comparison of Anthroposophic and Conventional Treatment under Routine Primary Care Conditions.

Children with acute respiratory or ear infections (RTI/OM) are often unnecessarily prescribed antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance is a major public health problem and antibiotic prescription for RTI/OM should be reduced. Anthroposophic treatment of RTI/OM includes anthroposophic medications, nonmedication therapy and if necessary also antibiotics.

Comparison of breeding value prediction for two traits in a Nellore-Angus crossbred population using different Bayesian modeling methodologies.

The objectives of this study were to 1) compare four models for breeding value prediction using genomic or pedigree information and 2) evaluate the impact of fixed effects that account for family structure. Comparisons were made in a Nellore-Angus population comprising F2, F3 and half-siblings to embryo transfer F2 calves with records for overall temperament at weaning (TEMP; n = 769) and Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF; n = 387). After quality control, there were 34,913 whole genome SNP markers remaining.

Ten years of pan-genome analyses.

Next generation sequencing technologies have engendered a genome sequence data deluge in public databases. Genome analyses have transitioned from single or few genomes to hundreds to thousands of genomes. Pan-genome analyses provide a framework for estimating the genomic diversity of the dataset at hand and predicting the number of additional whole genomes sequences that would be necessary to fully characterize that diversity.