Gut Pathobiont-Derived Outer Membrane Vesicles Drive Liver Inflammation and Fibrosis in Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis-Associated Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Background & Aims: Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), often associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), presents a multifactorial etiology involving genetic, immunologic, and environmental factors. Gut dysbiosis and bacterial translocation have been implicated in PSC-IBD, yet the precise mechanisms underlying their pathogenesis remain elusive. Here, we describe the role of gut pathobionts in promoting liver inflammation and fibrosis due to the release of bacterial outer membrane vesicles (OMVs).

Real-time magnetic resonance imaging: mechanics of oral and facial function.

We report a summary of developmental work to explore, develop, and establish clinical applications of real-time magnetic resonance imaging (rtMRI) with a temporal resolution of 70 frames/second in oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS). Real-time MRI can contribute to procedure planning, diagnostics, rehabilitation, monitoring, and patient education. At present, conventional MRI is used extensively in the diagnosis, staging, and follow up of head and neck cancer patients, with scanning durations typically of several minutes and temporal resolution of up to 0.

MetaChem: An Algebraic Framework for Artificial Chemistries.

We introduce MetaChem, a language for representing and implementing artificial chemistries. We motivate the need for modularization and standardization in representation of artificial chemistries. We describe a mathematical formalism for Static Graph MetaChem, a static-graph-based system.

Complex systems, part I: why 42 is rarely, if ever, the ultimate answer.

We describe the different categories of systems and systems thinking, and illustrate why almost all clinical interactions constitute simultaneously complex and complicated systems, so-called "wicked systems". We also discuss why they are not amenable to quantitative analysis. With the use of comparisons and illustrations we show some of the problems that reductionist metrics create, and support concerns regarding quantitative fallacy.

Making and working of a new electronic resource for patients, carers and professionals: maxfacts.uk.

Many maxillofacial patients have serious short, medium, or long-term problems, as well as having to make informed decisions about often life-changing interventions. Validated comprehensive information, at the right time and the right level for a diverse group of users (patients, carers, and professionals), is vital if patients are to make a serious contribution to their treatment. We describe the development of an online resource for this purpose.

Ternary graph as a questionnaire: a new approach to assessment of quality of life?

This study was prompted by awareness of the importance of research into quality of life (QoL) for patients with diseases of the head and neck, the important part questionnaires currently play in this field, and awareness of the "questionnaire fatigue" experienced by many patients. Our multidisciplinary research group raised coincidental awareness of the widespread use of ternary graphs in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities as a graphical tool for quantitative, semiquantitative, or purely graphical characteristics of ternary mixtures. We explored how the basic properties of ternary graphs could be translated into an interactive electronic tool as an alternative to conventional questionnaires.

Heterotic computing: exploiting hybrid computational devices.

Current computational theory deals almost exclusively with single models: classical, neural, analogue, quantum, etc. In practice, researchers use ad hoc combinations, realizing only recently that they can be fundamentally more powerful than the individual parts. A Theo Murphy meeting brought together theorists and practitioners of various types of computing, to engage in combining the individual strengths to produce powerful new heterotic devices.

Heterotic computing: past, present and future.

We introduce and define 'heterotic computing' as a combination of two or more computational systems such that they provide an advantage over either substrate used separately. This first requires a definition of physical computation. We take the framework in Horsman et al.

Promoting self-determination of students who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Self-determination is a combination of attitudes, knowledge, and skills that enables individuals to make choices and engage in goal-directed, self-regulated behavior. Research in special education has demonstrated the benefits of promoting self-determination in achieving positive adult outcomes. However, to date, very little has been written about self-determination as it relates to the education of students who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Genetic algorithms and solid state NMR pulse sequences.

The use of genetic algorithms for the optimisation of magic angle spinning NMR pulse sequences is discussed. The discussion uses as an example the optimisation of the C7(2)(1) dipolar recoupling pulse sequence, aiming to achieve improved efficiency for spin systems characterised by large chemical shielding anisotropies and/or small dipolar coupling interactions. The optimised pulse sequence is found to be robust over a wide range of parameters, requires only minimal a priori knowledge of the spin system for experimental implementations with buildup rates being solely determined by the magnitude of the dipolar coupling interaction, but is found to be less broadbanded than the original C7(2)(1) pulse sequence.

Local tolerance and stability up to 24 months of a new 20% proline-stabilized polyclonal immunoglobulin for subcutaneous administration.

Subcutaneous administration of human IgG is an alternative to intravenous replacement therapy that is associated with more stable serum IgG levels and fewer systemic adverse events. Highly concentrated IgG solutions are most convenient to minimize infusion volume, but their preparation and stability presents substantial technical difficulties. We report on the stability and local tolerance of IgPro20, an l-proline-stabilized, 20% polyvalent human IgG developed for subcutaneous administration.

RT patterns and chunks in SRT tasks: a reply to Jiménez (2008).

Previous research has shown that the formation of units or chunks contributes to sequence learning in serial reaction time (SRT) tasks (Koch & Hoffmann, Psychological Research 63:22-35, 2000). However, some of these results were assumed to be unrelated to sequence learning and to reflect preexistent response tendencies (Jiménez, Psychological Research 72:387-396, 2008). In the Experiment of this study, we aimed to evaluate this issue.

Movements or targets: what makes an action in action-effect learning?

According to ideomotor theory, actions become linked to the sensory feedback they contingently produce, so that anticipating the feedback automatically evokes the action it typically results from. Numerous recent studies have provided evidence in favour of such action-effect learning but left an important issue unresolved. It remains unspecified to what extent action-effect learning is based on associating effect-representations to representations of the performed movements or to representations of the targets at which the behaviour aimed at.

Stability over 36 months of a new liquid 10% polyclonal immunoglobulin product (IgPro10, Privigen) stabilized with L-proline.

Background And Objectives: IgPro10 (Privigen) is a new liquid intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) product that is formulated with 250 mM L-proline at pH 4.8. A 3-year study was performed to assess its stability.

Child abuse and deafness: an overview.

The professional literature contains research and anecdotal information on various maltreatments affecting children and youth with and without disabilities. Unfortunately, little information exists on abused children with hearing loss. Reasons relate to a lack of quantity and quality in research on this population; challenges in conducting research using sound methodological principles that consider the population's heterogeneity (e.

Eye vergence is susceptible to the hollow-face illusion.

When an observer looks at a hollow mask of a face, a normal convex face is often perceived [the hollow-face illusion--Gregory 1973, in Illusion in Nature and Art (London: Duckworth) pp 49-96]. We show that in exploring an illusory face, the eyes converge at the illusory and not at the real distances of fixated targets like the tip of the nose. The 'vergence error' appears even though the resulting disparities of the two retinal images of the target provide feedback that would allow an immediate correction.

Magnitudes and orientations of 31P chemical shielding tensors in Pt(II)-phosphine complexes and other four-fold coordinated phosphorus sites.

31P MAS and double-quantum filtered 31P MAS NMR experiments at and near the n = 0 rotational resonance condition, as well as off-magic angle spinning 31P NMR experiments on two polycrystalline samples of Pt(II)-phosphine thiolate complexes are reported. Numerical simulations yield complete descriptions of the two 31P spin pairs. 195Pt MAS NMR spectra are straightforward to obtain but sensitively reflect only some parameters of the 195Pt(31P)2 three-spin system.

Studying molecular 3D structure and dynamics by high-resolution solid-state NMR: Application to L-tyrosine-ethylester.

A unified approach to the study of 3D conformation and molecular dynamics using magic-angle-spinning solid-state NMR is demonstrated on a uniformly 13C-labeled sample of L-tyrosine-ethylester.

An examination of the evidence-based literacy research in deaf education.

The ability to read and write for a variety of purposes is essential to success in school and in contemporary society. The purpose of this investigation was to conduct an exhaustive review of the literature and a meta-analysis of literacy research in the field of deaf education. Computer and manual searches of 40 years of peer-reviewed journal articles were conducted.

An examination of the research and training needs in the field of deaf education.

THE NATIONAL CENTER on Low-Incidence Disabilities conducted a needs assessment of the research and training needs in the field of deaf education. A total of 331 professionals, parents, administrators, and university faculty responded to the survey. Overall, respondents indicated that the number-one priority was to educate administrators about services that are appropriate for students who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Inducible phosphorylation of NF-kappa B p65 at serine 468 by T cell costimulation is mediated by IKK epsilon.

Here we identify IKKepsilon as a novel NF-kappaB p65 kinase that mediates inducible phosphorylation of Ser468 and Ser536 in response to T cell costimulation. In addition, the kinase activity of IKKepsilon contributes to the control of p65 nuclear uptake. Serines 468 and 536 are evolutionarily conserved, and the surrounding amino acids display sequence homology.

MAS NMR with and without double-quantum filtration at and near the n=0 rotational resonance condition.

Spectral lineshapes of MAS NMR spectra of dipolar (re)coupled spin pairs exhibiting considerable chemical shielding anisotropies at and near the so-called n=0 rotational resonance (R2) condition are considered. The n=0 R2 condition is found to be not extremely sharp. Anisotropic interaction parameters such as chemical shielding tensor orientations and the magnitude of the dipolar coupling constant remain sensitively encoded in such lineshapes even when differences in isotropic chemical shielding values of up to 400 Hz (corresponding to ca.

Local contextual cuing in visual search.

Previous research has indicated that covariations between the global layout of search displays and target locations result in contextual cuing: the global context guides attention to probable target locations. The present experiments extend these findings by showing that local redundancies also facilitate visual search. Participants searched for randomly located targets in invariant homogenous displays, i.

Double-quantum filtered 1H MAS NMR spectra.

It is shown that straightforward double-quantum filtered (1)H MAS NMR experiments yield spectral lineshapes that permit to estimate the minimum number of (1)H spins in a cluster. The approach may offer an alternative to multiple-quantum experiments for the characterisation of (1)H spin clusters of moderate size. The duration of the double-quantum excitation period has to be chosen suitably, it is necessary to find a practical compromise between optimum double-quantum filtration efficiency and optimum information content of the spectral lineshapes.