Two-year Test-Retest Reliability of ImPACT in High School Athletes.

This research evaluated the 2-year test-retest reliability of the Immediate Postconcussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) neuropsychological battery, and clarified the need for biennial updated baseline testing of high school athletes. This study compared the baseline test scores of 212 non-concussed athletes that were obtained in Grade 9 and again 2 years later when they were in Grade 11. Regression-based methods indicated that 4 of the 5 ImPACT scores were stable over 2 years, as they fell within the 80% and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

Screening for Abnormal Blood Glucose and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement.

Description: Update of the 2008 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation on screening for diabetes in asymptomatic adults.

Long-range energy transfer in self-assembled quantum dot-DNA cascades.

The size-dependent energy bandgaps of semiconductor nanocrystals or quantum dots (QDs) can be utilized in converting broadband incident radiation efficiently into electric current by cascade energy transfer (ET) between layers of different sized quantum dots, followed by charge dissociation and transport in the bottom layer. Self-assembling such cascade structures with angstrom-scale spatial precision is important for building realistic devices, and DNA-based QD self-assembly can provide an important alternative. Here we show long-range Dexter energy transfer in QD-DNA self-assembled single constructs and ensemble devices.

Screening for high blood pressure in adults: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendation statement.

Description: Update of the 2007 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) reaffirmation recommendation statement on screening for high blood pressure in adults.

Motivational intensity modulates the effects of positive emotions on set shifting after controlling physiological arousal.

Recent research on the construct of emotion suggests the integration of a motivational dimension into the traditional two-dimension (subjective valence and physiological arousal) model. The motivational intensity of an emotional state should be taken into account while investigating the emotion-cognition relationship. This study examined how positive emotional states varying in motivational intensity influenced set shifting, after controlling the potential confounding impacts of physiological arousal.

Behavioral and Pharmacotherapy Interventions for Tobacco Smoking Cessation in Adults, Including Pregnant Women: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement.

Description: Update of the 2009 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation on counseling and interventions to prevent tobacco use and tobacco-related disease in adults, including pregnant women.

Screening for Iron Deficiency Anemia in Young Children: USPSTF Recommendation Statement.

Description: Update of the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) 2006 recommendation on screening for iron deficiency anemia.

Methods: The USPSTF reviewed the evidence on the association between change in iron status as a result of intervention and improvement in child health outcomes, as well as screening for and treatment of iron deficiency anemia with oral iron formulations, in children ages 6 to 24 months.

Population: This recommendation applies to children ages 6 to 24 months living in the United States who are asymptomatic for iron deficiency anemia.

Screening for Iron Deficiency Anemia and Iron Supplementation in Pregnant Women to Improve Maternal Health and Birth Outcomes: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement.

Description: Update of the 2006 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation on screening for iron deficiency anemia.

The Neurorepellent Slit2 Inhibits Postadhesion Stabilization of Monocytes Tethered to Vascular Endothelial Cells.

The secreted neurorepellent Slit2, acting through its transmembrane receptor, Roundabout (Robo)-1, inhibits chemotaxis of varied cell types, including leukocytes, endothelial cells, and vascular smooth muscle cells, toward diverse attractants. The role of Slit2 in regulating the steps involved in recruitment of monocytes in vascular inflammation is not well understood. In this study, we showed that Slit2 inhibited adhesion of monocytic cells to activated human endothelial cells, as well as to immobilized ICAM-1 and VCAM-1.

Characterization of the ultrashort-TE (UTE) MR collagen signal.

Although current cardiovascular MR (CMR) techniques for the detection of myocardial fibrosis have shown promise, they nevertheless depend on gadolinium-based contrast agents and are not specific to collagen. In particular, the diagnosis of diffuse myocardial fibrosis, a precursor of heart failure, would benefit from a non-invasive imaging technique that can detect collagen directly. Such a method could potentially replace the need for endomyocardial biopsy, the gold standard for the diagnosis of the disease.

Rendered and Characterized Closed-Loop Accuracy of Impedance-Type Haptic Displays.

Impedance-type kinesthetic haptic displays aim to render arbitrary desired dynamics to a human operator using force feedback. To render realistic virtual environments, the difference between desired and rendered dynamics must be small. In this paper, we analyze the closed-loop dynamics of haptic displays for three common virtual environments: a spring, a damper, and a spring-damper, including the effects of time delay and low-pass filtering.

A conceptual model of patient-professional communication as a self-management skill: A latent growth change modeling.

Background: Patient Communication with healthcare professionals is an integral self-management skill. Yet the underlying mechanisms explaining how such communication might be enhanced across time have not been well studied.

Objectives: Based on the transtheoretical model, the study aimed to develop an across-time Attitude-Social Influence-Efficacy model in order to explain changes in participants' patient-professional communication behaviors in the Chronic Disease Self-management Program (CDSMP).

Screening for Speech and Language Delay and Disorders in Children Aged 5 Years or Younger: US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement.

Background: This report is an update of the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) 2006 recommendation on screening for speech and language delay in preschool-aged children.

Methods: The USPSTF reviewed the evidence on screening for speech and language delay and disorders in children aged 5 years or younger, including the accuracy of screening in primary care settings, the role of surveillance by primary care clinicians, whether screening and interventions lead to improved outcomes, and the potential harms associated with screening and interventions.

Population: This recommendation applies to asymptomatic children aged 5 years or younger whose parents or clinicians do not have specific concerns about their speech, language, hearing, or development.

Differential Effects of Cold Atmospheric Plasma in the Treatment of Malignant Glioma.

Objective: Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) has recently been shown to selectively target cancer cells with minimal effects on normal cells. We systematically assessed the effects of CAP in the treatment of glioblastoma.

Methods: Three glioma cell lines, normal astrocytes, and endothelial cell lines were treated with CAP.

Differential role of an NF-κB transcriptional response element in endothelial versus intimal cell VCAM-1 expression.

Rationale: Human and murine Vcam1 promoters contain 2 adjacent nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB)-binding elements. Both are essential for cytokine-induced transcription of transiently transfected promoter-reporter constructs. However, the relevance of these insights to regulation of the endogenous Vcam1 gene and to pathophysiological processes in vivo remained unknown.

Individual and Social Predictors of Prosocial Behavior among Chinese Adolescents in Hong Kong.

Based on the human ecological model, this study hypothesized that individual competence in empathy, prosocial moral reasoning, and social influence from parents, peers, and school are the key determinants of prosocial behavior among Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong. We recruited a sample of high school students who engaged in volunteering activities regularly (N = 580). They completed a self-administrated questionnaire designed to measure prosocial behavior and its hypothesized predictors using a number of standardized instruments.

Epidemiology of the Homebound Population in the United States.

Importance: Increasing numbers of older, community-dwelling adults have functional impairments that prevent them from leaving their homes. It is uncertain how many people who live in the United States are homebound.

Objectives: To develop measures of the frequency of leaving and ability to leave the home and to use these measures to estimate the size of the homebound population in the US population.

KnowLife: a versatile approach for constructing a large knowledge graph for biomedical sciences.

Background: Biomedical knowledge bases (KB's) have become important assets in life sciences. Prior work on KB construction has three major limitations. First, most biomedical KBs are manually built and curated, and cannot keep up with the rate at which new findings are published.

Repeated, high-dose dextromethorphan treatment decreases neurogenesis and results in depression-like behavior in rats.

Abuse of cough mixture is increasingly prevalent worldwide. Clinical studies showed that chronic consumption of cough mixture at high dosages may lead to psychiatric symptoms, especially affective disturbances, with the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. The present study aims at exploring the effect of repeated, high-dose dextromethorphan (DXM, a common active component of cough mixture) treatment on adult hippocampal neurogenesis, which is associated with pathophysiology of mood disturbances.

A distinct pre-existing inflammatory tumour microenvironment is associated with chemotherapy resistance in high-grade serous epithelial ovarian cancer.

Background: Chemotherapy resistance is a major determinant of poor overall survival rates in high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSC). We have previously shown that gene expression alterations affecting the NF-κB pathway characterise chemotherapy resistance in HGSC, suggesting that the regulation of an immune response may be associated with this phenotype.

Methods: Given that intrinsic drug resistance pre-exists and is governed by both tumour and host factors, the current study was performed to examine the cross-talk between tumour inflammatory microenvironment and cancer cells, and their roles in mediating differential chemotherapy response in HGSC patients.

Use of cold atmospheric plasma in the treatment of cancer.

Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) is an emerging modality for the treatment of solid tumors. In-vitro experiments have demonstrated that with increasing doses of plasma, tumor cells assays display decreased cell viability. CAP is theorized to induce tumor cells into apoptosis via multiple pathways including reactive oxygen and nitrogen species as well as cell cycle disruption.

Glutathione attenuates nitric oxide-induced retinal lipid and protein changes.

Background: Elevated levels of nitric oxide (NO(•) ), a pro-oxidant that has been associated with numerous retinal diseases, have been implicated in experimental glaucoma models. This study investigated the oxidative effects of sodium nitroprusside (SNP), a nitric oxide donor, on the retinal lipids and proteins and evaluated the potential protective effects of glutathione (GSH).

Methods: Porcine retinal homogenates were incubated with 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 μm SNP.