Introduction: Interleukin-18 (IL-18), a pro-inflammatory cytokine belonging to the IL-1 Family, is a key mediator ofautoinflammatory diseases associated with the development of macrophage activation syndrome (MAS).High levels of IL-18 correlate with MAS and COVID-19 severity and mortality, particularly in COVID-19patients with MAS. As an inflammation inducer, IL-18 binds its receptor IL-1 Receptor 5 (IL-1R5), leadingto the recruitment of the co-receptor, IL-1 Receptor 7 (IL-1R7).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe previously reported that pan-cortical effects occur when cognitive tasks end afterdischarges. For this report, we analyzed wavelet cross-coherence changes during cognitive tasks used to terminate afterdischarges studying multiple time segments and multiple groups of inter-electrode-con distances. We studied 12 patients with intractable epilepsy, with 970 implanted electrode contacts, and 39,871 electrode contact combinations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: We previously studied efficacy of cognitive tasks on afterdischarge termination in patients undergoing cortical stimulation and found that diffuse wavelet cross-coherence changes on electrocorticography were associated with termination efficacy. We now report wavelet cross-coherence findings during different time segments of trials during which afterdischarges ended.
Methods: For 12 patients with implanted subdural electrodes, we compared wavelet cross-coherence findings among several 1-second portions of cognitive tasks, reflecting task presentation, patient replies, and afterdischarge termination.
Background: Men of African ancestry are at increased risk of developing prostate cancer (PrCa) compared to men from other backgrounds. The PROFILE study aims to understand whether genetic information can better target who needs PrCa screening. PROFILE has so far had difficulty reaching men of African or African -Caribbean ancestry to take part.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: It is well known that activity in, or coordination among, brain regions, can underlie movement, sensation, language, and cognition but there are observations that tasks unrelated to specific brain regions can nonetheless alter activity in those regions. These tasks might invoke activity in multiregional networks, but it also is possible that they are associated with changes beyond these networks. We therefore evaluated the possibility that more widespread, or even whole-cortical, mechanisms might complement or alter focal or multifocal cortical activity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCortical stimulation has been used for brain mapping for over a century, and a standard assumption is that stimulation interferes with task execution due to local effects at the stimulation site. Stimulation can however produce afterdischarges which interfere with functional localization and can lead to unwanted seizures. We previously showed that (a) cognitive effort can terminate these afterdischarges, (b) when termination thus occurs, there are electrocorticography changes throughout the cortex, not just at sites with afterdischarges or sites thought functionally important for the cognitive task used, and (c) thresholds for afterdischarges and functional responses can change among stimulation trials.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Mental activation has been reported to modify the occurrence of epileptiform activity. We studied its effect on afterdischarges.
Method: In 15 patients with implanted electrodes we presented cognitive tasks when afterdischarges occurred.
Cognitive effort is known to play a role in healthy brain state organization, but little is known about its effects on pathological brain dynamics. When cortical stimulation is used to map functional brain areas prior to surgery, a common unwanted side effect is the appearance of afterdischarges (ADs), epileptiform and potentially epileptogenic discharges that can progress to a clinical seizure. It is therefore desirable to suppress this activity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: The Sierra Leone Trial to Introduce a Vaccine against Ebola (STRIVE), a phase 2/3 trial of investigational rVSV∆G-ZEBOV-GP vaccine, was conducted during an unprecedented Ebola epidemic. More than 8600 eligible healthcare and frontline response workers were individually randomized to immediate (within 7 days) or deferred (within 18-24 weeks) vaccination and followed for 6 months after vaccination for serious adverse events and Ebola virus infection. Key challenges included limited infrastructure to support trial activities, unreliable electricity, and staff with limited clinical trial experience.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTranscranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is an emerging method, used for non-invasively stimulating the brain in normal healthy subjects and in patients with neurological disorders. However, the pattern of the spatial distribution of the current intensity induced by tDCS is poorly understood. In this study, we directly measured the spatial characteristics of the current intensity induced by tDCS using an intracranial strip electrode array implanted over the motor cortex in patients with Parkinson's disease undergoing deep brain stimulation lead placement surgery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSince 2012 August has been observing the local interstellar energy spectra of Galactic cosmic-ray nuclei down to 3 MeV nuc and electrons down to 2.7 MeV. The H and He spectra have the same energy dependence between 3 and 346 MeV nuc, with a broad maximum in the 10-50 MeV nuc range and a H/He ratio of 12.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFManagers of large, complex wildlife conservation programs need information on the conservation status of each of many species to help strategically allocate limited resources. Oversimplifying status data, however, runs the risk of missing information essential to strategic allocation. Conservation status consists of two components, the status of threats a species faces and the species' demographic status.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProg Community Health Partnersh
May 2016
Background: Engaging community partners in research has the potential to make findings higher quality, more actionable, and more meaningful. Less rigorous approaches, often used by community-engaged partnerships, may diminish data quality.
Objective: This study highlights the key guiding principles of a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach, particularly in regards to improving rigor, for a door-to-door health survey conducted by promotoras in a low-income, Latino neighborhood in San Jose, California.
Data on small geographic areas that can be easily accessed and updated have become essential for targeting public health programs and services. Disaggregating data at the sub-county or sub-city level has the potential to reveal disparities not otherwise evident for large geographies. As important as such data are, the methods to produce data on small geographic areas are challenging and resource-intensive, and little description and analysis of such tools exists.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: We address the problem of characterization of afterdischarges (ADs) that often arise in patients with intractable focal epilepsy who, as part of their evaluation, undergo cortical electrical stimulation: A standard diagnostic and evaluation procedure before respective surgery.
Results: A total of 1333 channels of data recorded in 17 trials of seven patients whose EEG showed ADs (on a total of 156 channels) during cortical stimulation were examined in the time-scale domain using a complex Morlet scalogram. We found excellent characterization of the AD channels based on the distribution functions of the sum of the wavelet coefficients in the two lowest scales corresponding to the frequency range [20, 80] Hz, i.
A new species of pagurapseudid, Macrolabrum maui, is described from the lower eulittoral rocky shore on the East Coast of the North Island, New Zealand. It is similar to M. haikung from Bass Strait, Australia and M.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe objective of this study was to examine differences in tap water consumption and perceptions of bottle versus tap water safety for Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites, as well as associations with other demographic characteristics. Data are from the Santa Clara County, California, Dietary Practices Survey (2011; N = 306). We used logistic regression to examine associations between demographic characteristics and 1) perceptions that bottled water is safer than tap and 2) primarily consuming tap water.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBecause smoking rates are high among Vietnamese men, we used data from the 2007-2008 California Vietnamese Adult Tobacco Use Survey to estimate secondhand smoke exposure and associated risk factors among Vietnamese nonsmokers. Thirty percent of nonsmokers were exposed to secondhand smoke (SHS) at home, 8% at work, 52% in bars, and 67% on a college campus. At home, odds of SHS exposure were greater for women than for men and for adults aged less than 40 years than for older adults.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To target youth smoking, the impact of a local tobacco retail permit was evaluated on the number and location of tobacco retailers, and on the level of enforcement and compliance with tobacco sales regulations from 2010 to 2012 within unincorporated Santa Clara County, California.
Methods: Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping of each of 36 tobacco retailers pre- and post-intervention, observational surveys of tobacco retail environments pre- and post-intervention, and post-intervention enforcement surveys to measure location of sales, level of enforcement action, and compliance with laws governing sale of tobacco products were conducted.
Results: Eleven (30.