ELECTIONS Ethics in Government: Revise Campaign Contribution Regulations

The Act prohibits insurers, industrial loan licensees, and political action committees from making contributions to or on behalf of a candidate for the office of Commissioner of Insurance

UNC Departmental Profiles Project: Designing an Online Database Retrieval and Reporting System for the UNC Department of Institutional Research and Assessment

The project was initiated at the request of the management of the Department of Institutional Research and Assessment. IR&A is responsible for collecting, summarizing and statistically analyzing a vast amount of university data which is currently stored in a large SAS database and accessed through a SAS application. The management of IR&A felt that the current system had grown too unwieldy and sought an alternative solution for making this data accessible to their user population. This paper describes the phases of the project, from the initial gathering of functional requirements and design of a project plan to the design and construction of a new relational database to store and the design and development of a dynamic Web-based front end for accessing and manipulating the data

Deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus modulates sensitivity to decision outcome value in Parkinson's disease.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus in Parkinson's disease is known to cause a subtle but important adverse impact on behaviour, with impulsivity its most widely reported manifestation. However, precisely which computational components of the decision process are modulated is not fully understood. Here we probe a number of distinct subprocesses, including temporal discount, outcome utility, instrumental learning rate, instrumental outcome sensitivity, reward-loss trade-offs, and perseveration. We tested 22 Parkinson's Disease patients both on and off subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS), while they performed an instrumental learning task involving financial rewards and losses, and an inter-temporal choice task for financial rewards. We found that instrumental learning performance was significantly worse following stimulation, due to modulation of instrumental outcome sensitivity. Specifically, patients became less sensitive to decision values for both rewards and losses, but without any change to the learning rate or reward-loss trade-offs. However, we found no evidence that DBS modulated different components of temporal impulsivity. In conclusion, our results implicate the subthalamic nucleus in a modulation of outcome value in experience-based learning and decision-making in Parkinson's disease, suggesting a more pervasive role of the subthalamic nucleus in the control of human decision-making than previously thought.GRF gratefully acknowledges support by the German Research Council (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, KFO-219). Ray Dolan is supported by the Wellcome Trust (R.J.D., Senior Investigator Award 098362/Z/12/Z) and the the Senate of Berlin (R.J.D., Einstein Fellowship). Ben Seymour is funded by the Wellcome Trust and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Japan; Peter Dayan is funded by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation

Osteocondroma intra-raquideo con afectación neurológica

Se presenta el caso de un varón de 16 años con lumbalgia consecutiva a traumatismo vertebral, sin hallazgo s radiológicos, que no mejoraba con tratamient o conservador, y que a las 5 semanas desarrolló un cuadro de paraparesia e incontinencia de esfínteres indicativo de afectación del cono medular. En el estudio mielográfico se objetivó bloqueo completo a nivel de Ll. La tomografía axial mostró una imagen sugestiva de osteocondroma intraraquídeo, que s e confirmó quirúrgicamente . Dos año s tras la intervención, se logró la total recuperación neurológica. Se destaca la rareza de la lesión, la dificultad diagnóstica, y la probable etiología traumática de la tumoración.A 16-year-old man with no improvement of low back pain after vertebral trauma conservatively treated and without radiological findings is presented. Five weeks after trauma, the patient developed paraparesia and fecal and urinary incontinence indicating compression of the medullary conus. A complet e stop of the contrast at Ll level wa s found in the myelographi c study. The CT-Scan showed an image suggesting osteochondroma whic h wa s confirmed a r surgery. Complet e neurogical recover y w a s achieved 2 year s after surgical treatment. The rare character of the lesion, the dificulty for diagnosis and the probable traumatic etiology of this tumor is discussed

Ancestral genome estimation reveals the history of ecological diversification in Agrobacterium

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is considered as a major source of innovation in bacteria, and as such is expected to drive adaptation to new ecological niches. However, among the many genes acquired through HGT along the diversification history of genomes, only a fraction may have actively contributed to sustained ecological adaptation. We used a phylogenetic approach accounting for the transfer of genes (or groups of genes) to estimate the history of genomes in Agrobacterium biovar 1, a diverse group of soil and plant-dwelling bacterial species. We identified clade-specific blocks of cotransferred genes encoding coherent biochemical pathways that may have contributed to the evolutionary success of key Agrobacterium clades. This pattern of gene coevolution rejects a neutral model of transfer, in which neighboring genes would be transferred independently of their function and rather suggests purifying selection on collectively coded acquired pathways. The acquisition of these synapomorphic blocks of cofunctioning genes probably drove the ecological diversification of Agrobacterium and defined features of ancestral ecological niches, which consistently hint at a strong selective role of host plant rhizospheres

High-Speed Treadmill Running Reduces Systemic Inflammation But Fails as Secondary Intervention For Peripheral Musculoskeletal Discomfort

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Enhanced nicotinic receptor mediated relaxations in gastroesophageal muscle fibers from Barrett\u27s esophagus patients

BACKGROUND: Increased nicotinic receptor mediated relaxation in the gastroesophageal antireflux barrier may be involved in the pathophysiology of reflux. This study is designed to determine whether the defects we previously identified in GERD patients in-vivo are due to abnormalities of the gastric sling, gastric clasp or lower esophageal circular (LEC) muscle fibers. METHODS: Muscle strips from whole stomachs and esophagi were obtained from 16 normal donors and 15 donors with histologically proven Barrett's esophagus. Contractile and relaxant responses of gastric sling, gastric clasp or LEC fibers were determined to increasing concentrations of carbachol and to nicotine after inducing maximal contraction to bethanechol. Muscarinic receptor density was measured using subtype selective immunoprecipitation. KEY RESULTS: Barrett's esophagus gastric sling and LEC fibers have decreased carbachol induced contractions. Barrett's esophagus sling fibers have decreased M(2) muscarinic receptors and LEC fibers have decreased M(3) receptors. Relaxations of all 3 fiber types are greater in Barrett's esophagus specimens to both high carbachol concentrations and to nicotine following bethanechol pre-contraction. The maximal response to bethanechol is greater in Barrett esophagus sling and LEC fibers. CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES: The increased contractile response to bethanechol in Barrett's specimens indicates that the defect is likely not due to the smooth muscle itself. The enhanced nicotinic receptor mediated response may be involved in greater relaxation of the muscles within the high pressure zone of the gastroesophageal junction during transient lower esophageal sphincter relaxations and during deglutitive inhibition and may be involved in the pathophysiology of gastro esophageal reflux disease

Prevalence of and risk factors for suicidal ideation in adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study.

Pandemic-related life changes may have had a deleterious impact on suicidal behaviours. Early detection of suicidal ideation and identification of subgroups at increased risk could help prevent suicide, one of the leading causes of death among adolescents worldwide. Here, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of and risk factors for suicidal ideation in adolescents using a population-based sample from Switzerland, two years into the pandemic. Between December 2021 and June 2022, adolescents aged 14 to 17 years already enrolled in a population-based cohort study (State of Geneva, Switzerland) were asked about suicidal ideation over the previous year. In addition to a regression model, we conducted a network analysis of exposures which identified direct and indirect risk factors for suicidal ideation (i.e. those connected through intermediate risk factors) using mixed graphical models. Among 492 adolescents, 14.4% (95% CI: 11.5-17.8) declared having experienced suicidal ideation over the previous year. Using network analysis, we found that high psychological distress, low self-esteem, identifying as lesbian, gay or bisexual, suffering from bullying, extensive screen time and a severe COVID-19 pandemic impact were major risk factors for suicidal ideation, with parent-adolescent relationship having the highest centrality strength in the network. Our results show that a significant proportion of adolescents experience suicidal ideation, yet these rates are comparable with pre-pandemic results. Providing psychological support is fundamental, with a focus on improving parent-adolescent relationships

High-pressure batch reverse osmosis (RO) for zero liquid discharge (ZLD) in a Cr(III) electroplating process

A batch RO system was designed and built for high-pressure (120 bar) operation. The system was developed for a ZLD application involving treatment of metal plating wastewater from a Cr(III) electroplating process at a major industrial plant. Hybrid semi-batch/batch operation enabled a compact design to be achieved. To maximize water recovery without exceeding a set peak pressure, a method for controlling the switch point between semi-batch and batch phases was developed. The system was tested with feed representative of rinse water from the electroplating process. A range of feed concentrations (at 10–20× dilution of the plating bath), feed flows (0.21–0.46 m3/h), water fluxes (6–14 LMH) and water recoveries (87–95.7 %) were investigated. The system successfully recovered Cr(III) and restored its concentration to that of the electrolyte bath, thus meeting the requirements for reuse in the electroplating process. Rejection of most species was >99.8 %, sufficient for reuse of the permeate as rinse. However, rejection of boric acid was only 69–80 % such that a second RO pass may be needed to remove boric acid. Specific Energy Consumption was <2.25 kWh per m3 of treated rinse water, representing a 50-fold saving compared to the current method of treatment and disposal at the industrial plant

Influence of age, social patterns and nasopharyngeal carriage on antibodies to three conserved pneumococcal surface proteins (PhtD, PcpA and PrtA) in healthy young children

The acquisition of specific antibodies is paramount to protect children against pneumococcal diseases, and a better understanding of how age, ethnicity and/or Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn) nasopharyngeal carriage influence the acquisition of antibodies to pneumococcal surface proteins (PSP) is important for the development of novel serodiagnostic and immunisation strategies. IgG antibody titres against three conserved PSP (PhtD, PcpA and PrtA) in the sera of 451 healthy children aged 1 to 24months from Israel [Jewish (50.1%) and Bedouin (49.9%)] were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), while nasopharyngeal swabs from these children were assessed for the presence of Spn. Globally, anti-PhtD and anti-PrtA geometric mean concentrations (GMC; EU/ml) were high at <2.5months of age [PhtD: 35.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 30.6-40.6; PrtA: 71.2, 95 % CI 60-84.5], was lower at 5-7months of age (PhtD: 10, 95 % CI 8-12.4; PrtA: 17.9, 95 % CI 14.4-22.1) and only increased after 11months of age. In contrast, an increase in anti-PcpA was observed at 5-7months of age. Anti-PcpA and anti-PrtA, but not anti-PhtD, were significantly higher in Bedouin children (PcpA: 361.6 vs. 226.3, p = 0.02; PrtA: 67.2 vs. 29.5, p < 0.001) in whom Spn nasopharyngeal carriage was identified earlier (60% vs. 38% of carriers <6months of age, p = 0.002). Spn carriage was associated with significantly higher anti-PSP concentrations in carriers than in non-carriers (p < 0.001 for each PSP). Thus, age, ethnicity and, essentially, nasopharyngeal carriage exert distinct cumulative influences on infant responses to PSP. These specific characteristics are worthwhile to include in the evaluation of pneumococcal seroresponses and the development of new PSP-based vaccine