Diagnostic value of the Dutch version of the MCclean Screening instrument for BPD (MSI-BPD)

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) often goes unrecognized, and therefore a short but accurate screening tool is desired. The present study investigated the psychometric properties of the 10-item McLean Screening Instrument for BPD (MSI-BPD) in 159 well-diagnosed female participants. The MSI-BPD showed excellent internal consistency (alpha = .90). When compared to BPD diagnoses based on a structured clinical interview (SCID-II), the MSI-BPD showed substantial congruent validity (receiver operating characteristic area under the curve = 0.96). The cutoff point proposed by the developers of the MSI-BPD (7 or more) showed high specificity (.96) and good sensitivity (.71). The optimal cutoff point in the present study (5 or more) showed somewhat lower specificity (.86), but importantly better sensitivity (.94). Taken together, the Dutch version of the MSI-BPD demonstrated good psychometric properties for a screening tool

Plasma heat shock protein 27 is associated with coronary artery disease, abdominal aortic aneurysm and peripheral artery disease

Low protein levels of Hsp27 have been reported in atherosclerotic plaques. In addition, human studies have indicated that circulating Hsp27 levels are lower in coronary artery disease patients compared with controls. It remains, however, unclear whether this applies to other forms of atherosclerotic disease. Plasma Hsp27 from 280 subjects was examined by ELISA. The cohort included 80 coronary artery disease (CAD), 40 peripheral artery disease (PAD) and 80 abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) patients. Eighty elderly subjects, without any clinical history of vascular diseases, were used as a control group. Receiver operating curve (ROC) and logistic regression model analysis were performed to evaluate the potential value of Hsp27 as a circulating biomarker. Patients with atherosclerotic vascular diseases had significantly lower levels of Hsp27 than control subjects (p < 0.001). Moreover, Hsp27 was significantly lower in CAD patients than other atherosclerotic vascular disease groups (p < 0.001). There was no difference in Hsp27 levels between the AAA and PAD groups. Using the ROC-generated optimal cut-off values for Hsp27, logistic regression modeling indicated that low plasma Hsp27 was independently associated with the presence of multiple forms of atherosclerotic disease. In conclusion, circulating Hsp27 is significantly lower in patients with multiple forms of atherosclerotic arterial disease

Cassini in situ observations of long duration magnetic reconnection in Saturn’s magnetotail

Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental process in solar system and astrophysical plasmas, through which stored magnetic energy associated with current sheets is converted into thermal, kinetic and wave energy1, 2, 3, 4. Magnetic reconnection is also thought to be a key process involved in shedding internally produced plasma from the giant magnetospheres at Jupiter and Saturn through topological reconfiguration of the magnetic field5, 6. The region where magnetic fields reconnect is known as the diffusion region and in this letter we report on the first encounter of the Cassini spacecraft with a diffusion region in Saturn’s magnetotail. The data also show evidence of magnetic reconnection over a period of 19?h revealing that reconnection can, in fact, act for prolonged intervals in a rapidly rotating magnetosphere. We show that reconnection can be a significant pathway for internal plasma loss at Saturn6. This counters the view of reconnection as a transient method of internal plasma loss at Saturn5, 7. These results, although directly relating to the magnetosphere of Saturn, have applications in the understanding of other rapidly rotating magnetospheres, including that of Jupiter and other astrophysical bodies

The Underestimation Of Egocentric Distance: Evidence From Frontal Matching Tasks

There is controversy over the existence, nature, and cause of error in egocentric distance judgments. One proposal is that the systematic biases often found in explicit judgments of egocentric distance along the ground may be related to recently observed biases in the perceived declination of gaze (Durgin & Li, Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, in press), To measure perceived egocentric distance nonverbally, observers in a field were asked to position themselves so that their distance from one of two experimenters was equal to the frontal distance between the experimenters. Observers placed themselves too far away, consistent with egocentric distance underestimation. A similar experiment was conducted with vertical frontal extents. Both experiments were replicated in panoramic virtual reality. Perceived egocentric distance was quantitatively consistent with angular bias in perceived gaze declination (1.5 gain). Finally, an exocentric distance-matching task was contrasted with a variant of the egocentric matching task. The egocentric matching data approximate a constant compression of perceived egocentric distance with a power function exponent of nearly 1; exocentric matches had an exponent of about 0.67. The divergent pattern between egocentric and exocentric matches suggests that they depend on different visual cues

Exogenous WNT5A and WNT11 proteins rescue CITED2 dysfunction in mouse embryonic stem cells and zebrafish morphants

Mutations and inadequate methylation profiles of CITED2 are associated with human congenital heart disease (CHD). In mouse, Cited2 is necessary for embryogenesis, particularly for heart development, and its depletion in embryonic stem cells (ESC) impairs cardiac differentiation. We have now determined that Cited2 depletion in ESC affects the expression of transcription factors and cardiopoietic genes involved in early mesoderm and cardiac specification. Interestingly, the supplementation of the secretome prepared from ESC overexpressing CITED2, during the onset of differentiation, rescued the cardiogenic defects of Cited2-depleted ESC. In addition, we demonstrate that the proteins WNT5A and WNT11 held the potential for rescue. We also validated the zebrafish as a model to investigate cited2 function during development. Indeed, the microinjection of morpholinos targeting cited2 transcripts caused developmental defects recapitulating those of mice knockout models, including the increased propensity for cardiac defects and severe death rate. Importantly, the co-injection of anti-cited2 morpholinos with either CITED2 or WNT5A and WNT11 recombinant proteins corrected the developmental defects of Cited2-morphants. This study argues that defects caused by the dysfunction of Cited2 at early stages of development, including heart anomalies, may be remediable by supplementation of exogenous molecules, offering the opportunity to develop novel therapeutic strategies aiming to prevent CHD.Agência financiadora: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional do Algarve (CCDR Algarve) ALG-01-0145-FEDER-28044; DFG 568/17-2 Algarve Biomedical Center (ABC) Municipio de Louléinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Outcome of major cardiac injuries at a Canadian trauma center

BACKGROUND: Canadian trauma units have relatively little experience with major cardiac trauma (disruption of a cardiac chamber) so injury outcome may not be comparable to that reported from other countries. We compared our outcomes to those of other centers. METHODS: Records of patients suffering major cardiac trauma over a nine-year period were reviewed. Factors predictive of outcome were analyzed. RESULTS: Twenty-seven patients (11 blunt and 16 penetrating) with major cardiac trauma were evaluated. Injury severity scores (ISS) were similar for blunt (49.6 ± 16.6) and penetrating (39.5 ± 21.6, p = 0.20) injuries. Five of 11 blunt trauma patients, and 9 of 16 penetrating trauma patients, had detectable vital signs on hospital arrival (p = 0.43). Ten patients underwent emergency department thoracotomy and 11 patients had cardiac repair in the operating theatre. Eleven patients survived and 16 died. Survivors had a lower ISS (33.7 ± 15.4) than non-survivors (50.4 ± 20.4; p = 0.03). Two of 11 blunt trauma patients and 9 of 16 penetrating trauma patients survived (p = 0.06). Eleven of 14 patients with detectable vital signs survived; all 13 without detectable vital signs died (p = 0.00003). Ten of eleven patients treated in the operating theatre survived, while only one of the other 16 patients survived (p = 0.00002). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with major cardiac injuries and detectable vital signs on hospital arrival can be salvaged by prompt surgical intervention in the operating theatre. Major cardiac injuries are infrequently encountered at our center but patient survival is comparable to that reported from trauma units in other countries

Human Factors Validation of a Wearable, On-Body Infusor for Subcutaneous Administration of Furosemide

Anthony D Andre,1 John F Mohr,2 Barbara W Cornelius,2 Matthew M Goodwin,2 Carson P Whitaker,1 Bhavini H Patel,2 Jessica A Huckleberry,3 Michael D Hassman2 1Interface Analysis Associates LLC, Saratoga, CA, USA; 2scPharmaceuticals, Inc, Burlington, MA, USA; 3Heart Group of the Eastern Shore, P.C, Fairhope, AL, USACorrespondence: Michael D Hassman, scPharmaceuticals, Inc, 25 Mall Road, Suite 203, Burlington, MA, 01803, USA, Tel +1 781 301 7373, Email [email protected]: Furoscix® (subcutaneous furosemide) is administered using a wearable On-Body Infusor (OBI) and is approved for the treatment of congestion associated with heart failure (HF). The purpose of this study was to assess the safe and effective use of the OBI and Instructions for Use (IFU) by patients with HF, caregivers, and healthcare practitioners (HCPs).Methods: Sixty participants (patients, n=30; caregivers, n=15; HCPs, n=15) were evaluated on completion of OBI use tasks and IFU knowledge tasks in a simulated use environment. Fifteen of the patients received OBI/IFU training before evaluation.Results: Overall, 893/900 (99.2%) use tasks and 2211/2220 (99.6%) knowledge tasks were completed successfully, without differences due to training. The most common (n=6) use error was failure to wipe skin or cartridge tip with an alcohol wipe. Errors were due to forgetfulness/misinterpretation rather than IFU clarity.Conclusion: The subcutaneous furosemide OBI can be safely and effectively used by patients, caregivers, and HCPs, regardless of training.Keywords: heart failure, furosemide, subcutaneous furosemide, on-body infusor, human factor

A nodulo-cystic eumycetoma caused by Pyrenochaeta romeroi in a renal transplant recipient: A case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p><it>Pyrenochaeta romeroi </it>(<it>P. romeroi</it>) is a saprophytic fungus found in soil and plants. The fungal spores can be introduced into deeper tissues by trauma. It causes eumycetoma, which affects skin and subcutaneous tissues.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 57-year-old South Asian man presented with a painless, nodular lesion (1 cm × 0.5 cm) on the left knee. He had had a renal transplant eight months earlier for end-stage renal failure. The patient was on tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil and prednisolone for immunosuppression. The lesion had progressed dramatically (to 5 cm × 5 cm) despite antibiotic treatment. The size and location of the lesion was severely affecting his quality of life, so an excision biopsy was performed. Nuclear ribosomal repeat-region sequencing confirmed the causative organism as <it>P. romeroi</it>. An <it>in vitro </it>antifungal susceptibility test demonstrated that <it>P. romeroi </it>was sensitive to voriconazole. Following a successful surgical removal, voriconazole was continued orally for two months.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>To the best of our knowledge, we are reporting the first case of Eumycetoma caused by <it>P. romeroi </it>in a renal transplant recipient. Physicians should be aware of this rare fungal disease in transplant recipients. We recommend a combination of medical and surgical management in these immunosuppressed patients.</p

The FIELDS Instrument Suite for Solar Probe Plus: Measuring the Coronal Plasma and Magnetic Field, Plasma Waves and Turbulence, and Radio Signatures of Solar Transients.

NASA's Solar Probe Plus (SPP) mission will make the first in situ measurements of the solar corona and the birthplace of the solar wind. The FIELDS instrument suite on SPP will make direct measurements of electric and magnetic fields, the properties of in situ plasma waves, electron density and temperature profiles, and interplanetary radio emissions, amongst other things. Here, we describe the scientific objectives targeted by the SPP/FIELDS instrument, the instrument design itself, and the instrument concept of operations and planned data products

Testing Yukawa-unified SUSY during year 1 of LHC: the role of multiple b-jets, dileptons and missing E_T

We examine the prospects for testing SO(10) Yukawa-unified supersymmetric models during the first year of LHC running at \sqrt{s}= 7 TeV, assuming integrated luminosity values of 0.1 to 1 fb^-1. We consider two cases: the Higgs splitting (HS) and the D-term splitting (DR3) models. Each generically predicts light gluinos and heavy squarks, with an inverted scalar mass hierarchy. We hence expect large rates for gluino pair production followed by decays to final states with large b-jet multiplicity. For 0.2 fb^-1 of integrated luminosity, we find a 5 sigma discovery reach of m(gluino) ~ 400 GeV even if missing transverse energy, E_T^miss, is not a viable cut variable, by examining the multi-b-jet final state. A corroborating signal should stand out in the opposite-sign (OS) dimuon channel in the case of the HS model; the DR3 model will require higher integrated luminosity to yield a signal in the OS dimuon channel. This region may also be probed by the Tevatron with 5-10 fb^-1 of data, if a corresponding search in the multi-b+ E_T^miss channel is performed. With higher integrated luminosities of ~1 fb^-1, using E_T^miss plus a large multiplicity of b-jets, LHC should be able to discover Yukawa-unified SUSY with m(gluino) up to about 630 GeV. Thus, the year 1 LHC reach for Yukawa-unified SUSY should be enough to either claim a discovery of the gluino, or to very nearly rule out this class of models, since higher values of m(gluino) lead to rather poor Yukawa unification.Comment: 32 pages including 31 EPS figure