The state of loneliness and social isolation research: current knowledge and future directions

In this editorial, we consider the current state of loneliness and social isolation research around the world, including knowledge gaps in the empirical literature

Huge adenomyotic cyst in pregnancy

Adenomyotic cyst is a rare variant of adenomyosis. It is believed to arise from repeated focal haemorrhages resulting in cystic spaces filled with altered blood products. We present a rare case of a huge adenomyotic cyst in a 27-year-old primigravida, who was in her first trimester, complaining of sudden lower abdominal pain. Diagnostic laparoscopy performed to rule out other cause of acute abdomen. Her pregnancy went on smoothly. She delivered a baby girl of 2.82 kg via vaginal delivery at 39 weeks. Diagnosis and management of this rare clinical entity were reviewed and discussed

A Similarity Measure for GPU Kernel Subgraph Matching

Accelerator architectures specialize in executing SIMD (single instruction, multiple data) in lockstep. Because the majority of CUDA applications are parallelized loops, control flow information can provide an in-depth characterization of a kernel. CUDAflow is a tool that statically separates CUDA binaries into basic block regions and dynamically measures instruction and basic block frequencies. CUDAflow captures this information in a control flow graph (CFG) and performs subgraph matching across various kernel's CFGs to gain insights to an application's resource requirements, based on the shape and traversal of the graph, instruction operations executed and registers allocated, among other information. The utility of CUDAflow is demonstrated with SHOC and Rodinia application case studies on a variety of GPU architectures, revealing novel thread divergence characteristics that facilitates end users, autotuners and compilers in generating high performing code

Thermoelectric properties of Al-doped mesoporous ZnO thin films

Al-doped mesoporous ZnO thin films were synthesized by a sol-gel process and an evaporation-induced self-assembly process. In this work, the effects of Al doping concentration on the electrical conductivity and characterization of mesoporous ZnO thin films were investigated. By changing the Al doping concentration, ZnO grain growth is inhibited, and the mesoporous structure of ZnO is maintained during a relatively high temperature annealing process. The porosity of Al-doped mesoporous ZnO thin films increased slightly with increasing Al doping concentration. Finally, as electrical conductivity was increased as electrons were freed and pore structure was maintained by inhibiting grain growth, the thermoelectric property was enhanced with increasing Al concentration. © 2013 Min-Hee Hong et al

ELASTOGRAPHY CAN EFFECTIVELY DECREASE THE NUMBER OF FINE-NEEDLE ASPIRATION BIOPSIES IN PATIENTS WITH CALCIFIED THYROID NODULES

When calcification, frequently found in both benign and malignant nodules, is present in thyroid nodules, non-invasive differentiation with ultrasound becomes challenging. The goal of this study was to evaluate the utility of elastography in differentiating calcified thyroid nodules. Consecutive patients (165 patients with 196 nodules) referred for fine-needle aspiration who had undergone both ultrasound elastography and B-mode examinations were analyzed retrospectively. Calcification was present in 45 benign and 20 malignant nodules. On 65 calcified nodules, elastography had 95% sensitivity, 51.1% specificity, 46.3% positive predictive value and 95.8% negative predictive value in detecting malignancy. Twenty-three of 45 benign calcified nodules were correctly diagnosed with elastography compared with 4 of 45 by B-mode ultrasound. Although it is difficult to differentiate benign and malignant calcified thyroid nodules solely with B-mode ultrasound, elastography has the potential to reduce the number of fine-needle aspiration biopsies performed on calcified nodules. (C) 2014 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology.1188Ysciescopu

Effect of surfactant concentration variation on the thermoelectric properties of mesoporous ZnO

The electrical and thermal conductivities and the Seebeck coefficient of mesoporous ZnO thin films were investigated to determine the change of their thermoelectric properties by controlling surfactant concentration in the mesoporous ZnO films, because the thermoelectric properties of mesoporous ZnO films can be influenced by the porosity of the mesoporous structures, which is primarily determined by surfactant concentration in the films. Mesoporous ZnO thin films were successfully synthesized by using sol-gel and evaporation-induced self-assembly processes. Zinc acetate dihydrate and Brij-76 were used as the starting material and pore structure-forming template, respectively. The porosity of mesoporous ZnO thin films increased from 29% to 40% with increasing surfactant molar ratio. Porosity can be easily altered by controlling the molar ratio of surfactant/precursor. The electrical and thermal conductivity and Seebeck coefficients showed a close correlation with the porosity of the films, indicating that the thermoelectric properties of thin films can be changed by altering their porosity. Mesoporous ZnO thin films with the highest porosity had the best thermoelectric properties (the lowest thermal conductivity and the highest Seebeck coefficient) of the films examined. © 2013 Min-Hee Hong et al

Intracystic haemorrhage in a non-endometriotic Mullerian vaginal cyst: an unexpected phenomenon

We report a case of rare, Mullerian vaginal cyst with intracystic haemorrhage in the absence of endometrial components. To date, this is the second case reported in the literature. A 51-year-old post-menopausal woman with history of anterior vaginal wall cyst was misdiagnosed to have cystocele. The cyst was excised and the content was old blood mixed with mucous. Histopathological examination revealed a Mullerian vaginal cyst without endometrial component. Thus, diagnosis and management of vaginal cyst was revisited and discussed

Toxicity assessment of modified Cry1Ac1 proteins and genetically modified insect-resistant Agb0101 rice

Insect-resistant Agb0101 rice was recently developed by modifying the cry1ac1 gene by changing codon usage changes relative to the native truncated cry1ac1 gene. To assess the toxicity of genetically modified Agb0101 rice, we conducted bioinfomational comparisons of the amino acid sequences that are not similar to known toxic proteins. Sufficient quantities of mCry1Ac1 protein were produced in Escherichia coli for in vitro evaluation and animal study. We compared the amino acid sequences and molecular mass. There have the same amino acid sequences and molecular masses after purifying the modified Cry1Ac1 (mCry1Ac1) protein from highly expressed bacteria and genetically modified rice were identical. We also investigated the acute and 90-days oral toxicities. No adverse effects were observed in mice following acute oral exposure to 2,000 mg/ kg body weight mCry1Ac1 protein of body weight and 90 days oral exposure to Agb0101. These results indicate that mCry1Ac1 proteins and Agb0101 rice demonstrate no adverse effects in these tests when applied via gavage and feed, respectively.Key words: Modified Cry1Ac1, food safety assessment, toxicity, insect- resistant rice Agb0101

Development of a Moderated Online Intervention to Treat Social Anxiety in First-Episode Psychosis.

Background: It is well established that social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a significant clinical problem for individuals with a psychotic disorder. Comorbid social anxiety in individuals with psychosis has been associated with poorer premorbid functioning, increased depression, and a reduced quality of life. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is recommended for people with psychosis as a first-line psychological treatment; however, its focus and evaluation primarily revolves around reducing psychotic symptoms and not necessarily targeting comorbid social anxiety symptoms. We developed a novel online social cognitive behavioral intervention (entitled EMBRACE) specifically designed to treat social anxiety symptoms in first episode psychosis (FEP). Methods: The key clinical and engagement features of the intervention were established through integrating evidence-based material derived from 1) CBT-based treatment models for SAD, 2) relevant literature findings related to psychosis and its clinical correlates (e.g., shame, social rank, and its relationship with social anxiety and paranoia), 3) feedback from youth focus groups in order to inform a user-centered intervention design, and 4) a highly multidisciplinary collaborative development approach to design therapy comics. Results: A detailed description of the final version of the 12-week online social intervention to treat social anxiety in FEP is presented. Conclusion: The EMBRACE intervention was designed to provide young people with the necessary skills and confidence to overcome social anxiety within a supportive, safe online space. By design, it allows young people the opportunity to practice their newly learnt skills to connect with others and in doing so, learn to embrace their true authentic selves

Potassium channel dysfunction in human neuronal models of Angelman syndrome

Disruptions in the ubiquitin protein ligase E3A (UBE3A) gene cause Angelman syndrome (AS). Whereas AS model mice have associated synaptic dysfunction and altered plasticity with abnormal behavior, whether similar or other mechanisms contribute to network hyperactivity and epilepsy susceptibility in AS patients remains unclear. Using human neurons and brain organoids, we demonstrate that UBE3A suppresses neuronal hyperexcitability via ubiquitin-mediated degradation of calcium- and voltage-dependent big potassium (BK) channels. We provide evidence that augmented BK channel activity manifests as increased intrinsic excitability in individual neurons and subsequent network synchronization. BK antagonists normalized neuronal excitability in both human and mouse neurons and ameliorated seizure susceptibility in an AS mouse model. Our findings suggest that BK channelopathy underlies epilepsy in AS and support the use of human cells to model human developmental diseases