Molded composite pyrogen igniter for rocket motors

A lightweight pyrogen igniter assembly including an elongated molded plastic tube adapted to contain a pyrogen charge was designed for insertion into a rocket motor casing for ignition of the rocket motor charge. A molded plastic closure cap provided for the elongated tube includes an ignition charge for igniting the pyrogen charge and an electrically actuated ignition squib for igniting the ignition charge. The ignition charge is contained within a portion of the closure cap, and it is retained therein by a noncorrosive ignition pellet retainer or screen which is adapted to rest on a shoulder of the elongated tube when the closure cap and tube are assembled together. A circumferentially disposed metal ring is provided along the external circumference of the closure cap and is molded or captured within the plastic cap in the molding process to provide, along with O-ring seals, a leakproof rotary joint

NK cells as effectors of acquired immune responses: effector CD4+ T cell-dependent activation of NK cells following vaccination.

We characterized vaccine-induced cellular responses to rabies virus in naive adult volunteers. Contrary to current paradigms, we observed potent and prolonged in vitro NK cell cytokine production and degranulation responses after restimulation of PBMCs with inactivated rabies virus in vaccinated, but not in unvaccinated, individuals. This "recall" NK cell response was absolutely dependent on Ag-specific IL-2 from CD45RO(+) CD4(+) T cells as well as IL-12 and IL-18 from accessory cells. Importantly, NK cells represented over 70% of all IFN-gamma-secreting and degranulating cells in the first 12-18 h after virus rechallenge indicating they may be required for rapid control of infection after vaccination. Activation of NK cells may be a critical function of IL-2-secreting effector memory T cells. Although IL-2-dependent postvaccination NK cell activation has been reported previously, this is the first time the magnitude of this effect and its contribution to the overall vaccine-induced response has been appreciated and the mechanisms of NK activation postvaccination have been elucidated. Our data will allow standard protocols for evaluating vaccine-induced immunity to be adapted to assess NK cell effector responses

The Genetic Basis of Cognitive Impairment and Dementia in Parkinson's Disease.

Cognitive dysfunction is a common feature of Parkinson's disease (PD) with mild cognitive impairment affecting around a quarter of patients in the early stages of their disease, and approximately half developing dementia by 10 years from diagnosis. However, the pattern of cognitive impairments and their speed of evolution vary markedly between individuals. While some of this variability may relate to extrinsic factors and comorbidities, inherited genetic heterogeneity is also known to play an important role. A number of common genetic variants have been identified, which contribute to cognitive function in PD, including variants in catechol-O-methyltransferase, microtubule-associated protein tau, and apolipoprotein E. Furthermore, rarer mutations in glucocerebrosidase and α-synuclein and are strongly associated with dementia risk in PD. This review explores the functional impact of these variants on cognition in PD and discusses how such genotype-phenotype associations provide a window into the mechanistic basis of cognitive heterogeneity in this disorder. This has consequent implications for the development of much more targeted therapeutic strategies for cognitive symptoms in PD.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Frontiers via http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2016.0008

What is appropriate fetal surveillance for women with diet-controlled gestational diabetes?

No evidence clearly supports the practice of increased fetal surveillance in the pregnancies of women with well-controlled (ie, fasting blood sugar <105 mg/dL) class A1 gestational diabetes (strength of recommendation [SOR]: B, consistent retrospective cohort studies). However, a number of guidelines recommend beginning surveillance of some kind between 32 and 40 weeks based on cumulative risk factors, including gestational diabetes (SOR: C, expert opinion)

Cognitive dysfunction in patients with cerebral microbleeds on T2*-weighted gradient-echo MRI.

Gradient echo T2*-weighted MRI has high sensitivity in detecting cerebral microbleeds, which appear as small dot-like hypointense lesions. Microbleeds are strongly associated with intracerebral haemorrhage, hypertension, lacunar stroke and ischaemic small vessel disease, and have generated interest as a marker of bleeding-prone microangiopathy. Microbleeds have generally been considered to be clinically silent; however, since they are located in widespread cortical and basal ganglia regions and are histologically characterized by tissue damage, we hypothesized that they would cause cognitive dysfunction. We therefore studied patients with microbleeds (n = 25) and a non-microbleed control group (n = 30) matched for age, gender and intelligence quotient. To avoid the confounding effects of coexisting cerebrovascular disease, the groups were also matched for the extent of MRI-visible white matter changes of presumed ischaemic origin, location of cortical strokes, and for the proportion of patients with different stroke subtypes (including lacunar stroke). A battery of neuropsychological tests was used to assess current intellectual function, verbal and visual memory, naming and perceptual skills, speed and attention and executive function. Microbleeds were most common in the basal ganglia but were also found in frontal, parieto-occipital, temporal and infratentorial regions. There was a striking difference between the groups in the prevalence of executive dysfunction, which was present in 60% of microbleed patients compared with 30% of non-microbleed patients (P = 0.03). Logistic regression confirmed that microbleeds (but not white matter changes) were an independent predictor of executive impairment (adjusted odds ratio = 1.32, 95% confidence interval 1.01-1.70, P = 0.04). Patients with executive dysfunction had more microbleeds in the frontal region (mean count 1.54 versus 0.03; P = 0.002) and in the basal ganglia (mean 1.17 versus 0.32; P = 0.048). There was a modest correlation between the number of microbleeds and the number of cognitive domains impaired (r = 0.44, P = 0.03). This study provides novel evidence that microbleeds are associated with cognitive dysfunction, independent of the extent of white matter changes of presumed ischaemic origin, or the presence of ischaemic stroke. The striking effect of microbleeds on executive dysfunction is likely to result from associated tissue damage in the frontal lobes and basal ganglia. These findings have implications for the diagnosis of stroke patients with cognitive impairment, and for the appropriate use of antihypertensive and antiplatelet treatments in these patients

Attentional Networks and Biological Motion

Our ability to see meaningful actions when presented with pointlight traces of human movement is commonly referred to as the perception of biological motion. While traditionalexplanations have emphasized the spontaneous and automatic nature of this ability, morerecent findings suggest that attention may play a larger role than is typically assumed. Intwo studies we show that the speed and accuracy of responding to point-light stimuli is highly correlated with the ability to control selective attention. In our first experiment we measured thresholds for determining the walking direction of a masked point-light figure, and performance on a range of attention-related tasks in the same set of observers. Mask-density thresholds for the direction discrimination task varied quite considerably from observer to observer and this variation was highly correlated with performance on both Stroop and flanker interference tasks. Other components of attention, such as orienting, alerting and visual search efficiency, showed no such relationship. In a second experiment, we examined the relationship between the ability to determine the orientation of unmasked point-light actions and Stroop interference, again finding a strong correlation. Our results are consistent with previous research suggesting that biological motion processing may requite attention, and specifically implicate networks of attention related to executive control and selection