Frequency tuning of the efferent effect on cochlear gain in humans

Cochlear gain reduction via efferent feedback from the medial olivocochlear bundle is frequency specific (Guinan, Curr Opin Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 18:447-453, 2010). The present study with humans used the Fixed Duration Masking Curve psychoacoustical method (Yasin et al., J Acoust Soc Am 133:4145-4155, 2013a; Yasin et al., Basic aspects of hearing: physiology and perception, pp 39-46, 2013b; Yasin et al., J Neurosci 34:15319-15326, 2014) to estimate the frequency specificity of the efferent effect at the cochlear level. The combined duration of the masker-plus-signal stimulus was 25 ms, within the efferent onset delay of about 31-43 ms (James et al., Clin Otolaryngol 27:106-112, 2002). Masker level (4.0 or 1.8 kHz) at threshold was obtained for a 4-kHz signal in the absence or presence of an ipsilateral 60 dB SPL, 160-ms precursor (200-Hz bandwidth) centred at frequencies between 2.5 and 5.5 kHz. Efferent-mediated cochlear gain reduction was greatest for precursors with frequencies the same as, or close to that of, the signal (gain was reduced by about 20 dB), and least for precursors with frequencies well removed from that of the signal (gain remained at around 40 dB). The tuning of the efferent effect filter (tuning extending 0.5-0.7 octaves above and below the signal frequency) is within the range obtained in humans using otoacoustic emissions (Lilaonitkul and Guinan, J Assoc Res Otolaryngol 10:459-470, 2009; Zhao and Dhar, J Neurophysiol 108:25-30, 2012). The 10 dB bandwidth of the efferent-effect filter at 4000 Hz was about 1300 Hz (Q10 of 3.1). The FDMC method can be used to provide an unbiased measure of the bandwidth of the efferent effect filter using ipsilateral efferent stimulation

Designing programs for eliminating canine rabies from islands: Bali, Indonesia as a case study

<p>Background: Canine rabies is one of the most important and feared zoonotic diseases in the world. In some regions rabies elimination is being successfully coordinated, whereas in others rabies is endemic and continues to spread to uninfected areas. As epidemics emerge, both accepted and contentious control methods are used, as questions remain over the most effective strategy to eliminate rabies. The Indonesian island of Bali was rabies-free until 2008 when an epidemic in domestic dogs began, resulting in the deaths of over 100 people. Here we analyze data from the epidemic and compare the effectiveness of control methods at eliminating rabies.</p> <p>Methodology/Principal Findings: Using data from Bali, we estimated the basic reproductive number, R0, of rabies in dogs, to be ~1·2, almost identical to that obtained in ten–fold less dense dog populations and suggesting rabies will not be effectively controlled by reducing dog density. We then developed a model to compare options for mass dog vaccination. Comprehensive high coverage was the single most important factor for achieving elimination, with omission of even small areas (<0.5% of the dog population) jeopardizing success. Parameterizing the model with data from the 2010 and 2011 vaccination campaigns, we show that a comprehensive high coverage campaign in 2012 would likely result in elimination, saving ~550 human lives and ~$15 million in prophylaxis costs over the next ten years.</p> <p>Conclusions/Significance: The elimination of rabies from Bali will not be achieved through achievable reductions in dog density. To ensure elimination, concerted high coverage, repeated, mass dog vaccination campaigns are necessary and the cooperation of all regions of the island is critical. Momentum is building towards development of a strategy for the global elimination of canine rabies, and this study offers valuable new insights about the dynamics and control of this disease, with immediate practical relevance.</p&gt

Living biointerfaces based on non-pathogenic bacteria to direct cell differentiation

Genetically modified Lactococcus lactis, non-pathogenic bacteria expressing the FNIII7-10 fibronectin fragment as a protein membrane have been used to create a living biointerface between synthetic materials and mammalian cells. This FNIII7-10 fragment comprises the RGD and PHSRN sequences of fibronectin to bind α5β1 integrins and triggers signalling for cell adhesion, spreading and differentiation. We used L. lactis strain to colonize material surfaces and produce stable biofilms presenting the FNIII7-10 fragment readily available to cells. Biofilm density is easily tunable and remains stable for several days. Murine C2C12 myoblasts seeded over mature biofilms undergo bipolar alignment and form differentiated myotubes, a process triggered by the FNIII7-10 fragment. This biointerface based on living bacteria can be further modified to express any desired biochemical signal, establishing a new paradigm in biomaterial surface functionalisation for biomedical applications

Associations between childhood maltreatment and psychiatric disorders: analysis from electronic health records in Hong Kong

There has been a lack of high-quality evidence concerning the association between childhood maltreatment and psychiatric diagnoses particularly for Axis II disorders. This study aimed to examine the association between childhood maltreatment exposure and Axis I and Axis II psychiatry disorders using electronic health records. In this study, the exposed group (n = 7473) comprised patients aged 0 to 19 years with a first-time record of maltreatment episode between January 1, 2001 and December 31, 2010, whereas the unexposed group (n = 26,834) comprised individuals of the same gender and age who were admitted into the same hospital in the same calendar year and month but had no records of maltreatment in the Hong Kong Clinical Data Analysis and Reporting System (CDARS). Data on their psychiatric diagnoses recorded from the date of admission to January 31, 2019 were extracted. A Cox proportional hazard regression model was fitted to estimate the hazard ratio (HR, plus 95% CIs) between childhood maltreatment exposure and psychiatric diagnoses, adjusting for age at index visit, sex, and government welfare recipient status. Results showed that childhood maltreatment exposure was significantly associated with subsequent diagnosis of conduct disorder/ oppositional defiant disorder (adjusted HR, 10.99 [95% CI 6.36, 19.01]), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (7.28 [5.49, 9.65]), and personality disorders (5.36 [3.78, 7.59]). The risk of psychiatric disorders following childhood maltreatment did not vary by history of childhood sexual abuse, age at maltreatment exposure, and gender. Individuals with a history of childhood maltreatment are vulnerable to psychiatric disorders. Findings support the provision of integrated care within the primary health care setting to address the long-term medical and psychosocial needs of individuals with a history of childhood maltreatment

Targeting patient recovery priorities in degenerative cervical myelopathy: Design and rationale for the RECEDE-Myelopathy trial - Study protocol

Introduction: Degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) is a common and disabling condition of symptomatic cervical spinal cord compression secondary to degenerative changes in spinal structures leading to a mechanical stress injury of the spinal cord. RECEDE-Myelopathy aims to test the disease-modulating activity of the phosphodiesterase 3/phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitor Ibudilast as an adjuvant to surgical decompression in DCM. Methods and analysis RECEDE-Myelopathy is a multicentre, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial. Participants will be randomised to receive either 60-100 mg Ibudilast or placebo starting within 10 weeks prior to surgery and continuing for 24 weeks after surgery for a maximum of 34 weeks. Adults with DCM, who have a modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association (mJOA) score 8-14 inclusive and are scheduled for their first decompressive surgery are eligible for inclusion. The coprimary endpoints are pain measured on a visual analogue scale and physical function measured by the mJOA score at 6 months after surgery. Clinical assessments will be undertaken preoperatively, postoperatively and 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery. We hypothesise that adjuvant therapy with Ibudilast leads to a meaningful and additional improvement in either pain or function, as compared with standard routine care. Study design Clinical trial protocol V.2.2 October 2020. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval has been obtained from HRA - Wales.The results will be presented at an international and national scientific conferences and in a peer-reviewed journals

All-sky search for short gravitational-wave bursts in the second Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo run

We present the results of a search for short-duration gravitational-wave transients in the data from the second observing run of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo. We search for gravitational-wave transients with a duration of milliseconds to approximately one second in the 32-4096 Hz frequency band with minimal assumptions about the signal properties, thus targeting a wide variety of sources. We also perform a matched-filter search for gravitational-wave transients from cosmic string cusps for which the waveform is well modeled. The unmodeled search detected gravitational waves from several binary black hole mergers which have been identified by previous analyses. No other significant events have been found by either the unmodeled search or the cosmic string search. We thus present the search sensitivities for a variety of signal waveforms and report upper limits on the source rate density as a function of the characteristic frequency of the signal. These upper limits are a factor of 3 lower than the first observing run, with a 50% detection probability for gravitational-wave emissions with energies of ∼10-9 Mc2 at 153 Hz. For the search dedicated to cosmic string cusps we consider several loop distribution models, and present updated constraints from the same search done in the first observing run

Search for gravitational waves from Scorpius X-1 in the second Advanced LIGO observing run with an improved hidden Markov model

We present results from a semicoherent search for continuous gravitational waves from the low-mass X-ray binary Scorpius X-1, using a hidden Markov model (HMM) to track spin wandering. This search improves on previous HMM-based searches of LIGO data by using an improved frequency domain matched filter, the $\mathcal{J}$-statistic, and by analysing data from Advanced LIGO's second observing run. In the frequency range searched, from $60$ to $650\,\mathrm{Hz}$, we find no evidence of gravitational radiation. At $194.6\,\mathrm{Hz}$, the most sensitive search frequency, we report an upper limit on gravitational wave strain (at 95\% confidence) of $h_0^{95\%} = 3.47 \times 10^{-25}$ when marginalising over source inclination angle. This is the most sensitive search for Scorpius X-1, to date, that is specifically designed to be robust in the presence of spin wandering

Search for Eccentric Binary Black Hole Mergers with Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo during Their First and Second Observing Runs

When formed through dynamical interactions, stellar-mass binary black holes (BBHs) may retain eccentric orbits (e > 0.1 at 10 Hz) detectable by ground-based gravitational-wave detectors. Eccentricity can therefore be used to differentiate dynamically formed binaries from isolated BBH mergers. Current template-based gravitational-wave searches do not use waveform models associated with eccentric orbits, rendering the search less efficient for eccentric binary systems. Here we present the results of a search for BBH mergers that inspiral in eccentric orbits using data from the first and second observing runs (O1 and O2) of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo. We carried out the search with the coherent WaveBurst algorithm, which uses minimal assumptions on the signal morphology and does not rely on binary waveform templates. We show that it is sensitive to binary mergers with a detection range that is weakly dependent on eccentricity for all bound systems. Our search did not identify any new binary merger candidates. We interpret these results in light of eccentric binary formation models. We rule out formation channels with rates ⪆100 Gpc-3 yr-1 for e > 0.1, assuming a black hole mass spectrum with a power-law index ≲2