Connectivity differences between Gulf War Illness (GWI) phenotypes during a test of attention

One quarter of veterans returning from the 1990–1991 Persian Gulf War have developed Gulf War Illness (GWI) with chronic pain, fatigue, cognitive and gastrointestinal dysfunction. Exertion leads to characteristic, delayed onset exacerbations that are not relieved by sleep. We have modeled exertional exhaustion by comparing magnetic resonance images from before and after submaximal exercise. One third of the 27 GWI participants had brain stem atrophy and developed postural tachycardia after exercise (START: Stress Test Activated Reversible Tachycardia). The remainder activated basal ganglia and anterior insulae during a cognitive task (STOPP: Stress Test Originated Phantom Perception). Here, the role of attention in cognitive dysfunction was assessed by seed region correlations during a simple 0-back stimulus matching task (“see a letter, push a button”) performed before exercise. Analysis was analogous to resting state, but different from psychophysiological interactions (PPI). The patterns of correlations between nodes in task and default networks were significantly different for START (n = 9), STOPP (n = 18) and control (n = 8) subjects. Edges shared by the 3 groups may represent co-activation caused by the 0-back task. Controls had a task network of right dorsolateral and left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, posterior insulae and frontal eye fields (dorsal attention network). START had a large task module centered on the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex with direct links to basal ganglia, anterior insulae, and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex nodes, and through dorsal attention network (intraparietal sulci and frontal eye fields) nodes to a default module. STOPP had 2 task submodules of basal ganglia–anterior insulae, and dorsolateral prefrontal executive control regions. Dorsal attention and posterior insulae nodes were embedded in the default module and were distant from the task networks. These three unique connectivity patterns during an attention task support the concept of Gulf War Disease with recognizable, objective patterns of cognitive dysfunction

Penerapan Metode AHP dalam Pemilihan Material Pembuatan Alat Bantu Kerja Proses Pengukuran

Industri UMKM memberikan kontribusi terhadap pertumbuhan ekonomi di Indonesia. Proses produksi pada industri UMKM ini merupakan hal yang penting dikarenakan pada proses ini terjadi perubahan dari material bahan baku menjadi produk jadi. Proses produksi pada bagian pengukuran di industri UMKM ini dilakukan bukan di meja melainkan dilakukan dilantai, hal ini sangat berbahaya jika dilakukan secara terus – menerus. Diperlukan alat bantu untuk membatu proses tersebut. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk memprioritaskan alternatif material yang akan digunakan dalam membuat alat bantu kerja. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) untuk proses pengambilan keputusan. Berdasarkan perhitungan yang sudah dilakukan didapatkan prioritas pertama pemilihan material alat bantu pembuatan meja ini yaitu dengan menggunakan besi hollow dengan nilai bobot 0.449. alternatif material ke dua yaitu kayu degan nilai bobot sebesar 0.284 dan prioritas terakhir adalah aluminium dengan nilai bobot sebesar 0.267. Dapat disimpulkan bahwa material hollow merupakan material terpilih yang dapat digunakan dalam pembuatan alat bantu kerja

Spawning and mortality of eggs and larvae produced by different brood sizes of Walking Catfish (Clarias batrachus L.)

An experiment was carried out on the spawning and mortality of eggs and larvae of Magur, Clarias batrachus collected from brood-stock pond during the study period.The lowest spawn production (3774 eggs) was recorded in the fish having 23 cm total length and 115 g total body weight and the highest spawn production (10102 eggs) was recorded in the fish having 26.4 cm total length and 230 g total body weight. The spawn production was found to increase with the increase of total length,standard length and total body weight following the equations, Y= –13921+833.7X, r= 0.685, Y= 13965+909.8X, r= 0.667 and Y= 1326+33.02X, r= 0.810, respectively. The relationships between spawn production with total length, standard length and total body weight of the fish were found to be linear and significant (p<0.01). The lowest mortality rate (30.41%) was recorded in the fish having 26.4 cm total length and 224 g total body weight and the highest mortality rate (42.76%) was recorded in the fish having 23 cm total length and 125 g total body weight. The mortality rate of eggs and larvae was found to decrease with the increase of total length, standard length and total body weight of female brood following the equations, Y= 108.6–2.878X, r= –0.865, Y= 110.4–3.214X, r= –0.862 and Y= 54.99–0.108X, r= –0.970, respectively.The relationships between mortality rate of eggs and larvae with total length, standard length and total body weight of the fish were found to be linear and significant (p<0.01)

Increased brain white matter axial diffusivity associated with fatigue, pain and hyperalgesia in Gulf War illness

Background Gulf War exposures in 1990 and 1991 have caused 25% to 30% of deployed personnel to develop a syndrome of chronic fatigue, pain, hyperalgesia, cognitive and affective dysfunction. Methods Gulf War veterans (n = 31) and sedentary veteran and civilian controls (n = 20) completed fMRI scans for diffusion tensor imaging. A combination of dolorimetry, subjective reports of pain and fatigue were correlated to white matter diffusivity properties to identify tracts associated with symptom constructs. Results Gulf War Illness subjects had significantly correlated fatigue, pain, hyperalgesia, and increased axial diffusivity in the right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus. ROC generated thresholds and subsequent binary regression analysis predicted CMI classification based upon axial diffusivity in the right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus. These correlates were absent for controls in dichotomous regression analysis. Conclusion The right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus may be a potential biomarker for Gulf War Illness. This tract links cortical regions involved in fatigue, pain, emotional and reward processing, and the right ventral attention network in cognition. The axonal neuropathological mechanism(s) explaining increased axial diffusivity may account for the most prominent symptoms of Gulf War Illness

Psychometric validation of the Bangla fear of COVID-19 Scale: confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch analysis

The recently developed Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) is a seven-item uni-dimensional scale that assesses the severity of fears of COVID-19. Given the rapid increase of COVID-19 cases in Bangladesh, we aimed to translate and validate the FCV-19S in Bangla. The forward-backward translation method was used to translate the English version of the questionnaire into Bangla. The reliability and validity properties of the Bangla FCV-19S were rigorously psychometrically evaluated (utilizing both confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch analysis) in relation to socio-demographic variables, national lockdown variables, and response to the Bangla Health Patient Questionnaire. The sample comprised 8550 Bangladeshi participants. The Cronbach α value for the Bangla FCV-19S was 0.871 indicating very good internal reliability. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis showed that the uni-dimensional factor structure of the FCV-19S fitted well with the data. The FCV-19S was significantly correlated with the nine-item Bangla Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-90) (r = 0.406,

Increased brain white matter axial diffusivity associated with fatigue, pain and hyperalgesia in Gulf War illness. PLoS One

Abstract Background: Gulf War exposures in 1990 and 1991 have caused 25% to 30% of deployed personnel to develop a syndrome of chronic fatigue, pain, hyperalgesia, cognitive and affective dysfunction

A Glycemia Risk Index (GRI) of Hypoglycemia and Hyperglycemia for Continuous Glucose Monitoring Validated by Clinician Ratings

BackgroundA composite metric for the quality of glycemia from continuous glucose monitor (CGM) tracings could be useful for assisting with basic clinical interpretation of CGM data.MethodsWe assembled a data set of 14-day CGM tracings from 225 insulin-treated adults with diabetes. Using a balanced incomplete block design, 330 clinicians who were highly experienced with CGM analysis and interpretation ranked the CGM tracings from best to worst quality of glycemia. We used principal component analysis and multiple regressions to develop a model to predict the clinician ranking based on seven standard metrics in an Ambulatory Glucose Profile: very low-glucose and low-glucose hypoglycemia; very high-glucose and high-glucose hyperglycemia; time in range; mean glucose; and coefficient of variation.ResultsThe analysis showed that clinician rankings depend on two components, one related to hypoglycemia that gives more weight to very low-glucose than to low-glucose and the other related to hyperglycemia that likewise gives greater weight to very high-glucose than to high-glucose. These two components should be calculated and displayed separately, but they can also be combined into a single Glycemia Risk Index (GRI) that corresponds closely to the clinician rankings of the overall quality of glycemia (r = 0.95). The GRI can be displayed graphically on a GRI Grid with the hypoglycemia component on the horizontal axis and the hyperglycemia component on the vertical axis. Diagonal lines divide the graph into five zones (quintiles) corresponding to the best (0th to 20th percentile) to worst (81st to 100th percentile) overall quality of glycemia. The GRI Grid enables users to track sequential changes within an individual over time and compare groups of individuals.ConclusionThe GRI is a single-number summary of the quality of glycemia. Its hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia components provide actionable scores and a graphical display (the GRI Grid) that can be used by clinicians and researchers to determine the glycemic effects of prescribed and investigational treatments

Consensus Recommendations for the Use of Automated Insulin Delivery (AID) Technologies in Clinical Practice

International audienceThe significant and growing global prevalence of diabetes continues to challenge people with diabetes (PwD), healthcare providers and payers. While maintaining near-normal glucose levels has been shown to prevent or delay the progression of the long-term complications of diabetes, a significant proportion of PwD are not attaining their glycemic goals. During the past six years, we have seen tremendous advances in automated insulin delivery (AID) technologies. Numerous randomized controlled trials and real-world studies have shown that the use of AID systems is safe and effective in helping PwD achieve their long-term glycemic goals while reducing hypoglycemia risk. Thus, AID systems have recently become an integral part of diabetes management. However, recommendations for using AID systems in clinical settings have been lacking. Such guided recommendations are critical for AID success and acceptance. All clinicians working with PwD need to become familiar with the available systems in order to eliminate disparities in diabetes quality of care. This report provides much-needed guidance for clinicians who are interested in utilizing AIDs and presents a comprehensive listing of the evidence payers should consider when determining eligibility criteria for AID insurance coverage

Synthesis and fluorescence emission properties of 1,3,6,8-tetraarylpyrenes

This paper was accepted for publication in the Journal of Molecular Structure and the definitive version can be found at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.molstruc.2013.04.07