Subsurface Fish Handling to Limit Decompression Effects on Deepwater Species

A method of handling hooked fish at intermediate depth was developed for species which occur deeper than conventional scuba depths. Juvenile pink snappers, Pristipomoides filamentosus, were hauled from 65-100 m to a depth of only 30 m, where the ambient pressure change was a fraction of that produced by hauling fish to the sea surface. This method afforded a unique opportunity to acoustically tag deepwater, physoclistous fish without the need to alter the fish's original swim bladder volume and without the high risk of further injury associated with surface handling. Tagged P. filamentosus survived and behaved well and were tracked successfully. This basic method could be applied to a variety of deepwater species in a number of research approaches, including tagging and dietary studies

Epidural Electrical Stimulation for Stroke Rehabilitation: Results of the Prospective, Multicenter, Randomized, Single-Blinded Everest Trial.

BackgroundThis prospective, single-blinded, multicenter study assessed the safety and efficacy of electrical epidural motor cortex stimulation (EECS) in improving upper limb motor function of ischemic stroke patients with moderate to moderately severe hemiparesis.MethodsPatients ≥ 4 months poststroke were randomized 2:1 to an investigational (n = 104) or control (n = 60) group, respectively. Investigational patients were implanted (n = 94) with an epidural 6-contact lead perpendicular to the primary motor cortex and a pulse generator. Both groups underwent 6 weeks of rehabilitation, but EECS was delivered to investigational patients during rehabilitation. The primary efficacy endpoint (PE) was defined as attaining a minimum improvement of 4.5 points in the upper extremity Fugl-Meyer (UEFM) scale as well as 0.21 points in the Arm Motor Ability Test (AMAT) 4 weeks postrehabilitation. Follow-up assessments were performed 1, 4, 12, and 24 weeks postrehabilitation. Safety was evaluated by monitoring adverse events (AEs) that occurred between enrollment and the end of rehabilitation.ResultsPrimary intent-to-treat analysis showed no group differences at 4 weeks, with PE being met by 32% and 29% of investigational and control patients, respectively (P = .36). Repeated-measures secondary analyses revealed no significant treatment group differences in mean UEFM or AMAT scores. However, post hoc comparisons showed that a greater proportion of investigational (39%) than control (15%) patients maintained or achieved PE (P = .003) at 24 weeks postrehabilitation. Investigational group mean AMAT scores also improved significantly (P < .05) when compared to the control group at 24 weeks postrehabilitation. Post hoc analyses also showed that 69% (n = 9/13) of the investigational patients who elicited movement thresholds during stimulation testing met PE at 4 weeks, and mean UEFM and AMAT scores was also significantly higher (P < .05) in this subgroup at the 4-, 12-, and 24-week assessments when compared to the control group. Headache (19%), pain (13%), swelling (7%), and infection (7%) were the most commonly observed implant procedure-related AEs. Overall, there were 11 serious AEs in 9 investigational group patients (7 procedure related, 4 anesthesia related).ConclusionsThe primary analysis pertaining to efficacy of EECS during upper limb motor rehabilitation in chronic stroke patients was negative at 4 weeks postrehabilitation. A better treatment response was observed in a subset of patients eliciting stimulation induced upper limb movements during motor threshold assessments performed prior to each rehabilitation session. Post hoc comparisons indicated treatment effect differences at 24 weeks, with the control group showing significant decline in the combined primary outcome measure relative to the investigational group. These results have the potential to inform future chronic stroke rehabilitation trial design

Predicting functional gains in a stroke trial.

A number of therapies in development for patients with central nervous system injury aim to reduce disability by improving function of surviving brain elements rather than by salvaging tissue. The current study tested the hypothesis that, after adjusting for a number of clinical assessments, a measure of brain function at baseline would improve prediction of behavioral gains after treatment.Twenty-four patients with chronic stroke underwent baseline clinical and functional MRI assessments, received 6 weeks of rehabilitation therapy with or without investigational motor cortex stimulation, and then had repeat assessments. Thirteen baseline clinical/radiological measures were evaluated for ability to predict subsequent trial-related gains.Across all patients, bivariate analyses found that greater trial-related functional gains were predicted by (1) smaller infarct volume, (2) greater baseline clinical status, and (3) lower degree of activation in stroke-affected motor cortex on baseline functional MRI. When these 3 variables were further assessed using multivariate linear regression modeling, only lower motor cortex activation and greater clinical status at baseline remained significant predictors. Note that lower baseline motor cortex activation was also associated with larger increases in motor cortex activation after treatment.Lower motor cortex activity at baseline predicted greater behavioral gains after therapy, even after controlling for a number of clinical assessments. The boosts in cortical activity that paralleled behavioral gains suggest that in some patients, low baseline cortical activity represents underuse of surviving cortical resources. A measure of brain function might be important for optimal clinical decision-making in the context of a restorative intervention

Chronic pain and the emotional brain: specific brain activity associated with spontaneous fluctuations of intensity of chronic back pain,”The

Living with unrelenting pain (chronic pain) is maladaptive and is thought to be associated with physiological and psychological modifications, yet there is a lack of knowledge regarding brain elements involved in such conditions. Here, we identify brain regions involved in spontaneous pain of chronic back pain (CBP) in two separate groups of patients (n ϭ 13 and n ϭ 11), and contrast brain activity between spontaneous pain and thermal pain (CBP and healthy subjects, n ϭ 11 each). Continuous ratings of fluctuations of spontaneous pain during functional magnetic resonance imaging were separated into two components: high sustained pain and increasing pain. Sustained high pain of CBP resulted in increased activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC; including rostral anterior cingulate). This mPFC activity was strongly related to intensity of CBP, and the region is known to be involved in negative emotions, response conflict, and detection of unfavorable outcomes, especially in relation to the self. In contrast, the increasing phase of CBP transiently activated brain regions commonly observed for acute pain, best exemplified by the insula, which tightly reflected duration of CBP. When spontaneous pain of CBP was contrasted to thermal stimulation, we observe a double-dissociation between mPFC and insula with the former correlating only to intensity of spontaneous pain and the latter correlating only to pain intensity for thermal stimulation. These findings suggest that subjective spontaneous pain of CBP involves specific spatiotemporal neuronal mechanisms, distinct from those observed for acute experimental pain, implicating a salient role for emotional brain concerning the self

Switchgrass is a promising, high-yielding crop for California biofuel

Ethanol use in California is expected to rise to 1.62 billion gallons per year in 2012, more than 90% of which will be trucked or shipped into the state. Switchgrass, a nonnative grass common in other states, has been identified as a possible high-yielding biomass crop for the production of cellulosic ethanol. The productivity of the two main ecotypes of switchgrass, lowland and upland, was evaluated under irrigated conditions across four diverse California ecozones - from Tulelake in the cool north to warm Imperial Valley in the south. In the first full year of production, the lowland varieties yielded up to 17 tons per acre of biomass, roughly double the biomass yields of California rice or maize. The yield response to nitrogen fertilization was statistically insignificant in the first year of production, except for in the Central Valley plots that were harvested twice a year. The biomass yields in our study indicate that switchgrass is a promising biofuel crop for California

Functional Performance of an Enabling Atmosphere Revitalization Subsystem Architecture for Deep Space Exploration Missions

A subsystem architecture derived from the International Space Station's (ISS) Atmosphere Revitalization Subsystem (ARS) has been functionally demonstrated. This ISS-derived architecture features re-arranged unit operations for trace contaminant control and carbon dioxide removal functions, a methane purification component as a precursor to enhance resource recovery over ISS capability, operational modifications to a water electrolysis-based oxygen generation assembly, and an alternative major atmospheric constituent monitoring concept. Results from this functional demonstration are summarized and compared to the performance observed during ground-based testing conducted on an ISS-like subsystem architecture. Considerations for further subsystem architecture and process technology development are discussed

Evaluation of an Atmosphere Revitalization Subsystem for Deep Space Exploration Missions

An Atmosphere Revitalization Subsystem (ARS) suitable for deployment aboard deep space exploration mission vehicles has been developed and functionally demonstrated. This modified ARS process design architecture was derived from the International Space Station's (ISS) basic ARS. Primary functions considered in the architecture include trace contaminant control, carbon dioxide removal, carbon dioxide reduction, and oxygen generation. Candidate environmental monitoring instruments were also evaluated. The process architecture rearranges unit operations and employs equipment operational changes to reduce mass, simplify, and improve the functional performance for trace contaminant control, carbon dioxide removal, and oxygen generation. Results from integrated functional demonstration are summarized and compared to the performance observed during previous testing conducted on an ISS-like subsystem architecture and a similarly evolved process architecture. Considerations for further subsystem architecture and process technology development are discussed

Transmitted/Founder and Chronic Subtype C HIV-1 Use CD4 and CCR5 Receptors with Equal Efficiency and Are Not Inhibited by Blocking the Integrin α4β7

Sexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) most often results from productive infection by a single transmitted/founder (T/F) virus, indicating a stringent mucosal bottleneck. Understanding the viral traits that overcome this bottleneck could have important implications for HIV-1 vaccine design and other prevention strategies. Most T/F viruses use CCR5 to infect target cells and some encode envelope glycoproteins (Envs) that contain fewer potential N-linked glycosylation sites and shorter V1/V2 variable loops than Envs from chronic viruses. Moreover, it has been reported that the gp120 subunits of certain transmitted Envs bind to the gut-homing integrin α4β7, possibly enhancing virus entry and cell-to-cell spread. Here we sought to determine whether subtype C T/F viruses, which are responsible for the majority of new HIV-1 infections worldwide, share biological properties that increase their transmission fitness, including preferential α4β7 engagement. Using single genome amplification, we generated panels of both T/F (n = 20) and chronic (n = 20) Env constructs as well as full-length T/F (n = 6) and chronic (n = 4) infectious molecular clones (IMCs). We found that T/F and chronic control Envs were indistinguishable in the efficiency with which they used CD4 and CCR5. Both groups of Envs also exhibited the same CD4+ T cell subset tropism and showed similar sensitivity to neutralization by CD4 binding site (CD4bs) antibodies. Finally, saturating concentrations of anti-α4β7 antibodies failed to inhibit infection and replication of T/F as well as chronic control viruses, although the growth of the tissue culture-adapted strain SF162 was modestly impaired. These results indicate that the population bottleneck associated with mucosal HIV-1 acquisition is not due to the selection of T/F viruses that use α4β7, CD4 or CCR5 more efficiently