Diffraction problems for quasilinear parabolic systems with boundary intersecting interfaces

Stability of Unilateral Posterior Crossbite Correction in the Mixed Dentition - an RCT-study with 3-year Follow-Up. Aim: To compare and evaluate long-term stability of crossbite correction with Quad Helix or expansion plate in the mixed dentition. Methods: In this RCT-study 35 patients with unilateral posterior crossbite were randomized to be treated with either Quad Helix or expansion plate. The inclusion criteria were: mixed dentition, unilateral posterior crossbite, no sucking habits or previous orthodontic treatment. Stability was evaluated after 3 years by study cast measurements. Twenty subjects with normal occlusion were included as controls. Success rate, maxillary and mandibular transverse dimensions, overjet, overbite and arch length were registered. Results: Stability was equal for the two treatment methods. Small, albeit significant, differences between the groups were assessed with reference to transverse dimensions. No significant difference was seen for overjet and overbite. The treated patients never reached the same transversal width as the normal control group. Conclusions: The long-term stability of posterior crossbite correction with Quad helix and expansion plate was equal. The maxillary width was greater in the control group than the treated groups

Effects of Four Host Plants on Biology and Food Utilization of the Cutworm, Spodoptera litura

Effects of four host plants, tobacco, Chinese cabbage, cowpea and sweet potato, on larval and pupal development and survival, and longevity and fecundity of adults of Spodoptera litura (F) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), were studied under laboratory conditions (26° C, 60–80% RH), as was the utilization of the four host plants and adaptation on tobacco. All of the biological parameters included in the study were affected by the host plants. In a choice test, S. litura females oviposited most on Chinese cabbage, least on tobacco, and intermediate on cowpea and sweet potato. S. litura larvae developed differently on the four host plants, from shortest to longest in the following order: Chinese cabbage, cowpea, sweet potato, and tobacco. Pupal development was shorter on cowpea than on the other three host plants, and males generally developed longer than females. More females than males were found among emerged adults, and male adults lived 1–2 d longer than females. Larvae survived best on cowpea (81.6%), followed by Chinese cabbage (75.5%), then sweet potato (66.1%), and worst on tobacco (49.2%). Pupal survival rates were relatively high (91.4 – 95.9%) in all four host plant treatments, although that on sweet potato was lower than those on the other three host plants. Pupal weights on tobacco and sweet potato were similar, but both were lower than those on Chinese cabbage and cowpea. Generally, male pupae weighed less than female pupae. Numbers of eggs oviposited by female S. litura were highest on sweet potato, followed by those on cowpea, Chinese cabbage, and lowest on tobacco. Relative food consumption rate was highest on sweet potato, followed by that on cowpea, Chinese cabbage, and lowest on tobacco. In contrast, S. litura larvae that fed on tobacco had higher efficiency of conversion of digested food, highest efficiency of conversion of ingested food, and lowest approximate digestibility as compared with larvae that fed on other host plants. The potential causes for S. litura outbreaks on tobacco are discussed

Screening mutations of OTOF gene in Chinese patients with auditory neuropathy, including a familial case of temperature-sensitive auditory neuropathy

International audienceBackgroundMutations in OTOF gene, encoding otoferlin, cause DFNB9 deafness and non-syndromic auditory neuropathy (AN). The aim of this study is to identify OTOF mutations in Chinese patients with non-syndromic auditory neuropathy.Methods73 unrelated Chinese Han patients with AN, including one case of temperature sensitive non-syndromic auditory neuropathy (TS-NSRAN) and 92 ethnicity-matched controls with normal hearing were screened. Forty-five pairs of PCR primers were designed to amplify all of the exons and their flanking regions of the OTOF gene. The PCR products were sequenced and analyzed for mutation identification.ResultsFive novel possibly pathogenic variants (c.1740delC, c.2975_2978delAG, c.1194T>A, c.1780G>A, c.4819C > T) were identified in the group of 73 AN patients, in which two novel mutant alleles (c.2975_2978delAG + c.4819C > T) were identified in one Chinese TS-NSRAN case. Besides, 10 non-pathogenic variants of the OTOF gene were found in AN patients and controls.ConclusionsScreening revealed that mutations in the OTOF gene account for AN in 4 of 73(5.5%) sporadic AN patients, which shows a lower genetic load of that gene in contrast to the previous studies based on other populations. Notably, we found two novel mutant alleles related to temperature sensitive non-syndromic auditory neuropathy. This mutation screening study further confirms that the OTOF gene contributes to ANs and to TS-NSRAN

Interfering RNA and HIV: Reciprocal Interferences

In this review, a quick presentation of what interfering RNA (iRNA) are—small RNA able to exert an inhibition on gene expression at a posttranscriptional level, based on sequence homology between the iRNA and the mRNA—will be given. The many faces of the interrelations between iRNA and viruses, particularly HIV, will be reviewed. Four kinds of interactions have been described: i) iRNA of viral origin blocking viral RNA, ii) iRNA of viral origin downregulating cellular mRNA, iii) iRNA of cellular origin (microRNA) targeting viral RNA, and iv) microRNA downregulating cellular mRNA encoding cell proteins used by the virus for its replication. Next, HIV strategies to manipulate these interrelations will be considered: suppression of iRNA biosynthesis by Tat, trapping by the HIV TAR sequence of a cell component, TRBP, necessary for iRNA production and action, and induction by the virus of some microRNA together with suppression of others. Then, we will discuss the putative effects of these mutual influences on viral replication as well as on viral latency, immune response, and viral cytopathogenicity. Finally, the potential consequences on the human infection of genetic polymorphisms in microRNA genes and the therapeutic potential of iRNA will be presented

A computational psychiatry approach identifies how alpha-2A noradrenergic agonist Guanfacine affects feature-based reinforcement learning in the macaque

[EN] Noradrenaline is believed to support cognitive flexibility through the alpha 2A noradrenergic receptor (a2A-NAR) acting in prefrontal cortex. Enhanced flexibility has been inferred from improved working memory with the a2A-NA agonist Guanfacine. But it has been unclear whether Guanfacine improves specific attention and learning mechanisms beyond working memory, and whether the drug effects can be formalized computationally to allow single subject predictions. We tested and confirmed these suggestions in a case study with a healthy nonhuman primate performing a feature-based reversal learning task evaluating performance using Bayesian and Reinforcement learning models. In an initial dose-testing phase we found a Guanfacine dose that increased performance accuracy, decreased distractibility and improved learning. In a second experimental phase using only that dose we examined the faster feature-based reversal learning with Guanfacine with single-subject computational modeling. Parameter estimation suggested that improved learning is not accounted for by varying a single reinforcement learning mechanism, but by changing the set of parameter values to higher learning rates and stronger suppression of non-chosen over chosen feature information. These findings provide an important starting point for developing nonhuman primate models to discern the synaptic mechanisms of attention and learning functions within the context of a computational neuropsychiatry framework.This research was supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation (MEDI). We thank Dr. Hongying Wang for invaluable help with drug administration and animal careHassani, SA.; Oemisch, M.; Balcarras, M.; Westendorff, S.; Ardid-Ramírez, JS.; Van Der Meer, MA.; Tiesinga, P.... (2017). 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Genome-Wide Diet-Gene Interaction Analyses for Risk of Colorectal Cancer

Dietary factors, including meat, fruits, vegetables and fiber, are associated with colorectal cancer; however, there is limited information as to whether these dietary factors interact with genetic variants to modify risk of colorectal cancer. We tested interactions between these dietary factors and approximately 2.7 million genetic variants for colorectal cancer risk among 9,287 cases and 9,117 controls from ten studies. We used logistic regression to investigate multiplicative gene-diet interactions, as well as our recently developed Cocktail method that involves a screening step based on marginal associations and gene-diet correlations and a testing step for multiplicative interactions, while correcting for multiple testing using weighted hypothesis testing. Per quartile increment in the intake of red and processed meat were associated with statistically significant increased risks of colorectal cancer and vegetable, fruit and fiber intake with lower risks. From the case-control analysis, we detected a significant interaction between rs4143094 (10p14/near GATA3) and processed meat consumption (OR = 1.17; p = 8.7E-09), which was consistently observed across studies (p heterogeneity = 0.78). The risk of colorectal cancer associated with processed meat was increased among individuals with the rs4143094-TG and -TT genotypes (OR = 1.20 and OR = 1.39, respectively) and null among those with the GG genotype (OR = 1.03). Our results identify a novel gene-diet interaction with processed meat for colorectal cancer, highlighting that diet may modify the effect of genetic variants on disease risk, which may have important implications for prevention. © 2014