The special case of self-perspective inhibition in mental, but not non-mental, representation

The ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) has been implicated in studies of both executive and social functions. Recent meta-analyses suggest that vlPFC plays an important but little understood role in Theory of Mind (ToM). Converging neuropsychological and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) evidence suggests that this may reflect inhibition of self-perspective. The present study adapted an extensively published ToM localizer to evaluate the role of vlPFC in inhibition of self-perspective. The classic false belief, false photograph vignettes that comprise the localizer were modified to generate high and low salience of self-perspective. Using a factorial design, the present study identified a behavioural and neural cost associated with having a highly salient self-perspective that was incongruent with the representational content. Importantly, vlPFC only differentiated between high versus low salience of self-perspective when representing mental state content. No difference was identified for non-mental representation. This result suggests that different control processes are required to represent competing mental and non-mental content

Characteristics of the TFTR limiter H-mode: The transition, ELMs, transport and confinement

H-Modes obtained through transitions from the supershot regime have been studied on TFTR. The characteristics of these H-modes are similar to those found on other tokamaks with one main exception, the density prof:des can be highly peaked. In the best cases the enhanced confinement in the core of the initial supershot is retained in the H-mode phase, while the confinement in a broad edge region is enhanced. Thus in TFTR, all of the important physics of H-modes such as transitions, enhanced edge confinement, ELMs and other phenomena are studied in a large circular limiter tokamak with the added feature of centrally peaked density profiles and the advantage of an extensive set of diagnostics. The threshold power for the transition is found to be a linear function of plasma current. Transitions and ELMs are affected by the mix of co-and counter-neutral beam injection (NBI) and by perturbations introduced by pellet injection, gas puffing, and current ramping before and during NBI. Fluctuations near both transition and ELM events have been characterized. High frequency magnetic fluctuations in the range {ge} 100--250 kHz usually decrease during the transition. Microwave scattering spectra of density fluctuations in the plasma edge show a feature at high frequency during the H-mode, which is not observed in the plasma core and which is consistent with an edge poloidal rotation velocity, V{sub {theta}}, of {approximately} 10{sup 4} m/s. The fluctuations begin at the transition, propagate in the direction of electron diamagnetic drift, and have modulation correlated with ELMs. Several TFTR H-modes showed a modest improvement in confinement over that of the supershots from which they originated, and an understanding of these may eventually lead to a plasma with the combined advantages of both the supershot and the H-mode. The characteristics and physics of the TFTR H-modes are considered relative to other tokamaks and in light of various theoretical studies

Early Treatment of Acetabular Fractures via an Anterior Approach Increases Blood Loss but not Packed Red Blood Cell Transfusion

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine whether time from hospital admission to surgery for acetabular fractures using an anterior intrapelvic (AIP) approach affected blood loss. METHODS: Design: Retrospective review. Setting: Three level 1 trauma centers at 2 academic institutions. Patient Selection Criteria: Adult (18 years or older) patients with no pre-existing coagulopathy treated for an acetabular fracture via an AIP approach. Excluded were those with other significant same day procedures (irrigation and debridement and external fixation were the only other allowed procedures). Outcome Measures and Comparisons: Multiple methods for evaluating blood loss were investigated, including estimated blood loss (EBL), calculated blood loss (CBL) by Gross and Hgb balance methods, and packed red blood cell (PRBC) transfusion requirement. Outcomes were evaluated based on time to surgery. RESULTS: 195 patients were studied. On continuous linear analysis, increasing time from admission to surgery was significantly associated with decreasing CBL at 24 hours (−1.45 mL per hour by Gross method, P = 0.003; −0.440 g of Hgb per hour by Hgb balance method, P = 0.003) and 3 days (−1.69 mL per hour by Gross method, P = 0.013; −0.497 g of Hgb per hour by Hgb balance method, P = 0.010) postoperative, but not EBL or PRBC transfusion. Using 48 hours from admission to surgery to define early versus delayed surgery, CBL was significantly greater in the early group compared to the delayed group (453 [IQR 277–733] mL early versus 364 [IQR 160–661] delayed by Gross method, P = 0.017; 165 [IQR 99–249] g of Hgb early versus 143 [IQR 55–238] g Hgb delayed by Hgb balance method, P = 0.035), but not EBL or PRBC transfusion. In addition, in multivariate linear regression, neither giving tranexamic acid nor administering prophylactic anticoagulation for venous thromboembolism on the morning of surgery affected blood loss at 24 hours or 3 days postoperative (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: There was higher blood loss with early surgery using an AIP approach, but early surgery did not affect PRBC transfusion and may not be clinically relevant. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence

Dynamic analysis of MAPK signaling using a high-throughput microfluidic single-cell imaging platform

Cells have evolved biomolecular networks that process and respond to changing chemical environments. Understanding how complex protein interactions give rise to emergent network properties requires time-resolved analysis of cellular response under a large number of genetic perturbations and chemical environments. To date, the lack of technologies for scalable cell analysis under well-controlled and time-varying conditions has made such global studies either impossible or impractical. To address this need, we have developed a high-throughput microfluidic imaging platform for single-cell studies of network response under hundreds of combined genetic perturbations and time-varying stimulant sequences. Our platform combines programmable on-chip mixing and perfusion with high-throughput image acquisition and processing to perform 256 simultaneous time-lapse live-cell imaging experiments. Nonadherent cells are captured in an array of 2,048 microfluidic cell traps to allow for the imaging of eight different genotypes over 12 h and in response to 32 unique sequences of stimulation, generating a total of 49,000 images per run. Using 12 devices, we carried out >3,000 live-cell imaging experiments to investigate the mating pheromone response in Saccharomyces cerevisiae under combined genetic perturbations and changing environmental conditions. Comprehensive analysis of 11 deletion mutants reveals both distinct thresholds for morphological switching and new dynamic phenotypes that are not observed in static conditions. For example, kss1Δ, fus3Δ, msg5Δ, and ptp2Δ mutants exhibit distinctive stimulus-frequency-dependent signaling phenotypes, implicating their role in filtering and network memory. The combination of parallel microfluidic control with high-throughput imaging provides a powerful tool for systems-level studies of single-cell decision making

Simulations of DT experiments in TFTR

A transport code (TRANSP) is used to simulate future deuterium-tritium experiments (DT) in TFTR. The simulations are derived from 14 TFTR DD discharges, and the modeling of one supershot is discussed in detail to indicate the degree of accuracy of the TRANSP modeling. Fusion energy yields and {alpha}-particle parameters are calculated, including profiles of the {alpha} slowing down time, average energy, and of the Alfven speed and frequency. Two types of simulations are discussed. The main emphasis is on the DT equivalent, where an equal mix of D and T is substituted for the D in the initial target plasma, and for the D{sup O} in the neutral-beam injection, but the other measured beam and plasma parameters are unchanged. This simulation does not assume that {alpha} heating will enhance the plasma parameters, or that confinement will increase with T. The maximum relative fusion yield calculated for these simulations is Q{sub DT} {approx} 0.3, and the maximum {alpha} contribution to the central toroidal {beta} is {beta}{sub {alpha}}(0) {approx} 0.5%. The stability of toroidicity-induced Alfven eigenmodes (TAE) and kinetic ballooning modes (KBM) is discussed. The TAE mode is predicted to become unstable for some of the equivalent simulations, particularly after the termination of neutral beam injection. In the second type of simulation, empirical supershot scaling relations are used to project the performance at the maximum expected beam power. The MHD stability of the simulations is discussed