Shear Wave Elastography May Add a New Dimension to Ultrasound Evaluation of Thyroid Nodules: Case Series with Comparative Evaluation

Although elastography can enhance the differential diagnosis of thyroid nodules, its diagnostic performance is not ideal at present. Further improvements in the technique and creation of robust diagnostic criteria are necessary. The purpose of this study was to compare the usefulness of strain elastography and a new generation of elasticity imaging called supersonic shear wave elastography (SSWE) in differential evaluation of thyroid nodules. Six thyroid nodules in 4 patients were studied. SSWE yielded 1 true-positive and 5 true-negative results. Strain elastography yielded 5 false-positive results and 1 false-negative result. A novel finding appreciated with SSWE, were punctate foci of increased stiffness corresponding to microcalcifications in 4 nodules, some not visible on B-mode ultrasound, as opposed to soft, colloid-inspissated areas visible on B-mode ultrasound in 2 nodules. This preliminary paper indicates that SSWE may outperform strain elastography in differentiation of thyroid nodules with regard to their stiffness. SSWE showed the possibility of differentiation of high echogenic foci into microcalcifications and inspissated colloid, adding a new dimension to thyroid elastography. Further multicenter large-scale studies of thyroid nodules evaluating different elastographic methods are warranted

Human Missions Analysis for Intelligent Missions Improvement

The topic of this chapter is not manned vs. robotic missions but how to integrate them for successful missions. The point of view is from that of a human observer, an ethologist, with the goal to gain further knowledge on human behavior and high technology readiness levels in the field of exploration missions. On one hand, the concept is the adaptability of men/women to be trained and on the other hand, it is the reliability of artificial intelligence systems to be incremented. The content of the chapter is: (i) ethological analysis based on numerical methods; (ii) strategy, cooperation, and adaptation; (iii) artificial intelligence and emotional intelligence; and (iv) man-rated Mars exploration demands

Observation of seasonal variation of atmospheric multiple-muon events in the MINOS Near and Far Detectors

We report the first observation of seasonal modulations in the rates of cosmic ray multiple-muon events at two underground sites, the MINOS Near Detector with an overburden of 225 mwe, and the MINOS Far Detector site at 2100 mwe. At the deeper site, multiple-muon events with muons separated by more than 8 m exhibit a seasonal rate that peaks during the summer, similar to that of single-muon events. In contrast and unexpectedly, the rate of multiple-muon events with muons separated by less than 5-8 m, and the rate of multiple-muon events in the smaller, shallower Near Detector, exhibit a seasonal rate modulation that peaks in the winter

Zeitgebers of skeletal muscle and implications for metabolic health

Funding Brendan M. Gabriel was supported by fellowships from the Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF19OC0055072), and the Wenner-Gren Foundation, an Albert Renold Travel Fellowship from the European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes (EFSD), and a Young Investigator Research Award from EFSD/Lilly. J.R.Z. was supported from the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) (2015-00165), Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF14OC0011493, NNF14OC0009941, NNF17OC0030088), Swedish Diabetes Foundation (DIA2018-357), the Swedish Research Council for Sport Science (P2019-0140), the Strategic Research Programme in Diabetes at Karolinska Institutet (2009-1068), Stockholm County Council (SLL20170159), and the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research at the University of Copenhagen (NNF18CC0034900). Open access via Wiley agreementPeer reviewedPostprintPublisher PD

Regulation of nitric oxide production in hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism is a common endocrine disorder that predominantly occurs in females. It is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), but the molecular mechanism is not known. Disturbance in lipid metabolism, the regulation of oxidative stress, and inflammation characterize the progression of subclinical hypothyroidism. The initiation and progression of endothelial dysfunction also exhibit these changes, which is the initial step in developing CVD. Animal and human studies highlight the critical role of nitric oxide (NO) as a reliable biomarker for cardiovascular risk in subclinical and clinical hypothyroidism. In this review, we summarize the recent literature findings associated with NO production by the thyroid hormones in both physiological and pathophysiological conditions. We also discuss the levothyroxine treatment effect on serum NO levels in hypothyroid patients. © 2020 The Author

Self-Interacting Neutrinos in Light of Large-Scale Structure Data

We explore a self-interacting neutrino cosmology in which neutrinos experience a delayed onset of free streaming. Using the effective field theory of large-scale structure (LSS), we perform the first combined likelihood analysis of BOSS full-shape galaxy clustering, weak lensing, and Lyman-$\alpha$ forest measurements, together with the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and polarization anisotropy data from Planck, in search for evidence of neutrino self-interactions. In agreement with previous results, we find a bimodal posterior distribution for the effective strength of neutrino self-interaction, showing that a vanishingly small interaction and a relatively strong interaction are both consistent with cosmological data, providing fits of nearly equal quality. We find that strong self-interactions in the neutrino sector can alleviate the $H_0$ tension while maintaining a good fit to the LSS data. Our results may have implications for particle model-building and ongoing neutrino oscillation experiments, and motivate further exploration of particle interactions that can generate a delay in neutrino free-streaming. We discuss sensitivity of the upcoming galaxy surveys to ruling out neutrino self-interaction at the level consistent with the current data.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, comments are welcom

Circadian Regulation of Adult Stem Cell Homeostasis and Aging

The circadian clock temporally organizes cellular physiology throughout the day, allowing daily environmental changes to be anticipated and potentially harmful physiologic processes to be temporally separated. By synchronizing all cells at the tissue level, the circadian clock ensures coherent temporal organismal physiology. Recent advances in our understanding of adult stem cell physiology suggest that aging and perturbations in circadian rhythmicity in stem cells are tightly intertwined. Here we discuss how circadian rhythms regulate and synchronize adult stem cell functions and how alterations in clock function during aging modulate the extrinsic and intrinsic mechanisms that determine adult stem cell homeostasis

The frequency and variability of conjunctive adjuncts in the Estonian–English Interlanguage Corpus

Magistritöö eesmärgiks oli luua Eesti esimene eesti–inglise vahekeele korpus ning tutvustada selle loomise- ning uurimispõhimõtteid. Kitsamalt uuriti sidesõnade variatiivsust ning sagedust. Tulemusi analüüsiti ning seejärel võrreldi inglise keelt emakeelena kõnelevate õppijate korpusega, milleks oli Michigan Corpus of Upper–level Student Papers (Michigani kõrgeima taseme kirjalike tööde õppijakorpus). Töö koosnes neljast osast. Magistritöö esimene ja teine osa keskendusid korpuse loomise põhimõtetele ning tutvustati ka korpusuurimuse ülesehitust. Arutleti selliste aspektide olulisuse üle nagu kvantiteet, kvaliteet, dokumentatsioon ning lihtsus. Igat aspekti analüüsiti, tuues välja tugevad ja nõrgad küljed ning võimalikud kitsaskohad. Magistritöö empiirilise osa läbiviimiseks (kolmas ja neljas osa) kasutati vabatarkvara AntConc, mis võimaldas luua statistilist andmestikku, mille tulemusi hiljem analüüsiti. Uuringutulemused näitasid, et Eesti õpilased kasutavad erinevaid sidesõnu, mis kuuluvad viide kategooriasse Halliday ja Hasani (1976) jaotuse järgi. Uurimustulemuste põhjal on näha, et Eesti õpilased on järjekindlad selliste sidesõnade kasutamisel nagu firstly, secondly, in conclusion ja to sum up. Uuringu käigus tuvastati järgmiste sidesõnade ülekasutus – but ja and. Sidesõna but kasutamist võib hinnata problemaatiliseks, sest õpilased eksisid korduvalt selle kasutamises (asetades sidesõna lause algusesse). Kokkuvõtteks võib öelda, et sidesõnade variatiivsuse õpetamine Eesti õpilastele aitaks kaasa koherentsuse tagamisel argumentatiivse teksti kirjutamisel. Abiks tuleks emakeelt kõnelevate õppijate korpusest sidesõnade laenamisest, sest seal oli üldine variatiivsus võrreldes eesti-inglise vahekeele korpusega suurem

Update on Vertigo in Autoimmune Disorders, from Diagnosis to Treatment

The prevalence of autoimmune diseases has been increasing over the last 20 years. The clinical presentation of this large and heterogeneous group of disorders depends on whether the involvement is organ-specific or non-organ-specific. Dizziness, vertigo, and disequilibrium are common symptoms reported by patients with vestibulocochlear involvement. The association of vertigo and autoimmune diseases has been largely documented, suggesting that autoimmune disorders could be overrepresented in patients with vertigo in comparison to the general population. The aim of this review is to present the recent literature findings in the field of autoimmune-mediated diseases with cochleovestibular involvement, focusing on the clinical presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of immune-mediated inner ear diseases including autoimmune inner ear disease (AIED), Meniere’s disease, and bilateral vestibulopathy, as well as of systemic autoimmune diseases with audiovestibular disorders, namely, Behçet’s disease, Cogan’s syndrome, sarcoidosis, autoimmune thyroid disease, Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome, relapsing polychondritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, antiphospholipid syndrome, IgG4-related disease, and ANCA-associated vasculitides