'Can you recommend any good STI apps?' A review of content, accuracy and comprehensiveness of current mobile medical applications for STIs and related genital infections.

OBJECTIVE: Seeking sexual health information online is common, and provision of mobile medical applications (apps) for STIs is increasing. Young people, inherently at higher risk of STIs, are avid users of technology, and apps could be appealing sources of information. We undertook a comprehensive review of content and accuracy of apps for people seeking information about STIs. METHODS: Search of Google Play and iTunes stores using general and specific search terms for apps regarding STIs and genital infections (except HIV), testing, diagnosis and management, 10 September 2014 to 16 September 2014. We assessed eligible apps against (1) 19 modified Health on The Net (HON) Foundation principles; and (2) comprehensiveness and accuracy of information on STIs/genital infections, and their diagnosis and management, compared with corresponding National Health Service STI information webpage content. RESULTS: 144/6642 apps were eligible. 57 were excluded after downloading. 87 were analysed. Only 29% of apps met ≥6 HON criteria. Content was highly variable: 34/87 (39%) covered one or two infections; 40 (46%) covered multiple STIs; 5 (6%) focused on accessing STI testing. 13 (15%) were fully, 46 (53%) mostly and 28 (32%) partially accurate. 25 (29%) contained ≥1 piece of potentially harmful information. Apps available on both iOS and Android were more accurate than single-platform apps. Only one app provided fully accurate and comprehensive information on chlamydia. CONCLUSIONS: Marked variation in content, quality and accuracy of available apps combined with the nearly one-third containing potentially harmful information risks undermining potential benefits of an e-Health approach to sexual health and well-being

A novel long non-coding natural antisense RNA is a negative regulator of Nos1 gene expression

Long non-coding natural antisense transcripts (NATs) are widespread in eukaryotic species. Although recent studies indicate that long NATs are engaged in the regulation of gene expression, the precise functional roles of the vast majority of them are unknown. Here we report that a long NAT (Mm-antiNos1 RNA) complementary to mRNA encoding the neuronal isoform of nitric oxide synthase (Nos1) is expressed in the mouse brain and is transcribed from the non-template strand of the Nos1 locus. Nos1 produces nitric oxide (NO), a major signaling molecule in the CNS implicated in many important functions including neuronal differentiation and memory formation. We show that the newly discovered NAT negatively regulates Nos1 gene expression. Moreover, our quantitative studies of the temporal expression profiles of Mm-antiNos1 RNA in the mouse brain during embryonic development and postnatal life indicate that it may be involved in the regulation of NO-dependent neurogenesis

The role of Comprehension in Requirements and Implications for Use Case Descriptions

Within requirements engineering it is generally accepted that in writing specifications (or indeed any requirements phase document), one attempts to produce an artefact which will be simple to comprehend for the user. That is, whether the document is intended for customers to validate requirements, or engineers to understand what the design must deliver, comprehension is an important goal for the author. Indeed, advice on producing ‘readable’ or ‘understandable’ documents is often included in courses on requirements engineering. However, few researchers, particularly within the software engineering domain, have attempted either to define or to understand the nature of comprehension and it’s implications for guidance on the production of quality requirements. Therefore, this paper examines thoroughly the nature of textual comprehension, drawing heavily from research in discourse process, and suggests some implications for requirements (and other) software documentation. In essence, we find that the guidance on writing requirements, often prevalent within software engineering, may be based upon assumptions which are an oversimplification of the nature of comprehension. Hence, the paper examines guidelines which have been proposed, in this case for use case descriptions, and the extent to which they agree with discourse process theory; before suggesting refinements to the guidelines which attempt to utilise lessons learned from our richer understanding of the underlying discourse process theory. For example, we suggest subtly different sets of writing guidelines for the different tasks of requirements, specification and design

Maximum-Entropy Weighting of Multi-Component Earth Climate Models

A maximum entropy-based framework is presented for the synthesis of projections from multiple Earth climate models. This identifies the most representative (most probable) model from a set of climate models -- as defined by specified constraints -- eliminating the need to calculate the entire set. Two approaches are developed, based on individual climate models or ensembles of models, subject to a single cost (energy) constraint or competing cost-benefit constraints. A finite-time limit on the minimum cost of modifying a model synthesis framework, at finite rates of change, is also reported.Comment: Inspired by discussions at the Mathematical and Statistical Approaches to Climate Modelling and Prediction workshop, Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Cambridge, UK, 11 Aug. to 22 Dec. 2010. Accepted for publication in Climate Dynamics, 8 August 201

Statistical Power of Model Selection Strategies for Genome-Wide Association Studies

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) aim to identify genetic variants related to diseases by examining the associations between phenotypes and hundreds of thousands of genotyped markers. Because many genes are potentially involved in common diseases and a large number of markers are analyzed, it is crucial to devise an effective strategy to identify truly associated variants that have individual and/or interactive effects, while controlling false positives at the desired level. Although a number of model selection methods have been proposed in the literature, including marginal search, exhaustive search, and forward search, their relative performance has only been evaluated through limited simulations due to the lack of an analytical approach to calculating the power of these methods. This article develops a novel statistical approach for power calculation, derives accurate formulas for the power of different model selection strategies, and then uses the formulas to evaluate and compare these strategies in genetic model spaces. In contrast to previous studies, our theoretical framework allows for random genotypes, correlations among test statistics, and a false-positive control based on GWAS practice. After the accuracy of our analytical results is validated through simulations, they are utilized to systematically evaluate and compare the performance of these strategies in a wide class of genetic models. For a specific genetic model, our results clearly reveal how different factors, such as effect size, allele frequency, and interaction, jointly affect the statistical power of each strategy. An example is provided for the application of our approach to empirical research. The statistical approach used in our derivations is general and can be employed to address the model selection problems in other random predictor settings. We have developed an R package markerSearchPower to implement our formulas, which can be downloaded from the Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN) or http://bioinformatics.med.yale.edu/group/

Topiramate in the treatment of compulsive sexual behavior: case report

BACKGROUND: Among the multiple mechanisms of action of topiramate, AMPA/kainate antagonism may be particularly interesting for the treatment of disorders characterized by conditioned cognitive and behavioral cue reactivity. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the case of a patient consulting primarily for obesity and cue triggered snacking, who responded well on topiramate at doses up to 50 mg. Coincidentally he reported on an improvement of compulsive nonparaphilic sexual behaviors (consumption of prostitution), which was also strongly triggered by environmental cues. Both addictive behaviors (snacking and consumption of prostitution) reoccurred after discontinuation of topiramate and again responded reintroduction of the drug. CONCLUSION: The present case report of topiramate's effect on comorbid obesity and nonparaphilic addiction could be interpreted as a further indication that topiramate acts on the common pathway underlying conditioned behaviors and seems to be a treatment of behavioral disorders associated with environmental cues

Hierarchies of Pain

Trauma has become a pervasive cultural model for representing individual and collective injuries and suffering. This process has produced what may be called a trauma aesthetic, a set of recognizable tropes in widespread use in trauma narratives. This chapter examines the adoption of this aesthetic in graphic narratives, focusing on the special capacities of the form. Familiar tropes, such as dissociation and the somatic trace, are presented in complex combinations of visual and textual components, often exploiting the differential appearance of text and image to introduce a dynamic of belatedness or disarticulation. This chapter analyses five works ordered according to their diminishing reliance on ‘trauma’. The trauma aesthetic is used, though not explicitly, in Catherine Meurisse’s La Légèreté (2016) about the Charlie Hebdo attack, Jean-Philip Stassen’s Déogratias (2000/2006) about the genocide in Rwanda, and Emmanuel Lepage’s Un printemps à Tchernobyl (2012) about the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. By contrast, it is absent from Mazen Kerbaj’s Beirut Won’t Cry (2007/2017) about the Israel-Hezbollah conflict and Josh Neufeld’s A.D. about Hurricane Katrina (2009). These works’ reliance on formalized and sanctioned trauma tropes not only is influenced by narrative characteristics, such as temporal distance from the event or the presence of a single narrator-protagonist but may also be motivated by the prestige conferred by trauma as recognized suffering, affecting the canonization and translatability of the graphic narratives in question

Respiratory Syncytial Virus Matrix Protein Induces Lung Epithelial Cell Cycle Arrest through a p53 Dependent Pathway

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the major cause of viral respiratory infections in children. Our previous study showed that the RSV infection induced lung epithelial cell cycle arrest, which enhanced virus replication. To address the mechanism of RSV-induced cell cycle arrest, we examined the contribution of RSV-matrix (RSV-M) protein. In this report, we show that in both the A549 cell line and primary human bronchial epithelial (PHBE) cells, transfection with RSV-M protein caused the cells to proliferate at a slower rate than in control cells. The cell cycle analysis showed that RSV-M protein induced G1 phase arrest in A549 cells, and G1 and G2/M phase arrest in PHBE cells. Interestingly, RSV-M expression induced p53 and p21 accumulation and decreased phosphorylation of retinoblastoma protein (Rb). Further, induction of cell cycle arrest by RSV-M was not observed in a p53-deficient epithelial cell line (H1299). However, cell cycle arrest was restored after transfection of p53 cDNA into H1299 cells. Taken together, these results indicate that RSV-M protein regulates lung epithelial cell cycle through a p53-dependent pathway, which enhances RSV replication