Enhanced antiviral function of magnesium chloride-modified Heparin on a broad spectrum of viruses

Previous studies reported on the broad-spectrum antiviral function of heparin. Here we investigated the antiviral function of magnesium-modified heparin and found that modified heparin displayed a significantly enhanced antiviral function against human adenovirus (HAdV) in immortalized and primary cells. Nuclear magnetic resonance analyses revealed a conformational change of heparin when complexed with magnesium. To broadly explore this discovery, we tested the antiviral function of modified heparin against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and found that the replication of HSV-1 was even further decreased compared to aciclovir. Moreover, we investigated the antiviral effect against the new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and measured a 55-fold decreased viral load in the supernatant of infected cells associated with a 38-fold decrease in virus growth. The advantage of our modified heparin is an increased antiviral effect compared to regular heparin

A checklist for assessing the methodological quality of concurrent tES-fMRI studies (ContES checklist): a consensus study and statement

Background: Low intensity transcranial electrical stimulation (tES), including alternating or direct current stimulation (tACS or tDCS), applies weak electrical stimulation to modulate the activity of brain circuits. Integration of tES with concurrent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) allows for the mapping of neural activity during neuromodulation, supporting causal studies of both brain function and tES effects. Methodological aspects of tES-fMRI studies underpin the results, and reporting them in appropriate detail is required for reproducibility and interpretability. Despite the growing number of published reports, there are no consensus-based checklists for disclosing methodological details of concurrent tES-fMRI studies. Objective: To develop a consensus-based checklist of reporting standards for concurrent tES-fMRI studies to support methodological rigor, transparency, and reproducibility (ContES Checklist). Methods: A two-phase Delphi consensus process was conducted by a steering committee (SC) of 13 members and 49 expert panelists (EP) through the International Network of the tES-fMRI (INTF) Consortium. The process began with a circulation of a preliminary checklist of essential items and additional recommendations, developed by the SC based on a systematic review of 57 concurrent tES-fMRI studies. Contributors were then invited to suggest revisions or additions to the initial checklist. After the revision phase, contributors rated the importance of the 17 essential items and 42 additional recommendations in the final checklist. The state of methodological transparency within the 57 reviewed concurrent tES-fMRI studies was then assessed using the checklist. Results: Experts refined the checklist through the revision and rating phases, leading to a checklist with three categories of essential items and additional recommendations: (1) technological factors, (2) safety and noise tests, and (3) methodological factors. The level of reporting of checklist items varied among the 57 concurrent tES-fMRI papers, ranging from 24% to 76%. On average, 53% of checklist items were reported in a given article. Conclusions: Use of the ContES checklist is expected to enhance the methodological reporting quality of future concurrent tES-fMRI studies, and increase methodological transparency and reproducibility

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) for major depression – interim analysis of cloud supervised technical data from the DepressionDC trial

Background: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of prefrontal cortex regions has been reported to exert antidepressant effects, though large scale multicenter trials in major depressive disorder (MDD) supporting this notion are still lacking. Application of tDCS in multicenter settings, however, requires measurement, storage and evaluation of technical parameters of tDCS sessions not only for safety reasons but also for quality control. To address this issue, we conducted an interim analysis of supervised technical data across study centers in order to monitor technical quality of tDCS in an ongoing multicenter RCT in MDD (DepressionDC trial). Methods: Technical data of 818 active tDCS sessions were recorded, stored in a data cloud, and analysed without violating study blinding. Impedance, voltage and current were monitored continuously with one data point recorded every second of stimulation. Results: Variability of impedance was considerable (1,42 kΩ, to 8,23 kΩ), inter-individually and even more intra-individually, but did not significantly differ between the study centre in Munich and all other sites. Conclusion: Measurement, centralized data storage via data cloud and remote supervision of technical parameters of tDCS are feasible and proposed for future RCTs on therapeutic tDCS in multiple settings

A Compositional Framework for Service Interaction Patterns and Interaction Flows

Abstract. We provide precise high-level models for eight fundamental service interaction patterns, together with schemes for their composition into complex service-based business process interconnections and interaction flows, supporting software-engineered business process management in multi-party collaborative environments. The mathematical nature of our models provides a basis for a rigorous execution-platform-independent analysis, in particular for benchmarking web services functionality. The models can also serve as accurate standard specifications, subject to further design leading by stepwise refinement to implementations. We begin by defining succinct rigorous models to mathematically capture the behavioral meaning of four basic bilateral business process interaction patterns (Sect. 1), together with their refinements to four basic multilateral interaction patterns (Sect. 2). We then illustrate with characteristic examples how by appropriate combinations and refinements of these eight fundamental patterns one can define arbitrarily complex interaction patterns of distributed service-based business processes that go beyond simple request-response sequences and may involve a dynamically evolving number of participants. This leads to a definition of the concept of process interaction flow or conversation

Linking the Meaning of Programs to What the Compiler Can Verify

We formulate some research and development challenges that relate what a verifying compiler can verify to the definition and analysis of the application-content of programs, where the analysis comprises both experimental validation and mathematical verification. We also point to State Machines (ASM) method for high-level system design and analysis. We explain how it allows one to bridge the gap between informal requirements and detailed code by combining application-centric experimentally validatable system modeling with mathematically verifiable refinements of abstract models to compiler-verifiable code