Dreaming Characteristics in Non-Rapid Eye Movement Parasomnia and Idiopathic Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behaviour Disorder: Similarities and Differences

Background: Speech graph analysis (SGA) of dreams has recently shown promise as an objective and language-invariant diagnostic tool that can aid neuropsychiatric diagnosis. Whilst the notion that dreaming mentations reflect distinct physiologic processes is not new, such studies in patients with sleep disorders remain exceptionally scarce. Here, using SGA and other dream content analyses, we set to investigate structural and thematic differences in morning dream recalls of patients diagnosed with Non-Rapid Eye Movement Parasomnia (NREMP) and Idiopathic REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (iRBD). Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study of morning dream recalls of iRBD and NREMP patients was undertaken. Traditional dream content analyses, such as Orlinsky and Hall and Van de Castle analyses, were initially conducted. Subsequently, SGA was performed in order to objectively quantify structural speech differences between the dream recalls of the two patient groups. Results: Comparable rate of morning recall of dreams in the sleep laboratory was recorded; 25% of iRBD and 18.35% of NREMP patients. Aggression in dreams was recorded by 28.57% iRBD versus 20.00% in NREMP group. iRBD patients were more likely to recall dreams (iRBD vs NREMP; P = 0.007), but they also had more white dreams, ie having a feeling of having dreamt, but with no memory of it. Visual and quantitative graph speech analyses of iRBD dreams suggested stable sequential structure, reflecting the linearity of the chronological narrative. Conversely, NREMP dream reports displayed more recursive, less stable systems, with significantly higher scores of graph connectivity measures. Conclusion: The findings of our exploratory study suggest that iRBD and NREMP patients may not only differ on what is recalled in their dreams but also, perhaps more strikingly, on how dreams are recalled. It is hoped that future SGA-led dream investigations of larger groups of patients will help discern distinct mechanistic underpinnings and any associated clinical implications

Attitudes of Germans towards distributive issues in the German health system

Social health care systems are inevitably confronted with the scarcity of resources and the resulting distributional challenges. Since prioritization implies distributional effects, decisions on respective rules should take citizens’ preferences into account. Thus, knowledge about citizens’ attitudes and preferences regarding different distributional issues implied by the type of financing health care is necessary to judge the public acceptance of a health system. In this study we concentrate on two distributive issues in the German health system: First, we analyse the acceptance of prioritizing decisions concerning the treatment of certain patient groups, in this case patients who all need a heart operation. Here we focus on the fact that a patient is strong smoker or a non-smoker, the criteria of age or the fact that a patient has or does not have young children. Second, we investigate Germans’ opinions towards income dependent health services. The results reveal strong effects of individuals’ attitudes regarding general aspects of the health system on priorities, e.g. that individuals behaving health demanding should not be preferred. In addition, experiences of limited access to health services are found to have a strong influence on citizens’ attitudes, too. Finally, decisions about different prioritization criteria are found to be not independent.

Differences in signaling properties of the cytoplasmic domains of the insulin receptor and insulin-like growth factor receptor in 3T3-L1 adipocytes

Insulin and insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) elicit distinct but overlapping biological effects in vivo. To investigate whether differences in intrinsic signaling capacity of receptors contribute to biological specificity, we constructed chimeric receptors containing the extracellular portion of the neurotrophin receptor TrkC fused to the intracellular portion of the insulin or IGF-I receptors, Chimeras were stably expressed in 3T3-L1 adipocytes at levels comparable to endogenous insulin receptors and were efficiently activated by neurotrophin-3. The wild-type insulin receptor chimera mediated approximately 2-fold greater phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1), association of IRS-1 with phosphoinositide 3-kinase, stimulation of glucose uptake, and GLUT4 translocation, compared with the IGF-I receptor chimera. In contrast, the IGF-I receptor chimera mediated more effective Shc phosphorylation, association of Shc with Grb2, and activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase compared with the insulin receptor chimera. The two receptors elicited similar activation of protein kinase B, p70S6 kinase, and glycogen synthesis. We conclude that the insulin receptor mediates some aspects of metabolic signaling in adipocytes more effectively than the IGF-I receptor, as a consequence of more efficient phosphorylation of IRS-1 and greater recruitment/activation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase

The edge-on protoplanetary disk HH 48 NE I. Modeling the geometry and stellar parameters

Context. Observations of edge-on disks are an important tool for constraining general protoplanetary disk properties that cannot be determined in any other way. However, most radiative transfer models cannot simultaneously reproduce the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and resolved scattered light and submillimeter observations of these systems, due to the differences in geometry and dust properties at different wavelengths. Aims. We simultaneously constrain the geometry of the edge-on protoplanetary disk HH 48 NE and the characteristics of the host star. HH 48 NE is part of the JWST early release science program Ice Age. This work serves as a stepping stone towards a better understanding of the disk physical structure and icy chemistry in this particular source. This kind of modeling lays the groundwork for studying other edge-on sources to be observed with the JWST. Methods. We fit a parameterized dust model to HH 48 NE by coupling the radiative transfer code RADMC-3D and an MCMC framework. The dust structure was fitted independently to a compiled SED, a scattered light image at 0.8 ${\mu}$m and an ALMA dust continuum observation at 890 ${\mu}$m. Results. We find that 90% of the dust mass in HH 48 NE is settled to the disk midplane, less than in average disks, and that the atmospheric layers of the disk contain exclusively large grains (0.3-10 ${\mu}$m). The exclusion of small grains in the upper atmosphere likely has important consequences for the chemistry due to the deep penetration of high-energy photons. The addition of a relatively large cavity (ca. 50 au in radius) is necessary to explain the strong mid-infrared emission, and to fit the scattered light and continuum observations simultaneously.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Angiomatoid giant cellular blue nevus of vaginal wall associated with pregnancy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Blue nevi that arise from the Müllerian tract are rare melanocytic lesions. Several histopathologic variants of cellular blue nevi have been described. The angiomatoid variant is characterized by a vascular component, and is considered to be a rare variant. Few studies have explored the influence of pregnancy on melanocytic lesions.</p> <p>Case</p> <p>A 29-year-old woman was presented with a pigmented vaginal lesion that increased gradually during pregnancy. A full term gynecologic examination showed a tumor mass protruding into the vaginal canal. The mass was resected during cesarean-section under the clinical impression of vaginal hemangioma.</p> <p>Result</p> <p>Gross examination revealed a cystic mass measuring 6.0 × 4.3 × 3.5 cm, which was filled with dark friable material. Histologically, the mass showed a subepithelial cellular proliferation of heavily pigmented dendritic melanocytes with prominent vascular stroma. Cytologic pleomorphism, junctional activity, atypical mitosis, and necrosis were not found. The proliferation was immunoreactive for HMB-45, S-100 and melan-A, and non-immunoreactive for CD34, smooth muscle actin, and AE1/AE3. The MIB-1 proliferative index was less than 1%. The patient had a postoperative course without complication.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Angiomatoid giant cellular blue nevus arising from the vagina during pregnancy is extremely rare. The low proliferative index and absence of cytologic pleomorphism, or necrosis, supports a benign biological behavior. Clinical follow-up showed no evidence of recurrence at one year after the resection of the mass.</p

Performance study of GPUs in real-time trigger applications for HEP experiments

Graphical Processing Units (GPUs) have evolved into highly parallel, multi-threaded, multicore powerful processors with high memory bandwidth. GPUs are used in a variety of intensive computing applications. The combination of highly parallel architecture and high memory bandwidth makes GPUs a potentially promising technology for effective real-time processing for High Energy Physics (HEP) experiments. However, not much is known of their performance in real-time applications that require low latency, such as the trigger for HEP experiments. We describe an R and D project with the goal to study the performance of GPU technology for possible low latency applications, performing basic operations as well as some more advanced HEP lower-level trigger algorithms (such as fast tracking or jet finding). We present some preliminary results on timing measurements, comparing the performance of a CPU versus a GPU with NVIDIA's CUDA general-purpose parallel computing architecture, carried out at CDF's Level-2 trigger test stand. These studies will provide performance benchmarks for future studies to investigate the potential and limitations of GPUs for real-time applications in HEP experiments

NEMO: A Project for a km3^3 Underwater Detector for Astrophysical Neutrinos in the Mediterranean Sea

The status of the project is described: the activity on long term characterization of water optical and oceanographic parameters at the Capo Passero site candidate for the Mediterranean km$^3$ neutrino telescope; the feasibility study; the physics performances and underwater technology for the km$^3$; the activity on NEMO Phase 1, a technological demonstrator that has been deployed at 2000 m depth 25 km offshore Catania; the realization of an underwater infrastructure at 3500 m depth at the candidate site (NEMO Phase 2).Comment: Proceeding of ISCRA 2006, Erice 20-27 June 200