Neurological complications of acute multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy

Acute multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy (AMPPE) is an autoimmune chorioretinal disease that can be complicated by neurological involvement. There is limited information on this potentially treatable condition in the neurological literature. The objective of this patient series is to describe the neurological complications of AMPPE. We retrospectively identified patients with neurological complications of AMPPE seen at Auckland Hospital between 2008 and 2013 and summarised cases in the literature between 1976 and 2013. We identified five patients with neurological complications of AMPPE at Auckland Hospital and 47 reported patients. These patients demonstrated a spectrum of neurological involvement including isolated headache, stroke or transient ischaemic attack, seizures, venous sinus thrombosis, optic neuritis, sensorineural hearing loss and peripheral vestibular disorder. We propose criteria to define AMPPE with neurological complications. A cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) lymphocytosis in a patient with isolated headache may predict the development of cerebrovascular complications of AMPPE. Patients with cerebrovascular complications of AMPPE have a poor prognosis with high rates of death and neurological disability among survivors. Predictors of poor outcome in those who develop neurological complications of AMPPE are a relapsing course, generalised seizures and multifocal infarction on MRI. All patients with neurological complications of AMPPE, including headache alone, should be investigated with an MRI brain and CSF examination. Patients with focal neurological symptoms should receive intravenous (IV) methylprednisolone followed by a tapering course of oral steroids for at least 3months. Patients with AMPPE and an isolated headache with a CSF pleocytosis should be treated with oral steroids

The role of wearable devices and objective gait analysis for the assessment and monitoring of patients with lumbar spinal stenosis: Systematic review

© 2019 The Author(s). Background: The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of wearable devices for objective gait measurement of Lumbar Spinal Stenosis (LSS) patients, with a focus on relevant gait metrics. Methods: Systematic searches were conducted of five electronic databases to identify studies that assessed gait metrics by wearable or portable technology. Data was collected according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement guidelines. Results: Four articles were identified for inclusion in this review. The objectives, methodology and quality of the studies varied. No single gait metric was investigated in all four studies, making comparison difficult. The most relevant metrics reported included gait cycle, gait velocity, step length and cadence, which were reported in two studies. Two studies explored gait symmetry. Differences between LSS patients and normal healthy subjects are demonstrable using wearable technology. Conclusions: The measurements of gait cycle, cadence, step length, gait velocity, and number of steps with wearable devices can be used in the gait measurement of LSS patients for initial assessment, and objective outcomes following interventions. However, data and analysis are limited, and further studies are necessary to comment on reliability

Fish Consumption and Advisory Awareness in the Great Lakes Basin

More than 61 million adults live in the eight U.S. states bordering the Great Lakes. Between June 2001 and June 2002, a population-based, random-digit-dial telephone survey of adults residing in Great Lakes (GL) states was conducted to assess consumption of commercial and sport-caught fish and awareness of state-issued consumption advisories for GL fish. On the basis of the weighted survey data, approximately 84% of the adults living in these states included fish in their diets. Seven percent (an estimated 4.2 million adults) consumed fish caught from the Great Lakes. The percentage of residents who had consumed sport-caught fish (from any water source) varied regionally and was highest among those who lived in Minnesota (44%) and Wisconsin (39%). Consumption of GL sport fish was highest among residents of Michigan (16%) and Ohio (12%). Among residents who had eaten GL fish, awareness of consumption advisories varied by gender and race and was lowest among women (30%) and black residents (15%). However, 70% of those who consumed GL sport-caught fish twice a month or more (an estimated 509,000 adults across all eight states) were aware of the advisories. Findings from this survey indicate that exposure to persistent contaminants found in GL fish is likely limited to a relatively small subpopulation of avid sport-fish consumers. Results also underscore the public health importance of advisories for commercial fish because an estimated 2.9 million adults living in these states consume more than 104 fish meals per year and may be at risk of exceeding the reference doses for methylmercury, polychlorinated biphenyls, and other bioaccumulative contaminants

An emerging role for IQGAP1 in tight junction control

© 2016, © 2016 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis. © 2016, © Barbara E. Tanos, Charles Yeaman, and Enrique Rodriguez-Boulan. IQGAP1 is a scaffold protein involved in the assembly of adherens junctions. Our work has recently revealed a novel role for IQGAP1 in the regulation of tight junctions (TJ) through differential recruitment of claudins to the nascent TJ. Here, we discuss the potential mechanisms of this regulation, including IQGAP1 effects on CDC42, and IQGAP1 interactions with sorting/trafficking molecules (e.g. Exo70). Given the many roles of IQGAP1 and the large number of interacting partners, we focus our discussion of these functions in the context of junction formation, trafficking, growth factor signaling and cancer. We also propose a potential role for IQGAP1 in regulating epithelial integrity and compartmentalized signaling in epithelia

Probabilistic Clustering of Time-Evolving Distance Data

We present a novel probabilistic clustering model for objects that are represented via pairwise distances and observed at different time points. The proposed method utilizes the information given by adjacent time points to find the underlying cluster structure and obtain a smooth cluster evolution. This approach allows the number of objects and clusters to differ at every time point, and no identification on the identities of the objects is needed. Further, the model does not require the number of clusters being specified in advance -- they are instead determined automatically using a Dirichlet process prior. We validate our model on synthetic data showing that the proposed method is more accurate than state-of-the-art clustering methods. Finally, we use our dynamic clustering model to analyze and illustrate the evolution of brain cancer patients over time

The pre-vaccination regional epidemiological landscape of measles in Italy: contact patterns, effort needed for eradication, and comparison with other regions of Europe

BACKGROUND: Strong regional heterogeneity and generally sub-optimal rates of measles vaccination in Italy have, to date, hampered attainment of WHO targets for measles elimination, and have generated the need for the new Italian National Measles Elimination Plan. Crucial to success of the plan is the identification of intervention priorities based upon a clear picture of the regional epidemiology of measles derived from the use of data to estimate basic parameters. Previous estimates of measles force of infection for Italy have appeared anomalously low. It has been argued elsewhere that this results from Italian selective under-reporting by age of cases and that the true measles force of infection in Italy is probably similar to that of other European countries. A deeper examination of the evidence for this conjecture is undertaken in the present paper. METHODS: Using monthly regional case notifications data from 1949 to the start of vaccination in 1976 and notifications by age from 1971–76, summary equilibrium parameters (force of infection (FOI), basic reproductive ratio (R(0)) and critical vaccination coverage (p(c))) are calculated for each region and for each of 5 plausible contact patterns. An analysis of the spectra of incidence profiles is also carried out. Finally a transmission dynamics model is employed to explore the correspondence between projections using different estimates of force of infection and data on seroprevalence in Italy. RESULTS: FOI estimates are lower than comparable European FOIs and there is substantial regional heterogeneity in basic reproductive ratios; certain patterns of contact matrices are demonstrated to be unfeasible. Most regions show evidence of 3-year epidemic cycles or longer, and compared with England & Wales there appears to be little synchronisation between regions. Modelling results suggest that the lower FOI estimated from corrected aggregate national data matches serological data more closely than that estimated from typical European data. CONCLUSION: Results suggest forces of infection in Italy, though everywhere remaining below the typical European level, are historically higher in the South where currently vaccination coverage is lowest. There appears to be little evidence to support the suggestion that a higher true force of infection is masked by age bias in reporting

Late Cretaceous hydrothermal vent communities from the Troodos ophiolite, Cyprus: systematics and evolutionary significance

Modern hydrothermal vent communities are based on chemosynthesis by microbial primary producers. Molecular phylogenetic divergence estimates indicate that many of the dominant vent taxa arose during the Cenozoic and Cretaceous; however, the fossil record of vent communities from these time periods is poor. One occurrence of such Cretaceous vent communities pertains to six volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits in the Troodos ophiolite of Cyprus. These deposits represent hydrothermal activity on deep (2500–5000 m) arc-related spreading ridge(s) in the Neotethyan Ocean over several million years during the late Cenomanian and earliest Turonian. The Cyprus vent communities consist of worm tubes, representing possible vestimentiferans and serpulids, together with a moderate diversity of abyssochrysoid gastropods, belonging to eight new species (Desbruyeresia kinousaensis sp. nov., Desbruyeresia memiensis sp. nov., Desbruyeresia kambiaensis sp. nov., Hokkaidoconcha morisseaui sp. nov., Ascheria canni sp. nov., Cyprioconcha robertsoni gen. et sp. nov., Paskentana xenophontosi sp. nov. and Paskentana dixoni sp. nov.) in five genera and three families; none of the species is shared between vent sites. A single gaudryceratid ammonite from one of the vent sites most likely represents a water-logged shell that sank from surface waters. The gastropod fauna contains the first representatives of the genera Desbruyeresia, Hokkaidoconcha, Ascheria and Paskentana from hydrothermal vents, and also the youngest representative of the last-named genus in any environment. The Cypriot vent communities share tube worms with slightly older (Cenomanian) and younger (Turonian–Santonian) vent communities elsewhere in the western part of the Neotethyan Ocean

Adaptation of photosystem II to high and low light in wild-type and triazine-resistant Canola plants: analysis by a fluorescence induction algorithm

Plants of wild-type and triazine-resistant Canola (Brassica napus L.) were exposed to very high light intensities and after 1 day placed on a laboratory table at low light to recover, to study the kinetics of variable fluorescence after light, and after dark-adaptation. This cycle was repeated several times. The fast OJIP fluorescence rise curve was measured immediately after light exposure and after recovery during 1 day in laboratory room light. A fluorescence induction algorithm has been used for resolution and analysis of these curves. This algorithm includes photochemical and photo-electrochemical quenching release components and a photo-electrical dependent IP-component. The analysis revealed a substantial suppression of the photo-electrochemical component (even complete in the resistant biotype), a partial suppression of the photochemical component and a decrease in the fluorescence parameter Fo after high light. These effects were recovered after 1 day in the indoor light

Traffic-related pollution and asthma prevalence in children. Quantification of associations with nitrogen dioxide.

Ambient nitrogen dioxide is a widely available measure of traffic-related air pollution and is inconsistently associated with the prevalence of asthma symptoms in children. The use of this relationship to evaluate the health impact of policies affecting traffic management and traffic emissions is limited by the lack of a concentration-response function based on systematic review and meta-analysis of relevant studies. Using systematic methods, we identified papers containing quantitative estimates for nitrogen dioxide and the 12 month period prevalence of asthma symptoms in children in which the exposure contrast was within-community and dominated by traffic pollution. One estimate was selected from each study according to an a priori algorithm. Odds ratios were standardised to 10 μg/m(3) and summary estimates were obtained using random- and fixed-effects estimates. Eighteen studies were identified. Concentrations of nitrogen dioxide were estimated for the home address (12) and/or school (8) using a range of methods; land use regression (6), study monitors (6), dispersion modelling (4) and interpolation (2). Fourteen studies showed positive associations but only two associations were statistically significant at the 5 % level. There was moderate heterogeneity (I(2) = 32.8 %) and the random-effects estimate for the odds ratio was 1.06 (95 % CI 1.00 to 1.11). There was no evidence of small study bias. Individual studies tended to have only weak positive associations between nitrogen dioxide and asthma prevalence but the summary estimate bordered on statistical significance at the 5 % level. Although small, the potential impact on asthma prevalence could be considerable because of the high level of baseline prevalence in many cities. Whether the association is causal or indicates the effects of a correlated pollutant or other confounders, the estimate obtained by the meta-analysis would be appropriate for estimating impacts of traffic pollution on asthma prevalence

Comparative historical sociology and the State : problems of method

Historical sociology can be understood both as a specific sub-field of sociology and as providing general conceptual underpinnings of the discipline, to the extent that it provides an understanding of the specificity of the modern state and the perceived emergence of modernity within Europe. The association of modernity with Europe (and with a European history limited to the self-identified boundaries of the continent) is commonplace and pervasive within the social sciences and humanities. What such an understanding fails to take into consideration, however, are the connections between Europe and the rest of the world that constitute the broader context for the emergence of what is understood to be the modern world and its institutions, such as the state and market. In this article, I suggest that integral to this misunderstanding, and its reproduction over time, is the methodology of comparative historical sociology as represented by ideal types. In contrast, I argue for ‘connected sociologies’ as a more appropriate way to understand our shared past and its continuing impact upon the present. I examine these issues in the context of historical sociological understandings of nation-state formation