Hemodynamic variability and cerebrovascular control after transient cerebral ischemia

We investigated if hemodynamic variability, cerebral blood flow (CBF) regulation, and their interrelationships differ between patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA) and controls. We recorded blood pressure (BP) and bilateral middle cerebral artery flow velocity (MCAv) in a cohort of TIA patients (n = 17), and age?matched controls (n = 15). Spontaneous fluctuations in BP and MCAv were characterized by spectral power analysis, and CBF regulation was assessed by wavelet phase synchronization analysis in the very low? (0.02–0.07 Hz), low? (0.07–0.20 Hz), and high?frequency (0.20–0.40 Hz) ranges. Furthermore, cerebrovascular CO2 reactivity was assessed as a second metric of CBF regulation by inducing hypercapnia with 8% CO2 inhalation followed by hyperventilation driven hypocapnia. We found that TIA was associated with higher BP power (group effect, P < 0.05), but not MCAv power (P = 0.11). CBF regulation (assessed by wavelet phase synchronization and CO2 reactivity) was intact in patients (all P ? 0.075) across both hemispheres (all P ? 0.51). Pooled data (controls and affected hemisphere of patients) showed that BP and MCAv power were positively correlated at all frequency ranges (R2 = 0.20–0.80, all P < 0.01). Furthermore, LF phase synchronization index was a significant determinant of MCAv power (P < 0.05), while VLF and HF phase synchronization index, and TIA were not (all P ? 0.50). These results indicate that CBF stability and control is maintained in TIA patients, but BPV is markedly elevated. BPV attenuation may be an important therapeutic strategy for enhancing secondary stroke prevention in patients who suffer a TIA

Aging and Urban Mobility in Bandar Sunway: A Holistic Approach

Human longevity is constantly changing the demographic outlook of the world’s population and older people are projected to double in the next 30 years from 11% to 22% of the world’s population. Malaysia is no exception and, like most western and developing nations, the number of Malaysians aged 60 years and above has been gradually rising from the 1970s onwards and is currently estimated to represent 10% of its population. This has created an urgent need to develop age-friendly cities, so that older individuals living in urban areas can have an improved life. It is important that the aging population continues to lead healthy and productive lives as far as possible. In this project, which is a work in progress, we surveyed a suburban community, aged 50 years and above, residing in Bandar Sunway and its vicinity in the state of Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia. The aim was to assess their health and perceptions on mobility through targeted questionnaires, in-depth interviews and focus groups and identify the factors associated with healthy aging in a holistic manner. The overall goal is to promote a healthy mind in a healthy body despite the advancing years. In the preliminary phase we surveyed 73 participants aged between 52 – 85 years and compared responses and clinical parameters for individuals below (N = 36) and ≥ 65 years (N = 37) in age. Based on their Body Mass Index (BMI), the participants were generally healthy with a normal BMI (45%) or slightly overweight (41%) with a higher BMI and blood lipid levels. There were no significant differences in the cognitive assessments between the two age groups (p = 0.945). A majority (70%) of the participants were satisfied with their lives in Bandar Sunway, but some reported several health related issues and chronic diseases. However, this was not a factor that hindered their quality of life. Older adults in Bandar Sunway still preferred driving their own vehicles instead of taking public transports. This was due to several shortfalls in the transportation systems: pricing, schedules of transport, safety, and cleanliness. Preliminary results have identified several aspects of public transportation in urban areas that can be improved to better serve the aging community. In doing so, we anticipate the findings and recommendations will be applicable to a much wider community in Malaysia and other parts of the world. The project is aligned with the theme of improving health and well-being and will provide a model for understanding and dealing with aging in the local community

SinicView: A visualization environment for comparisons of multiple nucleotide sequence alignment tools

BACKGROUND: Deluged by the rate and complexity of completed genomic sequences, the need to align longer sequences becomes more urgent, and many more tools have thus been developed. In the initial stage of genomic sequence analysis, a biologist is usually faced with the questions of how to choose the best tool to align sequences of interest and how to analyze and visualize the alignment results, and then with the question of whether poorly aligned regions produced by the tool are indeed not homologous or are just results due to inappropriate alignment tools or scoring systems used. Although several systematic evaluations of multiple sequence alignment (MSA) programs have been proposed, they may not provide a standard-bearer for most biologists because those poorly aligned regions in these evaluations are never discussed. Thus, a tool that allows cross comparison of the alignment results obtained by different tools simultaneously could help a biologist evaluate their correctness and accuracy. RESULTS: In this paper, we present a versatile alignment visualization system, called SinicView, (for Sequence-aligning INnovative and Interactive Comparison VIEWer), which allows the user to efficiently compare and evaluate assorted nucleotide alignment results obtained by different tools. SinicView calculates similarity of the alignment outputs under a fixed window using the sum-of-pairs method and provides scoring profiles of each set of aligned sequences. The user can visually compare alignment results either in graphic scoring profiles or in plain text format of the aligned nucleotides along with the annotations information. We illustrate the capabilities of our visualization system by comparing alignment results obtained by MLAGAN, MAVID, and MULTIZ, respectively. CONCLUSION: With SinicView, users can use their own data sequences to compare various alignment tools or scoring systems and select the most suitable one to perform alignment in the initial stage of sequence analysis

Asian Pacific Society of Cardiology Consensus Statements on the Diagnosis and Management of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is strongly associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, evidence supporting this association in the Asian population is scarce. Given the differences in the epidemiology of CVD and cardiovascular risk factors, as well as differences in the availability of healthcare resources between Asian and Western countries, an Asian Pacific Society of Cardiology (APSC) working group developed consensus recommendations on the management of OSA in patients with CVD in the Asia-Pacific region. The APSC expert panel reviewed and appraised the available evidence using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation system. Consensus recommendations were developed and put to an online vote. Consensus was reached when 80% of votes for a given recommendation were in support of ‘agree’ or ‘neutral.’ The resulting statements provide guidance on the assessment and treatment of OSA in patients with CVD in the Asia-Pacific region. The APSC hopes for these recommendations to pave the way for screening, early diagnosis and treatment of OSA in the Asia-Pacific region

Novel Nanohybrids of Silver Particles on Clay Platelets for Inhibiting Silver-Resistant Bacteria

We develop a novel nanohybrid showing a strong antibacterial activity on all of the tested pathogens, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus auerus and silver-resistant E. coli. The nanohybrid consists of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) supported on 1 nm-thick silicate platelets (NSPs). The AgNP/NSP nanohybrid enables to encapsulate bacteria and triggers death signals from the cell membrane. The geographic shape of the NSPs concentrates AgNPs but impedes their penetration into attached cells, mitigating the detrimental effect of silver ion deposition in applied tissues. Moreover, the tightly tethered AgNPs on NSP surface achieve a stronger biocidal effect than silver nitrate, but bypassing Ag+ mechanism, on silver-resistant bacteria. This nanohybrid presents an effective and safe antimicrobial agent in a new perspective

Вихретоковый анизотропный термоэлектрический первичный преобразователь лучистого потока

Представлена оригинальная конструкция первичного преобразователя лучистого потока, который может служить основой для создания приемника неселективного излучения с повышенной чувствительностью

The 5p15.33 Locus Is Associated with Risk of Lung Adenocarcinoma in Never-Smoking Females in Asia

Genome-wide association studies of lung cancer reported in populations of European background have identified three regions on chromosomes 5p15.33, 6p21.33, and 15q25 that have achieved genome-wide significance with p-values of 10−7 or lower. These studies have been performed primarily in cigarette smokers, raising the possibility that the observed associations could be related to tobacco use, lung carcinogenesis, or both. Since most women in Asia do not smoke, we conducted a genome-wide association study of lung adenocarcinoma in never-smoking females (584 cases, 585 controls) among Han Chinese in Taiwan and found that the most significant association was for rs2736100 on chromosome 5p15.33 (p = 1.30×10−11). This finding was independently replicated in seven studies from East Asia totaling 1,164 lung adenocarcinomas and 1,736 controls (p = 5.38×10−11). A pooled analysis achieved genome-wide significance for rs2736100. This SNP marker localizes to the CLPTM1L-TERT locus on chromosome 5p15.33 (p = 2.60×10−20, allelic risk = 1.54, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.41–1.68). Risks for heterozygote and homozygote carriers of the minor allele were 1.62 (95% CI; 1.40–1.87), and 2.35 (95% CI: 1.95–2.83), respectively. In summary, our results show that genetic variation in the CLPTM1L-TERT locus of chromosome 5p15.33 is directly associated with the risk of lung cancer, most notably adenocarcinoma

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data