Efficacy of a Novel Injection Lipolysis to Induce Targeted Adipocyte Apoptosis: A Randomized, Phase IIa Study of CBL-514 Injection on Abdominal Subcutaneous Fat Reduction

Background: CBL-514 is a novel injectable drug that may be safe and efficacious for localized abdominal subcutaneous fat reduction. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of CBL-514 in reducing abdominal subcutaneous fat volume and thickness. Methods: This Phase IIa, open-label, random allocation study consisted of a 6-week treatment period and follow-up at 4 and 8 weeks following the last treatment. Participants were randomly allocated to receive 1.2 mg/cm2 (180 mg), 1.6 mg/cm2 (240 mg), or 2.0 mg/cm2 (300 mg) of CBL-514 with up to 4 treatments, each comprising 60 injections into the abdominal adipose layer. Changes in abdominal subcutaneous fat were assessed by ultrasound at follow-up visits. Treatment-emergent adverse events were recorded. Results: Higher doses of CBL-514 (unit dose, 2.0 and 1.6 mg/cm2) significantly improved the absolute and percentage reduction in abdominal fat volume (P < 0.00001) and thickness (P < 0.0001) compared with baseline. Although the COVID-19 pandemic halted some participant recruitment and follow-ups, analysis was unaffected, even after sample size limitations. Conclusions: CBL-514 injection at multiple doses up to 300 mg with a unit dose of 2.0 mg/cm2 is safe, well-tolerated, and reduced abdominal fat volume and thickness by inducing adipocyte apoptosis. Although other procedures exist to treat abdominal fat, they have limitations and may cause complications. At a dose of 2.0 mg/cm2, CBL-514 safely and significantly reduced abdominal fat volume by 24.96%, making it a promising new treatment for routine, nonsurgical abdominal fat reduction in dermatologic clinics. Level of Evidence: 4

Sample entropy analysis of EEG signals via artificial neural networks to model patients' consciousness level based on anesthesiologists experience.

Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, as it can express the human brain's activities and reflect awareness, have been widely used in many research and medical equipment to build a noninvasive monitoring index to the depth of anesthesia (DOA). Bispectral (BIS) index monitor is one of the famous and important indicators for anesthesiologists primarily using EEG signals when assessing the DOA. In this study, an attempt is made to build a new indicator using EEG signals to provide a more valuable reference to the DOA for clinical researchers. The EEG signals are collected from patients under anesthetic surgery which are filtered using multivariate empirical mode decomposition (MEMD) method and analyzed using sample entropy (SampEn) analysis. The calculated signals from SampEn are utilized to train an artificial neural network (ANN) model through using expert assessment of consciousness level (EACL) which is assessed by experienced anesthesiologists as the target to train, validate, and test the ANN. The results that are achieved using the proposed system are compared to BIS index. The proposed system results show that it is not only having similar characteristic to BIS index but also more close to experienced anesthesiologists which illustrates the consciousness level and reflects the DOA successfully.This research is supported by the Center forDynamical Biomarkers and Translational Medicine, National Central University, Taiwan, which is sponsored by Ministry of Science and Technology (Grant no. MOST103-2911-I-008-001). Also, it is supported by National Chung-Shan Institute of Science & Technology in Taiwan (Grant nos. CSIST-095-V301 and CSIST-095-V302)

Use of diffusion spectrum imaging in preliminary longitudinal evaluation of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Development of an imaging biomarker

Previous diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies have shown white matter pathology in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), predominantly in the motor pathways. Further these studies have shown that DTI can be used longitudinally to track pathology over time, making white matter pathology a candidate as an outcome measure in future trials. DTI has demonstrated application in group studies, however its derived indices, for example fractional anisotropy, are susceptible to partial volume effects, making its role questionable in examining individual progression. We hypothesize that changes in the white matter are present in ALS beyond the motor tracts, and that the affected pathways and associated pattern of disease progression can be tracked longitudinally using automated diffusion connectometry analysis. Connectometry analysis is based on diffusion spectrum imaging and overcomes the limitations of a conventional tractography approach and DTI. The identified affected white matter tracts can then be assessed in a targeted fashion using High definition fiber tractography (a novel white matter MR imaging technique). Changes in quantitative and qualitative markers over time could then be correlated with clinical progression. We illustrate these principles toward developing an imaging biomarker for demonstrating individual progression, by presenting results for five ALS patients, including with longitudinal data in two. Preliminary analysis demonstrated a number of changes bilaterally and asymmetrically in motoric and extramotoric white matter pathways. Further the limbic system was also affected possibly explaining the cognitive symptoms in ALS. In the two longitudinal subjects, the white matter changes were less extensive at baseline, although there was evidence of disease progression in a frontal pattern with a relatively spared postcentral gyrus, consistent with the known pathology in ALS. © 2014 Abhinav, Yeh, El-Dokla, Ferrando, Chang, Lacomis, Friedlander and Fernandez-Miranda

On the Use of Quantum Algebras in Rotation-Vibration Spectroscopy

A two-parameter deformation of the Lie algebra u$_2$ is used, in conjunction with the rotor system and the oscillator system, to generate a model for rotation-vibration spectroscopy of molecules and nuclei.Comment: 10 pages, Latex File, published in Modern Group Theoretical Methods in Physics, J. Bertrand et al. (eds.), Kluwer Academic Publishers (1995), 27-3

Community nursing services for postdischarge chronically ill patients

Author name used in this publication: Susan K. Y. ChowAuthor name used in this publication: Frances K. Y. WongAuthor name used in this publication: Loretta Y. F. Chung2007-2008 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Down-regulated CK8 expression in human intervertebral disc degeneration

As an intermediate filament protein, cytokeratin 8 (CK8) exerts multiple cellular functions. Moreover, it has been identified as a marker of notochord cells, which play essential roles in human nucleus pulposus (NP). However, the distribution of CK8 positive cells in human NP and their relationship with intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) have not been clarified until now. Here, we found the percentage of CK8 positive cells in IDD (25.7+/-4.14%) was significantly lower than that in normal and scoliosis NP (51.9+/-9.73% and 47.8+/-5.51%, respectively, p<0.05). Western blotting and qRT-PCR results confirmed the down-regulation of CK8 expression in IDD on both of protein and mRNA levels. Furthermore, approximately 37.4% of cell clusters were CK8 positive in IDD. Taken together, this is the first study to show a down-regulated CK8 expression and the percentage of CK8 positive cell clusters in IDD based upon multiple lines of evidence. Consequently, CK8 positive cells might be considered as a potential option in the development of cellular treatment strategies for NP repair.published_or_final_versio

The shear mode of multilayer graphene

The quest for materials capable of realizing the next generation of electronic and photonic devices continues to fuel research on the electronic, optical and vibrational properties of graphene. Few-layer graphene (FLG) flakes with less than ten layers each show a distinctive band structure. Thus, there is an increasing interest in the physics and applications of FLGs. Raman spectroscopy is one of the most useful and versatile tools to probe graphene samples. Here, we uncover the interlayer shear mode of FLGs, ranging from bilayer graphene (BLG) to bulk graphite, and suggest that the corresponding Raman peak measures the interlayer coupling. This peak scales from ~43 cm−1 in bulk graphite to ~31 cm−1 in BLG. Its low energy makes it sensitive to near-Dirac point quasiparticles. Similar shear modes are expected in all layered materials, providing a direct probe of interlayer interactions

Developmental changes in the role of different metalinguistic awareness skills in Chinese reading acquisition from preschool to third grade

Copyright @ 2014 Wei et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.The present study investigated the relationship between Chinese reading skills and metalinguistic awareness skills such as phonological, morphological, and orthographic awareness for 101 Preschool, 94 Grade-1, 98 Grade-2, and 98 Grade-3 children from two primary schools in Mainland China. The aim of the study was to examine how each of these metalinguistic awareness skills would exert their influence on the success of reading in Chinese with age. The results showed that all three metalinguistic awareness skills significantly predicted reading success. It further revealed that orthographic awareness played a dominant role in the early stages of reading acquisition, and its influence decreased with age, while the opposite was true for the contribution of morphological awareness. The results were in stark contrast with studies in English, where phonological awareness is typically shown as the single most potent metalinguistic awareness factor in literacy acquisition. In order to account for the current data, a three-stage model of reading acquisition in Chinese is discussed.National Natural Science Foundation of China and Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

A Geometric Approach to CP Violation: Applications to the MCPMFV SUSY Model

We analyze the constraints imposed by experimental upper limits on electric dipole moments (EDMs) within the Maximally CP- and Minimally Flavour-Violating (MCPMFV) version of the MSSM. Since the MCPMFV scenario has 6 non-standard CP-violating phases, in addition to the CP-odd QCD vacuum phase \theta_QCD, cancellations may occur among the CP-violating contributions to the three measured EDMs, those of the Thallium, neutron and Mercury, leaving open the possibility of relatively large values of the other CP-violating observables. We develop a novel geometric method that uses the small-phase approximation as a starting point, takes the existing EDM constraints into account, and enables us to find maximal values of other CP-violating observables, such as the EDMs of the Deuteron and muon, the CP-violating asymmetry in b --> s \gamma decay, and the B_s mixing phase. We apply this geometric method to provide upper limits on these observables within specific benchmark supersymmetric scenarios, including extensions that allow for a non-zero \theta_QCD.Comment: 34 pages, 16 eps figures, to appear in JHE