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Abstract: The application of conventional mechanical joining methods for joining magnesium parts is restricted by the limited formability of magnesium at room temperature. Dieless clinching is a new clinching method that works with a flat anvil as a counter tool, thus offering important benefits for the joining of magnesium. It is possible to decrease the heating time to 1s or less, instead of 3–6s with conventional clinching methods. This article discusses the mechanism and limits to possible heating time reduction and introduces new findings on the impact of adhesives between parts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

To evaluate the initial feasibility and safety of percutaneous ultrasound gastrostomy (PUG) using the novel technique of magnetic gastropexy by interventional radiologists at two institutions. Percutaneous ultrasound gastrostomy (PUG) using a proprietary external magnet for coaptation gastropexy is a safe technique for gastrostomy placement, allowing prompt initiation of supplemental nutrition. [Extracted from the article]

Abstract: The possibility of filling the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory with liquid scintillator (called SNO+) after the physics program with heavy water is completed at the end of 2006 is investigated. Located in the deepest underground site for neutrino physics, SNO+ has unique capabilities, including detection of pep and CNO solar neutrinos. SNO+ could also detect geo-neutrinos originating from radioactivity in the earth. The location is favourable for such a measurement since it is surrounded by a simple geological configuration. Furthermore a second phase is under study, where in addition a double beta decay isotope might be deployed in the liquid scintillator, resulting in a competitive next-generation search. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Autonomic symptoms in alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) are associated with a sympathetic-driven imbalance of the autonomic nervous system. To restore autonomic balance in AWS, novel neuromodulatory approaches could be beneficial. We conducted a pilot trial with percutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (pVNS) in AWS and hypothesized that pVNS will enhance the parasympathetic tone represented by a reduction of pupillary dilation in a parasympatholytic pharmacological challenge. Thirty patients suffering from alcohol use disorder, undergoing AWS, and stable on medication, were recruited in this open-label, single-arm pilot trial with repeated-measure design. Peripheral VNS (monophasic volt impulses of 1 msec, alternating polarity, frequency 1 Hz, amplitude 4 mV) was administered at the left cymba conchae for 72 h, followed by pupillometry under a tropicamide challenge. We assessed craving with a visual analog scale. We used pupillary mean as the dependent variable in a repeated-measures ANOVA (rmANOVA). A repeated-measures ANOVA resulted in a significant difference for pupillary diameter across time and condition (F (2,116) = 27.97, p <.001, η p 2 >.14). Tukey-adjusted post hoc analysis revealed a significant reduction of pupillary diameter after pVNS. Alcohol craving was significantly reduced after pVNS (p <.05, Cohen's d = 1.27). Our study suggests that pVNS activates the parasympathetic nervous system in patients with acute AWS, and that this activation is measurable by pupillometry. To this end, pVNS could be beneficial as a supportive therapy for AWS. Potential confounding effects of anti-craving treatment should be kept in mind. • pVNS inhibits pupil dilation in an anticholinergic challenge in alcohol withdrawal syndrome. • Novel neuromodulatory techniques may have the potential to mitigate symptoms of alcohol withdrawal syndrome. • pVNS decreased alcohol craving, though this effect could be confounded by treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Neuroplastic processes are influenced by serotonergic agents, which reportedly alter white matter microstructure in humans in conjunction with learning. The goal of this double-blind, placebo-controlled imaging study was to investigate the neuroplastic properties of escitalopram and cognitive training on white matter plasticity during (re)learning as a model for antidepressant treatment and environmental factors.Methods: Seventy-one healthy individuals (age=25.6 ± 5.0, 43 females) underwent three diffusion magnetic resonance imaging scans: at baseline, after 3 weeks of associative learning (emotional/non-emotional content), and after relearning shuffled associations for an additional 3 weeks. During the relearning phase, participants received a daily dose of 10 mg escitalopram or placebo orally. Fractional anisotropy (FA), and mean (MD), axial (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD) were calculated within the FMRIB software library and analyzed using tract-based spatial statistics.Results: In a three-way repeated-measures marginal model with sandwich estimator standard errors, we found no significant effects of escitalopram and content on AD, FA, MD, and RD during both learning and relearning periods (pFDR>0.05). When testing for escitalopram or content effects separately, we also demonstrated no significant findings (pFDR>0.05) for any of the diffusion tensor imaging metrics.Limitations: The intensity of the study interventions might have been too brief to induce detectable white matter changes.Discussion: Previous studies examining the effects of SSRIs on white matter tracts in humans have yielded inconclusive outcomes. Our results indicate that relearning under escitalopram does not affect the white matter microstructures in healthy individuals when administered for 3 weeks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We report on two female patients carrying small overlapping Xq26.2 deletions of 100 kb and 270 kb involving the PHF6 gene. Mutations in PHF6 have been reported in individuals with Borjeson–Forssman–Lehmann syndrome, a condition present almost exclusively in males. Two very recent papers revealed de novo PHF6 defects in seven female patients with intellectual disability and a phenotype resembling Coffin–Siris syndrome (sparse hair, bitemporal narrowing, arched eyebrows, synophrys, high nasal root, bulbous nasal tip, marked clinodactyly with the hypoplastic terminal phalanges of the fifth fingers and cutaneous syndactyly of the toes, Blaschkoid linear skin hyperpigmentation, dental anomalies and occasional major malformations). The clinical presentation of these patients overlaps completely with our first patient, who carries a germline deletion involving PHF6. The second patient has a mosaic deletion and presented with a very mild phenotype of PHF6 loss in females. Our report confirms that PHF6 loss in females results in a recognizable phenotype overlapping with Coffin–Siris syndrome and distinct from Borjeson–Forssman–Lehmann syndrome. We expand the clinical spectrum and provide the first summary of the recommended medical evaluation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Four methods for determining the composition of low-level uranium- and thorium-chain surface contamination are presented. One method is the observation of Cherenkov light production in water. In two additional methods a position-sensitive proportional counter surrounding the surface is used to make both a measurement of the energy spectrum of alpha particle emissions and also coincidence measurements to derive the thorium-chain content based on the presence of short-lived isotopes in that decay chain. The fourth method is a radiochemical technique in which the surface is eluted with a weak acid, the eluate is concentrated, added to liquid scintillator and assayed by recording beta–alpha coincidences. These methods were used to characterize two ‘hotspots’ on the outer surface of one of the 3He proportional counters in the Neutral Current Detection array of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory experiment. The methods have similar sensitivities, of order tens of ng, to both thorium- and uranium-chain contamination. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]