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Sox17 is a critical regulator of arterial identity during early embryonic vascular development. However, its role in adult endothelial cells (ECs) are not fully understood. Sox17 is highly expressed in arterial ECs but not in venous ECs throughout embryonic development to adulthood suggesting that it may play a functional role in adult arteries. Here, we investigated Sox17 mediated phenotypical changes in adult ECs. To precisely control the temporal expression level of Sox17, we designed a tetracycline-inducible lentiviral gene expression system to express Sox17 selectively in cultured venous ECs. We confirmed that Sox17-induced ECs exhibit a gene profile favoring arterial and tip cell identity. Furthermore, in comparison to control ECs, Sox17-activated ECs under shear leads to greater expression of arterial markers and suppression of venous identity. These data suggest that Sox17 enables greater hemodynamic adaptability of ECs in response to fluid shear stress. Here, we also demonstrate key morphogenic behaviors of Sox17-mediated ECs. In both vasculogenic and angiogenic 3D fibrin gel studies, Sox17-mediated ECs prefer to form cohesive vessels with one another while interfering the vessel formation of the control ECs. Sox17-mediated ECs elicit hyper-sprouting behavior in the presence of pericytes but not fibroblasts, suggesting Sox17 mediated sprouting frequency is dependent on supporting cell type. Using a microfluidic chip, we also show that Sox17-mediated ECs maintain thinner diameter vessels that do not widen under interstitial flow like the control ECs. Taken together, these data showed that Sox17 mediated EC gene expression and phenotypical changes are highly modulated in the context of biomechanical stimuli, suggesting Sox17 plays a role in regulating the arterial ECs adaptability under arterial hemodynamics as well as tip cells behavior during angiogenesis and vasculogenesis. The results from this study may be valuable in improving vein graft adaptation to arterial hemodynamics and bioengineering microvasculature for tissue engineering applications.

Reduced myocardial flow reserve (MFR) is an independent predictor of future risk of major adverse coronary events. Positron emission tomography (PET) is an accepted method for quantifying MFR noninvasively. Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) has been shown to have numerous beneficial effects including

s / Brain Stimulation 8 (2015) 360e377 368 cognitive deficits in working memory and sustained attention are associated with worse outcomes. A single session of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) when given to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (LDLPFC) has been shown to enhance working memory in healthy and clinical populations. We examined whether a single session of tDCS can similarly enhance working memory or sustained attention in euthymic bipolar disorder patients. Fifteen euthymic bipolar disorder patients were randomized to receive a single session of sham tDCS, anodal tDCS to the LDLPFC with extracephalic cathode (F-EX tDCS) and anodal tDCS to the LDLPFC with cerebellar cathode (F-CE tDCS), in a counterbalanced order. Participants completed a 3-back letter working memory task and an auditory continuous performance test ‘online’ during active or sham tDCS at each session. Active tDCS was administered for 30 minutes at 2 mA. No effect of either active F-EX or F-CE tDCS on working memory or sustained attention was found for the entire group. However, exploratory cluster analyses conducted on performance outcomes for both active conditions relative to sham tDCS revealed 2-cluster solutions for both abilities, suggesting improvement in some individuals but not others. Specifically, working memory improved in 4/15 with F-EX, and 5/15 patients with F-CE tDCS, respectively. Improved sustained attention performance was also found in 4/15 patients with F-CE tDCS, however, no improvement was found with F-EX tDCS. Cognitive enhancing effects of active F-EX and F-CE tDCS were evident only in a minority of participants. The considerable interindividual variability in outcomes observed with active tDCS is consistent with known variability in the motor cortex. This study provides preliminary evidence in support of F-CE tDCS for improving working memory and sustained attention in euthymic bipolar disorder patients.

A 4-week-old otherwise healthy female infant was brought to the Emergency Department (ED) by her parents with a chief complaint of ‘‘spitting up’’ after feedings. The infant was delivered full-term via cesarean section without complications and discharged home soon after birth. The parents denied any fever, wheezing, stridor, cyanosis, or projectile vomiting for the previous 4 weeks. They did report some episodes of bloodtinged diarrhea about 2 weeks prior, which resolved spontaneously. On physical examination, the infant was well appearing, with a heart rate of 177 beats/min, a respiratory rate of 32 breaths/min, an oxygen saturation of 98% on ambient air, and a rectal temperature of 37.2 C (99.0 F). The infant was not irritable; the abdomen was soft, nontender, and non-distended. The infant tolerated feeding in the ED and did not have any vomiting or drooling after feeding. No respiratory distress or cyanosis during feeding was observed. Chest and abdomen X-ray studies were taken (Figures 1, 2).

Chang et al. ([1][1]) explore the advantages of technetium (Tc-99m) sestamibi and Tc-99m tetrafosmin 1-day stress-only perfusion imaging. This is an invaluable protocol in cardiac nuclear stress testing, especially in light of the growing concern surrounding radiation exposure secondary to physician