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College sports are a multi-billion dollar industry that influence the financial decisions of colleges and universities throughout the United States. One such decision is the implementation of manda...

Objective Behçet’s disease (BD) is a multisystem autoinflammatory disease characterised by mucosal ulceration, ocular, neural, joint and skin inflammation. The cause of BD is not known but there is a strong genetic association with HLA-B*51, IL10 and IL23R. Neutrophils are a first line of defence against invading pathogens and have been described as activated in patients with BD. Neutrophils can now be separated into different subsets, such as low density (LDN) and normal density (NDN) that have diverse functional roles. We wished to address neutrophil heterogeneity in patients with BD. MethodsPeripheral blood neutrophils were obtained from 32 BD patients and 37 healthy aged-matched controls. Percoll isolation was used to isolate all neutrophils, while Ficol-Hypaque was used to obtain LDN and NDN. Phagocytic capacity and production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and neutrophil extracellular traps (NET) stimulated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) and Escherichia coli (E.coli) were assessed in both groups. Results We have demonstrated reduced phagocytic capacity and ROS production but greater NET production by total neutrophils stimulated with PMA or E.coli from BD patients in comparison with healthy controls. Patients with BD had elevated numbers of LDN and lower number of NDN compared with healthy controls. However, both neutrophil subsets showed the same reduced ROS production and phagocytic function as total neutrophils in both 41 groups. Conclusion Our novel findings indicate that the neutrophil population in BD is heterogeneous and the increased number of LDN in combination with greater NET production may contribute to the inflammatory response and pathogenesis.

Background An article published by Sidpra J et al, in ADC in July 2020 reported an increase of approximately 1500% in the incidence of abusive head trauma (AHT) in children, understandably shocking paediatricians nationally. Objectives We wanted to see the impact of lockdown on referrals made to our hospital (University Hospital of North Tees, Stockton, UK) for children suspected to have non-accidental injuries (NAI) or AHT. Methods We audited the records of children referred with suspected NAI during the first lockdown period (23rd of March to 4th of July 2020) and compared it with the preceding year (23rd of March to 4th of July 2019) As children under two are more likely to suffer AHT, these cases were identified by two auditors and then a single auditor reviewed these case records in detail. Results Total of thirty-one children in 2019 & twenty-five in 2020 were referred for Child Protection Medical Assessments. Eleven children - six in 2019 and five in 2020 - were less than two years old. Of these, four were girls and seven boys. Five children were less than three months old Nine children were referred with suspicious bruising, one was the sibling of an index child with NAI and for one, an allegation was made of rough handling. Two children with skull fractures and one with a rib fracture (on follow up scan) were identified on radiological investigations. Hematological investigations and ophthalmic findings were unremarkable for all the children. All children were seen within 24 hours of a referral being made. In all cases, an interim report was provided on the same day and a final report within seven working days. All children were investigated as per RCPCH guidelines. Seven out of eleven children referred for NAI assessment were concluded to have probable non-accidental injuries – three in 2019, and four in 2020. Our neighbouring hospital received five and four referrals for suspected NAI in children under 2 years old in the same period of time in 2019 and 2020 respectively. One of these children in 2020 had retinal haemorrhages associated with AHT and a skull fracture. Conclusions Our audit of children referred for NAI medical assessment does not suggest any significant difference between numbers in 2019 and 2020. This is in contrast with what colleagues from UCL, London have reported, and surprising given the high levels of socioeconomic deprivation in our area, which is usually associated with a higher incidence of child abuse. In order to understand national trends, we recommend other areas of the United Kingdom to review their data to establish whether this pandemic and associated lockdowns are impacting children in Teesside differently.

Prosthetic devices are not meeting the needs of people with upper limb amputations. Due to controlsidelimitations, prosthetic wrists cannot yet be fully articulated. This study sought to determine which wrist motions users felt were most important for completing activities of daily living. We specifically invstigated whether adding a combinationof flexion and deviation known as the Dart Thrower's Motion to a prosthetic wrist would help improve functionality.Fifteen participants with a trans-radial amputation, aged 25-64 years, who use a prosthesis completed an online survey and answered interview questions to determine which types of tasks pose particular challenges. Participants were asked what kinds of improvements they would like to see in a new prosthesis. A subset of five participants were interviewed in-depth to provide further information about difficulties they face using their device.The survey showed that participants had difficulty performing activities of daily living that involve a combination of wrist flexion and deviation known as the "Dart Throwers Motion". Interview responses confirmed that users have difficulty performing these tasks, especially those that require tools. Additionally, users said that they were more interested in having flexion and deviation than rotation in a prosthetic wrist.This research indicates that including the Dart Thrower's Motion in future designs of prosthetic wrists would improve these devices and people with upper limb amputations would be excited to see this improvement in their devices. Implications for Rehabilitation • Over one third of people with upper limb amputations do not use a prosthesis because prosthetic devices do not meet their needs.• The number of motions possible in state of the art prosthetic devices is limited by the small number of control sites available.• The Dart Thrower?s Motion is a wrist motion used for many activities of daily living but unavailable in commercial prosthetics leading many prosthetics users to have difficulty with these tasks.• Prosthetic use, and therefore quality of life, could be improved by including the Dart Thrower's Motion in a prosthesis.

Peters et al. use intracranial recordings and machine-learning techniques to show that human subjects under-use decision-incongruent evidence in the brain when computing perceptual confidence.

Motion Induced Blindness (MIB) is a well-established visual phenomenon whereby highly salient targets disappear when viewed against a moving background mask. No research has yet explored whether contracting and expanding optic flow can also trigger target disappearance. We explored MIB using mask speeds corresponding to driving at 35, 50, 65 and 80 km/h in simulated forward (expansion) and backward (contraction) motion as well as 2-D radial movement, random, and static mask motion types. Participants (n = 18) viewed MIB targets against masks with different movement types, speed, and target locations. To understand the relationship between saccades, pupil response and perceptual disappearance, we ran two additional eye-tracking experiments (n = 19). Target disappearance increased significantly with faster mask speeds and upper visual field target presentation. Simulated optic flow and 2-D radial movement caused comparable disappearance, and all moving masks caused significantly more disappearance than a static mask. Saccades could not entirely account for differences between conditions, suggesting that self-motion optic flow does cause MIB in an artificial setting. Pupil analyses implied that MIB disappearance induced by optic flow is not subjectively salient, potentially explaining why MIB is not noticed during driving. Potential implications of MIB for driving safety and Head-Up-Display (HUD) technologies are discussed.

Background A marked response to dopamine replacement therapy is important in supporting a diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson9s disease (PD). The aim of the study was to compare PD patients9 subjective rating of improvement with measured improvement on a number of scales. Methods People with clinically defined PD were identified from a prospective long term follow-up study of incident parkinsonian patients. Changes in the Unified Parkinson9s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) (activities of daily living and motor subsections), timed tests and Parkinson9s Disease Questionnaire, full version, between assessments immediately before starting adequate dopamine replacement and the two subsequent follow-up assessments (mean 6 and 12 months after baseline) were calculated. These were compared with the patients9 own subjective ratings of improvement (nil, slight, moderate, good, excellent). Results 133 patients were included (mean age 71 years, 56% men). Thirty-eight patients were treated with a dopamine agonist and 95 with l-dopa (median l-dopa equivalent dose 300 mg). Most patients showed improvements in their measured scores but there was no statistically significant association between these scores and the patient subjective response, except for the motor UPDRS at the first follow-up. A third of those who showed no improvement in their motor UPDRS at the first follow-up rated their improvement as moderate or better, while 29% of those whose motor UPDRS improved by over 50% said they had no or slight improvement. Conclusion PD patients9 subjective ratings of their degree of improvement often do not accurately reflect the degree of objective change in parkinsonian impairment or disability. Clinicians should record a simple measure of motor impairment before and after treatment to assess treatment response more accurately.

One of the greatest challenges facing microbial fuel cells (MFCs) in large scale applications is the high cost of electrode material. We demonstrate here that recycled tire crumb rubber coated with graphite paint can be used instead of fine carbon materials as the MFC anode. The tire particles showed satisfactory conductivity after 2–4 layers of coating. The specific surface area of the coated rubber was over an order of magnitude greater than similar sized graphite granules. Power production in single chamber tire-anode air-cathode MFCs reached a maximum power density of 421 mW m−2, with a coulombic efficiency (CE) of 25.1%. The control graphite granule MFC achieved higher power density (528 mW m−2) but lower CE (15.6%). The light weight of tire particle could reduce clogging and maintenance cost but posts challenges in conductive connection. The use of recycled material as the MFC anodes brings a new perspective to MFC design and application and carries significant economic and environmental benefit potentials.

Social evaluative threat (SET) is a potent stressor in humans that causes autonomic changes, endocrine responses, and multiple health problems. Neuroimaging has recently begun to elucidate the brain correlates of SET, but as yet little is known about the mediating cortical-brainstem pathways in humans. This paper replicates and extends findings in a companion paper (Wager et al., 2009) using an independent cohort of participants and different image acquisition parameters. Here, we focused specifically on relationships between the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), midbrain periaqueductal gray (PAG), and heart rate (HR). We applied multi-level path analysis to localize brain mediators of SET effects on HR and self-reported anxiety. HR responses were mediated by opposing signals in two distinct sub-regions of the MPFC—increases in rostral dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (rdACC) and de-activation in ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). In addition, HR responses were mediated by PAG. Additional path analyses provided support for two cortical–subcortical pathways: one linking vmPFC, PAG, and HR, and another linking rdACC, thalamus, and HR. PAG responses were linked with HR changes both before and during SET, whereas cortical regions showed stronger connectivity with HR during threat. Self-reported anxiety showed a partially overlapping, but weaker, pattern of mediators, including the vmPFC, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, and lateral frontal cortex, as well as substantial individual differences that were largely unexplained. Taken together, these data suggest pathways for the translation of social threats into both physiological and experiential responses, and provide targets for future research on the generation and regulation of emotion.

Background Although the ability to adaptively reflect on negative autobiographical experiences without ruminating is critical to mental health, to our knowledge no research has directly examined the neural systems underlying this process. Methods Sixteen participants were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) as they focused on negative autobiographical memories using cognitive strategies designed to facilitate (feel strategy) versus undermine (analyze and accept strategies) rumination. Results Two key findings were obtained. First, consistent with prior emotion regulation research using image-based stimuli, left prefrontal activity was observed during the implementation of all three strategies. Second, activity in a network of regions involved in self-referential processing and emotion, including subgenual anterior cingulate cortex and medial prefrontal cortex, was highest in response to the feel strategy and lowest for the accept strategy. This pattern of activation mirrored participants' self-reports of negative affect when engaging in each strategy. Conclusions These findings shed light on the brain regions that distinguish adaptive versus maladaptive forms of reflecting on negative autobiographical memories and offer a novel, ecologically valid route to exploring the neural bases of emotion regulation using fMRI.

Although prefrontal cortex has been implicated in the cognitive regulation of emotion, the cortical-subcortical interactions that mediate this ability remain poorly understood. To address this issue, we identified a right ventrolateral prefrontal region (vlPFC) whose activity correlated with reduced negative emotional experience during cognitive reappraisal of aversive images. We then applied a pathway-mapping analysis on subcortical regions to locate mediators of the association between vlPFC activity and reappraisal success (i.e., reductions in reported emotion). Results identified two separable pathways that together explained approximately 50% of the reported variance in self-reported emotion: (1) a path through nucleus accumbens that predicted greater reappraisal success, and (2) a path through ventral amygdala that predicted reduced reappraisal success (i.e., more negative emotion). These results provide direct evidence that vlPFC is involved in both the generation and regulation of emotion through different subcortical pathways, suggesting a general role for this region in appraisal processes.

The bronchial airway epithelial cell (BAEC) is the site for initial encounters between inhaled environmental factors and the lower respiratory system. Our hypothesis was that release of pro inflammatory interleukins (IL)-6 and IL-8 from primary BAEC cultured from children will be increased after in vitro exposure to common environmental factors. Primary BAEC were obtained from children undergoing clinically indicated routine general anaesthetic procedures. Cells were exposed to three different concentrations of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or house dust mite allergen (HDM) or particulates extracted from side stream cigarette smoke (SSCS). BAEC were obtained from 24 children (mean age 7.0 years) and exposed to stimuli. Compared with the negative control, there was an increase in IL-6 and IL-8 release after exposure to HDM (p ≤ 0.001 for both comparisons). There was reduced IL-6 after higher compared to lower SSCS exposure (p = 0.023). There was no change in BAEC release of IL-6 or IL-8 after LPS exposure. BAEC from children are able to recognise and respond in vitro with enhanced pro inflammatory mediator secretion to some inhaled exposures.

In this paper I argue that presentism has a problem accounting forthe truth of statements whose truth conditions seem to require therebe relations that hold between present and non-present objects. Imotivate the problem and then examine several strategies for dealingwith the problem. I argue that no solution is forthcoming, and thispresents a prima facie problem for presentism.

CAPTCHAs are a widely deployed mechanism for ensuring that a web site user is a human, and not a software agent. They ought to be relatively easy for a human to solve, but hard for software to interpret. Most CAPTCHAs are visual, and this marginalises users with visual impairments. A variety of audible CAPTCHAs have been trialled but these have not been very successful, largely because they are easily interpreted by automated tools and, at the same time, tend to be too challenging for the very humans they are supposed to verify. In this paper an alternative audio CAPTCHA, jCAPTCHA (Jumbled Words CAPTCHA), is presented. We report on the evaluation of jCAPTCHA by 272 human users, of whom 169 used screen readers, both in terms of usability and resistance to software interpretation.

Many theists have tried to work out coherent accounts of the relationship between God and abstract objects. Some have contended that abstracta depend on God for their existence and nature. Following Christopher Menzel and Thomas Morris, I call such a position, ‘theistic activism’. In this essay, I begin by examining some motivations for holding such a position. Then, I try to make sense of how abstract objects might depend on God. Finally, I object to theistic activism on the grounds that one who holds to it is committed to the claim that God causes himself to exist and causes himself to have such properties as omnipotence and omniscience.

A glutathione S-transferase metabolizing methylene chloride has been isolated from mouse liver using a variety of chromatographic methods. N-terminal and internal amino acid sequences show that the enzyme, designated GST T1-1*, is closely related to the rat Theta-class GST 5-5. The mouse enzyme, molecular mass 25000 Da, has been isolated to homogeneity in active form with an approximate yield of 2% of the cytosolic activity towards methylene chloride. GST T1-1* has a specific activity of about 5.5 μmol/min per mg of protein whereas the rat GST 5-5 is reported to have a specific activity of about 11 μmol/min per mg of protein [Meyer, Coles, Pemble, Gilmore, Fraser and Ketterer (1991) Biochem. J. 274, 409–414], demonstrating that both the rat and mouse enzymes have similar activity with this substrate. Limited evidence was obtained for a second enzyme, with a similar molecular mass (25400 Da), which had an N-terminal sequence identical to that of rat GST 12-12. This protein, which was sequenced from a band on a gel, was extremely labile and could not be isolated to homogeneity. The partially purified enzyme was not active with methylene chloride.

A method of identifying biologically meaningful keywords not obviously related to engineering keywords was developed to enhance discovery of relevant biological analogies for design problems. This paper reports the use of biologically meaningful keywords to identify biological analogies to generate solutions for protection required during lunar exploration. In lunar exploration, dust poses a significant problem due to its pervasiveness, adherence, and abrasiveness, causing premature failure of space suits and mechanisms. In this paper, biomimetic concepts are developed to protect a laser/telescope system. The resulting design is comprised of two subsystems. An antagonistic bending Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) actuator system, inspired by bivalves (a class of molluscs that include scallops, clams, oysters and mussels), is used to control the opening and closing of a two-piece lid system, while a high-voltage DC field generator prevents charged dust particles from approaching the optical surfaces. Preliminary results indicate that the SMA actuation system is capable of greater than one-hundred repeatable lid-opening and closing cycles. In addition, the high-voltage DC field was capable of controlling and deflecting 98% of incoming charged polystyrene particles (Dmean = 1 mm) away from a representative surface. The method of using biologically meaningful keywords to identify analogies was successfully applied in this case and could be applied in a variety of settings to generate useful solutions.

Many imaging studies report activity in the prefrontal and parietal cortices when subjects are aware as opposed to unaware of visual stimuli. One possibility is that this activity simply reflects higher signal strength or the superior task performance that is associated with awareness. To find out, we studied the hemianope GY who has unilateral destruction of almost all primary visual cortices. He exhibits 'blindsight', that is, he claims to have no conscious visual phenomenology (i.e., no visual qualia), for stationary stimuli presented to his right visual field (the blind field), although he can press keys to distinguish between different stimuli presented there. We presented to him a visual discrimination task, and equated performance for stimuli presented to the left or right visual field by presenting low contrast stimuli to his normal (left) field and high contrast stimuli to his blind (right) field. Superior accuracy can be a serious confound, and our paradigm allows us to control for it and avoid this confound. Even when performance was matched, and the signal strength was lower, visual stimulation to the normal (conscious) field led to higher activity in the prefrontal and parietal cortices. These results indicate that the activity in the prefrontal and parietal areas that has been reported in previous studies of awareness is not just due to a (signal strength or performance) confounds. One possibility is that it reflects the superior 'metacognitive' capacity that is associated with awareness, because GY was better able to distinguish between his own correct and incorrect responses for stimuli presented to his normal field than to his blind field.

Radiation exposure of humans generally results in low doses delivered at low dose rate. Our limited knowledge of the biological effects of low dose radiation is mainly based on data from the atomic bomb Life Span Study (LSS) cohort. However, the total doses and dose rates in the LSS cohort are still higher than most environmental and occupational exposures in humans. Importantly, the dose rate is a critical determinant of health risks stemming from radiation exposure. Understanding the shape of the dose-rate response curve for different biological outcomes is thus crucial for projecting the biological hazard from radiation in different environmental and man-made conditions. A significant barrier to performing low dose-rate studies is the difficulty in creating radiation source configurations compatible with long-term cellular or animal experiments. In this study the design and characterization of a large area, 125I-based irradiator is described. The irradiator allows continuous long-term exposure of mice at variable dose rates and can be sited in standard animal care facilities. The dose rate is determined by the level of 125I activity added to a large NaOH-filled rectangular phantom. The desired dose rate is maintained at essentially constant levels by weekly additions of 125I to compensate for decay. Dosimetry results for long-term animal irradiation at targeted dose rates of 0.00021 and 0.0021 cGy min−1 are presented., United States. Dept. of Energy (Grant FG01-04ER04-21), University of California, Davis. Center for Environmental Health Sciences (P30 ES001209-26A1), National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (NIH R01-CA79827), Austrian Academy of Sciences

Previously encountered stimuli can bring to mind a vivid memory of the episodic context in which the stimulus was first experienced (“remembered” stimuli), or can simply seem familiar (“known” stimuli). Past studies suggest that more attentional resources are required to encode stimuli that are subsequently remembered than known. However, it is unclear if the attentional resources are distributed differently during encoding and recognition of remembered and known stimuli. Here, we record eye movements while participants encode photos, and later while indicating whether the photos are remembered, known or new. Eye fixations were more clustered during both encoding and recognition of remembered photos relative to known photos. Thus, recognition of photos that bring to mind a vivid memory for the episodic context in which they were experienced is associated with less distributed overt attention during encoding and recognition. The results suggest that remembering is related to encoding of a few distinct details of a photo rather than the photo as a whole. In turn, during recognition remembering may be trigged by enhanced memory for the salient details of the photos.