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Only two prior cases of benign dendritic melanocytes colonizing a meningioma have been reported. We add a third case, describe clinicopathologic features shared by the three, and elucidate the risk factors for this very rare phenomenon. A 29 year-old Hispanic woman presented with headache and hydrocephalus. MRI showed a lobulated enhancing pineal region mass measuring 41 mm in greatest dimension. Subtotal resection of the mass demonstrated an atypical meningioma, WHO grade II, and the patient subsequently underwent radiotherapy. She presented 4 years later with diplopia, and MRI showed an enhancing extra-axial mass measuring 47 mm in greatest dimension and centered on the tentorial incisura. Subtotal resection showed a brain-invasive atypical meningioma with melanocytic colonization. The previous two cases in the literature were atypical meningiomas, one of which was also brain invasive. Atypical meningiomas may be at particular risk for melanocytic colonization as they upregulate molecules known to be chemoattractants for melanocytes. We detected c-Kit expression in a minority of the melanocytes as well as stem cell factor and basic fibroblast growth factor in the meningioma cells, suggesting that mechanisms implicated in normal melanocyte migration may be involved. In some cases, brain invasion with disruption of the leptomeningeal barrier may also facilitate migration from the subarachnoid space into the tumor. Whether there is low-level proliferation of the dendritic melanocytes is unclear. Given that all three patients were non-Caucasian, meningiomas in persons and/or brain regions with increased dendritic melanocytes may predispose to colonization. The age range spanned from 6 years old to 70 years old. All three patients were female. The role of gender and estrogen in the pathogenesis of this entity remains to be clarified. Whether melanocytic colonization may also occur in the more common Grade I meningiomas awaits identification of additional cases.

In this study, we present a framework for automatic identification and analysis to predict the NBA offensive basketball play: On-Ball Screen. In basketball, the on-ball screen is a dynamic offensive strategy that involves the movement of multiple players and the ball to create an effective shot attempt. It is a fundamental play employed by all the teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA), the highest level of competition for basketball. With the presence of sophisticated data collection and analysis tools, this paper presents methodologies to process spatial and temporal data and big data in complex multimedia forms for sports analytics. We propose a framework to extract, transform, and analyze player motion-tracking data in NBA games and apply machine learning techniques with improved feature selection methods to predict the presence of on-ball screens. Results show an area under receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) of 0.9552, 0.13 increase and 4% Accuracy improvement from existing literature.

This paper presents the results of a theoretical study of a fiber-optic delay line with an electro-optical modulator. On the basis of this line, radio-photon generators and frequency converters of microwave signals are performed. The results of experimental studies of such radio-photon devices are also given in this paper.

It is clear that alcohol consumption is a major risk factor in the pathogenesis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC); however, the molecular mechanism underlying the pathogenesis of alcohol-associated HNSCC remains poorly understood. The aim of the present study was to identify and characterize P-element-induced wimpy testis (PIWI)-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) and PIWI proteins dysregulated in alcohol-associated HNSCC to elucidate their function in the development of this cancer. Using next generation RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) data obtained from 40 HNSCC patients, the piRNA and PIWI protein expression of HNSCC samples was compared between alcohol drinkers and non-drinkers. A separate piRNA expression RNA-seq analysis of 18 non-smoker HNSCC patients was also conducted. To verify piRNA expression, reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was performed on the most differentially expressed alcohol-associated piRNAs in ethanol and acetaldehyde-treated normal oral keratinocytes. The correlation between piRNA expression and patient survival was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier estimators and multivariate Cox proportional hazard models. A comparison between alcohol drinking and non-drinking HNSCC patients demonstrated that a panel of 3,223 piRNA transcripts were consistently detected and differentially expressed. RNA-seq analysis and in vitro RT-qPCR verification revealed that 4 of these piRNAs, piR-35373, piR-266308, piR-58510 and piR-38034, were significantly dysregulated between drinking and non-drinking cohorts. Of these four piRNAs, low expression of piR-58510 and piR-35373 significantly correlated with improved patient survival. Furthermore, human PIWI-like protein 4 was consistently upregulated in ethanol and acetaldehyde-treated normal oral keratinocytes. These results demonstrate that alcohol consumption may cause dysregulation of piRNA expression in HNSCC and in vitro verifications identified 4 piRNAs that may be involved in the pathogenesis of alcohol-associated HNSCC.

Rapid advances in mobile computing technology have the potential to revolutionize organizational research by facilitating new methods of data collection. The emergence of wearable electronic sensors in particular harbors the promise of making the large-scale collection of high-resolution data related to human interactions and social behavior economically viable. Popular press and practitioner-oriented research outlets have begun to tout the game-changing potential of wearable sensors for both researchers and practitioners. We systematically examine the utility of current wearable sensor technology for capturing behavioral constructs at the individual and team levels. In the process, we provide a model for performing validation work in this new domain of measurement. Our findings highlight the need for organizational researchers to take an active role in the development of wearable sensor systems to ensure that the measures derived from these devices and sensors allow us to leverage and extend the extant knowledge base. We also offer a caution regarding the potential sources of error arising from wearable sensors in behavioral research.

Background:Axial spondyloarthritis (AxSpA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are two common rheumatic diseases that can result in joint damage and deformities, leading to reduced physical function and quality of life. Physical activity (PA) and exercise have been shown to improve general well-being and reduce cardiovascular risk in patients with AxSpA and RA, and are part of the non-pharmacological management in the EULAR guidelines. Despite this, PA levels are reduced in AxSpA and RA patients1,2. In addition, it has also been reported that Asians have lower levels of PA3.Objectives:This study aims to examine the patterns of PA in a multi-ethnic Asian cohort.Methods:This was a cross-sectional study conducted between May 2016 and Jan 2017. Consecutive patients with AxSpA and RA were recruited at an outpatient rheumatology clinic at Singapore General Hospital, the largest tertiary hospital in Singapore. Controls were based on a previous cross-sectional study4. PA was assessed using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaires (GPAQ) developed by the world health organization (WHO)5.Results:74 AxSpA and 69 RA patients were recruited and compared to 886 controls. AxSpA patients were younger (median age [IQR], 37.0 [26.3] years) and predominantly male (75.7%), while RA patients were the oldest (median age [IQR], 59.0 [16.5] years) and predominantly female (81.2%). BMI was similar between all three groups. RA patients had more comorbidities (such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus) compared to AxSpA patients and controls.All three groups had similar proportion of participants meeting WHO recommendations for PA (AxSpA = 77.0%, RA = 79.7%, controls = 83.1%, p=0.35) and median (IQR) time (95% CI) of PA per day [60 (107.1) vs 57.9 (122.9) vs 51.4 (94.3), p=0.93). More AxSpA patients had a high level of sedentary activity compared to RA or controls (AxSpA = 56.8%, RA = 23.2%, controls = 7.2%, p < 0.01). When comparing AxSpA and RA patients with inactive disease or in remission versus active disease, levels of PA did not differ between the 2 groups (p=0.33).Conclusion:Levels of PA did not differ significant between AxSpA and RA patients compared to the general population, and disease activity levels did not affect the level of PA in patients with AxSpA and RA. Of note was that patients with AxSpA and RA demonstrated higher levels of sedentary activity compared to the general population. Improving PA and decreasing sedentary activity could reduce the cardiovascular risk, especially in patients with RA.References:[1]Summers G, Booth A, Brooke-Wavell K, Barami T, Clemes S. Physical activity and sedentary behavior in women with rheumatoid arthritis: a comparison of patients with low and high disease activity and healthy controls.Open Access Rheumatol Res Rev. 2019;Volume 11:133-142. doi:10.2147/oarrr.s203511[2]Sundstrom B, Ekergård H, Sundelin G. Exercise habits among patients with ankylosing spondylitis.Scand J Rheumatol. 2002;31(3):163-167. doi:10.1080/rhe.31.3.163.167[3]Lip GY, Luscombe C, McCarry M, Malik I, Beevers G. Ethnic differences in public health awareness, health perceptions and physical exercise: implications for heart disease prevention.Ethn Health. 1996;1(1):47-53. doi:10.1080/13557858.1996.9961769[4]Win AM, Yen LW, Tan KH, Lim RBT, Chia KS, Mueller-Riemenschneider F. Patterns of physical activity and sedentary behavior in a representative sample of a multi-ethnic South-East Asian population: A cross-sectional study.BMC Public Health. 2015;15(1):1-11. doi:10.1186/s12889-015-1668-7[5]Bull FC, Maslin TS, Armstrong T. Global physical activity questionnaire (GPAQ): Nine country reliability and validity study.J Phys Act Heal. 2009;6(6):790-804. doi:10.1123/jpah.6.6.790Disclosure of Interests:Andrew Khor: None declared, Chin Teck Ng: None declared, Warren Fong Consultant of: Abbvie, Janssen, Novartis, Speakers bureau: Abbvie, Janssen, Novartis

The experimental study of electronic materials is a necessary complement to virtual qualification efforts that rely on modeling and simulation to streamline development of new electronic assemblies. The durability of thermal interface materials in large complex printed circuit board (PCB) assemblies is difficult to model and therefore, experimental study and verification is needed. In this study, the thermal mechanical stability of dielectric thermal interface materials is monitored using electrical capacitance, the inverse of which has the same geometric dependence on bond line and area as thermal resistance. Electrical capacitance is a straightforward, fast and accurate measurement method which can be used with mechanically representative hardware very early in the development cycle. This study includes four thermal interface materials (TIMs) classified as pre-cured thermal putties which are evaluated on hardware that is easily prototyped and mechanically representative of large complex PCBs. Electrical capacitance of the TIMs was measured in situ during thermal cycle testing and was able to distinguish both stability and degradation. Analysis of the TIMs after the test confirmed structural degradation in the form of cracks, fissures and material movement. In summary, electrical capacitance has broad application in evaluating the stability of dielectric TIMs in application specific designs very early in development by using easily procured mechanically representative hardware.

PURPOSE To determine whether an as-needed repeated pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) intervention produces a clinically important improvement in exercise capacity. METHODS The study included a retrospective analysis of characteristics and 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who completed PR at 2 centers. Data were abstracted from all patients with COPD completing 2 courses of rehabilitation and those of randomly sampled patients completing only 1 course of PR. RESULTS We identified 37 repeaters and selected 69 nonrepeaters for analysis. No significant differences between the 2 groups with regard to age, FEV1 percent predicted, gender, initial 6MWD, improvement in 6MWD, and the percentage of patients achieving the minimal important difference (MID) of ≥ 35 m were observed with the completion of the first rehabilitation. The time between the first and second PR interventions was a mean of 45 ± 24 months. Repeating patients had a decrease of 90 ± 76 m in 6MWD at the beginning of the second rehabilitation course compared with the end of the first intervention (P = .001). Twenty-four (65%) of repeating patients achieved the MID in 6MWD at the end of the second course of PR. Those who achieved the MID in 6MWD during the second course of rehabilitation also tended to have attained greater improvement in this outcome during the first course (P = .07). CONCLUSION Two-thirds of patients with COPD undergoing repeat PR experienced significant improvement in exercise capacity. Offering PR to patients with COPD on an as-needed basis appears to be beneficial even after a prolonged period of time between the interventions.

Aim The objectives of this study were: (i) to develop a standardized method of quantifying bone mineral density (BMD) and microarchitecture in the hand and wrist bones of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) using high resolution- peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT); (ii) to compare quantitative bone parameters between RA and post-menopausal osteopenic (PM-OP) subjects; and (iii) to correlate quantitative bone parameters at the distal radius with those at the metacarpal heads in RA subjects. Methods HR-pQCT imaging of the dominant hand and wrist was performed in 12 female RA patients. BMD and trabecular parameters for the 2–12% head region of the second and third metacarpals were calculated and compared between RA patients and healthy controls. Bone parameters were also calculated for 110 slices of the distal radius in RA patients and compared to data from controls and PM-OP women from a previous study. Results Compared to controls, RA patients had significantly decreased BMD, trabecular volume and number, and increased trabecular heterogeneity in the third metacarpal and distal radius. Significantly lower trabecular number and significantly higher ratio of outer annular trabecular BMD to inner trabecular BMD were observed in patients with RA, compared to patients with osteopenia (P

The paper presents an analysis of extensive data set of mechanical, structural, thermophysical, and spectral properties of solid methane in the temperature interval 0.5 · Ttr–Ttr (Ttr is the triple point temperature) under equilibrium vapor pressure. It is shown that the anomalies of the studied properties (or lack of reliable data) at temperatures 60–70 K have been observed in the body of the reviewed papers. We proposed that the observed anomalies are due to a transition between classical and quantum regimes of collective rotational degrees of freedom of methane molecules in this temperature interval.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to develop and test hypotheses about the independent relationships between high-performance work systems (HPWS) and high-performance work cultures (HPWC) and employee turnover. Given the growth of women in the workforce, the authors also develop competing predictions about how organizational gender demography (i.e. a higher percentage of women) may either strengthen or weaken the relationship of HPWSs to turnover.Design/methodology/approach– A survey of 171 human resource (HR) executives across organizations of various sizes and industries in the Chicago metropolitan area in the USA was conducted.Findings– The authors found that HPWS and HPWC are associated with lower turnover, though the relationship between HPWC and turnover was stronger. Results also indicate that HPWS are more strongly related to lower turnover among organizations that employ relatively more women.Research limitations/implications– The results indicates that HPWS may not be universalistic in terms of their effectiveness specifically as related to turnover. This was a cross-sectional study; it would be useful for future research to use a longitudinal research design.Practical implications– The findings suggest that organizations should consider how their cultures, use of high-performance work practices, and gender demography are related to important HR metrics such as turnover.Social implications– This paper represents an important contribution to understanding the importance and implications of changes in the workforce demographic characteristics.Originality/value– This is the first study to integrate an organizational demography perspective with HPWS.

Few other neurotransmitters are of as intense interest to neuropsychiatry and neurology as dopamine, yet existing techniques to monitor dopamine release leave an important spatiotemporal gap in our understanding. Electrochemistry and fluorescence imaging tools have been developed to fill the gap, but these methods have important limitations. We circumvent these limitations by introducing a dopamine-gated chloride channel into rat dorsal striatal medium spiny neurons, targets of strong dopamine innervation, thereby transforming dopamine from a slow transmitter into a fast transmitter and revealing new opportunities for studying moment-to-moment regulation of dopamine release. We demonstrate pharmacological and biophysical properties of the channel that make it suitable for fast, local dopamine measurements, and we demonstrate for the first time spontaneous and evoked responses to vesicular dopamine release in the dorsal striatum. Evoked dopamine currents were separated into a fast, monosynaptic component and a slower-rising and decaying disynaptic component mediated by nicotinic receptor activation. In summary, LGC-53 represents a dopamine biosensor with properties suitable for temporal separation of distinct dopamine signals in targets of dopamine innervation.

Objective Hypertrophy of the contralateral liver lobe after treatment with yttrium-90 (90Y) microspheres has recently been reported. This study aimed to quantify left hepatic lobe hypertrophy after right-sided radioembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to identify pretreatment predictive factors of hypertrophy in an Asian population. Methods A retrospective review of patients with inoperable HCC undergoing selective internal radiation treatment (SIRT) with 90Y microspheres at a single institution from January 2008 to January 2012 was performed. Only patients who had treatment delivered via the right hepatic artery alone were included. Results In all, 17 patients fulfilling the study criteria were identified. The mean percentage of left-lobe hypertrophy was 34.2% ± 34.9% (range 19.0–106.5%) during a median of 5-month follow-up. Patients with hepatitis B were found to experience a significantly greater degree of hypertrophy than those with hepatitis C or alcoholic liver cirrhosis. There were no cases of acute liver failure after the administration of SIRT in this study and none of the patients developed disease in the contralateral lobe over the study period. Conclusions Administration of unilobar SIRT to the right liver lobe in patients with HCC resulted in a significant degree of contralateral left lobe hypertrophy. Patients with hepatitis B experienced a greater degree of hypertrophy than those with hepatitis C or alcoholic liver cirrhosis.

An 82-year-old man presented with neck pain, right upper limb radiculopathy and right shoulder pain. Physical examination revealed a soft lump over the right shoulder joint, as well as reduced range of shoulder movements. On magnetic resonance imaging, the soft lump was shown to be a cystic mass over the acromioclavicular joint and was related to a full-thickness supraspinatus tendon tear. This is the classic geyser sign. The pathophysiology and clinical features of the geyser sign, and its imaging features with various imaging modalities, are discussed.

Background Quality improvement (QI) education is a requirement at all stages of medical education training. Pediatric training programs are required to assess their trainees on quality improvement reflection and knowledge as part of the Pediatric Milestones. However, there is currently no validated tool for use in pediatrics to assess reflection on quality improvement opportunities. The Mayo Evaluation of Reflection on Improvement Tool (MERIT) has been previously published with validity evidence for use in internal medicine programs, but it has not been studied for use in pediatric training programs. Objective To validate the MERIT assessment tool for use in pediatric residency programs to aid in quality improvement milestone evaluation. Design/Methods All University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) pediatric residents completed annual improvement reflections between 2015-2017. De-identified reflections were assessed by five independent reviewers. Reviewers were oriented to the MERIT tool and compared 10 initial evaluations to ensure consistency. Completed MERIT evaluation scores were compared. Inter-rater reliability for each item on the tool was compared with intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) using a mean-rating, absolute-agreement, 2-way mixed effects model. Internal consistency for each section and the overall tool was evaluated with Cronbach's alpha and inter-item correlations. All calculations were done with SPSS statistical package version 25. Results 150 resident reflections were evaluated yielding 749 evaluation forms for study. Item mean scores were highest for the Problem of Merit section (3.19) and lowest for the Reflection on System Characteristics of Quality Improvement (1.94). Inter-rater reliability was good for all 18 items on the MERIT tool (ICC range: 0.78 - 0.90). Inter-rater reliability was good to excellent for 13 of the 18 items on the tool when 95% CI was used. Internal consistency was excellent (Cronbach's alpha 0.93 overall and 0.94 - 0.95 for each section). The Cronbach's alpha did not improve if any single item was removed. Inter-item correlations were high for all three sections, but highest for the Problem of Merit section (0.67 - 0.92). Conclusion(s) Validity evidence supports the use of the MERIT in pediatric residency programs to assess resident reflections on quality improvement. The pediatric validity evidence is consistent with the previously published validation study in an Internal Medicine residency program.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text, In this study, a transcriptomic group classification based on a European population is tested on a Singapore cohort. The results highlight the genotype/phenotype correlation in a Southeast Asian population. The G1–G6 transcriptomic classification derived from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) resected from European patients, robustly reflected group-specific clinical/pathological features. We investigated the application of this molecular classification in Southeast Asian HCC patients. Gene expression analysis was carried out on HCC surgically resected in Singapore patients who were grouped into G1–G6 transcriptomic categories according to expression of 16 predictor genes (illustrated in Supplementary Table 1 and Supplementary Fig. 1) using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Univariate and multivariate polytomous logistic regression was used to investigate association between clinical variables and pooled transcriptomic classes G12, G3, and G456. HCC from Singapore (n = 82) were distributed (%) into G1 (13.4), G2 (24.4), G3 (15.9), G4 (24.4), G5 (14.6), and G6 (7.3) subgroups. Compared to the European data, the Singapore samples were relatively enriched in G1–G3 versus G4–G6 tumors (53.7% vs 46.3%) reflecting the higher proportion of hepatitis B virus (HBV) patients in Singapore versus Europe samples (43% vs 30%). Pooled classes were defined as G12, G3, and G456. G12 was associated with higher alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) concentrations (OR = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.30–2.20; P

NMDA receptor (NMDAR) antagonists are dissociative anesthetics, drugs of abuse, and are of therapeutic interest in neurodegeneration and neuropsychiatric disease. Many well-known NMDAR antagonists are positively charged, voltage-dependent channel blockers. We recently showed that the hydrophobic anion dipicrylamine (DPA) negatively regulates GABA(A) receptor function by a mechanism indistinguishable from that of sulfated neurosteroids. Because sulfated neurosteroids also modulate NMDARs, here we examined the effects of DPA on NMDAR function. In rat hippocampal neurons DPA inhibited currents gated by 300 µM NMDA with an IC(50) of 2.3 µM. Neither onset nor offset of antagonism exhibited dependence on channel activation but exhibited a noncompetitive profile. DPA antagonism was independent of NMDAR subunit composition and was similar at extrasynaptic and total receptor populations. Surprisingly, similar to cationic channel blockers but unlike sulfated neurosteroids, DPA antagonism was voltage dependent. Onset and offset of DPA antagonism were nearly 10-fold faster than DPA-induced increases in membrane capacitance, suggesting that membrane interactions do not directly explain antagonism. Furthermore, voltage dependence did not derive from association of DPA with a site on NMDARs directly accessible to the outer membrane leaflet, assessed by DPA translocation experiments. Consistent with the expected lack of channel block, DPA antagonism did not interact with permeant ions. Therefore, we speculate that voltage dependence may arise from interactions of DPA with the inherent voltage dependence of channel gating. Overall, we conclude that DPA noncompetitively inhibits NMDA-induced current by a novel voltage-dependent mechanism and represents a new class of anionic NMDAR antagonists.

The development of a polymer membrane-based electrode to measure the anionic drug suramin in buffered saline and biological samples is described. A large non-equilibrium, steady state EMF response is observed toward suramin, and judicious choice of the polymer membrane components allows for adjustment of the dynamic range of the electrode. The optimized membrane for use in the toxic suramin range consists of 25 wt% tridodecylmethyl ammonium chloride, 55 wt% bis-2-ethylhexyl sebacate, and 20 wt% Pellethane. Although this electrode can be used to directly quantify suramin in human plasma, determination of suramin that is not affected by the background concentration of small anions is best achieved by simple potentiometric titrations with polycationic protamine monitored with a protamine-sensitive electrode.

In 37 pregnancies, 28 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus managed in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of University of Hong Kong in 1973–1982 were reviewed. The abortion rate was much lower than expected. There was no perinatal loss in the series. Renal involvement does not give a worse prognosis, but active disease during pregnancy is associated with a significantly lower birth weight than the inactive disease.

The composition of the vapor and liquid phases of the KOH + CH3OH system has been studied by the gas chromatography (GC) method at 25 °C. It has been found that the methanol vapor concentration, and the quantity of potassium methoxide formed as a result of the acid–base reaction of potassium hydroxide with methanol, both depend on the KOH/CH3OH mole ratio. The maximum mass fraction of potassium methoxide that forms is 2.6% at the mole ratio 0.018.