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We present the results of an optical spectroscopic monitoring program targeting NGC 5548 as part of a larger multiwavelength reverberation mapping campaign. The campaign spanned 6 months and achieved an almost daily cadence with observations from five ground-based telescopes. The Hβ and He ii λ4686 broad emission-line light curves lag that of the 5100 +-optical continuum by 4.17+0.36-0.36 and 0.79+0.35-0.34 days, respectively. The Hβ lag relative to the 1158 ultraviolet continuum light curve measured by the Hubble Space Telescope is ∼50% longer than that measured against the optical continuum, and the lag difference is consistent with the observed lag between the optical and ultraviolet continua. This suggests that the characteristic radius of the broad-line region is ∼50% larger than the value inferred from optical data alone. We also measured velocity-resolved emission-line lags for Hβ and found a complex velocity-lag structure with shorter lags in the line wings, indicative of a broad-line region dominated by Keplerian motion. The responses of both the Hβ and He ii emission lines to the driving continuum changed significantly halfway through the campaign, a phenomenon also observed for C iv, Lyα, He ii(+O iii]), and Si iv(+O iv]) during the same monitoring period. Finally, given the optical luminosity of NGC 5548 during our campaign, the measured Hβ lag is a factor of five shorter than the expected value implied by the R BLR-L AGN relation based on the past behavior of NGC 5548.

This research examines the spatial structure of a sample of breast cancer (BC) cases and their spatial interaction with contaminated areas in the Monterrey Metropolitan Area (MMA). By applying spatial statistical techniques that treat the space as a continuum, degrees of spatial concentration were determined for the different study groups, highlighting their concentration pattern. The results indicate that 65 percent of the BC sample had exposure to more than 56 points of PM 10 . Likewise, spatial clusters of BC cases of up to 39 cases were identified within a radius of 3.5 km, interacting spatially with environmental contamination sources, particularly with refineries, food processing plants, cement, and metals. This study can serve as a platform for other clinical research by identifying geographic clusters that can help focus health policy efforts., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2021 The Authors.)

This study examines the spatial structure of children with cleft lip and palate (CLP) and its association with polluted areas in the Monterrey Metropolitan Area (MMA). The Nearest Neighbor Index (NNI) and the Spatial Statistical Scan (SaTScan) determined that the CLP cases are agglomerated in spatial clusters distributed in different areas of the city, some of them grouping up to 12 cases of CLP in a radius of 1.2 km. The application of the interpolation by empirical Bayesian kriging (EBK) and the inverse distance weighted (IDW) method showed that 95% of the cases have a spatial interaction with values of particulate matter (PM 10 ) of more than 50 points. The study also shows that 83% of the cases interacted with around 2000 annual tons of greenhouse gases. This study may contribute to other investigations applying techniques for the identification of environmental and genetic factors possibly associated with congenital malformations and for determining the influence of contaminating substances in the incidence of these diseases, particularly CLP.

Injuries to the tibioperoneal syndesmosis are more frequent than previously thought and their treatment is essential for the stability of the ankle mortise.Recognition of these lesions is essential to avoid long-term morbidity.Diagnosis often requires complete history, physical examination, weight-bearing radiographs and MRI.Treatment-oriented classification is mandatory.It is recommended that acute stable injuries are treated conservatively and unstable injuries surgically by syndesmotic screw fixation, suture-button dynamic fixation or direct repair of the anterior inferior tibiofibular ligament.Subacute injuries may require ligamentoplasty and chronic lesions are best treated by syndesmotic fusion.However, knowledge about syndesmotic injuries is still limited as recommendations for surgical treatment are only based on level IV and V evidence. Cite this article: EFORT Open Rev 2017;2:403-409. DOI: 10.1302/2058-5241.2.160084., Competing Interests: ICMJE Conflict of interest statement: None declared.

Background: Self-quantification is seen as an emerging paradigm for health care self-management. Self-quantification systems (SQS) can be used for tracking, monitoring, and quantifying health aspects including mental, emotional, physical, and social aspects in order to gain self-knowledge. However, there has been a lack of a systematic approach for conceptualising and mapping the essential activities that are undertaken by individuals who are using SQS in order to improve health outcomes. In this paper, we propose a new model of personal health information self-quantification systems (PHI-SQS). PHI-SQS model describes two types of activities that individuals go through during their journey of health self-managed practice, which are 'self-quantification' and 'self-activation'., Objectives: In this paper, we aimed to examine thoroughly the first type of activity in PHI-SQS which is 'self-quantification'. Our objectives were to review the data management processes currently supported in a representative set of self-quantification tools and ancillary applications, and provide a systematic approach for conceptualising and mapping these processes with the individuals' activities., Method: We reviewed and compared eleven self-quantification tools and applications (Zeo Sleep Manager, Fitbit, Actipressure, MoodPanda, iBGStar, Sensaris Senspod, 23andMe, uBiome, Digifit, BodyTrack, and Wikilife), that collect three key health data types (Environmental exposure, Physiological patterns, Genetic traits). We investigated the interaction taking place at different data flow stages between the individual user and the self-quantification technology used., Findings: We found that these eleven self-quantification tools and applications represent two major tool types (primary and secondary self-quantification systems). In each type, the individuals experience different processes and activities which are substantially influenced by the technologies' data management capabilities., Conclusions: Self-quantification in personal health maintenance appears promising and exciting. However, more studies are needed to support its use in this field. The proposed model will in the future lead to developing a measure for assessing the effectiveness of interventions to support using SQS for health self-management (e.g., assessing the complexity of self-quantification activities, and activation of the individuals).

Current self-quantification systems (SQS) are limited in their ability to support the acquisition of health-related information essential for individuals to make informed decisions based on their health status. They do not offer services such as data handling and data aggregation in a single place, and using multiple types of tools for this purpose complicates data and health self-management for self-quantifiers. An online survey was used to elicit information from self-quantifiers about the methods they used to undertake key activities related to health self-management. This paper provides empirical evidence about self-quantifiers' time spent using different data collection, data handling, data analysis, and data sharing tools and draws implications for health self-management activities.

Mobile augmented reality (MAR) may offer new and engaging ways to support consumer participation in health. We report on design-based research into a MAR application for smartphones and tablets, intended to improve public engagement with biomedical research in a specific urban precinct. Following a review of technical capabilities and organizational and locative design considerations, we worked with staff of four research institutes to elicit their ideas about information and interaction functionalities of a shared MAR app. The results were promising, supporting the development of a prototype and initial field testing with these staff. Evidence from this project may point the way toward user-centred design of MAR services that will enable more widespread adoption of the technology in other healthcare and biomedical research contexts.

Mice reconstituted with human immune cells represent a model to study the development and functionality of the human immune system. Recent improvements in humanized mice have resulted in multi-lineage hematopoiesis, prolonged human cell engraftment that is detectable in many mouse organs, and the ability to generate de novo human innate and adaptive immune responses. Here, we describe the methods used to produce and characterize humanized Rag2(-/-)γc(-/-) mice.

Engraftment of immunodeficient mice with a human immune system (humanized mice) provides a model system to study pathogens that target human immune cells. Humanized Rag2(-/-)γc(-/-) mice produce the major target cells of HIV-1 and these cells can be detected in primary and secondary lymphoid tissues, as well as in the vaginal and rectal mucosa and brain tissues. This humanized model has already yielded important findings on HIV-1 transmission, mechanisms of pathogenesis, and testing of novel antiviral strategies in vivo. Here, we describe the methods used to infect humanized mice with HIV-1 and to characterize plasma viral load and blood CD4(+) T cell depletion.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to assess the safety and efficacy of CO(2) during double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE) in an experimental animal model study. In this study, insufflation with room air and with CO(2) was compared., Methods: Twenty healthy swines were used. The animals were randomly allocated to two groups. The room air-DBE group was insufflated with room air, whereas the CO(2)-DBE group was insufflated with CO(2). Endoscopy duration was 90 min. The following parameters were measured during the study (basal, 30 min, 60 min, 90 min): invasive hemodynamic parameters, ventilatory parameters, arterial blood gases, exploration depth, as well as biochemical tests. Residual gas was evaluated at the end of DBE, at 180 min and 24 h after DBE., Results: During the endoscopic exploration none of the animals showed hemodynamic, ventilatory or arterial blood gas alterations in the normal reference range for the swine species. The CO(2) group showed statistically significant differences over the room air group with lower post-procedure residual gas and greater depth of the small bowel explored., Conclusion: The use of CO(2) for insufflation during DBE was safe and no complications associated with CO(2) were observed. In addition, the use of CO(2) offers benefits over the use of room air for insufflation during DBE., (© 2012 The Authors. Digestive Endoscopy © 2012 Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society.)

Unlabelled: Most work on visual prostheses has centered on developing retinal or cortical devices. However, when retinal implants are not feasible, neuroprostheses could be implanted in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) of the thalamus, the intermediate relay station of visual information from the retina to the visual cortex (V1). The objective of the present study was to determine the types of artificial stimuli that when delivered to the visual thalamus can generate reliable responses of the cortical neurons similar to those obtained when the eye perceives a visual image. Visual stimuli {S(i)} were presented to one eye of an experimental animal and both, the thalamic {RTh(i)} and cortical responses {RV1(i)} to such stimuli were recorded. Electrical patterns {RTh(i)*} resembling {RTh(i)} were then injected into the visual thalamus to obtain cortical responses {RV1(i)*} similar to {RV1(i)}. Visually- and electrically generated V1 responses were compared., Results: During the course of this work we: (i) characterized the response of V1 neurons to visual stimuli according to response magnitude, duration, spiking rate, and the distribution of interspike intervals; (ii) experimentally tested the dependence of V1 responses on stimulation parameters such as intensity, frequency, duration, etc., and determined the ranges of these parameters generating the desired cortical activity; (iii) identified similarities between responses of V1 useful to compare the naturally and artificially generated neuronal activity of V1; and (iv) by modifying the stimulation parameters, we generated artificial V1 responses similar to those elicited by visual stimuli. Generation of predictable and consistent phosphenes by means of artificial stimulation of the LGN is important for the feasibility of visual prostheses. Here we proved that electrical stimuli to the LGN can generate V1 neural responses that resemble those elicited by natural visual stimuli.

The Zaire ebolavirus protein VP24 was previously demonstrated to inhibit alpha/beta interferon (IFN-alpha/beta)- and IFN-gamma-induced nuclear accumulation of tyrosine-phosphorylated STAT1 (PY-STAT1) and to inhibit IFN-alpha/beta- and IFN-gamma-induced gene expression. These properties correlated with the ability of VP24 to interact with the nuclear localization signal receptor for PY-STAT1, karyopherin alpha1. Here, VP24 is demonstrated to interact not only with overexpressed but also with endogenous karyopherin alpha1. Mutational analysis demonstrated that VP24 binds within the PY-STAT1 binding region located in the C terminus of karyopherin alpha1. In addition, VP24 was found to inhibit PY-STAT1 binding to both overexpressed and endogenous karyopherin alpha1. We assessed the binding of both PY-STAT1 and the VP24 proteins from Zaire, mouse-adapted Zaire, and Reston Ebola viruses for interaction with all six members of the human karyopherin alpha family. We found, in contrast to previous studies, that PY-STAT1 can interact not only with karyopherin alpha1 but also with karyopherins alpha5 and alpha6, which together comprise the NPI-1 subfamily of karyopherin alphaS. Similarly, all three VP24s bound and inhibited PY-STAT1 interaction with karyopherins alpha1, alpha5, and alpha6. Consistent with their ability to inhibit the karyopherin-PY-STAT1 interaction, Zaire, mouse-adapted Zaire, and Reston Ebola virus VP24s displayed similar capacities to inhibit IFN-beta-induced gene expression in human and mouse cells. These findings suggest that VP24 inhibits interaction of PY-STAT1 with karyopherins alpha1, alpha5, or alpha6 by binding within the PY-STAT1 binding region of the karyopherins and that this function is conserved among the VP24 proteins of different Ebola virus species.

There is currently no consensus on how to manage the psychiatric manifestations of neurosyphilis, despite the resurgence of this condition. The authors present five cases of neurosyphilis in inpatient psychiatric settings that manifested with predominantly psychiatric symptoms and were appropriately diagnosed and successfully treated with psychotropic medication concurrent with antibiotic therapy. A review of available data reveals that presently there are no specific guidelines to address psychiatric symptomatology in neurosyphilis. The authors see merit in the prudent use of psychotropic medication to achieve symptom stabilization.

Background and Objectives: Pain relief during labor is a permanent concern, aiming at the maternal well being, decreasing the stress secondary to pain, and reducing its consequences on the fetus. Several analgesia techniques can be used during labor. The aim of this study was to compare continuous and combined epidural analgesia, both of them using 0.25% bupivacaine with 50% enantiomeric excess and fentanyl., Methods: Forty pregnant women, in labor, with cervical dilation between 4 and 5 cm, were randomly divided in two groups. Group I received continuous epidural anesthesia. Group II received combined anesthesia. The following parameters were evaluated: anthropometric measurements, gestational age, cervical dilation, length of time between the blockade and absence of pain according to the visual analogic scale, ability to walk, length of time between analgesia and complete cervical dilation, duration of the expulsive phase, maternal hemodynamic parameters, and vitality of the newborn. Possible complications, such as respiratory depression, maternal hypotension, pruritus, nausea, and vomiting were also evaluated. The Student t test was used to compare the means and the Chi-square test was used to compare the number of pregnancies and type of labor., Results: There were no statistically significant differences between both groups regarding the length of time between the beginning of analgesia and complete cervical dilation, as well as regarding the duration of the expulsive phase, incidence of cesarean section related to the analgesia, maternal hemodynamic parameters, and vitality of the newborn., Conclusions: Both techniques are effective and safe for labor analgesia, although the combined technique provided fast and immediate pain relief. Clinical studies with a larger number of patients are necessary to evaluate the differences in the incidence of cesarean sections.

In order to improve the distance teaching of minimally invasive surgery techniques, an integrated system has been developed. It comprises a telecommunications system, a server, a workstation, some medical peripherals and several computer applications developed in the Minimally Invasive Surgery Centre. The latest peripherals, such as robotized teleoperating systems for telesurgery and virtual reality peripherals, have been added. The visualization of the zone to be treated, along with the teacher's explanations, enables the student to understand the procedures of the operation much better.

We have developed a telemedicine project called Telesurgex, which is an integrated information system designed for several hospitals as well as the Minimally Invasive Surgery Centre. The project researches and develops telemedicine systems (both hardware and software) and their contents, ensuring that they are really useful and not just a videoconference with medical topics. Another aim of the project is the improvement of teleteaching systems as applied to medicine, mainly teleteaching of minimally invasive surgical techniques.