The associations among self-awareness, emotional well-being, and employment outcome following acquired brain injury: A 12-month longitudinal study.

Objective: To investigate self-awareness and emotional well-being according to change in employment outcome in people with acquired brain injury (ABI). Design: A 12-month longitudinal study. Participants and Setting: Fifty adults with ABI attending outpatient rehabilitation (n = 17) or vocational rehabilitation services (n = 33). Time since injury ranged from 6 months to 12 years (M = 4.3 years, SD = 4.1). Main Outcome Measures: Self Awareness of Deficits Interview, Self-Regulation Skills Interview, Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale, and employment outcome (stable employment, improved employment, and stable unemployment). Results: At the initial assessment, level of awareness for the improved employment group was significantly lower than that for the stable employment group (p = .017), whereas no between-groups differences were found at the 12-month follow-up assessment. Employment outcome was not significantly associated with changes in self-monitoring or emotional well-being (p = .017). Demographic and injury-related variables were generally not related to employment outcome. Conclusions: The findings empirically support the theoretical view that an increase in self-awareness is associated with improved employment status, although the direction of this relation is unclear. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The dependence of kappa on attribute prevalence when assessing the repeatability of questionnaire data

The objective of this paper was to illustrate the dependence of the kappa statistic on the underlying population prevalence of a measured outcome, and the related difficulties in interpreting kappa values for assessing the repeatability of survey data. An example was taken from a test-retest study of the repeatability of a questionnaire administered to dairy producers in Ontario, Canada. Ten producers completed two questionnaires, which contained numerous identical questions. Kappa was used to assess repeatability between the questionnaires for questions with responses which were measured on a dichotomous scale. The magnitude of the kappa statistic is shown to be a function of the prevalence of the trait measured by a question as well as the number of discordant responses.     

Isolation and characterization of immune-related genes from the fall webworm, Hyphantria cunea, using PCR-based differential display and subtractive cloning

Following injection of bacteria into the hemocoel of the fall webworm, Hyphantria cunea, several inducible genes were identified and characterized using PCR-based differential display (DD-PCR) and subtractive cloning. Ten immune-related cDNA clones (Hdd1, Hdd2, Hdd3, Hdd11, Hdd13, Hdd15, Hdd17, Hdd23, Hs106, Hs302) were isolated and characterized. The deduced amino acid sequence of Hdd2 was shown to be a member of the copper, zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu-Zn SOD) family. The H. cunea Cu-Zn SOD is novel in that it is up-regulated following a bacterial challenge and has a putative signal peptide suggesting its secretion and involvement in the insect immune response. Hdd3 was found to encode a new member of the serpin (serine protease inhibitor) family. The putative lectin corresponding to Hdd15 is of a different kind in that it has two lectin C domains in a single molecule. These two lectin C domains show significant homology to the lectin C domain of Periplaneta lipopolysaccharide binding protein (LPS-BP). Three cloned genes, Hdd17, Hs106 and Hs302, encode a homologue to Bombyx mori Gram negative binding protein, a hemolin-like protein and a attacin-like protein, respectively. The deduced amino acid sequences from Hdd11 showed weak homology with a Locusta migratoria hemolymph protein. On the contrary, Hdd1, Hdd13 and Hdd23 did not reveal any significant homology with known proteins. All of the 10 genes were clearly inducible by E. coli and M. luteus injection. Injection of distilled water only slightly induced mRNA levels. Comparison of temporal mRNA expression following E. coli injection showed three types of expression patterns.     

A Single Photon Avalanche Diode Implemented in 130-nm CMOS Technology

We report on the first implementation of a single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) in 130 nm complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. The SPAD is fabricated as p+/n-well junction with octagonal shape. A guard ring of p-well around the p+ anode is used to prevent premature discharge. To investigate the dynamics of the new device, both active and passive quenching methods have been used. Single photon detection is achieved by sensing the avalanche using a fast comparator. The SPAD exhibits a maximum photon detection probability of 41% and a typical dark count rate of 100 kHz at room temperature. Thanks to its timing resolution of 144 ps full-width at half-maximum (FWHM), the SPAD has several uses in disparate disciplines, including medical imaging, 3D vision, biophotonics, low-light illumination imaging, etc.     

Cytokine repertoire during maturation of monocytes to macrophages within spheroids of malignant and non-malignant urothelial cell lines

Terminal maturation of human blood monocytes to macrophages (MAC) in vivo is believed to be important for the morphology, antigen expression and functional activity of the resulting MAC population. This process is modulated by the specific tissue micro-environment to which blood monocytes migrate upon leaving the vasculature. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) are a special type of MAC, and little is known about the modulating capacity of the tumor environment on monocyte-to-MAC differentiation. By co-culturing 3-dimensional multicellular spheroids (MCS) of the urothelial-bladder-carcinoma cell lines J82 and RT4 with human monocytes/MAC we generated TAM in vitro. For comparison, monocytes/MAC were co-cultured with the non-tumorigenic urothelial cell line HCV29. The effects on monocyte differentiation were analyzed, particularly with respect to cytokine release. Monocyte maturation was modulated within the tumor spheroid dependent upon the tumor cell type. Monocytes co-cultured with MCS of the poorly differentiated J82 carcinoma spontaneously produced high amounts of IL-1beta and IL-6, but only low amounts of TNF-alpha, which could be further increased by the addition of LPS. This cytokine pattern is characteristic for monocytes and remained constant for up to 8 days in J82-MCS co-cultures. However, in RT4-MCS and HCV29-MCS co-cultures, the initial cytokine pattern changed and after 8 days corresponded well to that of MAC differentiated in vitro without tumor contact. In addition to functional parameters, we analyzed the morphology of J82-MCS-TAM and found that they displayed a monocyte-like morphology. Our data indicate that (1) tumor cells can influence monocyte-to-MAC differentiation, giving rise to TAM with monocyte-specific phenotypic properties; and (2) this capacity is dependent on the type of tumor cell.     

The Mof2/Sui1 protein is a general monitor of translational accuracy

Although it is essential for protein synthesis to be highly accurate, a number of cases of directed ribosomal frameshifting have been reported in RNA viruses, as well as in procaryotic and eucaryotic genes. Changes in the efficiency of ribosomal frameshifting can have major effects on the ability of cells to propagate viruses which use this mechanism. Furthermore, studies of this process can illuminate the mechanisms involved in the maintenance of the normal translation reading frame. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae killer virus system uses programmed -1 ribosomal frameshifting to synthesize its gene products. Strains harboring the mof2-1 allele demonstrated a fivefold increase in frameshifting and prevented killer virus propagation. In this report, we present the results of the cloning and characterization of the wild-type MOF2 gene. mof2-1 is a novel allele of SUI1, a gene previously shown to play a role in translation initiation start site selection. Strains harboring the mof2-1 allele demonstrated a mutant start site selection phenotype and increased efficiency of programmed -1 ribosomal frameshifting and conferred paromomycin sensitivity. The increased frameshifting observed in vivo was reproduced in extracts prepared from mof2-1 cells. Addition of purified wild-type Mof2p/Sui1p reduced frameshifting efficiencies to wild-type levels. Expression of the human SUI1 homolog in yeast corrects all of the mof2-1 phenotypes, demonstrating that the function of this protein is conserved throughout evolution. Taken together, these results suggest that Mof2p/Sui1p functions as a general modulator of accuracy at both the initiation and elongation phases of translation.     

Flexor carpi ulnaris (humeral head) muscle flap for reconstruction of distal forelimb injuries in two dogs

BACKGROUND: It is difficult to predict ischemic cerebrovascular diseases by noninvasive methods before overt symptoms develop. Advanced carotid and cerebral atherosclerosis reduce common carotid blood flow volume due to increased resistance of peripheral circulation. According to a study in which clinical and pathological specimens were compared, the lower threshold for the flow volume in normal individuals has been confirmed to be 6.5 ml/s. We investigated the possibility that the development of ischemic cerebrovascular diseases can be predicted based on blood flow volume. METHOD: We conducted a retrospective study on 314 patients who were available for determination of common carotid blood flow volume with an ultrasonic quantitative flowmeter. RESULTS: Thirty-three patients developed ischemic cerebrovascular attacks during the observation period (onset group), while the remaining 281 did not develop attacks (non-onset group). The discriminating value for common carotid blood flow volume between the onset and non-onset groups was 6.8 ml/s. Based on an odds ratio of 6.7, it was concluded that a common carotid blood flow volume of less than 6.8 ml/s is highly likely to predict the onset of ischemic cerebrovascular accidents.     

EGF receptor signaling inhibits keratinocyte apoptosis: evidence for mediation by Bcl-XL

Signaling through the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has been primarily implicated in the growth of epithelial cells including keratinocytes. However, the mechanism by which EGFR stimulation promotes keratinocyte cell growth is poorly understood. Here we report that human keratinocytes undergo apoptosis when incubated with the blocking EGFR monoclonal antibody 225 IgG, or PD153035, a highly specific EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Endogenous mRNA and protein levels of Bcl-XL, a member the Bcl-2 family which suppresses apoptosis, were specifically inhibited by EGFR blockade. Furthermore, stimulation of EGFR signaling through two natural ligands, transforming growth factor (TGF)-alpha and epidermal growth factor (EGF), increased the expression of Bcl-XL in quiescent keratinocytes and HaCaT cells. Finally, ectopic expression of Bcl-XL in HaCaT cells increased survival after EGFR blockade when compared to untransfected cells or HaCaT keratinocytes transfected with empty vector. These results suggest that the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-XL plays an important role in the maintenance of keratinocyte survival in response to EGFR signaling.