Extracellular Vesicles as Biological Indicators and Potential Sources of Autologous Therapeutics in Osteoarthritis

Along with cytokines, extracellular vesicles (EVs) released by immune cells in the joint contribute to osteoarthritis (OA) pathogenesis. By high-resolution flow cytometry, we characterized 18 surface markers and 4 proinflammatory cytokines carried by EVs of various sizes in plasma and synovial fluid (SF) from individuals with knee OA, with a primary focus on immune cells that play a major role in OA pathogenesis. By multiplex immunoassay, we also measured concentrations of cytokines within (endo) and outside (exo) EVs. EVs carrying HLA-DR, -DP and -DQ were the most enriched subpopulations in SF relative to plasma (25–50-fold higher depending on size), suggesting a major contribution to the SF EV pool from infiltrating immune cells in OA joints. In contrast, the CD34⁺ medium and small EVs, reflecting hematopoietic stem cells, progenitor cells, and endothelial cells, were the most significantly enriched subpopulations in plasma relative to SF (7.3- and 7.7-fold higher). Ratios of EVs derived from neutrophils and lymphocytes were highly correlated between SF and plasma, indicating that plasma EVs could reflect OA severity and serve as systemic biomarkers of OA joint pathogenesis. Select subsets of plasma EVs might also provide next generation autologous biological products for intra-articular therapy of OA joints.     

Deficient or excessive CuO-TiO2 phase influence on dielectric properties of CaCu3Ti4O12 ceramics

The influence of the CuO–TiO₂ phase (CT) on dielectric properties of the CCTO ceramic was investigated. CaCu_XTi_YO₁₂ (CC_XT_YO) powders were prepared based on the coprecipitated method, where 2.70 ≤ x ≤ 3.30 and 3.25 ≤ y ≤ 4.75. XRD patterns confirmed the presence of CCTO and also the secondary phases as CuO, TiO₂, and CaTiO₃ for each sample and aided in its quantification. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) shows secondary phases evolution in the grain boundaries, and its influence on size and morphology of the grains. Impedance spectroscopy measurements showed that the ceramics with lower amount of CuO and TiO₂ phases (CT/deficient ceramics) exhibited the highest ε′ values (2.1 × 10⁴ at 1 kHz for CC_2.9T_3.75O ceramic). Also, CT/deficient ceramics showed lower tanδ values (0.090 at 1 kHz for CC_2.9T_3.75O ceramic) than ceramics prepared with excessive CuO–TiO₂ phase (0.241 at 1 kHz for CC_3.1T_4.25O ceramics). The deficiency of CuO and TiO₂ phases associated with high percentage of CCTO and CaTiO₃ phases resulted in ceramics with the higher ε′ values.     

Using neural networks to predict financial reporting fraud: Part 1

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the science of building computer devices and software applications that mimic many of the characteristics that we associate with human behaviour, such as the ability to reason, see, learn, solve problems, understand languages, and so on. AI systems include natural languages, robotics, expert systems and neural networks. This article focuses on neural networks, which can be designed for problems that arise at any managerial level and may be used to predict the occurrence of fraud.     

Estimation of evaporative fraction and evapotranspiration from MODIS products using a complementary based model

We present a new formulation to derive evaporative fraction (EF) and evapotranspiration (ET) maps from remotely sensed data without auxiliary relationships or site-specific relationships. This formulation is based on Granger's complementary relationship and Priestley-Taylor's equation. The proposed model eliminates the wind function and resistance parameters commonly applied to ET calculation by including a relative evaporation parameter (ET/Epot). By combining this relative evaporation parameter, Granger's complementary relationship and Priestley-Taylor equation, we obtain a simple equation to estimate ET. We tested and validated the proposed formulation over the Southern Great Plains (SGP) region of the United States for seven clear sky days during March-October 2003. MODIS Atmospheric and Land products were the only source of data used in this study. Estimates of ET show an overall root mean square error and bias of 33.89 and − 10.96 Wm^− 2, respectively. Our results suggest that the proposed approach is robust and valid for a wide range of atmospheric and surface conditions.     

Bone cell attachment and growth on well‐characterized chitosan films

Chitosan has been widely researched for bone tissue and implant applications. While initial results are promising, there are inconsistent reports regarding the biological responses. This may be due to inadequate evaluation of chitosan material properties. This study evaluated normal human osteoblast precursor cell attachment and proliferation on a series of well‐characterized chitosan films. The chitosan films exhibited a range of properties: 76–96% degree of de‐acetylation (DDA), 2400–8200 kDa viscosity‐average molecular weight, 62–90° contact angle, 0.24–2.46% residual ash, 5.3–287 µg cm^?2 residual protein and 23–40% crystallinity. There was no trend or correlation between DDA, crystallinity, contact angle, molecular weight, residual ash or protein content and the attachment or growth of bone cells on chitosan films. All films supported higher levels of bone cell proliferation than tissue culture plastic, which supports the general hypothesis that chitosans are osteocompatible. The 78 and 92% DDA chitosan films supported the most cell proliferation, approximately 16 times that of tissue culture plastic controls, but no chitosan physiochemical property correlated with the increased cell growth. The lack of correlation is hindered since more than one physiochemical property changed for each chitosan material. Data do indicate that there may be much variability in chitosan materials, and this variability may make understanding and comparing biological performance of chitosan materials difficult. These results highlight the need for systematic characterizations of chitosan materials for predictable biomedical applications. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry     

Weight suppression predicts weight gain over treatment but not treatment completion or outcome in bulimia nervosa.

The authors attempted to replicate previous findings that weight suppression is a significant predictor of treatment completion and treatment outcome (M. L. Butryn, M. R. Lowe, D. L. Safer, & W. S. Agras, 2006) and weight gain over treatment (M. R. Lowe, W. Davis, D. Lucks, R. A. Annunziato, & M. L. Butryn, 2006) among women with bulimic disorders. The authors also examined 2 alternative measures of weight variability. Participants were 132 women with bulimia nervosa treated with cognitive-behavioral therapy. Participants who dropped out of treatment did not have significantly higher levels of weight suppression than did treatment completers. Among those who completed treatment, weight suppression did not significantly predict binge eating and purging at post-treatment. Weight suppression did significantly predict weight change and, in particular, weight gain (≥5 kg) over treatment. Alternative measures of weight variability did not significantly predict treatment completion or treatment outcome, but 1 measure significantly predicted weight gain over treatment. In conclusion, the authors failed to replicate the previous finding that weight suppression predicts treatment compliance and treatment outcome, but they did replicate the finding that weight suppression predicts weight gain over treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Diminished self-conscious emotional responding in frontotemporal lobar degeneration patients.

Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) is a neurodegenerative disease that dramatically alters social and emotional behavior. Recent work has suggested that self-conscious emotions (e.g., embarrassment) may be particularly vulnerable to disruption in this disease. Self-conscious emotions require the ability to monitor the self in relation to others. These abilities are thought to be subserved by brain regions (e.g., medial prefrontal, anterior cingulate, and insula) that are particularly vulnerable to damage in FTLD. This study examined emotional responding (expressive behavior, peripheral physiology, and subjective experience) in 24 FTLD patients and 16 cognitively normal control participants using a karaoke task known to elicit self-conscious emotion reliably and a nonemotional control task (isometric handgrip). Results indicated that FTLD patients showed diminished self-conscious emotional behavior (embarrassment and amusement) and diminished physiological responding while watching themselves singing. No differences were found between patients and controls in the nonemotional control task. These findings offer evidence of marked disruption of self-conscious emotional responding in FTLD. Diminished self-conscious emotional responding likely contributes significantly to social inappropriateness and other behavioral abnormalities in FTLD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family risk factors, parental depression, and psychopathology in offspring.

Associations between parents' poor marital adjustment, parent–child discord, affectionless control, low family cohesion, and parental divorce and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) diagnoses were explored in a study of 220 offspring of parents with and without major depression. Family risk factors were more prevalent among offspring of depressed parents. Risk factors were associated with major depression and any diagnosis for children of nondepressed parents; they were associated with conduct disorder for both groups. Parental depression was more important than family risk factors in models predicting major depression, anxiety disorders, and any diagnosis. Both parental depression and family risk factors were significant predictors of conduct disorder. Implications for the etiology of psychopathology and for analytic strategies are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introducing dependency into IC yield models

Many models have been proposed to explain the distribution of point defects on integrated circuit (IC) chips. The most popular of these models are based on distributions derived from the Poisson distribution for describing the number of defects expected on a chip. These models do not inherently allow for dependence between the number of defects expected on two adjacent chips. This paper introduces a model for generating an IC defect distribution that allows for dependence in the number of defects on chips that are near one another. Simulations are done to compare the new dependent model to a previously proposed independent model. These simulations with the new model show defective chips clustered near each other on the water. This clustering property has been observed on real wafers. Methods of parameter and yield estimation in the dependent model are discussed.