Temporary Endoscopic Stimulation in Gastroparesis-like Syndrome

( Sanjeev Singh ),( Jeff Mccrary ),( Archana Kedar ),( Stephen Weeks ),( Brian Beauerle ),( Andrew Weeks ),( Omer Endashaw ),( Chris Lahr ),( Warren Starkebaum ),( Thomas Abell ) 대한소화기기능성질환·운동학회 2015 Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility (JNM Vol.21 No.4

Background/Aims Gastroparesis-like syndrome (GLS) is defined as gastroparesis-like symptoms with normal gastric scintigraphy. While the efficacy of gastric electrical stimulation (GES) in gastroparesis is well known, the utility of GES in GLS is largely unknown. Our aim was to clarify the role of GES in GLS. We implanted consecutive patients with symptoms of gastroparesis with temporary gastric electrical stimulation and observed changes in gastric scintigraphy and total symptom score. Methods Five hundred and fifty-one patients suffering from symptoms of gastroparesis (nausea, vomiting, bloating/distension, anorexia/ early satiety, and abdominal pain) with negative endoscopy underwent gastric scintigraphy with analysis of 1) solid radionuclide gastric emptying at 1, 2, and 4 hours (% remaining); 2) area under the gastric emptying curve (AUC) at 1, 2, and 4hours; and 3) total gastric emptying test (GET) (the sum of 1, 2, and 4 hour values). Patients were stratified into: delayed gastric emptying, normal gastric emptying, and rapid gastric emptying (Appendix). Of the 551 patients in the larger cohort, 379 had implantation of temporary gastric electrical stimulation (tGES). Gastrointestinal symptoms and gastric emptying were com - pared pre and post tGES implantation. Results After tGES, 2 hour gastric retention decreased (P < 0.01) for the delayed patients, and increased (P < 0.001) for normal and rapid patients. These changes were accompanied by improvements (P < 0.001) in vomiting, nausea, and total symptom scores in all 3 subgroups. Conclusions Gastric electrical stimulation may be an effective therapy for treating the symptoms of gastroparesis with normal gastric emptying.Further exploration of endoscopic electrical stimulation as a treatment for gastroparesis-like symptoms with non-delayed gastric emptying is needed. (J Neurogastroenterol Motil 2015;21:520-527)

Structure-rheology elucidation of human blood via SPP framework and TEVP modeling

Matthew Armstrong,Jeff Baker,Jesse Trump,Erin Milner,J. Kenneth Wickiser,Kenneth Cameron,Nick Clark,Kaitlyn Schwarting,Thomas Brown,Dorian Bailey,Corey James,Chi Nguyen,Trevor Corrigan 한국유변학회 2021 Korea-Australia rheology journal Vol.33 No.1

Recent work modeling the rheological behavior of human blood indicates that it has all the hallmark features of a complex material, including shear-thinning, viscoelastic behavior, a yield stress, and thixotropy. After decades of modeling steady state blood data, and the development of simple steady state models, like the Casson and Herschel-Bulkley the advancement and evolution of blood modeling to incorporate more thixo-elasto-visco-plastic (TEVP) features to accurately capture transient flow has renewed interest. With recently collected steady state and oscillatory shear flow rheological data from a DHR-3 using human blood, we show modeling efforts with a contemporary thixo-elasto-visco-plastic (TEVP) model. Best fit rheological model parameters are used to determine values for normal, h ealthy blood and corroborate correlations from literature. Series of physical processes (SPP) analysis is incorporated to illustrate how mechanical properties are tied to the transient, evolving microstructure of human blood and physiological parameters. Using LAOS data predictions of the structure parameter,  is compared, and correlated with the transient elastic modulus, .

Predicting Soil Organic Carbon Contents in Archived Soils Using Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy

Senani Karunaratne,Thomas Bishop,Jeff Baldock,Bruce Hawke,Inakwu Odeh 한국토양비료학회 2014 한국토양비료학회 학술발표회 초록집 Vol.2014 No.6

A neuroligin-4 missense mutation associated with autism impairs neuroligin-4 folding and endoplasmic reticulum export.

Zhang, Chen,Milunsky, Jeff M,Newton, Stephanie,Ko, Jaewon,Zhao, Geping,Maher, Tom A,Tager-Flusberg, Helen,Bolliger, Marc F,Carter, Alice S,Boucard, Antony A,Powell, Craig M,Sü,dhof, Thomas C The Society 2009 The Journal of neuroscience Vol.29 No.35

<P>Neuroligins (NLs) are postsynaptic cell-adhesion molecules essential for normal synapse function. Mutations in neuroligin-4 (NL4) (gene symbol: NLGN4) have been reported in some patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other neurodevelopmental impairments. However, the low frequency of NL4 mutations and the limited information about the affected patients and the functional consequences of their mutations cast doubt on the causal role of NL4 mutations in these disorders. Here, we describe two brothers with classical ASD who carry a single amino-acid substitution in NL4 (R87W). This substitution was absent from the brothers' asymptomatic parents, suggesting that it arose in the maternal germ line. R87 is conserved in all NL isoforms, and the R87W substitution is not observed in control individuals. At the protein level, the R87W substitution impaired glycosylation processing of NL4 expressed in HEK293 and COS cells, destabilized NL4, caused NL4 retention in the endoplasmic reticulum in non-neuronal cells and neurons, and blocked NL4 transport to the cell surface. As a result, the R87W substitution inactivated the synapse-formation activity of NL4 and abolished the functional effect of NL4 on synapse strength. Viewed together, these observations suggest that a point mutation in NL4 can cause ASD by a loss-of-function mechanism.</P>

A Blockchain Framework for Investment Authorities to Manage Assets and Funds

Vinu Sherimon,Sherimon P.C.,Jeff Thomas,Kevin Jaimon International Journal of Computer ScienceNetwork S 2023 International journal of computer science and netw Vol.23 No.11

Investment authorities are broad financial institutions that carefully manage investments on behalf of the national government using a long-term value development approach. To provide a stronger structure or framework for In-vestment Authorities to govern the distribution of funds to public and private markets, we've started research to create a blockchain-based prototype for managing and tracking numerous finances of such authorities. We have taken the case study of Oman Investment Authority (OIA) of Sultanate of Oman. Oman's wealth is held in OIA. It is an organization that oversees and utilizes the additional capital generated by oil and gas profits in public and private markets. Unlike other Omani funds, this one focus primarily on assets outside the Sultanate. The operation of the OIA entails a huge number of transactions, necessitating a high level of transparency and administration among the parties involved. Currently, OIA relies on various manuals to achieve its goals, such as the Authorities and Responsibilities manual, the In-vestment Manual, and the Code of Business Conduct, among others. In this paper, we propose a Blockchain based framework to manage the operations of OIA. Blockchain is a part of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and it is re-shaping every industry. The main components of every blockchain are assets and participants. The funds are the major assets in the proposed study, and the participants are the various fund shareholders/recipients. The block-chain's transactions are all safe, secure, and immutable, and it's part of a trustless network. The transactions are simple to follow and verify. By replacing intermediary firms with smart contracts, blockchain-based solutions eliminate any middlemen in the fund allocation process.

Nighttime Chemical Transformation in Biomass Burning Plumes: A Box Model Analysis Initialized with Aircraft Observations

Decker, Zachary C. J.,Zarzana, Kyle J.,Coggon, Matthew,Min, Kyung-Eun,Pollack, Ilana,Ryerson, Thomas B.,Peischl, Jeff,Edwards, Pete,Dubé,, William P.,Markovic, Milos Z.,Roberts, James M.,Veres, American Chemical Society 2019 Environmental science & technology Vol.53 No.5

<P>Biomass burning (BB) is a large source of reactive compounds in the atmosphere. While the daytime photochemistry of BB emissions has been studied in some detail, there has been little focus on nighttime reactions despite the potential for substantial oxidative and heterogeneous chemistry. Here, we present the first analysis of nighttime aircraft intercepts of agricultural BB plumes using observations from the NOAA WP-3D aircraft during the 2013 Southeast Nexus (SENEX) campaign. We use these observations in conjunction with detailed chemical box modeling to investigate the formation and fate of oxidants (NO<SUB>3</SUB>, N<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>5</SUB>, O<SUB>3</SUB>, and OH) and BB volatile organic compounds (BBVOCs), using emissions representative of agricultural burns (rice straw) and western wildfires (ponderosa pine). Field observations suggest NO<SUB>3</SUB> production was approximately 1 ppbv hr<SUP>-1</SUP>, while NO<SUB>3</SUB> and N<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>5</SUB> were at or below 3 pptv, indicating rapid NO<SUB>3</SUB>/N<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>5</SUB> reactivity. Model analysis shows that >99% of NO<SUB>3</SUB>/N<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>5</SUB> loss is due to BBVOC + NO<SUB>3</SUB> reactions rather than aerosol uptake of N<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>5</SUB>. Nighttime BBVOC oxidation for rice straw and ponderosa pine fires is dominated by NO<SUB>3</SUB> (72, 53%, respectively) but O<SUB>3</SUB> oxidation is significant (25, 43%), leading to roughly 55% overnight depletion of the most reactive BBVOCs and NO<SUB>2</SUB>.</P> [FIG OMISSION]</BR>

Fluorescence energy transfer-labeled primers for high-performance forensic DNA profiling

Yeung, Stephanie H. I.,Seo, Tae Seok,Crouse, Cecelia A.,Greenspoon, Susan A.,Chiesl, Thomas N.,Ban, Jeff D.,Mathies, Richard A. WILEY-VCH Verlag 2008 Electrophoresis Vol.29 No.11

<P>A fluorescence energy transfer (ET) dye-labeled STR typing system (ET 16-plex) is developed for the markers used in the commercial STR typing kit PowerPlex 16, and its performance assessed using a 96-lane microfabricated capillary array electrophoresis (μCAE) system. The ET 16-plex amplicons displayed 1.6–9-fold higher fluorescence intensities compared to those produced using the single-dye (SD)-labeled multiplex kits. The ET multiplex delivered full STR profiles from 62.5 pg of DNA; half the input required for the SD kits while maintaining a similar heterozygote allele balance. This increased sensitivity should improve typing of poor-quality DNA samples by making minor or imbalanced alleles more readily detectable at the low copy number (LCN) threshold. The ET 16-plex also generated complete profiles with only 28 PCR cycles; this capability should improve LCN typing by reducing the amplification time and drop-in allele incidence. To confirm the practical advantages of ET-labeled primers, six previously problematic casework samples were tested and only the ET 16-plex kit was able to capture additional allele data. The successful development and demonstration of ET primers for higher sensitivity STR typing offers a simple solution to improving current commercial multiplex typing capability. The superior spectral properties and universal compatibility with any primer sequence provided by ET cassettes will make future multiplex construction more facile and straightforward. The pairing of ET cassette technology with the μCAE system illustrates not only an enhanced STR typing platform, but a significant step toward a higher-efficiency forensic laboratory enabled by better chemistry and microfluidics.</P>