Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

Tree Physiol 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney NSW, Australia.

Rapid, reliable tools are needed to infer physiological and nutritional health for managing forest systems. Understanding the processes governing tree health is central to the development of these tools. Non-foliar approaches such as the collection of phloem sap reflect processes governing both the use and acquisition of plant water and nutrients at a wide range of temporal (diurnal to seasonal) and spatial (canopy) scales. Read More

Chemosphere 2018 Nov 27;219:409-417. Epub 2018 Nov 27.

Laboratório de Radioisótopos, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Av. Carlos Chagas Filho s/n, Bloco G0, Sala 60, Subsolo, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-902, Brazil.

Our main goal was to investigate the potential accumulation of fluoroquinolones (FQs) in agricultural soils over extended periods of land use, predicting leaching and estimating risk quotients for soil microorganisms. Short to long-term of poultry litter fertilization (<1-30 years) were evaluated for enrofloxacin (ENR) and ciprofloxacin (CIP) input, in addition to the emergence of plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) genes. High FQs concentration (range 0. Read More

J Exp Child Psychol 2018 Dec 11;179:212-226. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Institute of Education, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, 1053 Budapest, Hungary; Department of Language, Literature and Communication, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Faculty of Arts and Education, University of Stavanger, 4036 Stavanger, Norway.

Experiments with film-like story presentations have been found to be beneficial in supporting children's story comprehension and word learning. The main goal of the current study was to disentangle the effects of visual and auditory enhancements in digital books. Participants were 99 typically developing children (41 boys and 58 girls) aged 4-6 years from two public kindergartens in Bursa, Turkey. Read More

Neurobiol Aging 2018 Nov 17;75:54-61. Epub 2018 Nov 17.

School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK. Electronic address:

The anterior thalamic nuclei are important for spatial and episodic memory, however, surprisingly little is known about the status of these nuclei in neurological conditions that present with memory impairments, such as Down syndrome. We quantified neurons and glial cells in the anterior thalamic nuclei of four older patients with Down syndrome. There was a striking reduction in the volume of the anterior thalamic nuclei and this appeared to reflect the loss of approximately 70% of neurons. Read More

Acta Psychol (Amst) 2018 Dec 11;193:1-10. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, USA; Department of Psychology, Gordon College, USA.

Magnitude effects (e.g., heavier or faster is longer) and valence effects (e. Read More

Sci Total Environ 2018 Nov 28;657:498-508. Epub 2018 Nov 28.

Sichuan Climate Centre, Chengdu 610071, China.

The alpine wetlands on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) are ecosystems vulnerable to global climate change. It has been recognized that future climate change may have a significant impact on methane (CH) emissions from the plateau, while less attention has been paid to predicting temporal and spatial variations in CH emissions from TP natural wetlands. In this study, we used an integrated model framework based on the CH4MOD, TOPMODEL and TEM models to predict CH emissions from potential natural wetlands on the TP under IPCC AR5 scenarios from 2006 to 2100. Read More

Water Res 2018 Nov 30;150:358-367. Epub 2018 Nov 30.

School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, No. 19, Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing, 100875, China; Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Bloomberg School of Public Health, The John Hopkins University, 615 North Wolfe Street, MD, 21205, USA. Electronic address:

Silica scaling of reverse osmosis membranes in brackish water desalination is less understood than hardness scaling due to the complex silica behaviors at the membrane/water interface. In this study, -COOH, -SOH, -NH and -OH functional groups were introduced onto polyamide membranes to create distinct surface physicochemical properties. The resulting membranes were further studied under similar scaling conditions to yield temporal flux loss data that were empirically interpreted by a logistic growth model. Read More

Hum Pathol 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Department of Pathology, Seoul National University Hospital and Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Institute of Neuroscience, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Electronic address:

Multinodular and vacuolating neuronal tumor (MVNT) of the cerebrum is a recently recognized rare neuronal tumor, and its pathogenesis is unclear. We analyzed 7 cases of histologically typical MVNT: six were adults [mean age: 43.0years (range: 23-56)] and one was a child (10-year-old). Read More

Annu Rev Clin Psychol 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Department of Clinical, Neuro-, and Developmental Psychology, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands; email:

Psychotherapies may work through techniques that are specific to each therapy or through factors that all therapies have in common. Proponents of the common factors model often point to meta-analyses of comparative outcome studies that show all therapies have comparable effects. However, not all meta-analyses support the common factors model; the included studies often have several methodological problems; and there are alternative explanations for finding comparable outcomes. Read More

J Am Chem Soc 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy is a powerful tool to visualize biomolecules and cellular structures at the nanometer scale. Employing these techniques in living cells has opened up the possibility to study dynamic processes with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. Different physical approaches to super-resolution microscopy have been introduced over the last years. Read More

PLoS One 2018 14;13(12):e0207717. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, United States of America.

We determined the number of permits for oil and gas activities in 14 coastal Louisiana parishes from 1900 to 2017, compared them to land loss on this coast, and estimated their restoration potential. A total of 76,247 oil and gas recovery wells were permitted, of which 35,163 (46%) were on land (as of 2010) and 27,483 of which are officially abandoned. There is a direct spatial and temporal relationship between the number of these permits and land loss, attributable to the above and belowground changes in hydrology resulting from the dredged material levees placed parallel to the canal (spoil banks). Read More

PLoS One 2018 14;13(12):e0209015. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Division of Physical Therapy, College of Health Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, United States of America.

Patellofemoral pain (PFP) is one of the most common overuse injuries of the knee. Previous research has found that individuals with PFP exhibit differences in peak hip kinematics; however, differences in peak knee kinematics, where the pain originates, are difficult to elucidate. To better understand the mechanism behind PFP, we sought to characterize differences in knee gait kinematic waveform patterns in individuals with PFP compared to healthy individuals using fast Fourier transform (FFT). Read More

PLoS One 2018 14;13(12):e0208988. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Department of General Psychology, Justus-Liebig University, Giessen, Germany.

Although the natural haptic perception of textures includes active finger movements, it is unclear how closely perception and movements are linked. Here we investigated this question using oriented textures. Textures that are composed of periodically repeating grooves have a clear orientation defined by the grooves. Read More

PLoS One 2018 14;13(12):e0209382. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Neurorehabilitation Research Center, Kio University, Nara, Japan.

Mechanical and electrical noise stimulation to the body is known to improve the sensorimotor system. This improvement is related to stochastic resonance (SR), a phenomenon described as a "noise benefit" to various sensory and motor systems. The current study investigated the influence of SR on visuomotor temporal integration and hand motor function under delayed visual feedback in healthy young adults. Read More

PLoS One 2018 14;13(12):e0208010. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Canberra, Australia.

Trichodesmium, a filamentous bloom-forming marine cyanobacterium, plays a key role in the biogeochemistry of oligotrophic ocean regions because of the ability to fix nitrogen. Naturally occurring in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), the contribution of Trichodesmium to the nutrient budget may be of the same order as that entering the system via catchment runoff. However, the cyclicity of Trichodesmium in the GBR is poorly understood and sparsely documented because of the lack of sufficient observations. Read More

Chem Rev 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

University of California , San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, BRFII , La Jolla , CA 92093-0702 , United States.

Cellular signaling networks are the foundation which determines the fate and function of cells as they respond to various cues and stimuli. The discovery of fluorescent proteins over 25 years ago enabled the development of a diverse array of genetically encodable fluorescent biosensors that are capable of measuring the spatiotemporal dynamics of signal transduction pathways in live cells. In an effort to encapsulate the breadth over which fluorescent biosensors have expanded, we endeavored to assemble a comprehensive list of published engineered biosensors, and we discuss many of the molecular designs utilized in their development. Read More

Lin Chung Er Bi Yan Hou Tou Jing Wai Ke Za Zhi 2018 Jul;32(14):1097-1101

Children's National Medical Center, Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Key Laboratory for Pediatric Diseases of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Pediatric Research Institute, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing,100045, China.

To summarize the clinical characteristics and clinical treatment of congenital cholesteatoma (CC) of the middle ear in children, provide early diagnosis methods and explore standardized diagnosis and treatment plan.A retrospective chart review of 94 patients with a diagnosis of middle ear cholesteatoma, in Beijing Children's Hospital, between 2009 and 2015 was carried on. 14 patients with CC were identified using the criteria proposed by Levenson, and were divided into two groups according to the course of disease. Read More

Lin Chung Er Bi Yan Hou Tou Jing Wai Ke Za Zhi 2018 Jul;32(14):1082-1085;1090

Department of Radiology, Southern Medical University Nanfang Hospital.

Application of technique of high resolution CT (HRCT) and multipliate plane reconstruction, analyzed the image features of suspicious superior semicircular canal dehiscence (SSCD) to improve the understanding of the SSCD.From January 2016 to April 2017, a total of 230 adult patients who checked temporal bone HRCT were collected in this retrospective study, of which 160 cases (320 ears) of the non-SSCD, 73 cases were male (146 ears), 87 cases were female (174 ears), aged 18 to 70 years old; 70 cases (113 ears) were suspicious diagnosed with SSCD, 33 cases were male (55 ears), 37 cases were female (58 ears), and 18 to 71 years old. The thin section CT scan of the temporal bone translocation was performed on all subjects, then the CT post processing workstation was used for multipliate plane reconstruction (MPR), and the main rows of coronal and oblique sagittal image reconstruction was performed. Read More

Korean J Ophthalmol 2018 Dec;32(6):459-469

Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Purpose: To evaluate changes in the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thicknesses using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) in hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) users.

Methods: The medical records of HCQ users were retrospectively reviewed. In these HCQ users, an automated perimetry, fundus autofluorescence photography, and SD-OCT with peripapillary RNFL thickness measurements were performed. Read More

Risk Anal 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Department of Civil and Urban Engineering, Connected Cities for Smart Mobility towards Accessible and Resilient Transportation (C2SMART) Center, and Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP), New York University, Brooklyn, NY, USA.

The widely used empirical Bayes (EB) and full Bayes (FB) methods for before-after safety assessment are sometimes limited because of the extensive data needs from additional reference sites. To address this issue, this study proposes a novel before-after safety evaluation methodology based on survival analysis and longitudinal data as an alternative to the EB/FB method. A Bayesian survival analysis (SARE) model with a random effect term to address the unobserved heterogeneity across sites is developed. Read More

BJU Int 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Laboratory of Experimental Urology, Department of Development and Regeneration, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.

Objectives: To create a rat model for neurogenic detrusor underactivity (DU) by bilateral pelvic nerve crush injury (BPNI) and to study temporal changes in detrusor contractility and morphology.

Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to BPNI or sham surgery and evaluated 1, 3 and 9 weeks after surgery. Bladder function was determined in vivo by awake cystometry, micturition pattern analysis and 24-hours urine collection. Read More

Brain Behav 2018 Dec 14:e01180. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Department of Neurology, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, China.

Objective: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia characterized by memory loss at disease onset. The gene mutations in the amyloid precursor protein (APP), presenilin 1 (PSEN1), and presenilin 2 (PSEN2) are the frequent causes of AD. However, the clinical and genetic features of AD overlap with other neurodegenerative diseases. Read More

Ecol Appl 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

National Research Council of Italy, Institute for Agriculture and Forestry Systems, in the Mediterranean (CNR-ISAFOM), 87036, Rende, CS, Italy.

The future trajectory of atmospheric CO concentration depends on the development of the terrestrial carbon sink, which in turn is influenced by forest dynamics under changing environmental conditions. An in-depth understanding of model sensitivities and uncertainties in non steady-state conditions is necessary for reliable and robust projections of forest development and under scenarios of global warming and CO -enrichment. Here, we systematically assessed if a bio-geochemical process-based model (3D-CMCC-CNR), which embeds similarities with many other vegetation models, applied in simulating net primary productivity (NPP) and standing woody biomass (SWB), maintained a consistent sensitivity to its 55 input parameters through time, during forest-ageing and -structuring as well as under climate-change scenarios. Read More

Eur J Neurosci 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

School of Optometry, Université de Montréal, CP 6128 succursale centre-ville, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Light increments (brights) and decrements (darks) are differently processed throughout the early visual system. It is well known that a bias towards faster and stronger responses to darks is present in the retina, lateral geniculate nucleus and primary visual cortex. In humans, psychophysical and neurophysiological data indicate that darks are better detected than brights, suggesting that the dark bias found in early visual areas is transmitted across the cortical hierarchy. Read More

Eur J Neurosci 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, Groningen, Netherlands.

Sensorineural hearing loss is often accompanied by difficulties with understanding speech in fluctuating backgrounds, suggesting that neural coding of complex sound features, such as the sound envelope, is impaired. Here, we studied how temporal and rate coding of the envelope is affected in the inferior colliculus immediately after acoustic trauma. Neural activity in response to amplitude-modulated noise was recorded from the inferior colliculus of the guinea pig, before and immediately after a 1-hour 11-kHz acoustic trauma. Read More

Ann Neurol 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Objective: To use digital histology in a large autopsy cohort of Lewy Body Disorder (LBD) patients with dementia to test the hypotheses that co-occurring Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology impacts the anatomic distribution of α-synuclein (SYN) pathology and that co-occurring neocortical tau pathology in LBD associates with worse cognitive performance and occurs in a pattern differing from AD.

Methods: Fifty-five autopsy-confirmed LBD (PDD: 36, DLB:19) patients and 25 AD patients were studied. LBD patients were categorized as having moderate/severe AD co-pathology (SYN+AD=20) or little/no AD co-pathology (SYN-AD=35). Read More

Psychophysiology 2018 Dec 14:e13310. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

EMG Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital Clinic, Facultat de Medicina, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

All sensory stimuli produce transient excitability changes in various central nervous system circuits. One example is prepulse inhibition (PPI), which is the inhibition generated by a preceding weak stimulus (prepulse) over the reflex response to a subsequent suprathreshold stimulus. The PPI is a ubiquitous phenomenon, common to many different sensory modalities. Read More

Laryngoscope 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Petach Tikva, Israel.

Objective: Imaging is important for the diagnosis and follow-up of necrotizing external otitis (NEO). The best imaging modality is controversy. To suggest 2-deoxy-2-[fluorine-18] fluoro-D-glucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG-PET/CT) as an alternative to technetium-99m and gallium-67 scans for diagnosis and assessment of response to treatment for patients with NEO. Read More

Birth Defects Res 2018 Dec 13. Epub 2018 Dec 13.

Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.

Background: Antecedents for infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (IHPS) vary across studies; therefore, we conducted a multistate, population-based retrospective study of the prevalence and descriptive epidemiology of IHPS in the United States (US).

Methods: Data for IHPS cases (n = 29,554) delivered from 1999-2010 and enumerated from 11 US population-based birth defect surveillance programs, along with data for live births (n = 14,707,418) delivered within the same birth period and jurisdictions, were analyzed using Poisson regression to estimate IHPS prevalence per 10,000 live births. Additional data on deliveries from 1999-2005 from seven of these programs were analyzed using multivariable logistic regression to estimate adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR)s and 95% confidence intervals (CI)s for selected infant and parental characteristics. Read More

J Appl Behav Anal 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Hunter College.

Children with autism spectrum disorder are typically taught conditional discriminations using a match-to-sample arrangement. Consideration should be given to the temporal order in which antecedent stimuli (the sample and comparison stimuli) are presented during match-to-sample trials, as various arrangements have been used in the extant literature. The purpose of the current study was to compare the effects of four stimulus presentation orders on the acquisition of auditory-visual conditional discriminations. Read More

Compr Physiol 2018 Dec 13;9(1):439-455. Epub 2018 Dec 13.

Blood Research Institute, BloodCenter of Wisconsin, a part of Versiti, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.

Gene expression is regulated by numerous elements including enhancers, insulators, transcription factors, and architectural proteins. Regions of DNA distal to the transcriptional start site, called enhancers, play a central role in the temporal and tissue-specific regulation of gene expression through RNA polymerase II. The identification of enhancers and other cis regulatory elements has largely been possible due to advances in next generation sequencing technologies. Read More

Biometrics 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Department of Biostatistics, Indiana University Fairbanks School of Public Health Indiana, University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202, USA.

Biological processes are usually defined on timelines that are anchored by specific events. For example, cancer growth is typically measured by the change in tumor size from the time of oncogenesis. In the absence of such anchoring events, longitudinal assessments of the outcome lose their temporal reference. Read More

Plant J 2018 Dec 13. Epub 2018 Dec 13.

Institute for Molecular Plant Science, University of Edinburgh.

Cell-, tissue- or organ-specific inducible expression systems are powerful tools for functional analysis of changes to the pattern, level or timing of gene expression. However, plant researchers lack standardised reagents that promote reproducibility across the community. Here, we report the development and functional testing of a Gateway-based system for quantitatively, spatially and temporally controlling inducible gene expression in Arabidopsis which overcomes several drawbacks of legacy systems. Read More

Scand J Immunol 2018 Dec 13:e12743. Epub 2018 Dec 13.

Sección de Patología Experimental, Departamento de Patología, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubiran, México.

High dose of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) strain H37Rv administered by intratracheal injection in BALB/c mice induce progressive tuberculosis (TB). In this model during the first month there is a temporal control of bacillary growth, in co-existence with macrophage activation, granuloma formation and Th-1 response. Then, bacterial proliferation recommences, accompanied by progressive pneumonia and decreasing expression of protective cytokines (IFN-γ, TNF-α). Read More

Geobiology 2018 Dec 13. Epub 2018 Dec 13.

Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee.

Environmental fluctuations are recorded in a variety of sedimentary archives of lacustrine depositional systems. Geochemical signals recovered from bottom sediments in closed-basin lakes are among the most sensitive paleoenvironmental indicators and are commonly used in reconstructing lake evolution. Microbialites (i. Read More

J Anim Ecol 2018 Nov 22. Epub 2018 Nov 22.

School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK.

Pelagic and benthic systems usually interact, but their dynamics and production rates differ. Such differences influence the distribution, reproductive cycles, growth rates, stability and productivity of the consumers they support. Consumer preferences for, and dependence on, pelagic or benthic production are governed by the availability of these sources of production and consumer life history, distribution, habitat, behavioural ecology, ontogenetic stage and morphology. Read More

J Anim Ecol 2018 Nov 22. Epub 2018 Nov 22.

Departamento de Ecoloxía e Bioloxía Animal, Universidade de Vigo, Vigo, Spain.

Most studies of climate change impacts focus on the effects of summer temperatures, which can immediately impact fitness of breeders, but winter temperatures are expected to have a greater impact on development and growth of animals with long-lasting consequences. Exposure to warmer temperatures can increase cellular oxidative damage in ectotherms. Yet, it is unknown whether thermal stress during early life has prolonged effects on oxidative status during adulthood. Read More

Hum Brain Mapp 2018 Dec 12. Epub 2018 Dec 12.

Psychology Department, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Symbolic arithmetic is a complex, uniquely human ability that is acquired through direct instruction. In contrast, the capacity to mentally add and subtract nonsymbolic quantities such as dot arrays emerges without instruction and can be seen in human infants and nonhuman animals. One possibility is that the mental manipulation of nonsymbolic arrays provides a critical scaffold for developing symbolic arithmetic abilities. Read More

Pediatr Dermatol 2018 Dec 12. Epub 2018 Dec 12.

Dermatology Program, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.

We report a child with a past medical history notable for congenital deafness, palmoplantar keratoderma (PPK), and hypothalamic glioma who initiated a MEK inhibitor trametinib for cancer-directed therapy at 11 years of age and was incidentally noted to have marked improvement in his PPK. Trametinib withdrawal led to worsening in the patient's PPK. We speculate that the patient's PPK improved because of trametinib, given the temporal relationship between trametinib therapy and PPK severity, observed both after introduction and withdrawal of trametinib therapy. Read More

Dev Med Child Neurol 2018 Dec 12. Epub 2018 Dec 12.

Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Aim: Our aim was to characterize the sensory processing outcome following neonatal arterial ischemic stroke (NAIS) and identify neuroanatomical correlates of abnormal sensory processing.

Method: We evaluated children with NAIS longitudinally at 12 months, 18 months, and/or 30 months in areas of cognitive, motor, and language development. We gathered sensory processing data using the Sensory Profile-2 Caregiver Questionnaire. Read More

J Biophotonics 2018 Dec 11:e201800276. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Université de Limoges, XLIM, Limoges, France.

A two-photon fluorescence lifetime (2P-FLIM) microendoscope, capable of energetic metabolism imaging through the intracellular NADH autofluorescence, at sub-cellular resolution, is demonstrated. It exhibits readily usable characteristics such as convenient endoscope probe diameter (≈ 2 mm), fiber length (> 5 m) and data accumulation rate (16 frames per second (fps), leading to a FLIM refreshing rate of ≈ 0.1 to 1 fps depending on the sample) . Read More

Cancer Sci 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Department of Radiation Molecular Epidemiology, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University, 1-12-4 Sakamoto, Nagasaki, 852-8523, Japan.

Thyroid ultrasound screening of young residents in Fukushima prefecture of Japan demonstrated high detection rate of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). Detailed morphological analysis of these tumors was not presented to date. This study sets out to evaluate changes in histopathological and invasive characteristics of Fukushima PTC with time after the nuclear accident of March 2011 in all available cases and in different age subgroups. Read More

Aust Occup Ther J 2018 Dec 11. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Department of Computer Science, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.

Background/aim: Handwriting difficulties can be detrimental to students' performance in school tests and even in public examinations. It is crucial for school-based occupational therapists to identify students with handwriting difficulties and support them with appropriate adaptive strategies. The purpose of this study is to validate a computerised assessment - the Computerised Handwriting Speed Test System (CHSTS) of both Chinese and English handwriting for Chinese secondary students and provide an objective reference for extra time allowance in paper-based examinations. Read More

Environ Sci Technol 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Temporal trends of persistent organic pollutants (POPs: PCBs, OH-PCBs, p,p'-DDE, HCB, β-HCH, oxychlordane, BDE-47 and 153) in relation to changes in feeding habits and body condition in adult female polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from the Barents Sea subpopulation were examined over 20 years (1997-2017). All 306 samples were collected in the spring (April). Both stable isotope values of nitrogen (δ15N) and carbon (δ13C) from red blood cells declined over time, with a steeper trend for δ13C between 2012 and 2017, indicating a decreasing intake of marine and high trophic level prey items. Read More

Phys Chem Chem Phys 2018 Dec 14. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

Department of Chemistry, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA. and Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.

The conformational heterogeneity and dynamics of protein side chains contribute to function, but investigating exactly how is hindered by experimental challenges arising from the fast timescales involved and the spatial heterogeneity of protein structures. The potential of two-dimensional infrared (2D IR) spectroscopy for measuring conformational heterogeneity and dynamics with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution has motivated extensive effort to develop amino acids with functional groups that have frequency-resolved absorptions to serve as probes of their protein microenvironments. We demonstrate the full advantage of the approach by selective incorporation of the probe p-cyanophenylalanine at six distinct sites in a Src homology 3 domain and the application of 2D IR spectroscopy to site-specifically characterize heterogeneity and dynamics and their contribution to cognate ligand binding. Read More

Opt Lett 2018 Dec;43(24):6037-6040

An ultrafast laser based on the coherent beam combination of four ytterbium-doped step-index fiber amplifiers is presented. The system delivers an average power of 3.5 kW and a pulse duration of 430 fs at an 80 MHz repetition rate. Read More

Opt Lett 2018 Dec;43(24):6033-6036

We report a theoretical investigation of quadratic frequency combs in a dispersive second-harmonic generation cavity system. We identify different dynamical regimes and demonstrate that the same system can exhibit both bright and dark localized cavity solitons in the absence of a temporal walk-off. Read More

Opt Lett 2018 Dec;43(24):6001-6004

Photonic microcavity coupling of a subwavelength hole-disk array, a two-element metal/dielectric composite structure with enhanced extraordinary transmission, leads to 100% coupling of incident light to the cavity system and subsequent absorption. This light-funneling process arises from the temporal and spatial coupling of the broadband localized surface plasmon resonance on the coupled hole-disk array and the photonic modes of the optical cavity, which induces spectral narrowing of the perfect absorption of light. A simple nanoimprint lithography-based large-area fabrication process paves the path towards practical implementation of plasmonic cavity-based devices and sensors. Read More

Phys Rev Lett 2018 Nov;121(22):220405

Institut für Laser-Physik and Zentrum für Optische Quantentechnologien, Universität Hamburg, D-22761 Hamburg, Germany.

We demonstrate a light-induced formation of coherence in a cold atomic gas system that utilizes the suppression of a competing density wave (DW) order. The condensed atoms are placed in an optical cavity and pumped by an external optical standing wave, which induces a long-range interaction mediated by photon scattering and a resulting DW order above a critical pump strength. We show that the light-induced temporal modulation of the pump wave can suppress this DW order and restore coherence. Read More