Regional Differences In Response Research Articles

Current Vaccine and Efficacy of COVID-19 in Latin America: Challenges and need for updated public health policy

In Latin America, the COVID-19 pandemic, which initially surged and is now a constant presence, has brought about significant health challenges due to disparities and differences in regional responses. Vaccination is not only a necessity but also a responsibility as the primary tool for prevention. However, its implementation has not been consistent across countries, leading to various challenges such as global demand, initial high costs, infrastructure limitations for distribution, public hesitance, and misinformation. Other issues, like vaccine efficacy in immunocompromised patients and the use of different vaccines, were initially questioned but are now regarded as strategies to protect patients. This region, with its unique traditions, also faces several risk factors including vaccine supply shortages, lack of vaccine manufacturing, overcrowded cities, and an increasing migrant population that adds to the vulnerability of the people, challenging countries to strive for equity in prevention strategies. It is important to address individual strategies in communities to increase vaccine uptake as part of public health policy, and collaboration between countries should be encouraged to reach more people. This review will provide information about the COVID-19 vaccines available in the region, their characteristics and composition, their use across countries, and the reported effectiveness in the general population and among those with weakened immune systems.

Loss and Frontal Striatal Reactivities Characterize Alcohol Use Severity and Rule-Breaking Behavior in Young Adult Drinkers

BackgroundAlcohol misuse is associated with externalizing behaviors, including rule breaking. Studies have implicated altered reward processing in externalizing behaviors and alcohol misuse. Here, we investigated whether reward or punishment reactivity more significantly influenced alcohol use severity and rule-breaking behavior in young adult drinkers. MethodsWe curated data from the Human Connectome Project and identified 181 binge (132 men) and 288 nonbinge (97 men) drinkers performing a gambling task during brain imaging. Alcohol use severity was quantified by the first principal component of principal-component analysis of all drinking measures. We analyzed the imaging data using published routines and evaluated the results at a corrected threshold. We examined the interrelationship between imaging and clinical metrics with mediation and path analyses. ResultsCompared with nonbingers, bingers showed more severe rule-breaking behavior and responded significantly faster during post-loss than during post-win trials. Compared with nonbingers, bingers demonstrated greater inferior/middle frontal gyrus and cerebellum activations in loss-predominating blocks but no differences in regional responses to win-predominating blocks, relative to an interblock baseline. The right caudate body showed loss reactivity that was positively correlated with the rule-breaking score. No regional responses to wins were significantly correlated with the rule-breaking score. Mediation and path analyses demonstrated significant models with inferior/middle frontal gyrus and caudate reactivity to loss interrelating rule breaking and alcohol use severity. ConclusionsPunishment rather than reward reactivity was associated with alcohol use severity and rule breaking in young adults. The findings highlight the roles of negative emotions in psychological models of externalizing behaviors and alcohol misuse.

Clinical trial diversity: An opportunity for improved insight into the determinants of variability in drug response.

Although the number of countries participating in pivotal trials submitted to enable drug registration has nearly doubled over the past 25 years, there has not been a substantial increase in the diversity of clinical trial populations. In parallel, our understanding of factors that influence medicine response and variability has continued to evolve. The notion of intrinsic and extrinsic sources of variability has been embedded into different regulatory guidelines, including the recent guideline on the importance of enhancing the diversity of clinical trial populations.In addition to presenting the clinical and scientific reasons for ensuring that clinical trial populations represent the demographics of patient populations, this overview outlines the efforts of regulatory agencies, patient advocacy groups and clinical researchers to attain this goal through strategies to meet representation in recruitment targets and broaden eligibility criteria. Despite these efforts, challenges to participation in clinical trials remain, and certain groups continue to be underrepresented in development programmes. These challenges are amplified when the representativeness of specific groups may vary across countries and regions in a global clinical programme.Whilst enhanced trial diversity is a critical step towards ensuring that results will be representative of patient populations, a concerted effort is required to characterise further the factors influencing interindividual and regional differences in response for global populations. Quantitative clinical pharmacology principles should be applied to allow extrapolation of data across groups or regions as well as provide insight into the effect of patient‐specific characteristics on a medicine's dose rationale and efficacy and safety profiles.

A ferret brain slice model of oxygen-glucose deprivation captures regional responses to perinatal injury and treatment associated with specific microglial phenotypes.

Organotypic brain slice models are an ideal technological platform to investigate therapeutic options for hypoxic‐ischemic (HI) brain injury, a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in neonates. The brain exhibits regional differences in the response to HI injury in vivo. This can be modeled using organotypic brain slices, which maintain three‐dimensional regional structures and reflect the regional differences in injury response. Here, we developed an organotypic whole hemisphere (OWH) slice culture model of HI injury using the gyrencephalic ferret brain at a developmental stage equivalent to a full‐term human infant in order to better probe region‐specific cellular responses to injury. Each slice encompassed the cortex, corpus callosum, subcortical white matter, hippocampus, basal ganglia, and thalamus. Regional responses to treatment with either erythropoietin (Epo) or the ketone body acetoacetate (AcAc) were highly heterogenous. While both treatments suppressed global injury responses and oxidative stress, significant neuroprotection was only seen in a subset of regions, with others displaying no response or potential exacerbation of injury. Similar regional heterogeneity was seen in the morphology and response of microglia to injury and treatment, which mirrored those seen after injury in vivo. Within each region, machine‐learning‐based classification of microglia morphological shifts in response to injury predicted the neuroprotective response to each therapy, with different morphologies associated with different treatment responses. This suggests that the ferret OWH slice culture model provides a platform for examining regional responses to injury in the gyrencephalic brain, as well as for screening combinations of therapeutics to provide global neuroprotection after injury.

The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Hip and Knee Arthroplasty Patients in the United States: A Multicenter Update to the Previous Survey.

BackgroundIn March 2020, elective total hip and knee arthroplasty (THA and TKA) were suspended across the United States in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We had previously published the results of a survey to the affected patients from 6 institutions. We now present the results of a larger distribution of this survey, through May and June 2020, to electively scheduled patients representing different regions of the United States.MethodsFifteen centers identified through the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons Research Committee participated in a survey study of THA and TKA patients. Patients scheduled for primary elective THA or TKA but canceled due to the COVID-19 elective surgery stoppage (3/2020-5/2020) were included in the study. Descriptive statistics along with subgroup analysis with Wilcoxon rank were performed.ResultsIn total, surveys were distributed to 2135 patients and completed by 848 patients (40%) from 15 institutions. Most patients (728/848, 86%) had their surgery postponed or canceled by the surgeon or hospital. Unknown length of surgical delay remained the highest source of anxiety among survey participants. Male patients were more likely to be willing to proceed with surgery in spite of COVID-19. There were minimal regional differences in responses. Only 61 patients (7%) stated they will continue to delay surgery for fear of contracting COVID-19 while in the hospital.ConclusionSimilar to the previous study, the most anxiety-provoking thought was the uncertainty, over if and when the canceled joint replacement surgery could be rescheduled. Patients suffering from the daily pain of hip and knee arthritis who have been scheduled for elective arthroplasty remain eager to have their operation as soon as elective surgery is allowed to resume.

Regional sensitivities of air quality and human health impacts to aviation emissions

Emissions from civil aviation degrade air quality, and have been estimated to lead to ∼16 000 premature deaths annually. Previous studies have indicated that aviation emissions in different regions have varying corresponding air quality and human health impacts. Given the global nature of aviation activity and its forecasted regionally heterogeneous growth, this phenomenon poses challenges in aviation air quality decision making. In this study, we quantify the differences in the regional air quality responses to aviation emissions, and analyze their drivers. Specifically, we use the GEOS-Chem atmospheric chemistry-transport model to quantify the regional fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone sensitivity to aviation emissions over Asia, Europe, and North America for 2005. Simulations with perturbed regional aviation emissions are used to isolate health impacts of increases in aviation emissions originating from and occurring in different regions. Health impacts are evaluated as premature mortality attributed to both landing and takeoff and cruise emissions. We find that the sensitivity of PM2.5 global population exposure to full-flight emissions over Europe is 57% and 65% higher than those to emissions over Asia and North America, respectively. Additionally, the sensitivity of ozone global population exposure to aviation emissions over Europe is larger than to emissions over Asia (32%) and North America (36%). As a result, a unit of fuel burn mass over Europe results in 45% and 50% higher global health impacts than a unit of fuel burn mass over Asia and North America, respectively. Overall, we find that 73% and 88% of health impacts from aviation emissions over Europe and North America, respectively, occur outside the region of emission. These results suggest that inter-regional effects and differences in regional response to emissions should be taken into account when considering policies to mitigate air quality impacts from aviation, given the projected spatially heterogeneous growth in air transportation.

Estimating response distances of lesser prairie‐chickens to anthropogenic features during long‐distance movements

AbstractSpatially distributed populations often rely on large‐scale processes for long‐term population stability. These processes are driven by individuals moving across the landscape through long‐distance dispersal movements. However, as landscapes are continually altered by anthropogenic development, increased fragmentation and avoidance behavior can affect landscape permeability and limit dispersal. Lesser prairie‐chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) are a species of concern that have lost significant portions (>90%) of their historic distribution in the Southern Great Plains of the United States and are currently being impacted by continued anthropogenic development. Using GPS telemetry locations of 346 lesser prairie‐chickens across their entire geographic distribution, we identified 184 different long‐distance movements that drive population connectivity. We used empirical cumulative distribution functions to create a selection–avoidance–neutral curve and estimated the spatial scale of response to anthropogenic features (i.e., towers and windmills, large transmission and smaller distribution powerlines, oil wells, roads, and fences) during these movements. In addition, we tested for behavioral differences between movement types (e.g., exploratory loops vs. long‐distance movements between home ranges) and for regional differences in response among study areas. We found that during long‐distance movements, lesser prairie‐chickens generally avoided all anthropogenic feature types we tested despite some variation in the reported response distance among study areas. However, they avoided the tallest features (i.e., towers and windmills and transmission powerlines) at much greater distances in comparison with the shorter features in our analysis. Our results show that long‐distance movements are likely affected by responses to functional landscape fragmentation through increased development of anthropogenic features in important connectivity zones. As our estimated response distances during long‐distance movements varied in comparison with previously reported response distances during other behavioral states (e.g., breeding or nesting), using long‐distance or dispersal specific movement data may be more appropriate when asking questions related to connectivity across the landscape.

Transient Hypoxia Model Revealed Cerebrovascular Impairment in Anemia Using BOLD MRI and Near-Infrared Spectroscopy.

Obstructive sleep apnea and nocturnal oxygen desaturations, which are prevalent in sickle cell disease (SCD) and chronic anemia disorders, have been linked to risks of stroke and silent cerebral infarcts (SCI). Cerebrovascular response to intermittent desaturations has not been well studied and may identify patients at greatest risk. To investigate the cerebral dynamic response to induced desaturation in SCD patients with and without SCI, chronic anemia, and healthy subjects. Prospective. Twenty-six SCD patients (age = 21 ± 8.2, female 46.2%), including 15 subjects without SCI and nine subjects with SCI, 15 nonsickle anemic patients (age = 22 ± 5.8, female 66.7%), and 31 controls (age = 28 ± 12.3, female 77.4%). 3T, gradient-echo echo-planar imaging. A transient hypoxia challenge of five breaths of 100% nitrogen gas was performed with blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) MRI and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) acquisitions. Hypoxia responses were characterized by desaturation depth, time-to-peak, return-to-baseline half-life, and posthypoxia recovery in the BOLD and NIRS time courses. SCI were documented by T2 fluid-attenuation inversion recovery (FLAIR). Univariate and multivariate regressions were performed between hypoxic parameters and anemia predictors. Voxelwise two-sample t-statistic maps were used to assess the regional difference in hypoxic responses between anemic and control groups. Compared to controls, SCD and chronically anemic patients demonstrated significantly higher desaturation depth (P < 0.01) and shorter return-to-baseline timing response (P < 0.01). Patients having SCI had shorter time-to-peak (P < 0.01), return-to-baseline (P < 0.01), and larger desaturation depth (P < 0.01) in both white matter regions at risk and normal-appearing white matter than patients without infarcts. On multivariate analysis, desaturation depth and timing varied with age, sex, blood flow, white blood cells, and cell-free hemoglobin (r2 = 0.25 for desaturation depth; r2 = 0.18 for time-to-peak; r2 = 0.37 for return-to-baseline). Transient hypoxia revealed global and regional response differences between anemic and healthy subjects. SCI was associated with extensive heterogeneity of desaturation dynamics, consistent with extensive underlying microvascular remodeling.

Double increase in precipitation extremes across China in a 1.5 °C/2.0 °C warmer climate

Paris Agreement's 1.5 °C or 2.0 °C global warming targets call for human concerns on warming climate on human society and environment in general. Here we analyzed spatiotemporal patterns and related impacts of precipitation extremes on human society across China using NEX-GDDP (NASA Earth Exchange Global Daily Downscaled Projections) dataset. We found increasing trends of almost all extreme precipitation indices except consecutive dry duration (CDD). Additional 0.5 °C warmer climate from 1.5 °C to 2.0 °C global warming targets can double increase of extreme precipitation indices. Specifically, the increase of Rx5day (Max 5-day precipitation amount) is from 3.98% to 7.63%, the increase of R95pTOT (precipitation in very wet days) is from 19.41% to 34.42% and the increase of PRCPTOT (annual total wet-day precipitation) is from 3.89% to 8.23%, showing that additional 0.5 °C warmer climate can potentially increase flood risks across China. While, we also found regional differences in responses of extreme precipitation to warming climate. Extreme precipitation in the Qinghai Tibet Plateau, the Western Arid and semiarid zone and in the lower Yangtze River basin is in higher sensitivity to warming climate. Constraint of temperature increase of below 1.5 °C but not 2.0 °C will avoid 4.34% to 73.96% impacts of extreme precipitation on human society. It is particularly important for China since that more than half of territory of China is under exposure to high flood and drought disasters.

Twenty first century changes in Antarctic and Southern Ocean surface climate in CMIP6

AbstractTwo decades into the 21st century there is growing evidence for global impacts of Antarctic and Southern Ocean climate change. Reliable estimates of how the Antarctic climate system would behave under a range of scenarios of future external climate forcing are thus a high priority. Output from new model simulations coordinated as part of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) provides an opportunity for a comprehensive analysis of the latest generation of state‐of‐the‐art climate models following a wider range of experiment types and scenarios than previous CMIP phases. Here the main broad‐scale 21st century Antarctic projections provided by the CMIP6 models are shown across four forcing scenarios: SSP1‐2.6, SSP2‐4.5, SSP3‐7.0 and SSP5‐8.5. End‐of‐century Antarctic surface‐air temperature change across these scenarios (relative to 1995–2014) is 1.3, 2.5, 3.7 and 4.8°C. The corresponding proportional precipitation rate changes are 8, 16, 24 and 31%. In addition to these end‐of‐century changes, an assessment of scenario dependence of pathways of absolute and global‐relative 21st century projections is conducted. Potential differences in regional response are of particular relevance to coastal Antarctica, where, for example, ecosystems and ice shelves are highly sensitive to the timing of crossing of key thresholds in both atmospheric and oceanic conditions. Overall, it is found that the projected changes over coastal Antarctica do not scale linearly with global forcing. We identify two factors that appear to contribute: (a) a stronger global‐relative Southern Ocean warming in stabilisation (SSP2‐4.5) and aggressive mitigation (SSP1‐2.6) scenarios as the Southern Ocean continues to warm and (b) projected recovery of Southern Hemisphere stratospheric ozone and its effect on the mid‐latitude westerlies. The major implication is that over coastal Antarctica, the surface warming by 2100 is stronger relative to the global mean surface warming for the low forcing compared to high forcing future scenarios.

Fast in vivo detection of myocardial norepinephrine levels in the beating porcine heart.

The sympathetic nervous system modulates cardiac function by controlling key parameters such as chronotropy and inotropy. Sympathetic control of ventricular function occurs through extrinsic innervation arising from the stellate ganglia and thoracic sympathetic chain. In the healthy heart, sympathetic release of norepinephrine (NE) results in positive modulation of chronotropy, inotropy, and dromotropy, significantly increasing cardiac output. However, in the setting of myocardial infarction or injury, sympathetic activation persists, contributing to heart failure and increasing the risk of arrhythmias, including sudden cardiac death. Methodologies for detection of norepinephrine in cardiac tissue are limited. Present techniques rely on microdialysis for analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to electrochemical detection (HPLC-ED), radioimmunoassay, or other immunoassays, such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Although significant information about the release and action of norepinephrine has been obtained with these methodologies, they are limited in temporal resolution, require large sample volumes, and provide results with a significant delay after sample collection (hours to weeks). In this study, we report a novel approach for measurement of interstitial cardiac norepinephrine, using minimally invasive, electrode-based, fast-scanning cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) applied in a beating porcine heart. The first multispatial and high temporal resolution, multichannel measurements of NE release in vivo are provided. Our data demonstrate rapid changes in interstitial NE profiles with regional differences in response to coronary ischemia, sympathetic nerve stimulation, and alterations in preload/afterload.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Pharmacological, electrical, or surgical regulation of sympathetic neuronal control can be used to modulate cardiac function and treat arrhythmias. However, present methods for monitoring sympathetic release of norepinephrine in the heart are limited in spatial and temporal resolution. Here, we provide for the first time a methodology and demonstration of practice and rapid measures of individualized regional autonomic neurotransmitter levels in a beating heart. We show dynamic, spatially resolved release profiles under normal and pathological conditions.

P1590 Regional differences in longitudinal strain and response to adenosine stress in patients with myocardial infarction and ST-segment elevation. Results from Extreme trial

Abstract Background Global longitudinal strain (LS) is a sensitive marker of ischemic myocardial damage and predicts adverse left ventricular (LV) remodeling and outcome, independently of infarct size. In healthy subjects, regional LS increases from LV base to apex and enhances under physical or pharmacological stress, while in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), response to dobutamine depends on transmurality of necrosis. It is known that coronary flow reserve during adenosine (ADN) is impaired both in ischemic and remote myocardium, but effect of ADN on strain reserve has never been investigated. Similarly, LS response to ADN in ischemic (iLS) and remote (rLS) myocardium and their relative contribution to LV function and remodeling are still unknown. Methods 61 consecutive patients with first STEMI (26 anterior, 29 inferior, 6 lateral), treated by successful primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) followed by PCI of non-culprit coronary arteries, underwent rest and stress ADN (140 mcg/kg/minutes in 90 seconds) echocardiography at discharge (7 ± 2 days after admission). LV end-diastolic volume indexed for body surface area (EDV), ejection fraction (EF) and wall motion score index (WMSI) were measured at rest, while GLS, iLS and rLS analysis was performed both at rest and during stress. Ischemic and remote myocardium was allocated, by standard LV segmentation, basing on the culprit coronary artery. Results Significant differences existed among anterior, inferior and lateral STEMI in median (iQr) EDV [52 (45-59) vs 45 (36-51) vs 48 (45–56) ml, respectively, p=.034 overall], EF [47 (37-58) vs 58 (53–61) vs 56 (46-60)%, respectively, p=.002 overall], WMSI [1.63 (1.38–2) vs 1.25 (1.19-1.47) vs 1.41 (1.30-1.75), respectively, p=.001 overall]. GLS differed among anterior, inferior and lateral STEMI both at rest [13.75 (11.63-16.1) vs 19.5 (17.15-22.4) vs 17.85 (17.02-19), respectively, p&amp;lt;.001 overall] and during ADN [14 (12.35-16.15) vs 19.5 (17.9–22.05) vs 15.95 (14.40-19.48), respectively, p&amp;lt;.001], but did not change within groups. No differences were found between rest and stress iLS in any group. Similarly, rLS remained unchanged in anterior and inferior STEMI, and impaired after ADN in lateral STEMI [15.90 (11.45-18) at stress vs 16.8 (15.25-19.2) at rest, p=.043]. Inferior STEMI showed better iLS than anterior STEMI both at rest [17 (15.1–19.9) vs 13.75 (11.46-16.92), respectively, p=.001] and during stress [16.2 (15–20.4) vs 14.42 (12.67-15.83), respectively, p=.001]. Conclusions In the subacute phase of STEMI, GLS, iLS and rLS are heterogeneous and depend on infarct site. After ADN, there is no strain reserve in ischemic neither in remote myocardium. This may reflect regional differences in the response of microcirculation and myocardium to ischemia or may underlie pre-existing pathophysiological differences in the coronary circulation

Role of climate model dynamics in estimated climate responses to anthropogenic aerosols

Abstract. Significant discrepancies remain in estimates of climate impacts of anthropogenic aerosols between different general circulation models (GCMs). Here, we demonstrate that eliminating differences in model aerosol or radiative forcing fields results in close agreement in simulated globally averaged temperature and precipitation responses in the studied GCMs. However, it does not erase the differences in regional responses. We carry out experiments of equilibrium climate response to modern-day anthropogenic aerosols using an identical representation of anthropogenic aerosol optical properties and the first indirect effect of aerosols, MACv2-SP (a simple plume implementation of the second version of the Max Planck Institute Aerosol CLimatology), in two independent climate models (NorESM, Norwegian Earth System Model, and ECHAM6). We find consistent global average temperature responses of −0.48 (±0.02) and −0.50 (±0.03) K and precipitation responses of −1.69 (±0.04) % and −1.79 (±0.05) % in NorESM1 and ECHAM6, respectively, compared to modern-day equilibrium climate without anthropogenic aerosols. However, significant differences remain between the two GCMs' regional temperature responses around the Arctic circle and the Equator and precipitation responses in the tropics. The scatter in the simulated globally averaged responses is small in magnitude when compared against literature data from modern GCMs using model intrinsic aerosols but same aerosol emissions −(0.5–1.1) K and −(1.5–3.1) % for temperature and precipitation, respectively). The Pearson correlation of regional temperature (precipitation) response in these literature model experiments with intrinsic aerosols is 0.79 (0.34). The corresponding correlation coefficient for NorESM1 and ECHAM6 runs with identical aerosols is 0.78 (0.41). The lack of improvement in correlation coefficients between models with identical aerosols and models with intrinsic aerosols implies that the spatial distribution of regional climate responses is not improved via homogenizing the aerosol descriptions in the models. Rather, differences in the atmospheric dynamic and snow/sea ice cover responses dominate the differences in regional climate responses. Hence, even if we would have perfect aerosol descriptions inside the global climate models, uncertainty arising from the differences in circulation responses between the models would likely still result in a significant uncertainty in regional climate responses.

Legacies of more frequent drought in ponderosa pine across the western United States.

Despite widespread interest in drought legacies-multiyear impacts of drought on tree growth-the key implication of reported drought legacies remains unaddressed: as impaired growth and slow recovery associated with drought legacies are pervasive across forest ecosystems, what is the impact of more frequent drought conditions? We investigated the assumption that either multiple drought years occurring during a short period (multiyear droughts), or droughts occurring during the recovery period from previous drought (compounded droughts), are detrimental to subsequent growth. There is evidence that drought responses may vary among populations of widespread species, leading us to examine regional differences in responses of the conifer Pinus ponderosa to historic drought frequency in the western United States. More frequent drought conditions incurred additional growth declines and shifts in growth-climate sensitivities in the years following drought relative to single-drought events, with 'triple-droughts' being worse than 'double-droughts'. Notably, prediction skill was not strongly reduced when ignoring compounded droughts, a consequence of the temporally comprehensive formulation of our stochastic antecedent model that accounts for the climatic memory of tree growth. We argue that incorporating drought-induced temporal variability in tree growth sensitivities can aid inference gained from statistical models, where more simplistic models could overestimate the severity of drought legacies. We also found regional differences in response to repeated drought, and suggest plastic post-drought sensitivities and climatic memory may represent beneficial physiological adjustments in interior regions. Within-species variability may thus mediate forest responses to increasing drought frequency under future climate change, but experimental approaches using more species are necessary to improve our understanding of the mechanisms that underlie drought legacy effects on tree growth.

Regional differences in facial skin blood flow responses to thermal stimulation.

The facial skin blood flow (SkBF) shows regional differences in the responses to a given stimulation. The facial SkBFs, especially in the eyelid and nose exhibit unique response to physiological and psychological stimuli, but the mechanisms inducing those regional differences remain unclear. To investigate whether the regional differences in the local control of vasomotion in facial vessels correspond to the regional differences in facial SkBF response, we monitored the relative change of facial SkBF to regional thermal stimulation. We hypothesized that heat stimulation dilates the cutaneous vessels in the eyelid, while cold stimulation constricts those in the nose, which was based on previous findings METHODS: A thermal stimulator was used to apply temperature increase (from 20 to 40°C at 2 °C/min) and decrease (from 40 to 20°C at 2°C/min) in a randomized order to the right eyelid, nose, right cheek, and forehead of 14 healthy young males. The facial SkBF was measured for 10s using laser-speckle flowgraphy when temperatures of 20°C, 30°C, and 40°C had been applied for 30s in both trials. The SkBF in the eyelid did not change significantly during any thermal stimulation, and the nasal SkBF did not decrease significantly during cold stimulation. The SkBFs in the cheek and forehead increased significantly with the applied temperature. These findings indicate that a large regional variation exists in facial skin blood flow response to local heating or cooling and that the regional variation did not correspond to the unique SkBF responses in the previous studies.

Regional Economic Resilience of the Old Industrial Bases in China—A Case Study of Liaoning Province

Regional economic resilience provides a new perspective for explaining regional differences in response to recession shocks. This paper analyzed the regional economic resilience of Liaoning Province in China in terms of its resistance and recoverability dimensions from 1990 to 2015 and explored the determinants of regional economic resilience by constructing a spatial econometric model using panel data. There are three main findings. First, the level of regional economic resilience in Liaoning was low and its urban economy was more vulnerable to external shocks than that of the whole nation. Second, we found that factors such as the local governance arrangement, the regional innovation ability, and the level of economic diversification have significant positive effects on regional economic resilience. Factors such as the proportion of secondary industry and the GDP negatively affect regional economic resilience. Third, regional economic resilience demonstrates a spatial autocorrelation, and the improvement of economic resilience in the surrounding areas will lead to the decline of regional economic resilience.

Regional Differences in Taste Responsiveness: Effect of Stimulus and Tasting Mode

Previous studies have shown that there are differences in taste responses between various regions of the tongue. Most of those studies used a controlled "passive" tasting mode due to the nature of investigation. However, food is rarely tasted in a passive manner. In addition, recent studies have suggested that humans can taste maltooligosaccharides (MOS) and that the gustatory detection of MOS is independent of the known sweet receptor. It is unknown whether regional differences in responsiveness to MOS exist. This study was set up to revisit previous work by investigating the effects of tasting mode ("passive" vs. "active") on regional differences in taste responsiveness to sucrose, monopotassium glutamate (MPG), and quinine, while also investigating potential regional differences in responsiveness to MOS. The stimuli were applied to 1 of 4 target areas, the left and right sides of the front and back of the tongue, using cotton-tipped swabs. In the passive tasting condition, the front of the tongue was found to be more responsive to both sucrose and MOS, but no regional differences were seen for quinine and MPG. In contrast, in the active tasting condition, the back of the tongue was found to be more responsive to quinine and MPG, but no differences were found for sucrose or MOS. These findings indicate that there are regional differences in taste responsiveness between the front and back of the tongue and that regional responsiveness is dependent on stimulus and tasting mode.

Measuring Deformation in the Mouse Optic Nerve Head and Peripapillary Sclera.

PurposeTo develop an ex vivo explant system using multiphoton microscopy and digital volume correlation to measure the full-field deformation response to intraocular pressure (IOP) change in the peripapillary sclera (PPS) and in the optic nerve head (ONH) astrocytic structure.MethodsGreen fluorescent protein (GFP)-glutamate transporter-GLT1 (GLT1/GFP) mouse eyes were explanted and imaged with a laser-scanning microscope under controlled inflation. Images were analyzed for regional strains and changes in astrocytic lamina and PPS shape. Astrocyte volume fraction in seven control GLT1/GFP mice was measured. The level of fluorescence of GFP fluorescent astrocytes was compared with glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) labeled astrocytes using immunohistochemistry.ResultsThe ONH astrocytic structure remained stable during 3 hours in explants. Control strain—globally, in the central one-half or two-thirds of the astrocytic lamina—was significantly greater in the nasal-temporal direction than in the inferior-superior or anterior-posterior directions (each P ≤ 0.03, mixed models). The PPS opening (perimeter) in normal eye explants also became wider nasal-temporally than superior-inferiorly during inflation from 10 to 30 mm Hg (P = 0.0005). After 1 to 3 days of chronic IOP elevation, PPS area was larger than in control eyes (P = 0.035), perimeter elongation was 37% less than controls, and global nasal-temporal strain was significantly less than controls (P = 0.007). Astrocyte orientation was altered by chronic IOP elevation, with processes redirected toward the longitudinal axis of the optic nerve.ConclusionsThe explant inflation test measures the strain response of the mouse ONH to applied IOP. Initial studies indicate regional differences in response to both acute and chronic IOP elevation within the ONH region.

Regional analysis of groundwater droughts using hydrograph classification

Abstract. Groundwater drought is a spatially and temporally variable phenomenon. Here we describe the development of a method to regionally analyse and quantify groundwater drought. The method uses a cluster analysis technique (non-hierarchical k-means) to classify standardised groundwater level hydrographs (the standardised groundwater level index, SGI) prior to analysis of their groundwater drought characteristics, and has been tested using 74 groundwater level time series from Lincolnshire, UK. Using the test data set, six clusters of hydrographs have been identified. For each cluster a correlation can be established between the mean SGI and a mean standardised precipitation index (SPI), where each cluster is associated with a different SPI accumulation period. Based on a comparison of SPI time series for each cluster and for the study area as a whole, it is inferred that the clusters are independent of the driving meteorology and are primarily a function of catchment and hydrogeological factors. This inference is supported by the observation that the majority of sites in each cluster are associated with one of the principal aquifers in the study region. The groundwater drought characteristics of the three largest clusters, which constitute ~ 80 % of the sites, have been analysed. There are differences in the distributions of drought duration, magnitude and intensity of groundwater drought events between the three clusters as a function of autocorrelation of the mean SGI time series for each cluster. In addition, there are differences between the clusters in their response to three major multi-annual droughts that occurred during the analysis period. For example, sites in the cluster with the longest SGI autocorrelation experience the greatest-magnitude droughts and are the slowest to recover from major droughts, with groundwater drought conditions typically persisting at least 6 months longer than at sites in the other clusters. Membership of the clusters is shown to be related to unsaturated zone thickness at individual boreholes. This last observation emphasises the importance of catchment and aquifer characteristics as (non-trivial) controls on groundwater drought hydrographs. The method of analysis is flexible and can be adapted to a wide range of hydrogeological settings while enabling a consistent approach to the quantification of regional differences in response of groundwater to meteorological drought.

Our Personal Vaccine Helpers.

The article reports on a study of children's responses to the oral Rotavirus vaccine in Pakistan and the Netherlands, which suggests that regional differences in response could be due to the diversity of microbes in children's intestinal tracts and to the presence of Proteobacteria. According to immunologist Bali Pulendran, proteins called flagellin in Proteobacteria might augment immune cell activity and improve the effectiveness of the Rotavirus vaccine.