There has been a significant transformation in the treatment of intracranial aneurysms (IAs) over the past century, with the most pivotal changes occurring in the past three decades. To characterize this evolution, we assessed the number of articles published on various procedures for the treatment of IA as a measure of their interest and usage over time. We separated our analysis into two main areas: surgical and endovascular approaches. We further subdivided these two main categories into clipping and bypass for surgery, and coiling, flow diversion, and liquid material embolization for endovascular approaches. We found 5956 publications on open surgical approaches in the 70-year period from 1947 to 2017, with papers on clipping (n = 4204), being the most common. We found 8602 endovascular publications beginning in 1964, with most of the activity taking place in the late 1990s and beyond. Coiling had the most publications of the endovascular approaches (n = 5436). In 1999, the number of annual publications on endovascular treatments surpassed those of open surgery, signaling a crossover point in the IA literature. The same trend continues to this date.

Growth and propagation of fish-infecting microsporidians within cell culture has been more difficult to achieve than for insect- and human-infecting microsporidians. Fish microsporidia tend to elicit xenoma development rather than diffuse growth in vivo, and this process likely increases host specificity. We present evidence that the fish microsporidian, Loma salmonae, has the capacity to develop xenomas within a rainbow trout gill epithelial cell line (RTG-1). Spore numbers increased over a 4 weeks period within cell culture flasks. Xenoma-like structures were observed using phase contrast microscopy, and then confirmed using transmission electron microscopy. Optimization of the L. salmonae-RTG-1 cell model has important implications in elucidating the process of xenoma development induced by microsporidian parasites.

Investigations to determine the electrical contact performance under repeated cycles at low force conditions for carbon-nanotube (CNT) coated surfaces were performed. The surfaces under investigation consisted of multi-walled CNT synthesized on a silicon substrate and coated with a gold film. These planar surfaces were mounted on the tip of a PZT actuator and contacted with a plated Au hemispherical probe. The dynamic applied force used was 1 mN. The contact resistance (Rc ) of these surfaces was investigated with the applied force and with repeated loading cycles performed for stability testing. The surfaces were compared with a reference Au–Au contact under the same experimental conditions. This initial study shows the potential for the application of gold coated CNT surfaces as an interface in low force electrical contact applications.

This study aimed to investigate the psychological characteristics of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS: Holmes et al. 1988). A battery of psychometric instruments comprising the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the Lazarus Ways of Coping (WoC) inventory, was administered to a sample of clinically-defined CFS sufferers (N = 58), to a comparison group of chronic pain (CP) patients (N = 81) and to a group of healthy controls matched for sex and age with the CFS sample (N = 104). Considerable overlap was found between CFS and CP patients at the level of both physical and psychological symptoms. This raises the possibility that CFS sufferers are a sub-population of CP patients. However, while there was some commonality between CFS and CP patients in terms of personality traits, particularly the MMPI ‘neurotic triad’ (hypochondriasis, depression and hysteria), CFS patients showed more deviant personality traits reflecting raised levels on the first MMPI factor, emotionality. Moreover, results were not consistent with the raised emotionality being a reaction to the illness, but rather were consistent with the hypothesis that emotionality is a predisposing factor for CFS. The majority of CFS patients fell within four personality types, each characterized by the two highest MMPI scale scores. One type (N = 20) reported a lack of psychological symptoms or emotional disturbance contrary to the overall trend for the CFS sample. This group conformed to the ICD-10 classification of neurasthenia.