Modification of surfaces by chemical transfer printing using chemically patterned stamps.
The preparation of well-defined molecular monolayers and their patterning on the microscale and nanoscale are key aspects of surface science and chemical nanotechnology. In this article, we describe the modification of amine-functionalized surfaces using a new type of contact printing based on chemically patterned, flat PDMS stamps. The stamps have discrete areas with surface-bond tetrafluorophenol (TFP) groups, which allow the attachment of carboxylic acids in the presence of coupling agents such as diisopropylcarbodiimide (DIC). The generated active esters can be reacted by placing the stamps in contact with amine-functionalized surfaces. The process leads to the transfer of acyl residues from the stamp to the substrate and therefore to a covalent attachment. Patterning occurs because of the fact that reaction and transfer take place only in areas with TFP groups present on the stamp surface. Different types of amine-decorated surfaces were successfully modified, and the transfer was visualized by fluorescence microscopy. To the best of our knowledge, the covalent transfer printing (CTP) of an immobilized molecular monolayer from one surface to another surface is unprecedented.


Analgesics in the management of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia: a perspective review.
The objective of this review was to assess the efficacy and tolerability of analgesics in reducing behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) among older adults from published randomized controlled trials (RCTs). A literature search was conducted of PubMed, MEDLINE, SCOPUS, PsycINFO, and Cochrane collaboration databases for RCTs in the English language that evaluated the use of analgesics in reducing the severity of BPSD among older adults. Additionally, references of full-text articles that were included in this review were searched for extra studies. We identified a total of three unique RCTs that evaluated the use of analgesics among individuals with BPSD. One of the identified RCTs resulted in a total of three additional published papers in the literature, resulting in a total of six papers to be included in this review. All three RCTs identified some benefit for the use of analgesics in reducing BPSD. The analgesics appeared to be well tolerated in the included studies. Major study limitations include the use of data exclusively from published RCTs and limiting the search to English language publications. Additionally, we did not utilize statistical methods to evaluate the treatment outcomes including tolerability. In conclusion, available evidence although limited indicates that analgesics may reduce BPSD among some individuals with dementia living in nursing homes and are well tolerated.


Drug allergies.
Allergic drug reactions are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Because it is difficult to identify the culprit drug and the underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms involved in these reactions, a systematic approach should be adopted in the evaluation of drug-allergic patients. Initially, the type of reaction should be determined. It should be realized that not all adverse reactions are allergic in nature. Allergic drug reactions comprise only a small category of adverse reactions in general. Therefore, the physician must determine if the reaction demonstrates features common to immunologic reaction. Subsequently, a detailed history should be obtained and a physical should be performed. Important information includes medication usage, previous drug exposure, current illness, family history of drug allergy and personal history of drug allergy. In managing the drug-allergic patient, the physician may choose to: select an alternative, non-cross-reacting drug if future therapy is needed; premedicate prior to future drug exposure if such regimens have been shown to be effective; or consult an allergist regarding the potential graded challenge or desensitization.


A Unique Case of Progressive Hemi-facial Atrophy Successfully Treated with Methotrexate.
The effects of many dermatologic syndromes are not exclusive to the skin. Disorders commonly involve a complex interplay between multiple organ systems, thus not relying solely on the dermatologist for proper work up, diagnosis, and treatment. Morphea is one such rare disease which involves progressive loss or atrophy of subcutaneous tissue, muscle, and bone with a relatively mysterious etiology. The initial lesion of morphea can be subtle and appear as a pink to red plaque without any additional symptomatology. A biopsy at this early stage is non-specific and will only show the presence of a T cell infiltrate, vascular swelling, and edema. This active or progressive stage will continue for years before "burning out," or halting progression, although still affecting underlying tissues. Many times, the sclerosis becomes severe enough to cause deformity and secondary systemic symptoms. Five general subtypes of morphea exist, including: plaque-type, linear, deep, guttate, and nodular. In this paper, the authors report a case report of a rare subtype of linear morphea called Parry Romberg syndrome, also known as progressive hemi-facial atrophy (PHA). PHA usually involves at least one branch of the trigeminal nerve unilaterally. The authors will emphasize the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to diagnose and treat this disorder while also considering the multiple theories surrounding its pathophysiology.


Numerical taxonomy of some yellow-pigmented bacteria isolated from plants.
Phenetic data on over 60 heterotrophic, Gram-negative, yellow chromogenic bacteria from plant material were collected and analysed using numerical taxonomic methods. Marker strains representing 42 taxa were included in the analyses. At similarity levels of 80% or above, eight distinct clusters were obtained, the first four of which included yellow chromogens. Custer I contained isolates from green healthy leaves of Agrostis tenuis, Festuca rubra, Holcus lanata, Lolium perenne and Poa pratensis, and clusters 2 and 3 consisted of isolates from Holcus lanata seeds and leaves of P. pratensis respectively. Cluster 4 contained seven subgroups and was equated with the family Enterobacteriaceae. Erwinia herbicola strains from a variety of sources formed a homogeneous subgroup, readily distinguishable from authentic strains of E. amylovora, E. carotovora, other representative erwiniae, and from all other enterobacteria studied. These data emphasize the heterogeneous nature of yellow-pigmented bacteria from plants, and support the inclusion of E. herbicola and other Erwinia species in the Enterobacteriaceae.


Pathways and challenges for efficient solar-thermal desalination.
Solar-thermal desalination (STD) is a potentially low-cost, sustainable approach for providing high-quality fresh water in the absence of water and energy infrastructures. Despite recent efforts to advance STD by improving heat-absorbing materials and system designs, the best strategies for maximizing STD performance remain uncertain. To address this problem, we identify three major steps in distillation-based STD: (i) light-to-heat energy conversion, (ii) thermal vapor generation, and (iii) conversion of vapor to water via condensation. Using specific water productivity as a quantitative metric for energy efficiency, we show that efficient recovery of the latent heat of condensation is critical for STD performance enhancement, because solar vapor generation has already been pushed toward its performance limit. We also demonstrate that STD cannot compete with photovoltaic reverse osmosis desalination in energy efficiency. We conclude by emphasizing the importance of factors other than energy efficiency, including cost, ease of maintenance, and applicability to hypersaline waters.


Human amniotic fluid derived mesenchymal stem cells cause an anti-cancer effect on breast cancer cell line in vitro.
Human amniotic fluid stem cells (hAFSCs) have the ability to self-renew, and multipotent differentiation into three germ layer cells. We obtained 5 ml amniotic fluid from ten 16-20 week pregnant women undergoing amniocentesis. hAFSCs were isolated from all samples, co-cultured with T47D breast cancer cell line and characterized using flow cytometry and RT-PCR. After 3, 4 and 5 days, T47D and HSFCs viability were evaluated with MTT assay. After 5 days of co-culture T47D cells viability were decreased. Our findings showed that hAFSCs can release soluble factors in cell culture, causing an efficient anticancer effect.


Moderate-intensity, premeal cycling blunts postprandial increases in monocyte cell surface CD18 and CD11a and endothelial microparticles following a high-fat meal in young adults.
High-fat meals promote transient increases in proatherogenic factors, implicating the postprandial state in cardiovascular disease (CVD) progression. Although low-grade inflammation is associated with CVD, little research has assessed postprandial inflammation. Because of its anti-inflammatory properties, premeal exercise may counteract postprandial inflammation. The purpose of this study was to determine postprandial alterations in monocytes and circulating markers of endothelial stress and inflammation following a high-fat meal in young adults with or without premeal cycle exercise. Each subject completed two trials and was randomized to rest or cycle at a moderate intensity prior to eating a high-fat meal. Flow cytometry was used to assess monocyte cell surface receptor expression and concentration of endothelial microparticles (EMP). Plasma cytokines were assessed using Luminex MagPix. Statistical analysis was completed using separate linear mixed models analyses with first-order autoregressive (AR(1)) heterogeneous covariance structure. Significance was set at P ≤ 0.05. Percentage increases in classic monocyte CD11a and CD18 were greater overall in the postprandial period in the meal-only condition compared with the meal + exercise condition (P < 0.05). EMP concentration was 47% greater 3 h after the meal compared with premeal values in the meal-only condition (P < 0.05); no significant increase was observed in the meal + exercise condition. Premeal cycling blunted postprandial increases in EMP and CD11a and CD18. Acute, moderate-intensity exercise may help counteract possibly deleterious postprandial monocyte and endothelial cell activation.


An evolutionary perspective on glutathione transferases inferred from class-theta glutathione transferase cDNA sequences.
We report the cDNA sequence for rat glutathione transferase (GST) subunit 5, which is one of at least three class Theta subunits in this species. This sequence, when compared with that of subunit 12 recently published by Ogura, Nishiyama, Okada, Kajita, Narihata, Watabe, Hiratsuka & Watabe [(1991) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 181, 1294-1300] proves that Theta is a separate multigene class of GST with little amino acid sequence identity with Mu-, Alpha- or Pi-class enzymes. The amino acid sequence identity of class-Theta subunits is highly conserved in rat, the fruitfly Drosophila, maize (Zea mays) and Methylobacterium, which suggests that this family is representative of the ancient progenitor GST gene and originates from the endosymbioses of a purple bacterium leading to the mitochondrion. The high conservation of class Theta brings into prominence that Alpha-, Mu- and Pi-class enzymes, which are not present in plants, derive from a Theta-class gene duplication before the divergence of fungi and animals and, given the binding properties of the Alpha-, Mu- and Pi-classes, suggests a role for these in the evolution of fungi and animals.


Chromium-51 ethylenediaminetetraacetate for estimation of globerular filtration rate.
Renal clearances of inulin and chromium-51 ethylenediaminetetraacetate were compared in sheep. In 41 clearance periods from five animals the mean clearance ratio of the chelate to inulin was 0.95 +/- 0.03 (S.D.). Part of the difference between the two sets of results may have been due to binding of the metal chelate by plasma protein since 1.5 to 2 percent of chromium-51 ethylenediaminetetraacetate in plasma could not be removed by dialysis.


The Limits of Evolutionary Convergence in Sympatry: Reproductive Interference and Historical Constraints Leading to Local Diversity in Warning Traits.
AbstractMutualistic interactions between defended species represent a striking case of evolutionary convergence in sympatry, driven by the increased protection against predators brought by mimicry in warning traits. However, such convergence is often limited: sympatric defended species frequently display different or imperfectly similar warning traits. The phylogenetic distance between sympatric species may indeed prevent evolution toward the exact same signal. Moreover, warning traits are also involved in mate recognition, so trait convergence might result in heterospecific courtship and mating. Here, we develop a mathematical model to investigate the strength and direction of the evolution of warning traits in defended species with different ancestral traits. Specifically, we determine the effect of phenotypic distances between ancestral trait states of sympatric defended species and of the costs of heterospecific sexual interactions on imperfect mimicry and trait divergence. Our analytical results confirm that reproductive interference and historical constraints limit the convergence of warning traits, leading to either complete divergence or imperfect mimicry. Our model reveals that imperfect mimicry evolves only when ancestral trait values differ between species because of historical constraints and highlights the importance of female and predator discrimination in the evolution of such imperfect mimicry. Our study thus provides new predictions on how reproductive interference interacts with historical constraints and may promote the emergence of novel warning traits, enhancing mimetic diversity.


Ct threshold values, a proxy for viral load in community SARS-CoV-2 cases, demonstrate wide variation across populations and over time.
Information on SARS-CoV-2 in representative community surveillance is limited, particularly cycle threshold (Ct) values (a proxy for viral load). We included all positive nose and throat swabs 26 April 2020 to 13 March 2021 from the UK's national COVID-19 Infection Survey, tested by RT-PCR for the N, S, and ORF1ab genes. We investigated predictors of median Ct value using quantile regression. Of 3,312,159 nose and throat swabs, 27,902 (0.83%) were RT-PCR-positive, 10,317 (37%), 11,012 (40%), and 6550 (23%) for 3, 2, or 1 of the N, S, and ORF1ab genes, respectively, with median Ct = 29.2 (~215 copies/ml; IQR Ct = 21.9-32.8, 14-56,400 copies/ml). Independent predictors of lower Cts (i.e. higher viral load) included self-reported symptoms and more genes detected, with at most small effects of sex, ethnicity, and age. Single-gene positives almost invariably had Ct > 30, but Cts varied widely in triple-gene positives, including without symptoms. Population-level Cts changed over time, with declining Ct preceding increasing SARS-CoV-2 positivity. Of 6189 participants with IgG S-antibody tests post-first RT-PCR-positive, 4808 (78%) were ever antibody-positive; Cts were significantly higher in those remaining antibody negative. Marked variation in community SARS-CoV-2 Ct values suggests that they could be a useful epidemiological early-warning indicator. Department of Health and Social Care, National Institutes of Health Research, Huo Family Foundation, Medical Research Council UK; Wellcome Trust.


PET Imaging of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm with 64Cu-Labeled Anti-CD105 Antibody Fab Fragment.
The critical challenge in abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) research is the accurate diagnosis and assessment of AAA progression. Angiogenesis is a pathologic hallmark of AAA, and CD105 is highly expressed on newly formed vessels. Our goal was to use (64)Cu-labeled anti-CD105 antibody Fab fragment for noninvasive assessment of angiogenesis in the aortic wall in a murine model of AAA. Fab fragment of TRC105, a mAb that specifically binds to CD105, was generated by enzymatic papain digestion and conjugated to NOTA (1,4,7-triazacyclononane-1,4,7-triacetic acid) for (64)Cu labeling. The binding affinity/specificity of NOTA-TRC105-Fab was evaluated by flow cytometry and various ex vivo studies. BALB/c mice were anesthetized and treated with calcium phosphate to induce AAA and underwent weekly PET scans using (64)Cu-NOTA-TRC105-Fab. Biodistribution and autoradiography studies were also performed to confirm the accuracy of PET results. NOTA-TRC105-Fab exhibited high purity and specifically bound to CD105 in vitro. Uptake of (64)Cu-NOTA-TRC105-Fab increased from a control level of 3.4 ± 0.1 to 9.5 ± 0.4 percentage injected dose per gram (%ID/g) at 6 h after injection on day 5 and decreased to 7.2 ± 1.4 %ID/g on day 12, which correlated well with biodistribution and autoradiography studies (i.e., much higher tracer uptake in AAA than normal aorta). Of note, enhanced AAA contrast was achieved, due to the minimal background in the abdominal area of mice. Degradation of elastic fibers and highly expressed CD105 were observed in ex vivo studies. (64)Cu-NOTA-TRC105-Fab cleared rapidly through the kidneys, which enabled noninvasive PET imaging of the aorta with enhanced contrast and showed increased angiogenesis (CD105 expression) during AAA. (64)Cu-NOTA-TRC105-Fab PET may potentially be used for future diagnosis and prognosis of AAA.


Predicting PTSD using the New York Risk Score with genotype data: potential clinical and research opportunities.
We previously developed a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) screening instrument, ie, the New York PTSD Risk Score (NYPRS), that was effective in predicting PTSD. In the present study, we assessed a version of this risk score that also included genetic information. Utilizing diagnostic testing methods, we hierarchically examined different prediction variables identified in previous NYPRS research, including genetic risk-allele information, to assess lifetime and current PTSD status among a population of trauma-exposed adults. We found that, in predicting lifetime PTSD, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for the Primary Care PTSD Screen alone was 0.865. When we added psychosocial predictors from the original NYPRS to the model, including depression, sleep disturbance, and a measure of health care access, the AUC increased to 0.902, which was a significant improvement (P = 0.0021). When genetic information was added in the form of a count of PTSD risk alleles located within FKBP5, COMT, CHRNA5, and CRHR1 genetic loci (coded 0-6), the AUC increased to 0.920, which was also a significant improvement (P = 0.0178). The results for current PTSD were similar. In the final model for current PTSD with the psychosocial risk factors included, genotype resulted in a prediction weight of 17 for each risk allele present, indicating that a person with six risk alleles or more would receive a PTSD risk score of 17 × 6 = 102, the highest risk score for any of the predictors studied. Genetic information added to the NYPRS helped improve the accuracy of prediction results for a screening instrument that already had high AUC test results. This improvement was achieved by increasing PTSD prediction specificity. Further research validation is advised.


In vivo neurochemical monitoring using benzoyl chloride derivatization and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.
In vivo neurochemical monitoring using microdialysis sampling is important in neuroscience because it allows correlation of neurotransmission with behavior, disease state, and drug concentrations in the intact brain. A significant limitation of current practice is that different assays are utilized for measuring each class of neurotransmitter. We present a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-tandem mass spectrometry method that utilizes benzoyl chloride for determination of the most common low molecular weight neurotransmitters and metabolites. In this method, 17 analytes were separated in 8 min. The limit of detection was 0.03-0.2 nM for monoamine neurotransmitters, 0.05-11 nM for monoamine metabolites, 2-250 nM for amino acids, 0.5 nM for acetylcholine, 2 nM for histamine, and 25 nM for adenosine at sample volume of 5 μL. Relative standard deviation for repeated analysis at concentrations expected in vivo averaged 7% (n = 3). Commercially available (13)C benzoyl chloride was used to generate isotope-labeled internal standards for improved quantification. To demonstrate utility of the method for study of small brain regions, the GABA(A) receptor antagonist bicuculline (50 μM) was infused into a rat ventral tegmental area while recording neurotransmitter concentration locally and in nucleus accumbens, revealing complex GABAergic control over mesolimbic processes. To demonstrate high temporal resolution monitoring, samples were collected every 60 s while neostigmine, an acetylcholine esterase inhibitor, was infused into the medial prefrontal cortex. This experiment revealed selective positive control of acetylcholine over cortical glutamate.


Haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for lymphoma with monosomy of chromosome 6 (loss of heterozygosity in the HLA region)--who should be a donor?
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) from an HLA haploidentical family donor is an option for patients who do not have a full HLA matched donor and lack the time to find an unrelated one [1,2]. Furthermore, it may facilitate a powerful graft versus leukemia/lymphoma (GVL) effect to help combat hematological malignancies by directly targeting the mismatched HLA expressed on leukemia/lymphoma cells [3]. On the contrary, leukemia/lymphoma cells escape from the surveillance of the donor-derived GVL effect by losing the target HLA (mismatched HLA in GVH direction). This mechanism has been called loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in the HLA gene region on chromosome 6 [4,5]. Taking the above into account, in this case report, we present a case of lymphoma with monosomy 6, which means natural LOH of HLA, and suggest that selection of a haploidentical family donor matched with the missing HLA haplotype seems to be very effective.


Retinal blood vessel positional shifts and glaucoma progression.
To determine the characteristics and significance of retinal blood vessel (RBV) positional shifts over time in a cohort of patients with progressive glaucoma. Retrospective cohort study. Baseline and serial stereophotographs from 1 eye of 125 patients with open-angle glaucoma with ≥8 reliable Swedish interactive threshold algorithm standard visual fields (VFs) were included. On the basis of global rates of threshold sensitivity change, patients with glaucoma were divided into groups of minimal (<-0.02 decibels [dB]/year), moderate (-0.02 to -0.65 dB/year), or fast (≥-0.65 dB/year) progression. To determine whether graders' assessments of RBV positional shifts were false-positives, a control group consisting of 33 patients with glaucoma with 2 sets of photographs taken on the same day was included. Masked graders reviewed serial photographs aligned with automated alternation flicker (EyeIC, Narbeth, PA) and assessed them for the presence of any discrete RBV positional shifts (2 graders) and for traditional measures of structural progression (2 graders), including neuroretinal rim loss, parapapillary atrophy progression, and disc hemorrhage (DH). Presence or absence of RBV positional shifts, rates of VF progression, and presence or absence of traditional measures of structural progression. A total of 158 image sets (125 longitudinal and 33 same-day controls) from patients with glaucoma were included. Retinal blood vessel shifts were noted in 33 of 125 (26.4%) longitudinally followed glaucomatous eyes and 2 of 33 (6%) same-day control patients (P = 0.01). Agreement between graders I and II was 90.4% (kappa=0.77; P< 0.001). Eyes with RBV positional change progressed more rapidly than those without (-0.55 vs. -0.29 dB/year; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.03-0.48); P = 0.03). Retinal blood vessel shift was present in 12.1% of minimal progressors versus 31.5% of moderate and fast progressors (P = 0.04). Rate of VF progression was statistically associated with RBV shift (odds ratio [OR], 2.2; 95% CI, 1.1-4.5; P = 0.03). Other variables significantly associated with RBV shift included neuroretinal rim loss (OR, 21.9; 95% CI, 5.7-83.6; P< 0.001) and DH (OR, 4.6; 95% CI, 1.5-15.5; P< 0.01). A multivariable model revealed that rim loss and DH, but not rate of functional change, were significantly associated with RBV shift. Retinal blood vessel positional shifts occurred in eyes with functionally progressive glaucoma, neuroretinal rim loss, and DH. This is a novel clinical finding that could help identify glaucoma progression or individuals at higher risk for future progression.


High-frequency graphene voltage amplifier.
While graphene transistors have proven capable of delivering gigahertz-range cutoff frequencies, applying the devices to RF circuits has been largely hindered by the lack of current saturation in the zero band gap graphene. Herein, the first high-frequency voltage amplifier is demonstrated using large-area chemical vapor deposition grown graphene. The graphene field-effect transistor (GFET) has a 6-finger gate design with gate length of 500 nm. The graphene common-source amplifier exhibits ∼5 dB low frequency gain with the 3 dB bandwidth greater than 6 GHz. This first AC voltage gain demonstration of a GFET is attributed to the clear current saturation in the device, which is enabled by an ultrathin gate dielectric (4 nm HfO(2)) of the embedded gate structures. The device also shows extrinsic transconductance of 1.2 mS/μm at 1 V drain bias, the highest for graphene FETs using large-scale graphene reported to date.


Impact of Cognitive Frailty on Activities of Daily Living, Cognitive Function, and Conversion to Dementia Among Memory Clinic Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment.
Very few studies have investigated the impact of cognitive frailty in clinical settings, especially in memory clinic populations. To examine the impact of cognitive frailty on activities of daily living (ADL), cognitive function, and conversion to dementia among memory clinic patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The subjects of this retrospective study were 248 MCI patients (mean age, 76.3±5.4 years; females, 60.9%). All subjects completed a comprehensive geriatric assessment at baseline and at least one assessment during 3-year follow-up. Frailty was defined by generating a frailty index (FI), and MCI patients with frailty (FI≥0.25) were considered to represent cognitive frailty. As primary outcomes, the Barthel Index, Mini-Mental State Examination, and incident dementia were evaluated during follow-up. At baseline, patients were assessed for apolipoprotein E (APOE) phenotype. A linear mixed model, as well as a Cox proportional hazards regression model with adjustment for confounding variables, was performed. Of these patients, 75 (30.2%) were classified as cognitive frail. APOEɛ4 carriers accounted for 26.7% of those with cognitive frailty and 44.5% of those without (p = 0.008). Cognitive frail patients showed a faster ADL decline (estimate, -1.04; standard error, 0.38; p = 0.007) than patients without cognitive frailty. Cognitive frailty was not associated with cognitive decline and incident dementia. Our findings demonstrated cognitive frailty increases the risk of dependence but not cognitive outcomes. Cognitive frailty may have heterogeneous conditions, including APOEɛ4-related pathologies, which may affect the cognitive trajectories of patients with MCI.


CYCLIN H;1 regulates drought stress responses and blue light-induced stomatal opening by inhibiting reactive oxygen species accumulation in Arabidopsis.
Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) CYCLIN-DEPENDENT KINASE Ds (CDKDs) phosphorylate the C-terminal domain of the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II. Arabidopsis CYCLIN H;1 (CYCH;1) interacts with and activates CDKDs; however, the physiological function of CYCH;1 has not been determined. Here, we report that CYCH;1, which is localized to the nucleus, positively regulates blue light-induced stomatal opening. Reduced-function cych;1 RNA interference (cych;1 RNAi) plants exhibited a drought tolerance phenotype. CYCH;1 is predominantly expressed in guard cells, and its expression was substantially down-regulated by dehydration. Transpiration of intact leaves was reduced in cych;1 RNAi plants compared with the wild-type control in light but not in darkness. CYCH;1 down-regulation impaired blue light-induced stomatal opening but did not affect guard cell development or abscisic acid-mediated stomatal closure. Microarray and real-time polymerase chain reaction analyses indicated that CYCH;1 did not regulate the expression of abscisic acid-responsive genes or light-induced stomatal opening signaling determinants, such as MYB60, MYB61, Hypersensitive to red and blue1, and Protein phosphatase7. CYCH;1 down-regulation induced the expression of redox homeostasis genes, such as LIPOXYGENASE3 (LOX3), LOX4, ARABIDOPSIS GLUTATHIONE PEROXIDASE 7 (ATGPX7), EARLY LIGHT-INDUCIBLE PROTEIN1 (ELIP1), and ELIP2, and increased hydrogen peroxide production in guard cells. Furthermore, loss-of-function mutations in CDKD;2 or CDKD;3 did not affect responsiveness to drought stress, suggesting that CYCH;1 regulates the drought stress response in a CDKD-independent manner. We propose that CYCH;1 regulates blue light-mediated stomatal opening by controlling reactive oxygen species homeostasis.


Nesting behavior of Trypoxylon (Trypargilum) agamemnom Richards (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae).
Nesting behaviour is extremely diversified among solitary nesting sphecids. Thus, the aim of this study was to describe the nesting behaviour of Trypoxylon agamemnon and discuss the advantages of guarding behaviour of males. It was conducted in the Parque Municipal das Araucárias, Guarapuava (PR), Brazil from October/2003 to July/2007. To describe the behaviour of T. agamemnon and construct its ethogram, daily observations were made, totalling 410:19 hours observation. Although the males of T. agamemnon stand guard close to the entrance of the nests, we concluded that this behaviour is not ensuring the protection of nests against parasitoids and that, probably, this behaviour ensures them the paternity, but further studies with microsatellite markers will be necessary to confirm this hypothesis.


Spatial pattern evolution of Aedes aegypti breeding sites in an Argentinean city without a dengue vector control programme.
The main objective of this study was to obtain and analyse the space-time dynamics of Aedes aegypti breeding sites in Clorinda City, Formosa Province, Argentina coupled with landscape analysis using the maximum entropy approach in order to generate a dengue vector niche model. In urban areas, without vector control activities, 12 entomologic (larval) samplings were performed during three years (October 2011 to October 2014). The entomologic surveillance area represented 16,511 houses. Predictive models for Aedes distribution were developed using vector breeding abundance data, density analysis, clustering and geoprocessing techniques coupled with Earth observation satellite data. The spatial analysis showed a vector spatial distribution pattern with clusters of high density in the central region of Clorinda with a well-defined high-risk area in the western part of the city. It also showed a differential temporal behaviour among different areas, which could have implications for risk models and control strategies at the urban scale. The niche model obtained for Ae. aegypti, based on only one year of field data, showed that 85.8% of the distribution of breeding sites is explained by the percentage of water supply (48.2%), urban distribution (33.2%), and the percentage of urban coverage (4.4%). The consequences for the development of control strategies are discussed with reference to the results obtained using distribution maps based on environmental variables.


Scoping review: Language assessment practices for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Australia and guidelines for clinical practice.
Speech pathologists play an important role in differentiating language difference from disorder in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. However, speech pathologists report that they lack culturally appropriate resources and feel under-prepared, which suggests that culturally safe ways of working and available evidence often do not align. The aim of this scoping review was to explore how the language abilities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are being assessed, the ways in which assessments are being adapted and the context in which results are being interpreted within the published literature. The studies were also evaluated for components of cultural safety using the Cultural Formulation model. A comprehensive and systematic search of the literature was undertaken; hand searching was also conducted. To be eligible for inclusion, studies needed to have been conducted in Australia and include receptive and/or expressive language assessment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Combined, the identified studies included 438 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, though only 419 were independent samples. A total of 352 studies were initially identified, 10 of which were retained for this review. Data extraction included participant characteristics, assessment tools and procedures, reported outcomes and factors related to cultural safety according to the Cultural Formulation model. Overall, studies showed that standardised language assessments do not accurately represent the language abilities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. If used, they should be used alongside other non-standardised tasks and/or scoring should be adapted. Considerations for increasing cultural safety when assessing the language abilities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are outlined.


A Robust Method to Estimate the Time Constant of Elastographic Parameters.
Novel viscoelastic and poroelastic elastography techniques rely on the accurate estimation of the temporal behavior of the axial or lateral strains and related parameters. From the temporal curve of the elastographic parameter of interest, the time constant (TC) is estimated using analytical models and curve-fitting techniques such as Levenberg-Marquardt (LM), Nelder-Mead (NM), and trust-region reflective (TR). In this paper, we propose a new technique named variable projection (VP) to estimate accurately and robustly the TC and steady-state value of the elastographic parameter of interest from its temporal curve. As a testing platform, the method is used with a novel analytical model, which can be used for both poroelastic and viscoelastic tissues and in most practical experimental conditions of clinical interest. Finite element and ultrasound simulations and experimental results demonstrate that VP is robust to noise and capable of estimating the TC of the elastographic parameter with accuracy higher than that of typically employed curve-fitting techniques. The results also demonstrate that the performance of VP is not affected by an incorrect initial TC guess. For example, in simulations, VP can estimate the TC of axial strain and effective Poisson's ratio accurately for initial guesses ranging from 0.001 to infinite times of the true TC value even in fairly noisy conditions (30-dB signal to noise ratio). In experiments, VP always estimates the axial strain TC reliably, whereas the LM, NM, and TR methods fail to converge or converge to wrong solutions in most of the cases.


Prevalence of Cognitive Impairment and Its Association With Hearing Loss Among Adults Over 50 Years of Age: Results From a Population-Based Survey in Santiago, Chile.
The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of cognitive impairment and explore its association with hearing loss and other sociodemographic and clinical risk factors, using an objective measurement of hearing levels, in adults over 50 years of age. A population-based survey was completed in Santiago, Chile between December 2019 and March 2020. Participants were screened for cognitive impairment using the Short Chilean Mini-Mental State Examination and hearing levels were assessed with tonal audiometry (hearTest). Data on demographic, socioeconomic, and clinical characteristics were collected. A total of 538 persons completed the assessment. The prevalence of cognitive impairment in the 50+ population was 9.3% (95% confidence interval [CI] [5.8, 14.7]). Cognitive impairment was significantly higher in individuals with any level of hearing loss (odds ratio [OR] = 2.19, 95% CI [1.00, 4.80], adjusted for age, sex, education, socioeconomic position [SEP], and head trauma). Subjects with hearing loss and who reported any use of hearing aids (16% of the sample) had a lower risk of cognitive impairment (OR of nonusers 3.64, 95% CI [1.00, 13.28], adjusted for age, sex, education, SEP, and head trauma). Strategies for addressing cognitive impairment should further explore the integration of early diagnosis of hearing loss and the regular use of hearing aids.


The peaceful mind program: a pilot test of a cognitive-behavioral therapy-based intervention for anxious patients with dementia.
To assess feasibility and to conduct a preliminary evaluation of outcomes following Peaceful Mind, a cognitive-behavioral therapy-based intervention for anxiety in dementia, relative to usual care. Pilot randomized controlled trial including assessments at baseline and 3 and 6 months. Houston, TX. Thirty-two outpatients diagnosed with mild (47%) or moderate (53%) dementia receiving care through outpatient clinics at the Veterans Affairs medical center, Baylor College of Medicine, Harris County Hospital District, and community day centers for dementia, and their collaterals, who spent at least 8 hours a week with them. Peaceful Mind included up to 12 weekly in-home sessions (mean: 8.7, SD: 2.27) during the initial 3 months and up to eight brief telephone sessions (mean: 5.4, SD: 3.17) during months 3-6, involving self-monitoring for anxiety, deep breathing, and optional skills (coping self-statements, behavioral activation, and sleep management). Patients learned skills, and collaterals served as coaches. In usual care, patients received diagnostic feedback, and providers were informed of inclusion status. Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Anxiety subscale, Rating Anxiety in Dementia scale, Penn State Worry Questionnaire-Abbreviated, Geriatric Anxiety Inventory, Geriatric Depression Scale, Quality of Life in Alzheimer disease, Patient Health Questionnaire, and Client Satisfaction Questionnaire. Feasibility was demonstrated with regard to recruitment, attrition, and treatment characteristics. At 3 months, clinicians rated patients receiving Peaceful Mind as less anxious, and patients rated themselves as having higher quality of life; collaterals reported less distress related to loved ones' anxiety. Although significant positive effects were not noted in other outcomes or at 6-month follow-up, the pilot nature of the trial prohibits conclusions about efficacy. Results support that Peaceful Mind is ready for future comparative clinical trials.


Effect of surfactant on the drying patterns of graphite nanofluid droplets.
We investigate the effect of surfactant on the formation of nanoparticle aggregates that resulted from evaporation of sessile nanofluid droplets theoretically and experimentally. A Monte Carlo model is developed to explain the transition from the coffee-ring pattern to the uniform deposition in drying the pinned sessile nanofluid droplets. The model applies the diffusion limited cluster-cluster aggregation approach coupled with the biased random walk of nanoparticles. The experiments show that the addition of surfactant in nanofluids helps the formation of a coffee ring instead of the uniform domain coverage. The simulations suggest an explanation of this transition by controlling the sticking probability parameter between the particles. The simulated results statistically agree with the experimental observation of the finally dried graphite nanoparticle structures from the pinned nanofluid droplets.


Hepatitis A infection during pregnancy.
Many of my patients are from Southeast Asia, where hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection is quite common. What precautions can I suggest my pregnant patients take before traveling to these areas and what is the risk of contracting HAV during pregnancy? Hepatitis A virus is a water-borne pathogen transmitted by the fecal-oral route. To reduce the risk of contracting HAV while traveling to endemic areas, it is important to maintain hygienic practices such as hand washing with safe water, particularly before handling food, avoiding drinking water or using ice cubes of unknown purity, and avoiding eating unpeeled fruits and vegetables. An HAV vaccine is available and can be administered before traveling to endemic countries. Hepatitis A virus infection has a largely favourable expected outcome even during pregnancy. Infection occurring in the second or third trimester has been reported to be associated with preterm labour.


The use of autologous 111In-labelled platelets and scintigraphy to illustrate enhanced platelet activity during erection in the chacma baboon.
The demonstration of thrombelastographic hypercoagulability in the penile blood during erection, and the accompanying deposition of fibrin onto the endothelial layer of the deep penile artery and trabecular surface inspired this investigation of the possible role that platelets might play in the process. The bloodpooling pattern in the penis during and after erection from electro-stimulation was studied in 9 male adult baboons (Papio ursinus) using in vivo 99mTc-labelled red blood cells and scintigraphy. Platelet activity was similarly investigated after administering autologous 111In-labelled platelets to the baboons. The results indicate an enhanced platelet concentration with respect to bloodpooling during erection, and an entrapment of platelets after erection.


Final Priority and Definitions; Demonstration and Training Program: Career Pathways for Individuals With Disabilities. Final priority and definitions.
The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services announces a priority designed to demonstrate promising practices in the use of career pathways to improve employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities. Specifically, this priority will establish model demonstration projects that engage State vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies in partnerships with other entities to develop and use career pathways to help individuals with disabilities eligible for VR services, including youth with disabilities, acquire necessary marketable skills and recognized postsecondary credentials. The Assistant Secretary may use this priority for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2015 and later years.


Structural aspects of RbfA action during small ribosomal subunit assembly.
Ribosome binding factor A (RbfA) is a bacterial cold shock response protein, required for an efficient processing of the 5' end of the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) during assembly of the small (30S) ribosomal subunit. Here we present a crystal structure of Thermus thermophilus (Tth) RbfA and a three-dimensional cryo-electron microscopic (EM) map of the Tth 30S*RbfA complex. RbfA binds to the 30S subunit in a position overlapping the binding sites of the A and P site tRNAs, and RbfA's functionally important C terminus extends toward the 5' end of the 16S rRNA. In the presence of RbfA, a portion of the 16S rRNA encompassing helix 44, which is known to be directly involved in mRNA decoding and tRNA binding, is displaced. These results shed light on the role played by RbfA during maturation of the 30S subunit, and also indicate how RbfA provides cells with a translational advantage under conditions of cold shock.


High resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry allows rapid assessment of iron absorption in infants and children.
Stable isotope absorption studies of iron have been limited by the high cost and limited availability of isotope ratio analysis using thermal ionization MS (TIMS). The development of high-resolution double focusing inductively coupled plasma MS (ICP-MS) may permit more cost-efficient sample analysis due to its high throughput, lower cost, easy sample pretreatment, and greater availability. Our objective was to develop an ICP-MS methodology for the measurement of iron isotope ratios using very small blood volumes. We developed a technique using multiple iron-nickel mixing standard solutions to adjust for nickel interference calibration. RBC samples from human subjects previously given 58Fe and 57Fe were analyzed for iron isotope ratios and compared with our current methodology (TIMS). Reproducibility of iron isotope ratios provided external relative SD < 0.5 and 0.7% (1 SD) for 57Fe/54Fe and 58Fe/54Fe, respectively. Iron isotope ratios from ICP-MS analysis did not differ from those from TIMS based on statistical analyses, nor did the calculated iron absorption values. The mean and SD of iron absorption did not differ when measured by TIMS or ICP-MS. A 2-microL RBC sample was sufficient for ICP-MS iron isotope ratio analysis with an internal relative SD < 0.5% and analytical time < 5 min. This technique may assist groups in increasing their use of stable isotope methods to assess iron absorption in infants and children.


Nasal reconstruction using 20 mg/ml cross-linked hyaluronic acid.
According to American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), 200,924 people had rhinoplasties in 2005. Patients typically have surgical rhinoplasty to correct unsightly noses resulting from trauma, surgery, or heredity. Several alternatives presently exist for patients considering surgical rhinoplasty. These include injections of botulinum toxins to correct the shape of the nasal tip and the use of various fillers to correct contour and profile defects. This article presents a simple and effective alternative using hyaluronic acid for some patients requiring nasal recontouring. The procedure offers patients the opportunity to avoid the risks and expense associated with surgical correction.


Some responses of the electric ray (Torpedo marmorata) to low ambient oxygen tensions.
I. Blood samples were taken during prolonged hypoxia experiments in which the inspired water oxygen tension was less than 10 mmHg. The oxygen tension of the post-branchial blood was about 5 mmHg and its pH shows a significant lowering from normoxic levels. 2. The decrease in blood pH is correlated with increases in levels of lactate and pyruvate. The lactate/pyruvate ratio increases during hypoxia. 3. An increase in blood succinate was also found, and strongly suggests the accumulation of multiple anaerobic end-products within the tissues. 4. Recovery of normoxic levels of succinate takes place almost immediately following the restart of ventilation whereas the decrease in lactate concentration is slower. 5. It is concluded that these adaptations may be related to the habitat of the fish at low tide in pools where the Po2 may fall very markedly.


Resistance training improves muscle strength and functional capacity in multiple sclerosis.
To test the hypothesis that lower extremity progressive resistance training (PRT) can improve muscle strength and functional capacity in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and to evaluate whether the improvements are maintained after the trial. The present study was a 2-arm, 12-week, randomized controlled trial including a poststudy follow-up period of 12 weeks. Thirty-eight moderately impaired patients with MS were randomized to a PRT exercise group (n = 19) or a control group (n = 19). The exercise group completed a biweekly 12-week lower extremity PRT program and was afterward encouraged to continue training. After the trial, the control group completed the PRT intervention. Both groups were tested before and after 12 weeks of the trial and at 24 weeks (follow-up), where isometric muscle strength of the knee extensors (KE MVC) and functional capacity (FS; combined score of 4 tests) were evaluated. KE MVC and FS improved after 12 weeks of PRT in the exercise group (KE MVC: 15.7% [95% confidence interval 4.3-27.0], FS: 21.5% [95% confidence interval 17.0-26.1]; p < 0.05), and the improvements were better than in the control group (p < 0.05). The improvements of KE and FS in the exercise group persisted at follow-up after 24 weeks. Also, the exercise effects were reproduced in the control group during the 12-week posttrial PRT period. Twelve weeks of intense progressive resistance training of the lower extremities leads to improvements of muscle strength and functional capacity in patients with multiple sclerosis, the effects persisting after 12 weeks of self-guided physical activity. The present study provides level III evidence supporting the hypothesis that lower extremity progressive resistance training can improve muscle strength and functional capacity in patients with multiple sclerosis.


Computer-aided detection of lung nodules using outer surface features.
In this study, a computer-aided detection (CAD) system was developed for the detection of lung nodules in computed tomography images. The CAD system consists of four phases, including two-dimensional and three-dimensional preprocessing phases. In the feature extraction phase, four different groups of features are extracted from volume of interests: morphological features, statistical and histogram features, statistical and histogram features of outer surface, and texture features of outer surface. The support vector machine algorithm is optimized using particle swarm optimization for classification. The CAD system provides 97.37% sensitivity, 86.38% selectivity, 88.97% accuracy and 2.7 false positive per scan using three groups of classification features. After the inclusion of outer surface texture features, classification results of the CAD system reaches 98.03% sensitivity, 87.71% selectivity, 90.12% accuracy and 2.45 false positive per scan. Experimental results demonstrate that outer surface texture features of nodule candidates are useful to increase sensitivity and decrease the number of false positives in the detection of lung nodules in computed tomography images.


Nosocomial infections in the medical ICU: a retrospective study highlighting their prevalence, microbiological profile and impact on ICU stay and mortality.
1. To study the prevalence of nosocomial infections in the Medical ICU. 2. To determine common microorganisms causing nosocomial infections in the ICU and their antibiotic- sensitivity profile. 3. To study the impact of nosocomial infections on ICU stay and mortality. A retrospective 1 year analysis of nosocomial infections in the Medical ICU at Smt. Kashibai Navale Medical College and Hospital, Pune, between January and December 2011 was carried out. Prevalence of nosocomial infections was determined; sites of nosocomial infections and common causative microorganisms were identified; their antibiotic-sensitivity profiles were studied. The group of patients with nosocomial infections was matched with a control group drawn from the pool of patients without nosocomial infections; this matching was done with respect to age, gender and clinical diagnosis. Period of ICU stay and patient mortality rates in the two groups were analysed. A total of 366 ICU patient records were analysed. Of these, 32 patients were found-to have developed 35 nosocomial infections (9.6% prevalence), of which respiratory infections were the commonest (65.8%), followed by urinary infections (17.1%) and dual infections (urinary plus respiratory) (17.1%).The most frequently isolated microorganism causing respiratory infections was Acinetobacter (40.4%), 21% isolates of which were multidrug resistant; whereas the most frequently isolated microorganism causing urinary tract infections was Pseudomonas (38.4%). Average ICU stay in patients with and without nosocomial infections was 16.5 and 6.4 days respectively; whereas mortality in the two groups was 28.1% and 31.2% respectively. Overall ICU mortality was 19.9%. The nosocomial infection rate in our ICU was in keeping with the rate in many industrialised countries. The most common site of nosocomial infection was the respiratory tract, followed by the urinary tract. Acinetobacter was the commonest respiratory isolate, whereas Pseudomonas was the commonest urinary isolate. One fourth of Acinetobacter isolates were multidrug resistant. Nosocomial infections resulted in a statistically significant increase in ICU stay; whereas there was no impact on ICU mortality.


Poly L-lactide co-glycolide/β-tricalcium phosphate interference screw fixation for bone-patellar tendon bone anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.
The objective of this study was to prospectively evaluate the clinical effectiveness and radiographic response of a poly (l-lactide co-glycolide)/β-tricalcium phosphate (PlLA/PGA/β-TCP) interference screw used in bone-patellar tendon-bone (BPTB) anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. A prospective, consecutive series of 104 patellar tendon bone-tendon-bone ACL reconstructions fixed with PLLA/PGA/β-TCP biocomposite screws were studied. After receiving the approval from the Institutional Review Board, the following data were collected preoperatively from all patients: physical examination, Lysholm score, Cincinnati, and International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) activity scores, and standard knee radiographs. In addition to these, follow-up assessments included Lachman and pivot-shift tests, Tegner scores, and KT side-to-side differences. Surgical failure was defined by a 2+ Lachman test, positive pivot-shift test, side-to-side KT difference of greater than 5 mm or subsequent ACL revision surgery. Approximately 95% of patients (99 of 104) with an average follow-up of 36 months (range, 24 to 68) are reported. The average age was 30 years (range, 13 to 57 years). Postoperatively, four patients demonstrated +1 Lachman score and one patient demonstrated a +2 Lachman score. Postoperative pivot-shift tests were a trace positive in one patients and +1 in two patients. The average KT side-to-side difference was 0.65 mm. All, but five patients, demonstrated KT side-to-side measurements of 3 mm or less and those five demonstrated measurements of 5 mm or less. No revision reconstructions were performed. Significant improvements in Cincinnati score (41 to 85 postoperative) and Lysholm score (46 to 90) were observed. The average postoperative Tegner score was 7. IKDC activity score increased from 2.3 to 3.1. Approximately 4% of patients (4 of 99) met the criteria for failure. A PLLA/PGA/β-TCP biocomposite interference fixation screw provides good graft fixation, with good radiographic incorporation, without adverse events.The level of evidence of the study is IV.


The iDUDE framework for grayscale image denoising.
We present an extension of the discrete universal denoiser DUDE, specialized for the denoising of grayscale images. The original DUDE is a low-complexity algorithm aimed at recovering discrete sequences corrupted by discrete memoryless noise of known statistical characteristics. It is universal, in the sense of asymptotically achieving, without access to any information on the statistics of the clean sequence, the same performance as the best denoiser that does have access to such information. The DUDE, however, is not effective on grayscale images of practical size. The difficulty lies in the fact that one of the DUDE's key components is the determination of conditional empirical probability distributions of image samples, given the sample values in their neighborhood. When the alphabet is relatively large (as is the case with grayscale images), even for a small-sized neighborhood, the required distributions would be estimated from a large collection of sparse statistics, resulting in poor estimates that would not enable effective denoising. The present work enhances the basic DUDE scheme by incorporating statistical modeling tools that have proven successful in addressing similar issues in lossless image compression. Instantiations of the enhanced framework, which is referred to as iDUDE, are described for examples of additive and nonadditive noise. The resulting denoisers significantly surpass the state of the art in the case of salt and pepper (S&P) and M -ary symmetric noise, and perform well for Gaussian noise.


Prevalence and incidence of hepatitis delta in patients with chronic hepatitis B in Spain.
Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a defective agent that only replicates in the presence of the hepatitis B virus. Accordingly, HDV acquisition may occur as superinfection of HBsAg+ carriers or following acute dual HDV and hepatitis B virus exposure. Herein, we examined the global and incident rates of HDV infections in Spain. The presence of anti-HDV antibody and new HDV superinfections was examined in all HBsAg+ patients who attended one large tertiary outclinic in Spain since year 2000. Anti-HDV antibodies were tested repeatedly every 5 years in those previously negative. During a median follow-up of 12 years, 478 individuals were diagnosed as HBsAg+. Overall, 64.4% were male, median age was 55 years, 88.1% were native Spaniards, 6.5% were coinfected with HIV, and 7.3% were reactive for hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies.A total of 19 (4%) patients had anti-HDV antibody at first diagnosis. There were no further HDV seroconversions. Most anti-HDV+ patients were male (n=12), former injection drug users (n=13), and native Spaniards (n=16). Coinfection with HIV was found in six, and 12 had HCV antibodies. Interestingly, three of seven women with delta hepatitis were foreigners (Asian or African), denied injection drug use, were younger than 40 years old, and negative for both HCV and HIV. The prevalence of chronic hepatitis delta is currently very low (<5%) among chronic HBsAg+ carriers in Spain, with lower rates in recent years. Moreover, new incident HDV infections were not seen in 478 chronic hepatitis B carriers since year 2000, following drastic declines in injection drug use.


On-surface synthesis of nitrogen-doped nanographenes with 5-7 membered rings.
We report on the formation of nitrogen-doped nanographenes containing five- and seven-membered rings by thermally induced cyclodehydrogenation on the Au(111) surface. Using scanning tunneling microscopy and supported by calculations, we investigated the structure of the precursor and targets, as well as of intermediates. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy shows that the electronic properties of the target nanographenes are strongly influenced by the additional formation of non-hexagonal rings.


Shame as a predictor of post-event rumination in social anxiety.
Evidence shows that people with high social anxiety levels ruminate about distressing social events, which contributes to the maintenance of social anxiety symptoms. The present study aimed to explore the role of shame in maintaining post-event rumination (PER) following a negative social event (an impromptu speech with negative feedback) in a student sample (N = 104). Participants reported negative rumination related to the event one day and one week after the speech. PER measured one day after the speech was not associated with social anxiety symptoms and state anxiety. One week later, participants with clinically relevant social anxiety symptoms experienced greater PER. State shame was the only significant predictor of PER in a regression equation that also included social anxiety symptoms, state anxiety and self-evaluation of performance. Possible explanations and implications are discussed in light of cognitive models of social anxiety.


Implementation and evaluation of a biotechnology research experience for African-American high school students.
Exposure to science content and development of excitement for scientific inquiry throughout the high school years are imperative in attracting students into the sciences. The purpose of this article is to report lessons learned and share best practices from the implementation and evaluation of a high school STEM program that aims to provide an authentic research experience for African-American students and expose them to the possibility and benefits of attaining advanced degrees and careers in STEM fields. Participants reported that enriching science experiences improved their college readiness and exposed them to STEM degree and career options. Formative evaluation results lead to the following lessons learned for best practice: 1) Relationships with high schools will facilitate buy-in; 2) Setting clear expectations and assigning responsibilities is essential; 3) Diversity and cultural sensitivity training is necessary; and 4) Programs of this nature need strong evaluation.


Risk factors for back pain among male farmers: analysis of Iowa Farm Family Health and Hazard Surveillance Study.
Back pain causes considerable morbidity, disability, and economic loss among workers. Farmers handle heavy objects, often in awkward postures. However, the prevalence of back pain among farmers and the risk factors associated with back pain are not well known. In this study, we assess the frequency of risk factors for back pain among 287 Iowa male farmers. From 1992 to 1994, using a mail questionnaire, we collected data on potential risk factors for back pain. Eighteen months later, we surveyed occurrence of back pain as the outcome measure. Thirty-one percent of farmers reported having daily back pain for a week or more during the past 12 months compared to 18.5% in the general working population. Using a multiple logistic regression model, we found two factors associated with back pain: 45-59 years of age (OR = 2.13, 95% CI 1.02-4.43) and having a non-agricultural job as the major occupation (OR = 2.02, 95% CI 0.98-4.17, P = 0.055). Farmers had a significantly higher prevalence of back pain than the general working population. Middle-aged farmers and those with additional non-agricultural jobs had the highest risk for back pain.


Studies in cranial suture biology: Part I. Increased immunoreactivity for TGF-beta isoforms (beta 1, beta 2, and beta 3) during rat cranial suture fusion.
The mechanisms involved in normal cranial suture development and fusion as well as the pathophysiology of craniosynostosis, a premature fusion of the cranial sutures, are not well understood. Transforming growth factor-beta isoforms (TGF-beta 1, beta 2, and beta 3) are abundant in bone and stimulate calvarial bone formation when injected locally in vivo. To gain insight into the role of these factors in normal growth and development of cranial sutures and the possible etiology of premature cranial suture fusion, we examined the temporal and spatial expression of TGF-beta isoforms during normal cranial suture development in the rat. In the Sprague-Dawley rat, only the posterior frontal cranial suture undergoes fusion between 12 and 22 days of age, while all other cranial sutures remain patent. Therefore, immunohistochemical analysis of the fusing posterior frontal suture was compared with the patent sagittal suture at multiple time points from the fetus through adult. Whereas the intensity of immunostaining was the same in the posterior frontal and sagittal sutures in the fetal rat, there was increased immunoreactivity for TGF-beta isoforms in the actively fusing posterior frontal suture compared with the patent sagittal suture starting 2 days after birth and continuing until approximately 20 days. There were intensely immunoreactive osteoblasts present during fusion of the posterior frontal suture. In contrast, the patent sagittal suture was only slightly immunoreactive. A differential immunostaining pattern was observed among the TGF-beta isoforms; TGF-beta 2 was the most immunoreactive isoform and was also most strongly associated with osteoblasts adjacent to the dura and the margin of the fusing suture. Since the increased expression of TGF-beta 2 during suture fusion suggested a possible regulatory role, recombinant TGF-beta 2 was added directly to the posterior frontal and sagittal sutures in vivo to determine if suture fusion could be initiated. Exogenously added TGF-beta 2 stimulated fusion of the ectocranial surface of the posterior frontal suture. These data provide evidence for a regulatory role for these growth factors in cranial suture development and fusion. Additionally, the intense immunostaining for TGF-beta 2 in the dura mater underlying the fusing suture supports a role for the dura mater in suture fusion. It is possible that premature or excessive expression of these factors may be involved in the etiopathogenesis of craniosynostosis and that modulation of the growth factor profile at the suture site may have potential therapeutic value.


[Pharmaco-economic efficiency of the treatment of patients with acute vertebrogenic lumbar pain syndrome].
The aim of the study was to evaluate pharmaco-economic efficiency of two therapeutic schemes for the treatment of acute vertebrogenic lumbar pain syndrome. One hundred patients (including 77 women) with this syndrome caused by vertebral osteochondrosis (VO) were examined. Mean age of the patients was 41.00 +/- 8.33, mean duration of exacerbation 6.92 +/- 4.55 days. The majority of the patients had roentgenologic stage II VO. Patients of one group (n=50) were given intramuscular injections of ketorol (1 ml twice daily for 5 days) and diclofenac-retard (100 mg per os twice daily for 10 days). The second group (n=50) received ketorol and nise (100 mg twice daily for 10 days). This treatment was followed by 10 seances of phonophoresis using 1% hydrocortisone ointment. The clinical efficiency of therapy was evaluated based on the visual analog scale and in terms of Lasagne symptom, muscular syndrome index, Schober test, Thomayer's symptom, vertebrogenic syndrome coefficient. Pharmaco-economic analysis included calculation of direct medical care expenses and cost index/efficiency. The efficiency of therapy in group 2 (restoration of lumbar vertebral column mobility and alleviation of pain) was higher than in group 1 while the number of adverse effects was lower and the periods of remission longer. Combined therapy with ketorol and nise per unit efficiency was more expensive but the total cost of the management of one case including all yearly relapses suggested its advantages over the alternative treatment with ketorol and diclofenacin terms of clinical and pharmaco-economic efficiency.


Cervical lateral mass screw-rod fixation: Surgical experience with 2500 consecutive screws, an analytical review, and long-term outcomes.
Posterior lateral mass screw-rod fixation is a common procedure in patients who undergo multilevel cervical spine laminectomy. It has been widely used in the last decade due to its ease of application and better biomechanical stability when compared with other techniques. However, the main risk remains the possibility of violating the spinal nerve root, vertebral artery, and/or facet joint. This study reviews the short- and long-term outcomes of patients who underwent posterior cervical screw-rod stabilisation using the Anderson-Sekhon technique. It investigates the safety and reliability of this technique in one of the largest reported case series. Both clinical and radiological indicators were retrospectively assessed in lateral mass fixation patients who were treated with the Anderson-Sekhon technique for screw insertion and trajectory. The sample included 430 patients with different cervical spine disorders who were treated with a total of 2500 lateral mass polyaxial screws from December 2005 until January 2014. Follow-up period ranged from 4 months to 8 years. No neural or vascular injury occurred. Twelve patients had wound infection, of whom 6 had deep infection. Twenty patients had C5 radicular pain that subsided over time; 2 required C5 screw modification; and another 3 required screw repositioning at different levels. Two patients had asymptomatic screw pull-out evident only on radiographs and required no treatment. Iatrogenic dural tear occurred in 12 patients with severe spondylosis, while CSF leakage from the tear was observed in 3 patients. Symptomatic adjacent segment disease was noted in 4 patients within the follow-up period and was treated with surveillance. Lateral mass screw-rod stabilisation using the Anderson-Sekhon technique can be applied safely and effectively for various cervical spine diseases, resulting in a low complication rate and favourable short- and long-term outcomes.


The relationship between nurse burnout, missed nursing care, and care quality following COVID-19 pandemic.
To determine the relationship between nurse burnout, missed nursing care, and care quality following the COVID-19 pandemic. Quality of care and missed nursing care can be consequences of nurse burnout. Little is known about how these factors related to nurse burnout following the COVID-19 pandemic. This study used a cross-sectional correlational design and was conducted in 12 general hospitals across Thailand from August to October 2022. 394 nurses providing direct nursing care to patients during the COVID-19 pandemic completed the survey. The Emotional Exhaustion (EE) subscale of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS), MISSCARE survey, and quality of care reported by nurses were used to collect data. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression models were used to analyse the data. Approximately thirty-six percent of nurses had burnout following the COVID-19 pandemic. Missed nursing care was higher among nurses with burnout. Most participants reported illness/symptoms such as anxiety, fatigue, a lack of concentration, and sleeping problems. After adjusting for demographic characteristics, every additional unit of emotional exhaustion was associated with 1.61 times higher odds of missed nursing care, 3.37 times higher odds of poor quality of nurse care, and 2.62 times higher odds of poor quality of care for the overall unit. The study findings demonstrate that burnout is associated with missed nursing care and poor quality of care following the COVID-19 pandemic. Policymakers, hospital administrators, and nurse managers should invest in strategies to reduce nurse burnout, which can increase patient safety and quality of care.


MR Elastography demonstrates reduced white matter shear stiffness in early-onset hydrocephalus.
Hydrocephalus that develops early in life is often accompanied by developmental delays, headaches and other neurological deficits, which may be associated with changes in brain shear stiffness. However, noninvasive approaches to measuring stiffness are limited. Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE) of the brain is a relatively new noninvasive imaging method that provides quantitative measures of brain tissue stiffness. Herein, we aimed to use MRE to assess brain stiffness in hydrocephalus patients compared to healthy controls, and to assess its associations with ventricular size, as well as demographic, shunt-related and clinical outcome measures. MRE was collected at two imaging sites in 39 hydrocephalus patients and 33 healthy controls, along with demographic, shunt-related, and clinical outcome measures including headache and quality of life indices. Brain stiffness was quantified for whole brain, global white matter (WM), and lobar WM stiffness. Group differences in brain stiffness between patients and controls were compared using two-sample t-tests and multivariable linear regression to adjust for age, sex, and ventricular volume. Among patients, multivariable linear or logistic regression was used to assess which factors (age, sex, ventricular volume, age at first shunt, number of shunt revisions) were associated with brain stiffness and whether brain stiffness predicts clinical outcomes (quality of life, headache and depression). Brain stiffness was significantly reduced in patients compared to controls, both unadjusted (p ≤ 0.002) and adjusted (p ≤ 0.03) for covariates. Among hydrocephalic patients, lower stiffness was associated with older age in temporal and parietal WM and whole brain (WB) (beta (SE): -7.6 (2.5), p = 0.004; -9.5 (2.2), p = 0.0002; -3.7 (1.8), p = 0.046), being female in global and frontal WM and WB (beta (SE): -75.6 (25.5), p = 0.01; -66.0 (32.4), p = 0.05; -73.2 (25.3), p = 0.01), larger ventricular volume in global, and occipital WM (beta (SE): -11.5 (3.4), p = 0.002; -18.9 (5.4), p = 0.0014). Lower brain stiffness also predicted worse quality of life and a higher likelihood of depression, controlling for all other factors. Brain stiffness is reduced in hydrocephalus patients compared to healthy controls, and is associated with clinically-relevant functional outcome measures. MRE may emerge as a clinically-relevant biomarker to assess the neuropathological effects of hydrocephalus and shunting, and may be useful in evaluating the effects of therapeutic alternatives, or as a supplement, of shunting.


Patent ductus arteriosus: patho-physiology, hemodynamic effects and clinical complications.
During fetal life, patent arterial duct diverts placental oxygenated blood from the pulmonary artery into the aorta by-passing lungs. After birth, decrease of prostacyclins and prostaglandins concentration usually causes arterial duct closure. This process may be delayed, or may even completely fail in preterm infants with arterial duct still remaining patent. If that happens, blood flow by-pass of the systemic circulation through the arterial duct results in pulmonary overflow and systemic hypoperfusion. When pulmonary flow is 50% higher than systemic flow, a hemodynamic "paradox" results, with an increase of left ventricular output without a subsequent increase of systemic output. Cardiac overload support neuro-humoral effects (activation of sympathetic nervous system and renin-angiotensin system) that finally promote heart failure. Moreover, increased pulmonary blood flow can cause vascular congestion and pulmonary edema. However, the most dangerous effect is cerebral under-perfusion due to diastolic reverse-flow and resulting in cerebral hypoxia. At last, blood flow decreases through the abdominal aorta, reducing perfusion of liver, gut and kidneys and may cause hepatic failure, renal insufficiency and necrotizing enterocolitis. Conclusions Large patent arterial duct may cause life-threatening multi-organ effects. In pre-term infant early diagnosis and timely effective treatment are cornerstones in the prevention of cerebral damage and long-term multi-organ failure.


Purkinje cell vulnerability to mild and severe forebrain head trauma.
Pathophysiological changes in the cortex, thalamus, and hippocampus have been implicated as contributors to motor and cognitive deficits in a number of animal models of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Indirect cerebellar injury may contribute to TBI pathophysiology because impairment of motor function and coordination are common consequences of TBI, but are also domains associated with cerebellar function. However, there is a lack of direct evidence to support this claim. Hence, in this study, a dose-response relationship of the cerebellum's susceptibility was determined at four grades of fluid percussion injury (1.5, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 atm) applied in the right lateral cerebral cortex of adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. Evidence suggests primary and secondary injury mechanisms resulting in selective cerebellar Purkinje neuron (PN) loss, whereas interneurons of the molecular layer were spared. The posterior region of the cerebellar vermis displayed significant PN loss (p = 0.001) at 1 day postinjury, whereas the gyrus of the horizontal fissure and gyrus of lobules III and IV exhibited delayed PN loss at higher levels of injury severity. Interestingly, neither terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase biotin-dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) or cleaved caspase-3 colocalized with PNs at any time point or injury severity. Expression of calbindin-28k increased in regions of greatest PN loss, suggesting that the surviving PNs possess higher calcium-buffering capacities, which may account for their survival.


Adapting Stochastic Block Models to Power-Law Degree Distributions.
Stochastic block models (SBMs) have been playing an important role in modeling clusters or community structures of network data. But, it is incapable of handling several complex features ubiquitously exhibited in real-world networks, one of which is the power-law degree characteristic. To this end, we propose a new variant of SBM, termed power-law degree SBM (PLD-SBM), by introducing degree decay variables to explicitly encode the varying degree distribution over all nodes. With an exponential prior, it is proved that PLD-SBM approximately preserves the scale-free feature in real networks. In addition, from the inference of variational E-Step, PLD-SBM is indeed to correct the bias inherited in SBM with the introduced degree decay factors. Furthermore, experiments conducted on both synthetic networks and two real-world datasets including Adolescent Health Data and the political blogs network verify the effectiveness of the proposed model in terms of cluster prediction accuracies.


Interventional psychiatry: why now?
Interventional psychiatry offers substantial therapeutic benefits in some neuropsychiatric disorders and enormous potential in treating others. However, as interventional diagnostics and therapeutics require specialized knowledge and skill foreign to many psychiatrists, the emerging subspecialty of interventional psychiatry must be more formally integrated into the continuum of psychiatric training to ensure both safe application and continued growth. By establishing training paradigms for interventional psychiatry, academic medical centers can help fill this knowledge gap. The cultivation of a properly trained cohort of interventional psychiatrists will better meet the challenges of treatment-resistant psychiatric illness through safe and ethical practice, while facilitating a more informed development and integration of novel neuromodulation techniques.


Impact of devascularization and tissue procurement on cell number and RNA integrity in prostatectomy tissue.
Minimizing the time between tissue devascularization in robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALP) and tissue procurement should produce the highest quality tissue for research study. This study examines the relationship between intra-operative time and two indicators of tissue integrity: number of epithelial cells per gram of tissue and RNA integrity numbers (RINs). The study also compares the RIN values of tissue obtained intra-operatively by biopsy, before and after devascularization, to those from RALP specimen tissue, obtained through the routine research tissue procurement process. Prostate tissues from two series of patients were analyzed. In the first, tissue from 18 patients undergoing RALP was analyzed for number of epithelial cells per gram of tissue. In the second, RIN values of tissue from 46 patients involved in a clinical study were analyzed. RIN values were assessed from RALP specimen tissue as well as tissue removed intra-operatively by biopsy, before and after devascularization. Time from RALP to tissue procurement was not significantly associated with number of epithelial cells per gram of tissue or with RIN values. RINs of biopsy tissue obtained intra-operatively before and after devascularization were similar. However, the RIN values of tissue from RALP specimens were significantly higher than those of biopsy tissue obtained either before or after devascularization. Tissue quality, defined by number of epithelial cells or RIN values, was not affected by time between devascularization and procurement. Obtaining tissue from intra-operative biopsies, either before or after devascularization, is not necessary and actually produced lower RINs than found in tissue from RALP specimens, obtained through the routine research tissue procurement process.


Alteplase and ischaemic stroke: have new reviews of old data helped?
Thrombolysis for stroke is still not widely used as current recommendations restrict treatment to selected patients. In general, these are patients who can be assessed quickly by specialised stroke teams, have intracranial haemorrhage excluded by appropriate brain imaging, and are treated with alteplase (recombinant tissue plasminogen activator; rt-PA) within 3 h of symptom onset. There is, however, still much debate regarding the scope of treatment and the reorganisation of services required to support an effective service. Two recent publications have helped clarify some issues. The first was an individual-patient data meta-analysis of the alteplase trials. These analyses suggest treatment effects beyond the usual 3 h time window, but other than time to treatment no other factors influenced the effects of treatment. The second publication was a reanalysis of the original National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) alteplase trial, done after criticism of the original study. The reanalysis confirmed that there was significant baseline imbalance of stroke severity between treatment and control groups in the NINDS trial, but established that this did not materially affect the positive results of the trial. However, the recording of blood pressure in the study was found to be inconsistent and therefore unsuitable for reanalysis. The previously published data on recommendations for blood-pressure control, arising from the NINDS trial, needs to be reconsidered in this light. Both studies included too few patients to provide reliable data on which clinical and radiological features influence the response to alteplase. WHERE NEXT?: The individual-patient data meta-analysis and reanalysis of the NINDS trial have probably exhausted the potential of previous trials to answer questions on the effects of thrombolysis. Further randomised trials comparing thrombolysis with control will be required to determine whether elderly people benefit from treatment or whether there are worthwhile benefits from alteplase beyond 3 h (and in such patients, whether advanced magnetic resonance imaging is an effective way to select those most likely to benefit). Various new approaches to reperfusion also require assessment in large-scale trials: new thrombolytic drugs, the combination of intravenous and intra-arterial thrombolytic drugs, combinations of thrombolytics with new antiplatelet agents, and augmentation of thrombolysis either with mechanical devices or with transcranial ultrasound.


Effects of acute and long-term exercise on self-efficacy responses in sedentary, middle-aged males and females.
We examined the effects of acute and long-term exercise on perceptions of personal efficacy in sedentary, middle-aged males and females. Both males and females demonstrated significant increases in efficacy following acute exercise. Females, who had demonstrated initially lower self-perceptions than males, made dramatic increases in efficacy during the exercise program, equaling or surpassing those of males. Exploratory analyses revealed significant relationships between self-efficacy and subsequent physiological responses to exercise.


In Vivo Proteome of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Airways of Cystic Fibrosis Patients.
Chronic airway infection with P. aeruginosa (PA) is a hallmark of cystic fibrosis (CF) disease. The mechanisms producing PA persistence in CF therapies remain poorly understood. To gain insight on PA physiology in patient airways and better understand how in vivo bacterial functioning differs from in vitro conditions, we investigated the in vivo proteomes of PA in 35 sputum samples from 11 CF patients. We developed a novel bacterial-enrichment method that relies on differential centrifugation and detergent treatment to enrich for bacteria to improve identification of PA proteome with CF sputum samples. Using two nonredundant peptides as a cutoff, a total of 1304 PA proteins were identified directly from CF sputum samples. The in vivo PA proteomes were compared with the proteomes of ex vivo-grown PA populations from the same patient sample. Label-free quantitation and proteome comparison revealed the in vivo up-regulation of siderophore TonB-dependent receptors, remodeling in central carbon metabolism including glyoxylate cycle and lactate utilization, and alginate overproduction. Knowledge of these in vivo proteome differences or others derived using the presented methodology could lead to future treatment strategies aimed at altering PA physiology in vivo to compromise infectivity or improve antibiotic efficacy.


Stable ensemble performance with single-neuron variability during reaching movements in primates.
Significant variability in firing properties of individual neurons was observed while two monkeys, chronically implanted with multielectrode arrays in frontal and parietal cortical areas, performed a continuous arm movement task. Although the degree of correlation between the firing of single neurons and movement parameters was nonstationary, stable predictions of arm movements could be obtained from the activity of neuronal ensembles. This result adds support to the idea that movement parameters are redundantly encoded in the motor cortex, such that brain networks can achieve the same behavioral goals through different patterns and relative contribution of individual neuron activity. This has important implications for neural prosthetics, suggesting that accurate operation of a brain-machine interface requires recording from large neuronal ensembles to minimize the effect of variability and ensuring stable performance over long periods of time.


Estimation of the rate of egg contamination from Salmonella-infected chickens.
Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (S. Enteritidis) is one of the most prevalent causes for human gastroenteritis and is by far the predominant Salmonella serovar among human cases, followed by Salmonella Typhimurium. Contaminated eggs produced by infected laying hens are thought to be the main source of human infection with S. Enteritidis throughout the world. Although previous studies have looked at the proportion of infected eggs from infected flocks, there is still uncertainty over the rate at which infected birds produce contaminated eggs. The aim of this study was to estimate the rate at which infected birds produce contaminated egg shells and egg contents. Data were collected from two studies, consisting of 15 and 20 flocks, respectively. Faecal and environmental sampling and testing of ovaries/caeca from laying hens were carried out in parallel with (i) for the first study, testing 300 individual eggs, contents and shells together and (ii) for the second study, testing 4000 eggs in pools of six, with shells and contents tested separately. Bayesian methods were used to estimate the within-flock prevalence of infection from the faecal and hen post-mortem data, and this was related to the proportion of positive eggs. Results indicated a linear relationship between the rate of contamination of egg contents and the prevalence of infected chickens, but a nonlinear (quadratic) relationship between infection prevalence and the rate of egg shell contamination, with egg shell contamination occurring at a much higher rate than that of egg contents. There was also a significant difference in the rate of egg contamination between serovars, with S. Enteritidis causing a higher rate of contamination of egg contents and a lower rate of contamination of egg shells compared to non-S. Enteritidis serovars. These results will be useful for risk assessments of human exposure to Salmonella-contaminated eggs.


Effective electrical resistivity in a square array of oriented square inclusions.
The continuing miniaturization of optoelectronic devices, alongside the rise of electromagnetic metamaterials, poses an ongoing challenge to nanofabrication. With the increasing impracticality of quality control at a single-feature (-device) resolution, there is an increasing demand for array-based metrologies, where compliance to specifications can be monitored via signals arising from a multitude of features (devices). To this end, a square grid with quadratic sub-features is amongst the more common designs in nanotechnology (e.g. nanofishnets, nanoholes, nanopyramids, μLED arrays etc). The electrical resistivity of such a quadratic grid may be essential to its functionality; it can also be used to characterize the critical dimensions of the periodic features. While the problem of the effective electrical resistivity ρ eff of a thin sheet with resistivity ρ 1, hosting a doubly-periodic array of oriented square inclusions with resistivity ρ 2, has been treated before (Obnosov 1999 SIAM J. Appl. Math. 59 1267-87), a closed-form solution has been found for only one case, where the inclusion occupies c = 1/4 of the unit cell. Here we combine first-principle approximations, numerical modeling, and mathematical analysis to generalize ρ eff for an arbitrary inclusion size (0 < c < 1). We find that in the range 0.01 ≤ c ≤ 0.99, ρ eff may be approximated (to within <0.3% error with respect to finite element simulations) by: [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] whereby at the limiting cases of c → 0 and c → 1, α approaches asymptotic values of α = 2.039 and α = 1/c - 1, respectively. The applicability of the approximation to considerably more complex structures, such as recursively-nested inclusions and/or nonplanar topologies, is demonstrated and discussed. While certainly not limited to, the theory is examined from within the scope of micro four-point probe (M4PP) metrology, which currently lacks data reduction schemes for periodic materials whose cell is smaller than the typical μm-scale M4PP footprint.


Depression literacy: rates and relation to perceived need and mental health service utilization in a rural American sample.
Mental health literacy assists patients to recognize, manage and prevent emotional disorders such as depression. Depression literacy is a specific type that varies among populations; however, there is a paucity of research on the depression literacy of rural Americans. The purposes of this study were to evaluate the depression literacy of a rural American sample, and to examine the relationship of depression literacy with perceived need for and utilization of different types of services for those with emotional problems. Participants were recruited outside grocery stores in rural towns by consenting to be contacted and providing contact information. They were contacted via telephone to complete a survey of 15 min duration. Depression literacy was measured by assessing participants' ability to correctly label a vignette that depicted depressive symptoms. Demographic data, psychiatric symptoms, perceived need for seeking services (primary care, counselor and religious leader), and lifetime utilization of services (medical, specialty mental health and religious leader) for emotional problems were also assessed in the survey. High depression literacy (i.e., able to correctly label the vignette) was found in 53% of the sample. Men had lower depression literacy than women (35% vs 68%) and this effect remained after controlling for demographic and symptom variables. Multivariable regression analyses revealed that, after including demographic and symptoms variables in the regression equation, depression literacy did not significantly predict perceived need for a doctor, counselor, or religious leader, but depression literacy did significantly predicted utilization of a religious leader (but not a doctor or counselor). The rate of depression literacy in this sample was lower than the rates in other samples, especially among men. The disparity in depression literacy among men in this sample is consistent with the literature. Differences in utilization of a religious leader among those with high depression literacy may be due to differing cultural understandings of depression. Further research is needed to better understand this, and to examine larger and more urban samples. Future directions in rural depression literacy may focus on the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs that rural men have about depression and how this affects help-seeking; and how to design interventions to improve depression literacy in this population.


Evaluating responses of four wetland plant species to different hydroperiods.
Previous work has estimated the hydroperiod requirements (saturation duration and frequency) of wetland plant communities by modeling their hydrologic regimes in natural (never drained) wetlands for a 40-yr period. This study tested the modeled predictions in a controlled greenhouse study using tree species representing three of the plant communities plus an additional species from another community. Bald cypress ( L. Rich.), sweet bay ( L.), pond pine ( Michx.), and swamp chestnut oak ( Nutt.) were grown under three hydroperiods (continuously ponded for 100 d, intermittently ponded for 14 d, and unsaturated) in loamy sand and sapric (organic) materials. Bald cypress (representing a Nonriverine Swamp Forest community) adapted well to 100 d of ponding by producing lateral roots near the soil surface and aerenchyma tissue in roots and stem. Sweet bay (Bay Forest community) also adapted well to 100 d of ponding by producing adventitious roots on the submerged portion of the stem. Pond pine (Pond Pine Woodland) and swamp chestnut oak (Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Forest) were intolerant of 100 d of ponded conditions. Seventy-five percent of the pond pine seedlings and 87% of the swamp chestnut oak seedlings died in the continuously ponded treatment level, whereas 100% of the bald cypress and 88% of the sweet bay seedlings survived. Results from this study suggest that modeled long-term hydroperiods of natural wetland plant communities can be used for restoration of these communities.


The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on vascular surgery practice in the United States.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to widespread postponement and cancelation of elective surgeries in the United States. We designed and administered a global survey to examine the impact of COVID-19 on vascular surgeons. We describe the impact of the pandemic on the practices of vascular surgeons in the United States. The Pandemic Practice, Anxiety, Coping, and Support Survey for Vascular Surgeons is an anonymous cross-sectional survey sponsored by the Society for Vascular Surgery Wellness Task Force disseminated April 14 to 24, 2020. This analysis focuses on pattern changes in vascular surgery practices in the United States including the inpatient setting, ambulatory, and vascular laboratory setting. Specific questions regarding occupational exposure to COVID-19, adequacy of personal protective equipment, elective surgical practice, changes in call schedule, and redeployment to nonvascular surgery duties were also included in the survey. Regional variation was assessed. The survey data were collected using REDCap and analyzed using descriptive statistics. A total of 535 vascular surgeons responded to the survey from 45 states. Most of the respondents were male (73.1%), white (70.7%), practiced in urban settings (81.7%), and in teaching hospitals (66.8%). Almost one-half were in hospitals with more than 400 beds (46.4%). There was no regional variation in the presence of preoperative COVID-19 testing, COVID-19 OR protocols, adherence to national surgical standards, or the availability of personal protective equipment. The overwhelming majority of respondents (91.7%) noted elective surgery cancellation, with the Northeast and Southeast regions having the most case cancellations 94.2% and 95.8%, respectively. The Northeast region reported the highest percentage of operations or procedures on patients with COVID-19, which was either identified at the time of the surgery or later in the hospital course (82.7%). Ambulatory visits were performed via telehealth (81.3%), with 71.1% having restricted hours. More than one-half of office-based laboratories (OBLs) were closed, although there was regional variation with more than 80% in the Midwest being closed. Cases performed in OBLs focused on critical limb ischemia (42.9%) and dialysis access maintenance (39.9%). Call schedules modifications were common, although the number of call days remained the same (45.8%). Vascular surgeons in the United States report substantial impact on their practices during the COVID-19 pandemic, and regional variations are demonstrated, particularly in OBL use, intensive care bed availability, and COVID-19 exposure at work.


Monitoring airborne biotic contaminants in the indoor environment of pig and poultry confinement buildings.
Given the growing concerns over human and animal health issues related to confined animal feeding operations, an in-depth examination is required to monitor for airborne bacteria and associated antibiotic resistance genes. Our 16S rRNA-based pyrosequencing revealed that the airborne microbial community skewed towards a higher abundance of Firmicutes (> 59.2%) and Bacteroidetes (4.2-31.4%) within the confinement buildings, while the office environment was predominated by Proteobacteria (55.2%). Furthermore, bioaerosols in the confinement buildings were sporadically associated with genera of potential pathogens, and these genera were more frequently observed in the bioaerosols of pig and layer hen confinement than the turkey confinement buildings and office environment. High abundances of tetracycline resistance genes (9.55 × 10(2) to 1.69 × 10(6) copies ng(-1) DNA) were also detected in the bioaerosols sampled from confinement buildings. Bacterial lineages present in the poultry bioaerosols clustered apart from those present in the pig bioaerosols and among the different phases of pig production, suggesting that different livestock as well as production phase were associated with a distinct airborne microbial community. By understanding the diversity of biotic contaminants associated with the different confinement buildings, this study facilitates the implementation of better management strategies to minimize potential health impacts on both livestock and humans working in this environment.