Effectiveness of marker training for detection dogs.

Training detection dogs to alert to an odor requires precision in the timing and delivery of stimulus presentations in order to condition a strong association between odor and reward and to train a desired alert behavior that communicates the presence and location of the odor source. Marker training, in which a signal that predicts a reward is used to deliver immediate feedback for a correct response and bridge the delay between the desired behavior and reward, is a popular technique in the animal training industry. However, the application of marker training to detection dog training has not been examined, and empirical evidence of the purported benefits of marker training in general is lacking.

Characterizing massa intermedia morphology in schizophrenia: associations with aging, neuropsychological functioning, and atypical hippocampal development.

The massa intermedia (MI) is a midline structure connecting the left and right thalamus that typically develops during the 2 trimester of pregnancy. Missing and smaller MI has been linked to neurodevelopmental disorders, including schizophrenia (SZ), and subtle deficits in cognition. However, findings are inconsistent and the association between MI and other anatomical variants linked to atypical brain development in SZ, including incomplete hippocampal inversion (IHI), is unclear.

Enhancing utilisation of Hospital in the Home for intravenous diuretic therapy: a retrospective study of barriers and estimated bed substitution in general medicine inpatients with decompensated heart failure.

Background: Ambulatory treatment of decompensated heart failure (HF) with intravenous (IV) furosemide through Hospital in the Home (HITH) is safe, effective and reduces costs.

Aims: We hypothesised that this service was underutilised by general medicine and aimed to examine potential barriers and bed-day utilisation implications.

Methods: In this multi-site, retrospective observational study, we identified general medicine inpatients admitted with heart failure (HF) between November 2021 and October 2022.

Fluorocarbon Minimization Via Semifluorinated Copolymer Films by Combining Spin Coating and Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are ubiquitous in society largely due to their unique surface properties, but significant health concerns associated with these substances underscore the need for PFAS reduction strategies. We report a method to substantially reduce the amount of PFAS, solvent, and time needed to synthesize a low surface energy polymer film through the copolymerization of norbornene (NB) with 5-(perfluoro--alkyl)norbornenes (NBF) in a single process that combines spin coating with ring-opening metathesis polymerization (scROMP). The unique scROMP approach efficiently integrates polymer film synthesis and deposition into one rapid process, converting monomer into polymer films in <2 min with <1 mL of solvent for a 36 cm film.