Detection of composite communities in multiplex biological networks.

The detection of community structure is a widely accepted means of investigating the principles governing biological systems. Recent efforts are exploring ways in which multiple data sources can be integrated to generate a more comprehensive model of cellular interactions, leading to the detection of more biologically relevant communities. In this work, we propose a mathematical programming model to cluster multiplex biological networks, i.

Epilepsy services in Ireland: 'A survey of people with epilepsy in relation to satisfaction, preferences and information provision'.

Background: A challenge facing modern health care systems is to develop and implement new models of service that deliver increased capacity while providing a higher-quality, more cost-effective service within resource constraints. Incorporating the experience of people with epilepsy must be seen as central to the effectiveness of service design and delivery. This paper, therefore, reports the views of people with epilepsy with regards to health service delivery in Ireland.

Stroke Survivors' Experiences of Physical Rehabilitation: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies.

Objective: To report and synthesize the perspectives, experiences, and preferences of stroke survivors undertaking inpatient physical rehabilitation through a systematic review of qualitative studies.

Data Sources: MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, and PsycINFO were searched from database inception to February 2014. Reference lists of relevant publications were searched.

Factors influencing independent oral feeding in preterm infants.

Objective: Determine the mean post-menstrual age when preterm infants attain independent oral feeding skills and whether gestational age, common neonatal morbidities, gender, race, delivery route, or birth year affects this reflex.

Methods: A retrospective chart review of 2700 preterm infants, born before 37 weeks gestational age admitted to a level III NICU between January 1978 and July 2013, to determine the post-menstrual age when independent oral feedings occur.

Results: Mean post-menstrual age at achievement of independent oral feeding was 36 + 4/7 weeks ± 14 days.

Improving outcomes from community-acquired pneumonia.

Purpose Of Review: We are entering into a new era of healthcare wherein patient outcomes are increasingly being publicly reported, not just by institution, but by individual clinicians. This review focuses on the issue of quality of care of patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), in particular the choice of outcome, quality of data needed and recommendations of the current bundle of care suggested by the available literature as delivering the best chance of favourable outcomes for patients.

Recent Findings: There is increasing evidence that pneumonia outcomes have improved over the past decade, particularly mortality.

Women, writing, and healing: rhetoric, religion, and illness in An Collins, "Eliza," and Anna Trapnel.

Focusing on An Collins, "Eliza," and Anna Trapnel, this essay considers the interconnections of mind, body, and spirit in the mid-seventeenth century. Given their gender and their era, that the writing of all three serves as a means of expressing religious devotion is not surprising--what may be, however, is the role of illness as both catalyst for and topic of work that is also deeply and consciously rhetorical. Articulating what may be as much illness enabled as it is divinely inspired, their work further suggests a more than merely intuitive sense of language's capacity to heal body as well as soul.

Anti-inflammatory activity of cinnamon (C. zeylanicum and C. cassia) extracts - identification of E-cinnamaldehyde and o-methoxy cinnamaldehyde as the most potent bioactive compounds.

Chronic inflammation is a contributing factor in many age-related diseases. In a previous study, we have shown that Sri Lankan cinnamon (C. zeylanicum) was one of the most potent anti-inflammatory foods out of 115 foods tested.

Reproductive knowledge and patient education needs among Indonesian women infertility patients attending three fertility clinics.

Objective: This study investigated the reproductive knowledge and patient education needs of 212 female Indonesian infertility patients.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from July to September 2011 by married women, 18 to 45 years old, seeking infertility care from clinics in Jakarta, Surabaya and Denpasar. Participants were literate, the sample was highly educated, predominantly urban and primarily middle class or elite.

Utility of the "magnet sign" in the differential diagnosis of a firm papule in the skin.

A symptomatic retained foreign body can be frustrating to physicians and patients alike. Herein we present a case of a retained metal ball bearing from an air gun injury. This brief communication highlights an innovative "bedside" technique that helped to confirm the diagnosis and allow for immediate and definitive management.

Community structure detection for overlapping modules through mathematical programming in protein interaction networks.

Community structure detection has proven to be important in revealing the underlying properties of complex networks. The standard problem, where a partition of disjoint communities is sought, has been continually adapted to offer more realistic models of interactions in these systems. Here, a two-step procedure is outlined for exploring the concept of overlapping communities.

Models for Access to Maternal Smoking cessation Support (MAMSS): a study protocol of a quasi-experiment to increase the engagement of pregnant women who smoke in NHS Stop Smoking Services.

Background: Maternal smoking is a key cause of poor outcomes for mothers, babies and children and Wales has higher rates of smoking in pregnancy than any other UK country. Despite various improvements within the NHS Stop Smoking Service to strengthen the intervention for pregnant women, referrals and successful quit attempts for this group have continued to remain extremely low. A key element of UK national guidance for smoking cessation during pregnancy is to provide a flexible and tailored service to help increase levels of engagement.

In vitro heme and non-heme iron capture from hemoglobin, myoglobin and ferritin by bovine lactoferrin and implications for suppression of reactive oxygen species in vivo.

Lactoferrin (Lf), present in colostrum and milk is a member of the transferrin family of iron-binding glyco-proteins, with stronger binding capacity to ferric iron than hemoglobin, myoglobin or transferrin. Unlike hemoglobin and myoglobin, iron-bound Lf is reasonably stable to gastric and duodenal digestive conditions. Unlike ferrous iron, ferric iron is not directly reactive with oxygen supporting the capacity of Lf capture of heme iron to suppress reactive oxygen species (ROS) production.

Physical justification for negative remanent magnetization in homogeneous nanoparticles.

The phenomenon of negative remanent magnetization (NRM) has been observed experimentally in a number of heterogeneous magnetic systems and has been considered anomalous. The existence of NRM in homogenous magnetic materials is still in debate, mainly due to the lack of compelling support from experimental data and a convincing theoretical explanation for its thermodynamic validation. Here we resolve the long-existing controversy by presenting experimental evidence and physical justification that NRM is real in a prototype homogeneous ferromagnetic nanoparticle, an europium sulfide nanoparticle.

Repeated prescribed fires decrease stocks and change attributes of coarse woody debris in a temperate eucalypt forest.

Previous studies have found negligible effects of single prescribed fires on coarse woody debris (CWD), but the cumulative effects of repeated low-intensity prescribed fires are unknown. This represents a knowledge gap for environmental management because repeated prescribed fires are a key tool for mitigating wildfire risk, and because CWD is recognized as critical to forest biodiversity and functioning. We examined the effects of repeated low-intensity prescribed fires on the attributes and stocks of (fallen) CWD in a mixed-species eucalypt forest of temperate Australia.

DyCoNet: a Gephi plugin for community detection in dynamic complex networks.

Community structure detection has proven to be important in revealing the underlying organisation of complex networks. While most current analyses focus on static networks, the detection of communities in dynamic data is both challenging and timely. An analysis and visualisation procedure for dynamic networks is presented here, which identifies communities and sub-communities that persist across multiple network snapshots.

Effective recruitment of rural breast cancer survivors into a lifestyle intervention.

Lifestyle interventions may be effective for enhancing quality of life and prognosis among breast cancer survivors, but expanding their reach to underserved rural communities presents some unique challenges. Recruitment for this lifestyle intervention trial among rural breast cancer survivors was carried out by developing local partnerships with rural oncology practices and hospitals who were members of regional community oncology organizations. Recruitment strategies included mailing a tailored study brochure accompanied by a cover letter from providers and an opt-in/opt-out postcard, media coverage, clinic-based oncologist referrals, and community outreach.

Inhibition of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme, Angiotensin II Receptor Blocking, and Blood Pressure Lowering Bioactivity across Plant Families.

Hypertension is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease, kidney disease, and stroke. Interest in medicinal or nutraceutical plant bioactives to reduce hypertension has increased dramatically. The main biological regulation of mammalian blood pressure is via the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system.

IFN priming is necessary but not sufficient to turn on a migratory dendritic cell program in lupus monocytes.

Blood monocytes from children with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) behave similar to dendritic cells (DCs), and SLE serum induces healthy monocytes to differentiate into DCs in a type I IFN-dependent manner. In this study, we found that these monocytes display significant transcriptional changes, including a prominent IFN signature, compared with healthy controls. Few of those changes, however, explain DC function.

The influence of the Hubbard U parameter in simulating the catalytic behaviour of cerium oxide.

The seemingly unique redox and oxygen storage properties of cerium oxide (ceria) lead to broad practical application. However, the theoretical treatment of ceria can be troublesome due to the localised nature of the f-electrons and the self-interaction error associated with Density Functional Theory (DFT). DFT + U has been a widely used method to correct for these errors when probing specific physical material properties.

Examination of VLC-PUFA-deficient photoreceptor terminals.

Purpose: Juvenile-onset autosomal dominant Stargardt-like macular dystrophy (STGD3) is caused by mutations in ELOVL4 (elongation of very long fatty acids-4), an elongase necessary for the biosynthesis of very long chain fatty acids (VLC-FAs ≥ C26). Photoreceptors are enriched with VLC polyunsaturated fatty acids (VLC-PUFAs), which are necessary for long-term survival of rod photoreceptors. The purpose of these studies was to determine the effect of deletion of VLC-PUFAs on rod synaptic function in retinas of mice conditionally depleted (KO) of Elovl4.

Effect of reduced retinal VLC-PUFA on rod and cone photoreceptors.

Purpose: Autosomal dominant Stargardt-like macular dystrophy (STGD3) is a juvenile-onset disease that is caused by mutations in Elovl4 (elongation of very long fatty acids-4). The Elovl4 catalyzes the first step in the conversion of C24 and longer fatty acids (FAs) to very long-chain FAs (VLC-FAs, ≥C26). Photoreceptors are particularly rich in VLC polyunsaturated FAs (VLC-PUFA).

Comments on Stuart et al.'s "Genetic associations with intimate partner violence in a sample of hazardous drinking men in batterer intervention programs".

Stuart et al. correlate genetic characteristics of men in batterer intervention programs with their level of intimate partner violence (IPV). In this commentary, I address the generality of the results in light of the characteristics of the participants, speculate about possible effects of current and future genetic and biological research on potential consumers of such research, and place this research in the context on an ongoing criticism of batterer intervention programs by various constituents.

Emotional and informational needs of women experiencing outpatient surgery for breast cancer.

This article reports a qualitative study about informational and emotional needs of women who had surgery for breast cancer on an outpatient basis. Nineteen women volunteered for the study. The interviews, lasting approximately 60 minutes, were audio taped and transcribed verbatim.

Ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes: a spatially explicit approach to support sustainable soil management.

Soil degradation has been associated with a lack of adequate consideration of soil ecosystem services. We demonstrate a broadly applicable method for mapping changes in the supply of two priority soil ecosystem services to support decisions about sustainable land-use configurations. We used a landscape-scale study area of 302 km(2) in northern Victoria, south-eastern Australia, which has been cleared for intensive agriculture.