Rethinking the pan scan in stable trauma: A comparison of whole-body computed tomography and selective imaging in clinically stable blunt force trauma.

Objective: To compare the frequency of clinically significant missed injuries in clinically stable trauma patients undergoing initial whole-body computed tomography (WBCT) versus selective imaging. Secondary objectives include comparisons of radiation exposure, incidental findings, ED length of stay (LOS), hospital LOS and mortality.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of trauma activations at a tertiary trauma centre in patients with normal vital signs from 1st January 2022 to 31st December 2022.

Individual differences in the distributional learning and overnight consolidation of the Mandarin level-falling tone contrast.

In perceptual studies, musicality and pitch aptitude have been implicated in tone learning, while vocabulary size has been implicated in distributional (segment) learning. Moreover, working memory plays a role in the overnight consolidation of explicit-declarative L2 learning. This study examines how these factors uniquely account for individual differences in the distributional learning and consolidation of an L2 tone contrast, where learners are tonal language speakers, and the training is implicit.

Evaluation of Major Physical and Mechanical Properties of Trembling Aspen Lumber.

Trembling aspen () is one of the major species within , a predominant genus of hardwoods in North America. However, its utilization has been limited to pulp and paper or wood-based composite boards. This study aimed at evaluating the major physical and mechanical properties of trembling aspen lumber, with an ultimate objective of using this species to produce engineered wood products (EWPs).

Distributional Learning and Overnight Consolidation of Nonnative Tonal Contrasts by Tonal Language Speakers.

Purpose: Previous studies have reported the success of distributional learning for adult speakers across segmental and suprasegmental categories immediately after training. On the other hand, second language (L2) perception models posit that the ease with which learners perceive a nonnative speech contrast depends on the perceptual mapping between the contrast and learners' first language (L1) categories. This study examined whether a difference in perceptual mapping patterns for different L2-Mandarin tonal contrasts might result in a difference in distributional learning effectiveness for tonal speakers and whether an interval of sleep enhanced the knowledge through consolidation.

Novel Apex Connection for Light Wood Frame Panelized Roof.

Panelized fabrication of light-frame wood buildings has higher productivity than the traditional stick-built method. However, the roof production process is not very efficient due to the structural system and construction method. This study proposes a novel apex connection that allows for a folding mechanism in a panelized light wood frame roof system.

Effects of Senior Simulation Suit Programme on nursing students' attitudes towards older adults: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: As populations age worldwide, nursing educational institutions need to train nurses not only to provide health care services specific to the elderly, but also to have a positive attitude as they work. The present study aimed to investigate the efficacy of a Senior Simulation Suit Programme (SSSP). The SSSP, which focused on mimicking the physiological experiences of an 80 year-old person, was hypothesized to increase the wearer's positive attitude towards older adult care.

A Case of Hoarseness with Acute Back Pain - Cardiovocal Syndrome Revisited.

A previously well 81-year-old Chinese male presented with hoarseness and low back pain for one month. Chest radiography at presentation revealed widening of the mediastinal silhouette. Nasopharyngoscopy detected left vocal cord paralysis.

C-terminal BRE inhibits cellular proliferation and increases sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs of MLL-AF9 acute myeloid leukemia cells.

BRE (Brain and Reproductive Organ-Expressed) is an anti-apoptotic protein and a core component of DNA-repair BRCA1-A complex. Microarray-detected high gene expression has been found to be associated with better patient survival in AML (acute myeloid leukemia) with MLL-AF9 translocation, and radiotherapy-treated non-familial breast cancer. A recent finding suggests that the high gene expression in MLL-AF9 AML could be attributed to the additional expression of a transcript variant encoding a novel C-terminal BRE isoform.

BRE plays an essential role in preventing replicative and DNA damage-induced premature senescence.

The BRE gene, alias BRCC45, produces a 44 kDa protein that is normally distributed in both cytoplasm and nucleus. In this study, we used adult fibroblasts isolated from wild-type (WT) and BRE knockout (BRE(-/-)) mice to investigate the functional role of BRE in DNA repair and cellular senescence. We compared WT with BRE(-/-) fibroblasts at different cell passages and observed that the mutant fibroblasts entered replicative senescence earlier than the WT fibroblasts.

A recyclable carbon nanoparticle-based fluorescent probe for highly selective and sensitive detection of mercapto biomolecules.

Carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) with strong blue emission are synthesized using a microwave-assisted hydrothermal method. The fluorescence of the CNPs can be completely quenched by Hg through an effective electron or energy transfer process due to the synergetic strong electrostatic interaction and metal-ligand coordination. Based on this, a system containing Hg-quenched CNPs (CNP-Hg) is designed to be a sensitive and selective turn-on fluorescent probe towards cysteine (a type of mercapto biomolecule) with a detection limit of 15 nM.

Carbon nanoparticle-based ratiometric fluorescent sensor for detecting mercury ions in aqueous media and living cells.

A novel nanohybrid ratiometric fluorescence sensor is developed for selective detection of mercuric ions (Hg(2+)), and the application has been successfully demonstrated in HEPES buffer solution, lake water, and living cells. The sensor comprises water-soluble fluorescent carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) and Rhodamine B (RhB) and exhibits their corresponding dual emissions peaked at 437 and 575 nm, respectively, under a single excitation wavelength (350 nm). The photoluminescence of the CNPs in the nanohybrid system can be completely quenched by Hg(2+) through effective electron or energy transfer process due to synergetic strong electrostatic interaction and metal-ligand coordination between the surface functional group of CNPs and Hg(2+), while that of the RhB remains constant.

Facile hydrothermal synthesis of CuFeO2 hexagonal platelets/rings and graphene composites as anode materials for lithium ion batteries.

Delafossite CuFeO2 hexagonal platelets/rings and graphene composites were synthesized by a low temperature hydrothermal method. The formation mechanism of CuFeO2 hexagonal platelets/rings follows the combined effects of both GO and NaOH. The obtained composites as anode materials display a good battery performance with high reversible capacity, good rate capability and cyclic stability.

Exploring the influence of Traditional Chinese Medicine on self-care among Chinese cancer patients.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore the influence of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) on self-care among Chinese cancer patients.

Methods: This was an exploratory qualitative study. A purposive sample of thirty cancer patients who were currently undergoing either chemotherapy or radiotherapy was interviewed.

Anti-apoptotic protein BRE/BRCC45 attenuates apoptosis through maintaining the expression of caspase inhibitor XIAP in mouse Lewis lung carcinoma D122 cells.

Brain and Reproductive Organ Expressed (BRE), or BRCC45, is a death receptor-associated antiapoptotic protein, which is also involved in DNA-damage repair, and K63-specific deubiquitination. BRE overexpression attenuates both death receptor- and stress-induced apoptosis, promotes experimental tumor growth, and is associated with human hepatocellular and esophageal carcinoma. How BRE mediates its antiapoptotic function is unknown.

Detection and measurement of fetal abdominal contour in ultrasound images via local phase information and iterative randomized Hough transform.

Due to the characteristic artifacts of ultrasound images, e.g., speckle noise, shadows and intensity inhomogeneity, traditional intensity-based methods usually have limited success on the segmentation of fetal abdominal contour.

A multiresolution framework for ultrasound image segmentation by combinative active contours.

We propose a novel multiresolution framework for ultrasound image segmentation in this paper. The framework exploits both local intensity and local phase information to tackle the degradations of ultrasound images. First, multiresolution scheme is adopted to build a Gaussian pyramid for each speckled image.

Ordered Ag/Si nanowires array: wide-range surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy for reproducible biomolecule detection.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) systems utilizing the interparticle nanogaps as hot spots have demonstrated ultrasensitive single-molecule detection with excellent selectivity yet the electric fields are too confined in the small nanogaps to enable reproducible biomolecule detections. Here, guided by finite-difference-time-domain simulation, we report hexagonal-packed silver-coated silicon nanowire (Ag/SiNW) arrays as a nanogap-free SERS system with wide-range electric fields and controlled interwire separation. Significantly, the system achieves a SERS detection of long double-strand DNA of 25-50 nm in length with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 14% for measurements of above 4000 spots over an area of 200 × 200 μm(2).

Three-dimensional Sn-graphene anode for high-performance lithium-ion batteries.

Tin (Sn) has been considered as one of the most promising anode materials for high-capacity lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to its high energy density, abundance, and environmentally benign nature. However, the problems of fast capacity fading at prolonged cycling and poor rate capacity hinder its practical use. Herein, we report the development of a novel architecture of Sn nanoparticle-decorated three-dimensional (3D) foothill-like graphene as an anode in LIBs.

Silencing BRE expression in human umbilical cord perivascular (HUCPV) progenitor cells accelerates osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation.

BRE is a multifunctional adapter protein involved in DNA repair, cell survival and stress response. To date, most studies of this protein have been focused in the tumor model. The role of BRE in stem cell biology has never been investigated.

Graphene encapsulated and SiC reinforced silicon nanowires as an anode material for lithium ion batteries.

Anode materials play a key role in the performance, in particular the capacity and lifetime, of lithium ion batteries (LIBs). Silicon has been demonstrated to be a promising anode material due to its high specific capacity, but pulverization during cycling and formation of an unstable solid-electrolyte interphase limit its cycle life. Herein, we show that anodes consisting of an active silicon nanowire (Si NW), which is surrounded by a uniform graphene shell and comprises silicon carbide nanocrystals, are capable of serving over 500 cycles in half cells at a high lithium storage capacity of 1650 mA h g(-1).

The evaluation of a palliative care programme for people suffering from life-limiting diseases.

Aims And Objectives: To report on the effectiveness of an eight-week palliative care programme in Hong Kong.

Background: A recent survey reported that the quality of palliative care services in Hong Kong ranked the 20th among 40 countries and it is far behind other Asian countries. There are disagreement and inadequate communication in clinical decision-making among patients, families and healthcare professionals, and that the nurses lack sufficient knowledge and skills in providing palliative care and advance care planning.

Mesh quality oriented 3D geometric vascular modeling based on parallel transport frame.

While a number of methods have been proposed to reconstruct geometrically and topologically accurate 3D vascular models from medical images, little attention has been paid to constantly maintain high mesh quality of these models during the reconstruction procedure, which is essential for many subsequent applications such as simulation-based surgical training and planning. We propose a set of methods to bridge this gap based on parallel transport frame. An improved bifurcation modeling method and two novel trifurcation modeling methods are developed based on 3D Bézier curve segments in order to ensure the continuous surface transition at furcations.

A catheterization-training simulator based on a fast multigrid solver.

A VR-based simulator helps trainees develop skills for catheterization, a fundamental but difficult procedure in vascular interventional radiology. A deformable model simulates the complicated behavior of guide wires and catheters, using the principle of minimum total potential energy. A fast, stable multigrid solver ensures realistic simulation and real-time interaction.