Alpha-methyltyrosine reduces the acute cardiovascular and behavioral sequelae in a murine model of traumatic brain injury.

Background: Increased catecholamines contribute to heightened cardiovascular reactivity and behavioral deficits after traumatic brain injury (TBI); adrenergic receptor blockade has limited success in reducing adverse sequelae of TBI. Injury-induced increases in the synthesis of catecholamines could contribute to adverse outcomes in TBI. Inhibition of catecholamine synthesis with alpha-methyltyrosine (αMT) could offer a benefit after TBI.

Ivabradine-Induced Bradycardia is Accompanied by Reduced Stress-Related Anxiety.

Background: Hypertensive individuals with higher heart rates and anxiety have greater cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Despite the correlation between hypertension, heart rate, and anxiety, scant attention has been paid to the effect of hypertension drug therapy on behavioral outcomes in cardiovascular disease. Ivabradine, an inhibitor of hyperpolarization-activated, cyclic nucleotide-gated funny channels (HCNs), has been used clinically to reduce heart rates and has been shown to improve quality of life in patients with angina and heart failure.

Kilohertz quasiperiodic oscillations in short gamma-ray bursts.

Short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are associated with binary neutron star mergers, which are multimessenger astronomical events that have been observed both in gravitational waves and in the multiband electromagnetic spectrum. Depending on the masses of the stars in the binary and on details of their largely unknown equation of state, a dynamically evolving and short-lived neutron star may be formed after the merger, existing for approximately 10-300 ms before collapsing to a black hole. Numerical relativity simulations across different groups consistently show broad power spectral features in the 1-5-kHz range in the post-merger gravitational-wave signal, which is inaccessible by current gravitational-wave detectors but could be seen by future third-generation ground-based detectors in the next decade.

A very luminous jet from the disruption of a star by a massive black hole.

Tidal disruption events (TDEs) are bursts of electromagnetic energy that are released when supermassive black holes at the centres of galaxies violently disrupt a star that passes too close. TDEs provide a window through which to study accretion onto supermassive black holes; in some rare cases, this accretion leads to launching of a relativistic jet, but the necessary conditions are not fully understood. The best-studied jetted TDE so far is Swift J1644+57, which was discovered in γ-rays, but was too obscured by dust to be seen at optical wavelengths.

Acetazolamide increases locomotion, exploratory behavior, and weight loss following social stress:

Sympathomimetics are effective, centrally acting drugs that induce weight loss through their potent anorexic and locomotor properties. We reported that sympathomimetics antagonize catecholamine-dependent, alpha-2 adrenergic receptor-dependent signal transduction mediated by chloride/bicarbonate transport. We posit that other drugs that target cellular chloride/bicarbonate antiport would similarly demonstrate anorectic properties, induce locomotion, and diminish weight gain.

The new frontier of gravitational waves.

In 2015, almost a century after Einstein published the general theory of relativity, one of its most important predictions was verified by direct detection: the production of gravitational waves in spacetime by accelerating objects. Since then, gravitational-wave astronomy has enabled tests of the nature of gravity and the properties of black holes, and in 2017 electromagnetic observations of a double neutron star merger producing gravitational waves led to a focus on multi-messenger astronomy. Here we review the history and accomplishments of gravitational-wave astronomy and look towards the future.

Distinguishing spin-aligned and isotropic black hole populations with gravitational waves.

The direct detection of gravitational waves from merging binary black holes opens up a window into the environments in which binary black holes form. One signature of such environments is the angular distribution of the black hole spins. Binary systems that formed through dynamical interactions between already-compact objects are expected to have isotropic spin orientations (that is, the spins of the black holes are randomly oriented with respect to the orbit of the binary system), whereas those that formed from pairs of stars born together are more likely to have spins that are preferentially aligned with the orbit.

Flows of X-ray gas reveal the disruption of a star by a massive black hole.

Tidal forces close to massive black holes can violently disrupt stars that make a close approach. These extreme events are discovered via bright X-ray and optical/ultraviolet flares in galactic centres. Prior studies based on modelling decaying flux trends have been able to estimate broad properties, such as the mass accretion rate.

Implementation of a participatory management model: analysis from a political perspective.

Aim: To analyse experiences of managers and nursing staff in the implementation of participatory management, specifically processes of decision-making, communication and power in a Canadian hospital.

Background: Implementing a Participatory Management Model involves change because it is focused on the needs of patients and encourages decentralisation of power and shared decisions.

Methods: The study design is qualitative using observational sessions and content analysis for data analysis.

Modeling extreme mass ratio inspirals within the effective-one-body approach.

We present the first models of extreme-mass-ratio inspirals within the effective-one-body (EOB) formalism, focusing on quasicircular orbits into nonrotating black holes. We show that the phase difference and (Newtonian-normalized) amplitude difference between analytical EOB and numerical Teukolsky-based gravitational waveforms can be reduced to less than or approximately 10{-1} rad and less than or approximately 2x10{-3}, respectively, after a 2-year evolution. The inclusion of post-Newtonian self-force terms in the EOB approach leads to a phase disagreement of approximately 6-27 rad after a 2-year evolution.

Thinking ecologically for safer healthcare: a summer research student partnership.

As leaders for nursing education, nursing research, healthcare administration and patient safety, we asked one another: How do we use our collective resources to build health system capacity for clinically based research training and safer healthcare? Drawing on knowledge from the field of ecological restoration, which is the study and repair of damaged ecosystems, we partnered the Safer Systems research program of the Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, with Capital Health's Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH), the Caritas Health Group, the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI) and several funding agencies to provide hands-on training in clinical research, infection control and patient safety policy development for nursing students during the summer months. As we plan ahead, our student and staff evaluations show that together, we can make concrete, vital contributions to student education, nursing research, evidence-informed practice, clinical quality improvement and national policy. We are using what we have learned to continually expand the range of undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral clinical learning opportunities in healthcare safety that are available year round.

Development of an evidence-based specialty support surface decision tool.

Advancing technology, an aging population, increasing attention to appropriate resource use, and growing concerns about patient safety and professional liability combine to complicate support surface choice. Cognizant of these factors, staff in a 600-bed tertiary care hospital in a large urban center in western Canada decided to evaluate an existing specialty support surface decision tool and update the instrument based on current published literature (no older than 3 years), expert opinion, and results of pilot testing. Elements included in the existing tool were the patient's Braden Score, mobility/activity indicators, and identification of existing skin breakdown.

A physician's perspective on minority health.

In this article, the author discusses her many and varied experiences with health care provision. Her insights into the many dimensions of disparity in health care lead to a set of recommendations for further research.