[Urinary heavy metals and blood lead levels among residents of Antofagasta, Chile].

Background: The presence of toxic metals in human populations is strongly associated with chronic diseases.

Aim: To determine levels of lead, chromium, cadmium, mercury and inorganic arsenic (AsIn) in the general population aged over 5 years in Antofagasta, Chile.

Material And Methods: People living in Urban Antofagasta for at least five years were considered eligible.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders: an overview of current evidence and activities in the UK.

Estimates for the UK suggest that alcohol consumption during pregnancy and prevalence of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)-the most common neurodevelopmental condition-are high. Considering the significant health and social impacts of FASD, there is a public health imperative to prioritise prevention, interventions and support. In this article, we outline the current state of play regarding FASD knowledge and research in the UK, which is characterised by a lack of evidence, a lack of dedicated funding and services, and consequently little policy formulation and strategic direction.

Psychometric Assessment of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale for People With Lower-Limb Amputation.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to (1) determine the psychometric properties of the 25- and 10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scales (CD-RISC25, CD-RISC10) for people with lower-limb amputation (LLA) in middle age or later, and (2) describe relationships of the CD-RISC with biopsychosocial, sociodemographic, and health variables.

Methods: Participants were included if their most recent LLA was 1 or more years prior, if they were independently walking with a prosthesis, and if they were between 45 and 88 years of age (N = 122; mean = 62.5 years of age [SD = 8]; 59.

Determination of a Beckman Coulter AU turbidometric method-specific caeruloplasmin reference interval.

Background: Method-dependent variation of caeruloplasmin measurement is significant and necessitates the requirement for assay-specific reference intervals. Local determination becomes necessary in the absence of suitable published or manufacturer-quoted reference intervals.

Methods: Applicability of the Beckman Coulter AU-quoted reference interval was determined by assay of 20 surplus serum samples from patients attending the medical renal stones clinic at University Hospital Southampton.

Abdominal radiology involvement in image-guided procedures: a perspective from the society of abdominal radiology Cross-Sectional Interventional Radiology Emerging Technology Commission.

Abdominal radiology as a field has historically played an important role in the training, research, and performance of image-guided procedures. With the emphasis on increased subspecialization and the more formal and rigorous interventional radiology training programs, the question of the future of image-guided procedures within abdominal radiology is explored. A survey conducted by the Cross-Sectional Interventional Radiology Emerging Technology Commission on members of the Society of Abdominal Radiology showed that image-guided procedures are overwhelmingly being performed by abdominal radiology groups, and the vast majority of programs are training their fellows in this regard.

Risk of UTI in kidney stone formers: a matched-cohort study over a median follow-up of 19 years.

Purpose: To describe risk of UTI in Stone formers comparing to non-stone formers.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study using electronic records for patients across southern England. Stone formers referred to a tertiary referral centre in Southern England, comparator patients were age and sex matched with 3:1 ratio from same database.

Dimensional connectomics of anxious misery, a human connectome study related to human disease: Overview of protocol and data quality.

Disparate diagnostic categories from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), including generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, share common behavioral and phenomenological dysfunctions. While high levels of comorbidity and common features across these disorders suggest shared mechanisms, past research in psychopathology has largely proceeded based on the syndromal taxonomy established by the DSM rather than on a biologically-informed framework of neural, cognitive and behavioral dysfunctions. In line with the National Institute of Mental Health's Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework, we present a Human Connectome Study Related to Human Disease that is intentionally designed to generate and test novel, biologically-motivated dimensions of psychopathology.

Gunshot-victim cooperation with police investigations: Results from the Chicago Inmate Survey.

Just one in ten nonfatal shootings in Chicago lead to an arrest. Unlike in fatal cases, gunshot victims who survive can often provide information of use in the police investigation. Nonetheless, nonfatal shooting cases in Chicago and elsewhere have much lower arrest rates than fatal cases, in part because most victims do not cooperate.

Jet-Printing Microfluidic Devices on Demand.

There is an unmet demand for microfluidics in biomedicine. This paper describes contactless fabrication of microfluidic circuits on standard Petri dishes using just a dispensing needle, syringe pump, three-way traverse, cell-culture media, and an immiscible fluorocarbon (FC40). A submerged microjet of FC40 is projected through FC40 and media onto the bottom of a dish, where it washes media away to leave liquid fluorocarbon walls pinned to the substrate by interfacial forces.

Land use and episodic rainfall as drivers of nitrogen exports in subtropical rivers: Insights from δN-NO, δO-NO and Rn.

Ongoing land-use intensification in subtropical catchments is expected to release more inorganic nitrogen to downstream coastal waters similar to historical changes in temperate ecosystems. Here, we examined spatial and temporal drivers of stream nitrogen loads across a subtropical land-use gradient using the isotopic compositions of nitrate (NO-N) and radon (Rn), a natural groundwater tracer. We investigated eleven subtropical creeks/rivers over contrasting hydrological conditions in Australia.

Machine learning suggests polygenic risk for cognitive dysfunction in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a multi-system disease characterized primarily by progressive muscle weakness. Cognitive dysfunction is commonly observed in patients; however, factors influencing risk for cognitive dysfunction remain elusive. Using sparse canonical correlation analysis (sCCA), an unsupervised machine-learning technique, we observed that single nucleotide polymorphisms collectively associate with baseline cognitive performance in a large ALS patient cohort (N = 327) from the multicenter Clinical Research in ALS and Related Disorders for Therapeutic Development (CReATe) Consortium.

The BaSICS (Baby Skin Integrity Comparison Survey) study: A prospective experimental study using maternal observations to report the effect of baby wipes on the incidence of irritant diaper dermatitis in infants, from birth to eight weeks of age.

Background: Baby wipes have been shown to be safe and effective in maintaining skin integrity when compared to the use of water alone. However, no previous study has compared different formulations of wipe. The aim of the BaSICS study was to identify any differences in incidence of irritant diaper dermatitis (IDD) in infants assigned to three different brands of wipe, all marketed as suitable for neonates, but which contained varying numbers of ingredients.

Distribution of contemporary sensitivity troponin in the emergency department and relationship to 30-day mortality: The CHARIOT-ED substudy.

Background: Contemporary sensitivity troponin (cs-cTn) concentrations above the upper limit of normal (ULN) are seen in a wide range of clinical conditions and evidence is growing that suggests cs-cTn may be a biomarker of future morbidity and mortality.

Objectives: Our aim was to test the hypothesis that cs-cTn, measured in the emergency department, may be a biomarker for 30-day mortality, irrespective of the patient's presentation.

Method: In all 5,708 consecutive cases, contemporary sensitivity troponin I (cs-cTnI) was measured either as requested by the clinical team or as part of the study, in which case both the clinical team and the patient were unaware of the result.

A Longitudinal Study of Burnout and Well-being in Family Medicine Resident Physicians.

Background And Objectives: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) core competencies for residency learning and work environment standards acknowledge high levels of burnout and depression in resident physicians and the critical importance of physician well-being to patient care and effective education. The objective of this study was to follow family medicine resident physicians' well-being throughout residency.

Methods: Family medicine resident physicians from 12 programs completed validated assessments (burnout, depression, perceived stress, satisfaction with life, positive and negative affect, emotional intelligence, mindfulness, gratitude) at residency start, second year start, and graduation.

Detection and Characterization of Swine Origin Influenza A(H1N1) Pandemic 2009 Viruses in Humans following Zoonotic Transmission.

Human-to-swine transmission of seasonal influenza viruses has led to sustained human-like influenza viruses circulating in the U.S. swine population.

B cells on the brain: meningeal IgA and a novel gut-brain firewall.

Fitzpatrick et al. describe how IgA secretion by B cells and plasma cells in the mengines is crucial for protection against microbial invasion into the brain and the CNS.

Plasma Neurofilament Light as a Biomarker of Neurological Involvement in Wilson's Disease.

Background: Outcomes are unpredictable for neurological presentations of Wilson's disease (WD). Dosing regimens for chelation therapy vary and monitoring depends on copper indices, which do not reflect end-organ damage.

Objective: To identify a biomarker for neurological involvement in WD.

Development of a Multivariate Predictive Dissolution Model for Tablets Coated with Cellulose Ester Blends.

The focus of the present investigation was to develop a predictive dissolution model for tablets coated with blends of cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) 171-15 and cellulose acetate phthalate (C-A-P) using the design of experiment and chemometric approaches. Diclofenac sodium was used as a model drug. Coating weight gain (X, 5, 7.

Derepression of glomerular filtration, renal blood flow and antioxidant defence in patients with type 2 diabetes at high-risk of cardiorenal disease.

Background: The role of antioxidant status on microvascular blood flow and glomerular filtration (eGFR) in patients with type 2 diabetes and hypertension whose risk of progressive renal disease varies by ethnicity is unknown.

Methods: Adult, non-Caucasian (n = 101) and Caucasian (n = 69) patients with type 2 diabetes, hypertension and/or microalbuminuria and an eGFR > 45 mL/min/1.73 m were randomised to receive 400 IU vitamin E and/or 20 μg selenium daily or matching placebo.

The Relevance of Ecological Transitions to Intelligence in Marine Mammals.

Macphail's comparative approach to intelligence focused on associative processes, an orientation inconsistent with more multifaceted lay and scientific understandings of the term. His ultimate emphasis on associative processes indicated few differences in intelligence among vertebrates. We explore options more attuned to common definitions by considering intelligence in terms of richness of representations of the world, the interconnectivity of those representations, the ability to flexibly change those connections, and knowledge.

Psychosocial Factors Influence Physical Activity after Dysvascular Amputation: A Convergent Mixed-Methods Study.

Background: Physical function is a common target of rehabilitation intervention to improve disability and physical activity after dysvascular lower-limb amputation (LLA); yet, the influence of psychosocial factors on physical activity is unclear.

Objective: To identify psychosocial factors with potential to influence clinically relevant measures of physical activity, physical function, and disability in light of participants' narratives.

Design: Convergent mixed-methods.

Self-Efficacy and Social Support are Associated with Disability for Ambulatory Prosthesis Users After Lower-Limb Amputation.

Background: Interventions targeting psychosocial factors may improve rehabilitation outcomes for prosthesis users after lower-limb amputation (LLA), but there is a need to identify targeted factors for minimizing disability.

Objective: To identify psychosocial factors related to disability for prosthesis users after LLA in middle age or later.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Regional variations in Helicobacter pylori infection, gastric atrophy and gastric cancer risk: The ENIGMA study in Chile.

Background: Regional variations in gastric cancer incidence are not explained by prevalence of Helicobacter pylori, the main cause of the disease, with several areas presenting high H. pylori prevalence but low gastric cancer incidence. The IARC worldwide H.