Albatrosses are increasingly drawing attention from the scientific community due to their remarkable flight capabilities. Recent studies suggest that grey-headed albatrosses may be the fastest and most energy-efficient of the albatross species, yet no attempts have been made to replicate their wing design. A key factor in aircraft design is the airfoil, which remains uncharacterized for the grey-headed albatross.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Restorative neurostimulation for multifidus muscle is a novel therapy for chronic low back pain (CLBP). Optimal outcomes require interdisciplinary follow-up. We describe a clinical care pathway (CPW) for this therapy and report patient compliance, clinical outcomes, and patient satisfaction with the CPW.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCritical loads (CLs) are frequently used to quantify terrestrial ecosystem impacts from nitrogen (N) deposition using ecological responses such as the growth and mortality of tree species. Typically, CLs are reported as a single value, with uncertainty, for an indicator across a species' entire range. Mediating factors such as climate and soil conditions can influence species' sensitivity to N, but the magnitudes of these effects are rarely calculated explicitly.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe human CMG helicase (Cdc45-MCM-GINS) is a novel target for anticancer therapy. Tumor-specific weaknesses in the CMG are caused by oncogene-driven changes that adversely affect CMG function, and CMG activity is required for recovery from replicative stresses such as chemotherapy. Herein, we developed an orthogonal biochemical screening approach and identified CMG inhibitors (CMGi) that inhibit ATPase and helicase activities in an ATP-competitive manner at low micromolar concentrations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDespite wide endorsement of a biopsychosocial framework for pain, social aspects of pain remain rarely addressed in the context of pain prevention and management. In this review, we aim to 1) examine the broad scope of social determinants and consequences of pain and their interactions across multiple levels of organization, and 2) provide a framework synthesizing existing concepts and potential areas for future work on social aspects of pain, drawing upon socioecological, intersectional, and life course approaches. Integrating interdisciplinary theory and evidence, we outline pathways through which multilevel social factors and pain may affect each other over time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnderstanding the shared and divergent mechanisms across antidepressant (AD) classes and probiotics is critical for improving treatment for mood disorders. Here we examine the transcriptomic effects of bupropion (NDRI), desipramine (SNRI), fluoxetine (SSRI) and a probiotic formulation (Lacidofil®) on 10 regions across the mammalian brain. These treatments massively alter gene expression (on average, 2211 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) per region-treatment combination), highlighting the biological complexity of AD and probiotic action.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGPI-anchored proteins (GPI-APs) are ubiquitous and essential but exist in low abundances on the cell surface, making their analysis and investigation especially challenging. To tackle the problem, a new method to detect and study GPI-APs based upon GPI metabolic engineering and DNA-facilitated fluorescence signal amplification was developed. In this context, cell surface GPI-APs were metabolically engineered using azido-inositol derivatives to introduce an azido group.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Mobile health technology's impact on cardiovascular risk factor control is not fully understood. This study evaluates the association between interaction with a mobile health application and change in cardiovascular risk factors.
Methods And Results: Participants with hypertension with or without dyslipidemia enrolled in a workplace-deployed mobile health application-based cardiovascular risk self-management program between January 2018 and December 2022.
Objective: During the COVID-19 pandemic, restrictions imposed on residential treatment programs necessitated rapid implementation of virtual treatment delivery. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Programs (P-RRTP) are a key mental health treatment for Veterans with PTSD who require more intensive interventions than outpatient care. During the pandemic, the W.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnhancing diversity and inclusion in clinical trial recruitment, especially for historically marginalized populations including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color individuals, is essential. This practice ensures that generalizable trial results are achieved to deliver safe, effective, and equitable health and healthcare. However, recruitment is limited by two inextricably linked barriers - the inability to recruit and retain enough trial participants, and the lack of diversity amongst trial populations whereby racial and ethnic groups are underrepresented when compared to national composition.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Regular physical activity is critical for health and disease prevention. Yet, health care providers and patients face barriers to implement evidence-based lifestyle recommendations. The potential to augment care with the increased availability of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is limitless; however, the suitability of AI-generated exercise recommendations has yet to be explored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: We queried the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) to evaluate the presentation, management, and outcomes of renal trauma in children from birth to 18 years from 2007-2018.
Methods: Patients were categorized as infants (0-1 year), toddlers (2-4 years), children (5-9 years), preteen (10-14 years), and teens (15-18 years), and patient demographics, grade of injury, and mechanism of injury including sports-related trauma (SRT) were collected. Each group was then evaluated for the level of management and patient outcome.
Background: Pediatric urolithiasis has been increasing at rate of 4-10 % annually in the United States, most notably within adolescents and females. A significant number of patients will require surgical management of their stones. Primary ureteroscopy (URS) affords the opportunity to treat stones under a single anesthetic with lower re-treatment rates or anatomical and stone characteristic limitations compared to shockwave lithotripsy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and pain interfere with daily functioning and quality of life for many combat Veterans. As individuals age, pain symptoms tend to increase whereas PTSD symptoms tend to decrease. PTSD symptoms exacerbate pain, but the nature of this relationship across the aging process is unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: There are sex-specific differences in the prevalence, symptomology and course of psychiatric disorders. However, preclinical models have primarily used males, such that the molecular mechanisms underlying sex-specific differences in psychiatric disorders are not well established.
Methods: In this study, we compared transcriptome-wide gene expression profiles in male and female rats within the corticolimbic system, including the cingulate cortex, nucleus accumbens medial shell (NAcS), ventral dentate gyrus and the basolateral amygdala (n = 22-24 per group/region).
Purpose: Pain is a multifaceted experience shaped by various factors including context of pain, previous life events, and ongoing ethnocultural circumstances. Moreover, the definition of pain is inconsistent across cultures. Western medicine views physical pain (e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCoating thermal noise (CTN) in amorphous coatings is a drawback hindering their application in precision experiments such as gravitational wave detectors (GWDs). Mirrors for GWDs are Bragg's reflectors consisting of a bilayer-based stack of high- and low-refractive-index materials showing high reflectivity and low CTN. In this paper, we report the characterization of morphological, structural, optical, and mechanical properties of high-index materials such as scandium sesquioxide and hafnium dioxide and a low-index material such as magnesium fluoride deposited by plasma ion-assisted electron beam evaporation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis work presents the characterization of the optical and mechanical properties of thin films based on ( ) ( ) mixed oxides deposited by microwave plasma assisted co-sputtering, including post-annealing treatments. The deposition of low mechanical loss materials (3×10) with a high refractive index (1.93) while maintaining low processing costs was achieved and the following trends were demonstrated: The energy band gap increased as the concentration was increased in the mixture, and the disorder constant decreased when the annealing temperatures increased.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA rapid increase in the reach and breadth of prenatal genetic screening and testing has led to an expanding need for prenatal support of families receiving this genetic information. As part of a larger study investigating prenatal preparation for a child with a genetic condition, we interviewed representatives of patient advocacy groups (PAGs) who support parents post-diagnosis. Groups supporting families with Down syndrome were often local or regional, while other groups were often national or international in scope.
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