Targeted Drug Delivery for the Treatment of Abdominal Pain in Chronic Pancreatitis: A Retrospective Case Series.

Unlabelled: Abdominal pain secondary to chronic pancreatitis (CP) is difficult to manage and often requires chronic oral opioid therapy (OOT). Targeted drug delivery (TDD) allows for a diminished dose of opioid intake and improved pain levels. TDD has been used in different pain syndromes with only limited reports in CP.

The evolution of mechanisms to produce phenotypic heterogeneity in microorganisms.

In bacteria and other microorganisms, the cells within a population often show extreme phenotypic variation. Different species use different mechanisms to determine how distinct phenotypes are allocated between individuals, including coordinated, random, and genetic determination. However, it is not clear if this diversity in mechanisms is adaptive-arising because different mechanisms are favoured in different environments-or is merely the result of non-adaptive artifacts of evolution.

Relatedness and the evolution of mechanisms to divide labor in microorganisms.

Division of labor occurs when cooperating individuals specialize to perform different tasks. In bacteria and other microorganisms, some species divide labor by random specialization, where an individual's role is determined by random fluctuations in biochemical reactions within the cell. Other species divide labor by coordinating across individuals to determine which cells will perform which task, using mechanisms such as between-cell signaling.

The evolution of division of labour in structured and unstructured groups.

Recent theory has overturned the assumption that accelerating returns from individual specialisation are required to favour the evolution of division of labour. Yanni et al., 2020, showed that topologically constrained groups, where cells cooperate with only direct neighbours such as for filaments or branching growths, can evolve a reproductive division of labour even with diminishing returns from individual specialisation.

Ten recent insights for our understanding of cooperation.

Since Hamilton published his seminal papers in 1964, our understanding of the importance of cooperation for life on Earth has evolved beyond recognition. Early research was focused on altruism in the social insects, where the problem of cooperation was easy to see. In more recent years, research into cooperation has expanded across the entire tree of life, and has been revolutionized by advances in genetic, microbiological and analytical techniques.

Evolutionary maintenance of genomic diversity within arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.

Most organisms are built from a single genome. In striking contrast, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi appear to maintain genomic variation within an individual fungal network. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi dwell in the soil, form mutualistic networks with plants, and bear multiple, potentially genetically diverse nuclei within a network.

Co-Design of a Consultation Audio-Recording Mobile App for People With Cancer: The SecondEars App.

Background: Many patients choose to audio-record their medical consultations so that they can relisten to them at home and share them with family. Consultation audio-recordings can improve patients' recall and understanding of medical information and increase their involvement in decision making. A hospital-endorsed consultation audio-recording mobile app would provide patients with the permission and means to audio-record their consultations.

Division of labour and the evolution of extreme specialization.

Division of labour is a common feature of social groups, from biofilms to complex animal societies. However, we lack a theoretical framework that can explain why division of labour has evolved on certain branches of the tree of life but not others. Here, we model the division of labour over a cooperative behaviour, considering both when it should evolve and the extent to which the different types should become specialized.

Cheating and resistance to cheating in natural populations of the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens.

Bacteria perform cooperative behaviors that are exploitable by noncooperative cheats, and cheats frequently arise and coexist with cooperators in laboratory microcosms. However, evidence of competitive dynamics between cooperators and cheats in nature remains limited. Using the production of pyoverdine, an iron-scavenging molecule, and natural soil populations of Pseudomonas fluorescens, we found that (1) nonproducers are present in the population; (2) they co-occur (<1cm ) with pyoverdine producers; (3) they retain functional pyoverdine receptors; and (4) they can use the pyoverdine of on average 52% of producers.

Division of labour in microorganisms: an evolutionary perspective.

The division of labour, whereby individuals within a group specialize in certain tasks, has long been appreciated as central to the evolution of complex biological societies. In recent years, several examples of division of labour in microorganisms have arisen, which suggests that this strategy may also be important in microbial species. In this Opinion article, we explore the set of conditions that define division of labour and propose that cooperation between different phenotypes is a defining feature of division of labour.

Twitter as a Potential Disaster Risk Reduction Tool. Part IV: Competency-based Education and Training Guidelines to Promote Community Resiliency.

Twitter can be an effective tool for disaster risk reduction but gaps in education and training exist in current public health and disaster management educational competency standards.  Eleven core public health and disaster management competencies are proposed that incorporate Twitter as a tool for effective disaster risk reduction.  Greater funding is required to promote the education and training of this tool for those in professional schools and in the current public health and disaster management workforce.

Twitter as a Potential Disaster Risk Reduction Tool. Part III: Evaluating Variables that Promoted Regional Twitter Use for At-risk Populations During the 2013 Hattiesburg F4 Tornado.

Introduction: Study goals attempt to identify the variables most commonly associated with successful tweeted messages and determine which variables have the most influence in promoting exponential dissemination of information (viral spreading of the message) and trending (becoming popular) in the given disaster affected region.

Methods: Part II describes the detailed extraction and triangulation filtration methodological approach to acquiring twitter data for the 2013 Hattiesburg Tornado. The data was then divided into two 48 hour windows before and after the tornado impact with a 2 hour pre-tornado buffer to capture tweets just prior to impact.

Twitter as a Potential Disaster Risk Reduction Tool. Part II: Descriptive Analysis of Identified Twitter Activity during the 2013 Hattiesburg F4 Tornado.

Background: This article describes a novel triangulation methodological approach for identifying twitter activity of regional active twitter users during the 2013 Hattiesburg EF-4 Tornado.

Methodology: A data extraction and geographically centered filtration approach was utilized to generate Twitter data for 48 hrs pre- and post-Tornado. The data was further validated using six sigma approach utilizing GPS data.

Twitter as a Potential Disaster Risk Reduction Tool. Part I: Introduction, Terminology, Research and Operational Applications.

Twitter, a popular communications platform, is identified as contributing to improved mortality and morbidity outcomes resulting from the 2013 Hattiesburg, Mississippi EF-4 Tornado. This study describes the methodology by which Twitter was investigated as a potential disaster risk reduction and management tool at the community level and the process by which the at-risk population was identified from the broader Twitter user population. By understanding how various factors contribute to the superspreading of messages, one can better optimize Twitter as an essential communications and risk reduction tool.

Impact of dual-polarization radar technology and Twitter on the Hattiesburg, Mississippi tornado.

Objective: Dual-Polarization Radar and Twitter were analyzed to determine the impact on injuries sustained by the Hattiesburg EF-4 tornado.

Method: Tracking data provided from the Dual-Pol radar systems in National Weather Service Jackson were reviewed. Twitter data from four local Twitter handles were obtained.

High-resolution mapping of h1 linker histone variants in embryonic stem cells.

H1 linker histones facilitate higher-order chromatin folding and are essential for mammalian development. To achieve high-resolution mapping of H1 variants H1d and H1c in embryonic stem cells (ESCs), we have established a knock-in system and shown that the N-terminally tagged H1 proteins are functionally interchangeable to their endogenous counterparts in vivo. H1d and H1c are depleted from GC- and gene-rich regions and active promoters, inversely correlated with H3K4me3, but positively correlated with H3K9me3 and associated with characteristic sequence features.

The indirect transfer of glass fragments to a jacket and their subsequent persistence.

Experiments were conducted to investigate a scenario sometimes encountered in casework, where a police officer has attended a scene and shortly afterwards arrested a suspect. The experiments involve the transfer of glass fragments from a surface scattered with broken glass to a hand, and then from the hand to the sleeve of a poorly retaining jacket. The persistence of the transferred fragments was studied by collecting the glass fragments as they fell off the jacket, whilst the wearer was walking on the spot.

Genome sequences for five strains of the emerging pathogen Haemophilus haemolyticus.

We report the first whole-genome sequences for five strains, two carried and three pathogenic, of the emerging pathogen Haemophilus haemolyticus. Preliminary analyses indicate that these genome sequences encode markers that distinguish H. haemolyticus from its closest Haemophilus relatives and provide clues to the identity of its virulence factors.