Robust spike timing in an excitable cell with delayed feedback.

The initiation and regeneration of pulsatile activity is a ubiquitous feature observed in excitable systems with delayed feedback. Here, we demonstrate this phenomenon in a real biological cell. We establish a critical role of the delay resulting from the finite propagation speed of electrical impulses in the emergence of persistent multiple-spike patterns.

Tourniquet Application by Urban Police Officers: The Aurora, Colorado Experience.

Background: Uncontrolled external hemorrhage is a common cause of preventable death. The Hartford Consensus recommendations presented the concept of a continuum of care, in which police officers should be considered an integral component of the emergency medical response to active shooter incidents. Recent publications have reported individual cases of tourniquet application by police officers.

Microbial communities in top- and subsoil of repacked soil columns respond differently to amendments but their diversity is negatively correlated with plant productivity.

Organic and inorganic amendments with equivalent nutrient content may have comparable fertilizer effects on crop yield, but their effects on the soil microbial community and subsequent plant-soil-microbe interactions in this context are unknown. This experiment aimed to understand the relationship between soil microbial communities, soil physicochemical characteristics and crop performance after addition of amendments to soil. Poultry litter and synthetic fertilizer with balanced total nitrogen (N) content equivalent to 1,200 kg ha were added to the topsoil (0-10 cm) or subsoil layer (20-30 cm) of repacked soil columns.

Developing a blood-based gene mutation assay as a novel biomarker for oesophageal adenocarcinoma.

The Phosphatidylinositol glycan class A (PIG-A) gene mutation assay phenotypically measures erythrocyte mutations, assessed here for their correlation to neoplastic progression in the gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD)-Barrett's metaplasia (BM)-oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC) model. Endoscopy patients underwent venipuncture and erythrocytes fluorescently stained for glycosyl phosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins; CD55 and CD59. Using flow cytometry, GPI-anchor negative erythrocytes (mutants) were scored and compared amongst groups.

The Hartford Consensus on Active Shooters: Implementing the Continuum of Prehospital Trauma Response.

Background: Active shooter incidents have led to the recognition that the traditional response paradigm of sequential response and scene entry by law enforcement, first responders, and emergency medical service (EMS) personnel produced delays in care and suboptimal victim outcomes. The Hartford Consensus Group developed recommendations to improve the response to and outcomes from active shooter events and urged that a continuum of care be implemented that incorporates not only EMS response, but also the initiation of care by law enforcement officers and potentially by lay bystanders.

Objective: To develop and implement tiered educational programs designed to teach police officers and lay bystanders the principles of initial trauma care and bleeding control using as a foundation the U.

Barriers and Promoters for Enrollment to a Community-Based Tai Chi Program for Older, Low-Income, and Ethnically Diverse Adults.

Background: Low-income, ethnically diverse, older adults may be at greater health risk owing to their lower activity levels and potential cultural barriers to physical activity (PA) programs. To explore the specific barriers and promoters to enrollment to a 16-week Tai Chi (TC) program, we interviewed 87 lower socioeconomic older adults from multiple ethnic backgrounds before the initiation of a TC program.

Method: Semistructured qualitative focus group interviews were conducted with questions focused on themes of barriers and promoters to enrollment in a TC program that might or might not be culturally or gender related.

Aging expectations are associated with physical activity and health among older adults of low socioeconomic status.

The purpose of the current study was to determine whether aging expectations (AE) are associated with physical activity participation and health among older adults of low socioeconomic status (SES). A cross-sectional analysis of a sample of 170 older adults (mean age 70.9 years) was conducted.

Effect of tai chi on musculoskeletal health-related fitness and self-reported physical health changes in low income, multiple ethnicity mid to older adults.

Background: Tai Chi (TC) has proven to be effective at improving musculoskeletal fitness by increasing upper and lower body strength, low back flexibility and overall physical health. The objectives of this study were to examine changes in musculoskeletal health-related fitness and self-reported physical health after a 16 week TC program in a low income multiple ethnicity mid to older adult population.

Methods: Two hundred and nine ethnically diverse mid to older community dwelling Canadian adults residing in low income neighbourhoods were enrolled in a 16 week Yang style TC program.

Tai Chi's effects on health-related fitness of low-income older adults.

Tai chi (TC) has been shown to positively influence health-related fitness (HRF) of elderly participants by affording them a means to increase musculoskeletal strength. The objective of this study was to examine TC intervention effects on HRF and whether ethnic groups not culturally related to TC experienced a barrier to participation in a community-based program for low-income older adults. Seventy-eight older mixed-ethnicity adults (age 55 and older) who were not culturally affiliated with TC were recruited for this study.

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is overexpressed in high-grade dysplasia and adenocarcinoma of the esophagus and may represent a biomarker of histological progression in Barrett's esophagus (BE).

Objectives: The assessment of cancer risk in patients with Barrett's esophagus (BE) is currently fraught with difficulty. The current gold standard method of assessing cancer risk is histological assessment, with the appearance of high-grade dysplasia (HGD) as the key event monitored. Sampling error during endoscopy limits the usefulness of this approach, and there has been much recent interest in supplementing histological assessment with molecular markers, which may aid in patient stratification.

SEPN1: associated with congenital fiber-type disproportion and insulin resistance.

Objective: Our first objective was to determine whether SEPN1 gene mutations are a cause of congenital fiber-type disproportion (CFTD), a rare form of congenital myopathy in which relative hypotrophy of type 1 (slow twitch) muscle fibers is the principal abnormality on histology. Second, we investigated an association between SEPN1-related myopathy and insulin resistance.

Methods: We sequenced SEPN1 in five unrelated CFTD patients with scoliosis and respiratory muscle weakness and screened an additional 22 CFTD patients for abnormalities in SEPN1 by Western blotting and restriction digest for the 943G-->A mutation.