Probing the Redox Reactivity of Alkyl Bound Astatine: A Study on the Formation and Cleavage of a Stable At-C Bond.

The formation of a stable alkyl At-C bond occurs during the shipment of At on a 3-octanone-impregnated column and the reactivity of At stripped from columns has been studied. The At could not be recovered from the 3-octanone organic phase using nitric acid or sodium hydroxide, even up to 10 and 15.7 M, respectively.

Early intervention in psychosis programs in Africa, Asia and Latin America; challenges and recommendations.

Background: While early intervention in psychosis (EIP) programs have been increasingly implemented across the globe, many initiatives from Africa, Asia and Latin America are not widely known. The aims of the current review are (a) to describe population-based and small-scale, single-site EIP programs in Africa, Asia and Latin America, (b) to examine the variability between programs located in low-and-middle income (LMIC) and high-income countries in similar regions and (c) to outline some of the challenges and provide recommendations to overcome existing obstacles.

Methods: EIP programs in Africa, Asia and Latin America were identified through experts from the different target regions.

Remote Sensing of Nitric Acid and Temperature via Design of Experiments, Chemometrics, and Raman Spectroscopy.

This study presents an effective method for the quantification of nitric acid (0.1-9 M) and the temperature (20-60 °C) through optimal experimental design, chemometrics, and Raman spectroscopy. Raman spectroscopy can be deployed using fiber-optic cables in hot cell environments to support processing operations in the nuclear field and industry.

Lipidated DNA Nanostructures Target and Rupture Bacterial Membranes.

Chemistry has the power to endow supramolecular nanostructures with new biomedically relevant functions. Here it is reported that DNA nanostructures modified with cholesterol tags disrupt bacterial membranes to cause microbial cell death. The lipidated DNA nanostructures bind more readily to cholesterol-free bacterial membranes than to cholesterol-rich, eukaryotic membranes.

Proactive and integrated consultation-liaison psychiatry for older medical inpatients: A mixed methods description of training, care provided and clinician experience in the HOME study.

Objectives: To describe the practical experience of delivering a proactive and integrated consultation-liaison (C-L) psychiatry service model (PICLP). PICLP is designed for older medical inpatients and is explicitly biopsychosocial and discharge-focused. In this paper we report: (a) observations on the training of 15 clinicians (seven senior C-L psychiatrists and eight assisting clinicians) to deliver PICLP; (b) the care they provided to 1359 patients; (c) their experiences of working in this new way.

Production, isolation, and shipment of clinically relevant quantities of astatine-211: A simple and efficient approach to increasing supply.

Unlabelled: The alpha emitter astatine-211 (At) is a promising candidate for cancer treatment based on Targeted Alpha (α) Therapy (TAT). A small number of facilities, distributed across the United States, are capable of accelerating α-particle beams to produce At. However, challenges remain regarding strategic methods for shipping At in a form adaptable to advanced radiochemistry reactions and other uses of the radioisotope.

Clinical characteristics of people presenting with first episode psychosis pre- and during the COVID-19 pandemic in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown experience may have not only precipitated or exacerbated mental illness but also influenced access to care and the nature and content of the psychotic symptomatology of people with psychosis.

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the association of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown experience on clinical presentation and quality of life of people (QOL) with first episode psychosis (FEP).

Method: Two first episode psychosis cohorts from the same epidemiological area collected prior to, and during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown were compared in terms of clinical symptomatology, substance use and QOL.

Cannabis use and psychotic disorders in diverse settings in the Global South: findings from INTREPID II.

Background: Cannabis use has been linked to psychotic disorders but this association has been primarily observed in the Global North. This study investigates patterns of cannabis use and associations with psychoses in three Global South (regions within Latin America, Asia, Africa and Oceania) settings.

Methods: Case-control study within the International Programme of Research on Psychotic Disorders (INTREPID) II conducted between May 2018 and September 2020.

Creating complex protocells and prototissues using simple DNA building blocks.

Building synthetic protocells and prototissues hinges on the formation of biomimetic skeletal frameworks. Recreating the complexity of cytoskeletal and exoskeletal fibers, with their widely varying dimensions, cellular locations and functions, represents a major material hurdle and intellectual challenge which is compounded by the additional demand of using simple building blocks to ease fabrication and control. Here we harness simplicity to create complexity by assembling structural frameworks from subunits that can support membrane-based protocells and prototissues.

Water, sanitation and depression in rural communities: evidence from nationally representative study data in South Africa.

Clean water and sanitation provisions are essential for good hygiene and health, with rural South Africa facing a simultaneous access crisis of both, the direct health effect of restricted access to both on mental health remaining scarce and largely overlooked. This study investigated the association between access to clean water and sanitation on depression in rural South Africa utilizing the most recent data (year 2017) from the South African National Income Dynamics Study. Our study outcome was depression, based on the 10-item abridged version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (data available in SA-NIDS), the main exposures being access to clean water and adequate sanitation facilities (i.

Urbanicity and rates of untreated psychotic disorders in three diverse settings in the Global South.

Background: Extensive evidence indicates that rates of psychotic disorder are elevated in more urban compared with less urban areas, but this evidence largely originates from Northern Europe. It is unclear whether the same association holds globally. This study examined the association between urban residence and rates of psychotic disorder in catchment areas in India (Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu), Nigeria (Ibadan, Oyo), and Northern Trinidad.

Developing and testing unconditional cash transfer strategies among young adults with first-episode psychosis in South Africa: a study protocol for a pilot randomised control trial (PRS-FEP trial).

Introduction: Access to mental health services is a challenge, especially for young people who are over-represented in the unemployment and poverty index in South Africa. Therefore, continuing care is a problem after hospital discharge for young people with first-episode psychosis (FEP) due to a lack of clinical engagement and follow-up, for which they need support, including financial, to improve their outcomes. This pilot randomised control trial (RCT) aims to assess the feasibility and acceptability of financial support, in the form of an unconditional cash transfer (UCT), among young patients with FEP to prevent relapse.

Epidemiology of Untreated Psychoses in 3 Diverse Settings in the Global South: The International Research Program on Psychotic Disorders in Diverse Settings (INTREPID II).

Importance: Less than 10% of research on psychotic disorders has been conducted in settings in the Global South, which refers broadly to the regions of Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. There is a lack of basic epidemiological data on the distribution of and risks for psychoses that can inform the development of services in many parts of the world.

Objective: To compare demographic and clinical profiles of cohorts of cases and rates of untreated psychoses (proxy for incidence) across and within 3 economically and socially diverse settings in the Global South.

Course of psychotic experiences and disorders among apprentice traditional health practitioners in rural South Africa: 3-year follow-up study.

Background: Culture is inevitably linked with the experience, interpretation and course of what modern biomedicine understands to be psychotic symptoms. However, data on psychoses in low- and middle-income countries are sparse. Our previous study showed that psychotic and mood-related experiences, symptoms and disorders are common among individuals who had received the ancestral calling to become a traditional health practitioner (THP) in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Complexation of Astatine(III) with Ketones: Roles of NO Counterion and Exploration of Possible Binding Modes.

Ketones have been proven effective in extracting astatine(III) from aqueous solvents. Previous theoretical studies suggested a mechanism where the "sp" lone pair on the carbonyl oxygen donates electron density into the π system of the AtO molecular cation to form a dative-type bond. In this study, co-extraction of NO as AtO(NO)·(O═CRR) species into the organic phase appears to be a key factor.

Early detection and treatment of acute illness in medical patients with novel software: a prospective quality improvement initiative.

Objective: An ageing population and rising healthcare costs place healthcare systems at risk of failure. Our goal was to develop a technology that would identify illness early, initiate action and therein improve patient care, outcomes and save healthcare resources.

Design: This was a prospective interventional quality improvement study.

Sizing up DNA nanostructure assembly with native mass spectrometry and ion mobility.

Recent interest in biological and synthetic DNA nanostructures has highlighted the need for methods to comprehensively characterize intermediates and end products of multimeric DNA assembly. Here we use native mass spectrometry in combination with ion mobility to determine the mass, charge state and collision cross section of noncovalent DNA assemblies, and thereby elucidate their structural composition, oligomeric state, overall size and shape. We showcase the approach with a prototypical six-subunit DNA nanostructure to reveal how its assembly is governed by the ionic strength of the buffer, as well as how the mass and mobility of heterogeneous species can be well resolved by careful tuning of instrumental parameters.

Principles of Small-Molecule Transport through Synthetic Nanopores.

Synthetic nanopores made from DNA replicate the key biological processes of transporting molecular cargo across lipid bilayers. Understanding transport across the confined lumen of the nanopores is of fundamental interest and of relevance to their rational design for biotechnological applications. Here we reveal the transport principles of organic molecules through DNA nanopores by synergistically combining experiments and computer simulations.

Convolutional Neural Networks for Challenges in Automated Nuclide Identification.

Improvements in Radio-Isotope IDentification (RIID) algorithms have seen a resurgence in interest with the increased accessibility of machine learning models. Convolutional Neural Network (CNN)-based models have been developed to identify arbitrary mixtures of unstable nuclides from gamma spectra. In service of this, methods for the simulation and pre-processing of training data were also developed.

Spectroscopic characterization of neptunium(VI), plutonium(VI), americium(VI) and neptunium(V) encapsulated in uranyl nitrate hexahydrate.

The coordination of crystalline products resulting from the co-crystallization of Np(vi), Pu(vi), Am(vi), and Np(v) with uranyl nitrate hexahydrate (UNH) has been revealed through solid-state spectroscopic characterization via diffuse reflectance UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy, SEM-EDS, and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy. Density functional and multireference wavefunction calculations were performed to analyze the An(vi/v)O2(NO3)2·2H2O electronic structures and to help assign the observed transitions in the absorption spectra. EXAFS show a similar coordination between the U(VI) in UNH and Np(vi) and Pu(vi); while Am resulted in a similar coordination to Am(iii), as reduction of Am(vi) occurred prior to EXAFS data being obtained.

Hydrophobic Interactions between DNA Duplexes and Synthetic and Biological Membranes.

Equipping DNA with hydrophobic anchors enables targeted interaction with lipid bilayers for applications in biophysics, cell biology, and synthetic biology. Understanding DNA-membrane interactions is crucial for rationally designing functional DNA. Here we study the interactions of hydrophobically tagged DNA with synthetic and cell membranes using a combination of experiments and atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations.

Introducing Bacteria and Synthetic Biomolecules along Engineered DNA Fibers.

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) nanotechnology enables user-defined structures to be built with unrivalled control. The approach is currently restricted across the nanoscale, yet the ability to generate macroscopic DNA structures has enormous potential with applications spanning material, physical, and biological science. To address this need, I employed DNA nanotechnology and developed a new macromolecular nanoarchitectonic assembly method to produce DNA fibers with customizable properties.

DNA Nanodevices with Selective Immune Cell Interaction and Function.

DNA nanotechnology produces precision nanostructures of defined chemistry. Expanding their use in biomedicine requires designed biomolecular interaction and function. Of topical interest are DNA nanostructures that function as vaccines with potential advantages over nonstructured nucleic acids in terms of serum stability and selective interaction with human immune cells.