Effects of Argon in the Acute Phase of Subarachnoid Hemorrhage in an Endovascular Perforation Model in Rats.

Background: Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a devastating disease with high morbidity and mortality. Neuroprotective effects of the noble gas argon have been shown in animal models of ischemia. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of argon in the immediate early phase of SAH in a rat model.

Antimicrobial prophylaxis in noninstrumented spine surgery: a prospective study to determine efficacy and drawbacks.

Objective: The authors sought to evaluate the roles of perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis in noninstrumented spine surgery (NISS), both in postoperative infections and the impact on the selection of resistant bacteria. To the authors' knowledge, only one prospective study recommending preoperative intravenous (IV) antibiotics for prophylaxis has been published previously.

Methods: Two successive prospective IV antibiotic prophylaxis protocols were used: from 2011 to 2013 (group A: no prophylactic antibiotic) and from 2014 to 2016 (group B: prophylactic cefazolin).

Covid-19 driven advances in automation and artificial intelligence risk exacerbating economic inequality.

make the case for a deliberate effort to steer technological advances in a direction that enhances the role of human workers

Integration of 3D nanographene into mesoporous germanium.

Graphene is a key material of interest for the modification of physicochemical surface properties. However, its flat surface is a limitation for applications requiring a high specific surface area. This restriction may be overcome by integrating 2D materials in a 3D structure.

External Societal Costs of Antimicrobial Resistance in Humans Attributable to Antimicrobial Use in Livestock.

Antimicrobial use (AMU) in animal agriculture contributes to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in humans, which imposes significant health and economic costs on society. Economists call these costs negative externalities, societal costs that are not properly reflected in market prices. We review the relevant literature and develop a model to quantify the external costs of AMU in animal agriculture on AMR in humans.

Nanoscale mechanism of the stabilization of nanoporous gold by alloyed platinum.

Nanoporous gold (NPG) is usually made by electrochemical dealloying of Ag from binary AgAu alloys. The resulting nanoscale ligaments are not very stable, and tend to coarsen with time by surface self-diffusion, especially in electrolyte, which may lead to inferior electrocatalytic properties. Addition of a small amount of Pt to the precursor alloy is known to refine and stabilize the nanoporous product (NPG-Pt).

Epitaxially stabilized thin films of ε-FeO (001) grown on YSZ (100).

Epsilon ferrite (ε-FeO) is a metastable phase of iron(III) oxide, intermediate between maghemite and hematite. It has recently attracted interest because of its magnetocrystalline anisotropy, which distinguishes it from the other polymorphs, and results in a gigantic coercive field and a natural ferromagnetic resonance frequency in the THz range. Moreover, it possesses a polar crystal structure, making it a potential ferroelectric, hence a potential multiferroic.

Selective nuclear localization of siRNA by metallic versus semiconducting single wall carbon nanotubes in keratinocytes.

Background: The potential use of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in gene therapy as delivery systems for nucleic acids has been recently recognized. Here, we describe that metallic versus semiconducting single-wall CNTs can produce significant differences in transfection rate and cellular distribution of siRNA in murine PAM212 keratinocytes.

Results/methodology: The results of cell interaction studies, coupled with supportive computational simulations and ultrastructural studies revealed that the use of metallic single wall CNTs resulted in siRNA delivery into both the cytoplasm and nucleus of keratinocytes, whereas semiconducting CNTs resulted in delivery only to the cytoplasm.

Analytical electron microscopy of a crack tip extracted from a stressed Alloy 800 sample exposed to an acid sulfate environment.

Alloy 800 (Fe-21Cr-33Ni) has been found susceptible to cracking in acid sulfate environments, but the mechanism is not well understood. Alloy 800 C-ring samples were exposed to an acid sulfate environment at 315°C and cracks were found with depths in excess of 300μm after 60h. Preparation of a TEM sample containing crack tips is challenging, but the ability to perform high-resolution microscopy at the crack tip would lend insight to the mechanism of acid sulfate stress corrosion cracking (AcSCC).

Asymmetric silver "nanocarrot" structures: solution synthesis and their asymmetric plasmonic resonances.

Here we report the wet-chemical synthesis of asymmetric one-dimensional (1D) silver "nanocarrot" structures that exhibit mixed twins and stacking fault domains along the <111> direction. Oriented attachment is the dominant mechanism for anisotropic growth. Multipolar plasmon resonances up to fourth order were measured by optical extinction spectroscopy and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) and are in agreement with theoretical calculations.

Elderly age as a prognostic marker of 1-year poor outcome for subarachnoid hemorrhage patients through its interaction with admission hydrocephalus.

Background: An increasing number of elderly patients are treated for aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Given that elderly age is associated with both poor outcome and an increased risk of hydrocephalus, we sought to investigate the interaction between age and hydrocephalus in outcome prediction.

Methods: We enrolled 933 consecutive patients treated for subarachnoid hemorrhage between 2002 and 2010 and followed them for 1 yr after intensive care unit discharge.

Self-focusing by Ostwald ripening: a strategy for layer-by-layer epitaxial growth on upconverting nanocrystals.

We demonstrate a novel epitaxial layer-by-layer growth on upconverting NaYF(4) nanocrystals (NCs) utilizing Ostwald ripening dynamics tunable both in thickness and composition. Injection of small sacrificial NCs (SNCs) as shell precursors into larger core NCs results in the rapid dissolution of the SNCs and their deposition onto the larger core NCs to yield core-shell structured NCs. Exploiting this NC size dependent dissolution/growth, the shell thickness can be controlled either by manipulating the number of SNCs injected or by successive injection of SNCs.

Controlling electron overflow in phosphor-free InGaN/GaN nanowire white light-emitting diodes.

We have investigated for the first time the impact of electron overflow on the performance of nanowire light-emitting diodes (LEDs) operating in the entire visible spectral range, wherein intrinsic white light emission is achieved from self-organized InGaN quantum dots embedded in defect-free GaN nanowires on a single chip. Through detailed temperature-dependent electroluminescence and simulation studies, it is revealed that electron leakage out of the device active region is primarily responsible for efficiency degradation in such nanowire devices, which in conjunction with the presence of nonradiative surface recombination largely determines the unique emission characteristics of nanowire light-emitting diodes. We have further demonstrated that electron overflow in nanowire LEDs can be effectively prevented with the incorporation of a p-doped AlGaN electron blocking layer, leading to the achievement of phosphor-free white light-emitting diodes that can exhibit for the first time virtually zero efficiency droop for injection currents up to ~2200 A/cm(2).

Computer controlled cryo-electron microscopy--TOM² a software package for high-throughput applications.

Automated data acquisition expedites structural studies by electron microscopy and it allows to collect data sets of unprecedented size and consistent quality. In electron tomography it greatly facilitates the systematic exploration of large cellular landscapes and in single particle analysis it allows to generate data sets for an exhaustive classification of coexisting molecular states. Here we describe a novel software philosophy and architecture that can be used for a great variety of automated data acquisition scenarios.

Morbidity of ventricular cerebrospinal fluid shunt surgery in adults: an 8-year study.

Background: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunt procedures have dramatically reduced the morbidity and mortality rates associated with hydrocephalus. However, despite improvements in materials, devices, and surgical techniques, shunt failure and complications remain common and may require multiple surgical procedures.

Objective: To evaluate CSF shunt complication incidence and factors that may be associated with increased shunt dysfunction and infection rates in adults.

Insights into the molecular architecture of the 26S proteasome.

Cryo-electron microscopy in conjunction with advanced image analysis was used to analyze the structure of the 26S proteasome and to elucidate its variable features. We have been able to outline the boundaries of the ATPase module in the "base" part of the regulatory complex that can vary in its position and orientation relative to the 20S core particle. This variation is consistent with the "wobbling" model that was previously proposed to explain the role of the regulatory complex in opening the gate in the alpha-rings of the core particle.

Risk factors for adult nosocomial meningitis after craniotomy: role of antibiotic prophylaxis.

Objective: To evaluate incidence and risk factors of postoperative meningitis, with special emphasis on antibiotic prophylaxis, in a series of 6243 consecutive craniotomies.

Methods: Meningitis was individualized from a prospective surveillance database of surgical site infections after craniotomy. Ventriculitis related to external ventricular drainage or cerebrospinal fluid shunt were excluded.

Automated cryoelectron microscopy of "single particles" applied to the 26S proteasome.

The 26S proteasome is a large molecular machine with a central role in intracellular protein degradation in eukaryotes. The 2.5 MDa complex, which is built from two copies each of more than 30 different subunits, is labile and prone to dissociation into subcomplexes.

Organizational Systems Questionnaire (OSQ) Validity Study.

Marriage and family therapists (MFTs), who are trained in systems theory and consult with complex and difficult systems (e.g., couples and families), are uniquely suited to both assess and intervene in broader organizational systems.

A family systems-based model of organizational intervention.

Employee assistance professionals are expected to be proficient at intervening in organizations and creating meaningful behavioral change in interpersonal functioning. Because of their training in family systems theories and concepts, marriage and family therapists (MFTs) are well suited to serve organizations as "systems consultants." Unfortunately, the authors were unable to identify any family systems-based models for organizational intervention that have been empirically tested and supported.

Structural analysis of the 26S proteasome by cryoelectron tomography.

The 26S proteasome is the key enzyme of intracellular protein degradation in eukaryotic cells. It is a multisubunit complex of 2.5 MDa confining the proteolytic action to an inner compartment with tightly controlled access.

Risk factors for adult nosocomial meningitis after craniotomy: role of antibiotic prophylaxis.

Objective: To evaluate incidence and risk factors of postoperative meningitis, with special emphasis on antibiotic prophylaxis, in a series of 6243 consecutive craniotomies.

Methods: Meningitis was individualized from a prospective surveillance database of surgical site infections after craniotomy. Ventriculitis related to external ventricular drainage or cerebrospinal fluid shunt were excluded.

Risk factors for neurosurgical site infections after craniotomy: a critical reappraisal of antibiotic prophylaxis on 4,578 patients.

The objective of this study was to evaluate incidence and risk factors of postoperative infections, with emphasis on antibiotic prophylaxis, in a series of 4578 craniotomies. A prospective database was implemented for surveillance of postcraniotomy infections. During period A, no antibiotic prophylaxis was prescribed for scheduled, clean craniotomies, lasting less than 4 h, whereas emergency, clean-contaminated or long-lasting craniotomies received cloxacillin or amoxicillin-clavulanate.