Bioinspired Thermosensitive Hydrogel as a Vitreous Substitute: Synthesis, Properties, and Progress of Animal Studies.

In many vitreal diseases, the surgeon removes the natural vitreous and replaces it with silicone oils, gases, or balanced salt solutions to fill the eyeball and hold the retina in position. However, these materials are often associated with complications and have properties that differ from natural vitreous. Herein, we report an extension of our previous work on the synthesis of a biomimetic hydrogel that is composed of thiolated gellan as an analogue of type II collagen and poly(methacrylamide-co-methacrylate-co-bis(methacryloyl)cystamine), a polyelectrolyte, as an analogue of hyaluronic acid.

Using Nonfiction Narratives in an English Course to Teach the Nature of Science and Its Importance to Communicating About Science.

The nature of science (NOS) is a foundational framework for understanding scientific ideas and concepts. This framework includes scientific methodology, the process of revising and interpreting data, and the ways in which science is a social endeavor. Nature of science literature treats science as a way of knowing that is based on observable phenomenon.

A snapshot summary of consultant cover and current working practices in Intensive Care Medicine across the United Kingdom.

A challenge lies ahead in ensuring that consultant workforce planning within Intensive Care Medicine meets changing and expanding health care needs at a time of financial constraint. During the development of an enlarging consultant intensivist workforce, it is important to explore existing practices to ensure subsequent contracts provide optimal work intensity and on-call frequency as well as appropriate SPA time for clinical governance and professional development. We conducted a survey across 14 deaneries, 43 ICUs and 398 consultant job plans to compare current working practices and set these against new guidelines and standards.

A public health perspective on the U.S. response to the Fukushima radiological emergency.

On 11 March 2011, northern Japan was struck by first a magnitude 9.0 earthquake off the eastern coast and then by an ensuing tsunami. At the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), these twin disasters initiated a cascade of events that led to radionuclide releases.

Higher maternal prenatal cortisol and younger age predict greater infant reactivity to novelty at 4 months: an observation-based study.

Distress-linked activation of the maternal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis is considered a pathway by which affect regulation impacts the fetal milieu and neurodevelopment. There is little direct evidence for this conceptual model. In 103 women [mean age 27.

Pregnant women's cortisol is elevated with anxiety and depression - but only when comorbid.

Elevated cortisol during pregnancy is associated with adverse birth outcomes and may alter fetal development and subsequent adult health. Numerous studies link elevated cortisol to depression and anxiety, but only a few have examined these relationships during pregnancy and in response to laboratory stressors. No studies have investigated the impact of comorbid anxiety and depression on cortisol during pregnancy.

Suggestive linkage of a chromosomal locus on 18p11 to cyclothymic temperament in bipolar disorder families.

Attempts to identify bipolar disorder (BP) genes have only enjoyed limited success. One potential cause for this problem is that the traditional categorical BP phenotypes currently used in genetic linkage studies are not the most informative, efficient, or biologically relevant. An alternative to these strict categorical BP phenotypes is quantitative BP phenotypes.

Effects of mothers' prenatal psychiatric status and postnatal caregiving on infant biobehavioral regulation: can prenatal programming be modified?

Background: Animal research suggests that antenatal stress exposure and postnatal rearing style act in concert to shape offspring biobehavioral outcomes. However, the combination of these maternally-mediated influences has not been studied in human infants.

Aims: To examine antenatal psychiatric status and maternal sensitivity in relation to 4-month-olds' autonomic regulation, HPA-axis functioning, and behavior.

Familiality of temperament in bipolar disorder: support for a genetic spectrum.

Background: The array of different diagnoses and clinical presentations seen in the family members of bipolar probands suggests a quantitative or spectrum phenotype. Consistent with this idea, it has been proposed that an underlying quantitative variation in temperament may be the primary phenotype that is genetically transmitted and that it in turn predisposes to bipolar disorder (BP). Choosing the appropriate phenotypic model for BP is crucial for success in genetic mapping studies.

Effects of rapid tryptophan depletion on sleep electroencephalogram and mood in subjects with partially remitted depression on bupropion.

Serotonin has been implicated in both sleep and mood regulation. When central serotonin was depleted with a tryptophan-free amino acid drink (TFD), some studies have reported that the antidepressant benefits were reversed in partially remitted patients treated with SSRIs. Other studies showed that the TFD increased rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in both normal males and in remitted depression patients on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) without affecting mood.