Disintegration testing augmented by computer Vision technology.

Oral solid dosage forms, specifically immediate release tablets, are prevalent in the pharmaceutical industry. Disintegration testing is often the first step of commercialization and large-scale production of these dosage forms. Current disintegration testing in the pharmaceutical industry, according to United States Pharmacopeia (USP) chapter 〈701〉, only gives information about the duration of the tablet disintegration process.

Diffractive deep neural network adjoint assist or (DNA): a fast and efficient nonlinear diffractive neural network implementation.

The recent advent of diffractive deep neural networks or DNNs has opened new avenues for the design and optimization of multi-functional optical materials; despite the effectiveness of the DNN approach, there is a need for making these networks as well as the design algorithms more general and computationally efficient. The work demonstrated in this paper brings significant improvements to both these areas by introducing an algorithm that performs inverse design on fully nonlinear diffractive deep neural network - assisted by an adjoint sensitivity analysis which we term (DNA). As implied by the name, the procedure optimizes the parameters associated with the diffractive elements including both linear and nonlinear amplitude and phase contributions as well as the spacing between planes via adjoint sensitivity analysis.

Can magnetic resonance imaging accurately and reliably measure humeral cortical thickness?

Background: Historically, imaging osseous detail in three dimensions required a computed tomography (CT) scan with ionizing radiation that poorly visualizes the soft tissues. The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy and reliability of ultrashort echo time (UTE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in measuring humeral cortical thickness and cancellous density as compared with CT.

Methods: This was a comparative radiographic study in nine cadavers, each of which underwent CT and UTE MRI.

Evolving management of HER2+ breast cancer brain metastases and leptomeningeal disease.

Patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer are at a particularly high risk of breast cancer brain metastasis (BCBM) and leptomeningeal disease (LMD). Improvements in systemic therapy have translated to improved survival for patients with HER2-positive BCBM and LMD. However, the optimal management of these cases is rapidly evolving and requires a multidisciplinary approach.

Exploring the Outcomes and Satisfaction of Automated Physiological Monitoring Systems Among Nurses.

Vital signs are central to the assessment of physiologic functions of patients and must be included in the electronic health record. The purpose of this retrospective and cross-sectional design study was to evaluate use of-and satisfaction with-automated physiological monitoring systems. Usage data from a hospital database were analyzed 3, 6, and 12 months after implementation of the automated system (June 2018 to May 2019).

Critical Care Nurses' Perceptions of Clinical Alarm Management on Nursing Practice.

The alarm management of physiological monitoring systems is a key responsibility of critical care nurses. However, the high numbers of false and nonactionable (true but clinically irrelevant) alarms cause distractions to healthcare professionals, interruptions to nursing workflow, and ignoring of crucial tasks. Therefore, understanding how nurses manage large amounts of alarms in their daily work could provide a direction to design interventions to prevent adverse patient care effects.

How Young Mothers Rely on Kin Networks and Formal Childcare to Avoid Becoming NEET in the Netherlands.

Motherhood is often cited as one of the main reasons for young women to become NEET (not in employment, education, or training). Given the potential long-term negative implications of NEET status, it is important to understand which types of resources can help young mothers to avoid becoming NEET around childbirth. In this paper we investigate how the chances of young mothers to become and stay NEET around the time of first birth are related to the availability and characteristics of members of their social support network, especially partners and grandparents, to assist in childcare.

Use of Riparian Spiders as Sentinels of Persistent and Bioavailable Chemical Contaminants in Aquatic Ecosystems: A Review.

Aquatic ecosystems around the world are contaminated with a wide range of anthropogenic chemicals, including metals and organic pollutants, that originate from point and nonpoint sources. Many of these chemical contaminants have complex environmental cycles, are persistent and bioavailable, can be incorporated into aquatic food webs, and pose a threat to the health of wildlife and humans. Identifying appropriate sentinels that reflect bioavailability is critical to assessing and managing aquatic ecosystems impacted by contaminants.

Development of a ligand for in vivo imaging of mutant huntingtin in Huntington's disease.

Huntington's disease (HD) is a dominantly inherited neurodegenerative disorder caused by a CAG trinucleotide expansion in the huntingtin () gene that encodes the pathologic mutant HTT (mHTT) protein with an expanded polyglutamine (polyQ) tract. Whereas several therapeutic programs targeting mHTT expression have advanced to clinical evaluation, methods to visualize mHTT protein species in the living brain are lacking. Here, we demonstrate the development and characterization of a positron emission tomography (PET) imaging radioligand with high affinity and selectivity for mHTT aggregates.

Mutations in viral nucleocapsid protein and endoRNase are discovered to associate with COVID19 hospitalization risk.

SARS-CoV-2 is spreading worldwide with continuously evolving variants, some of which occur in the Spike protein and appear to increase viral transmissibility. However, variants that cause severe COVID-19 or lead to other breakthroughs have not been well characterized. To discover such viral variants, we assembled a cohort of 683 COVID-19 patients; 388 inpatients ("cases") and 295 outpatients ("controls") from April to August 2020 using electronically captured COVID test request forms and sequenced their viral genomes.

Measuring infectious SARS-CoV-2 in clinical samples reveals a higher viral titer:RNA ratio for Delta and Epsilon vs. Alpha variants.

Novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants pose a challenge to controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous studies indicate that clinical samples collected from individuals infected with the Delta variant may contain higher levels of RNA than previous variants, but the relationship between levels of viral RNA and infectious virus for individual variants is unknown. We measured infectious viral titer (using a microfocus-forming assay) and total and subgenomic viral RNA levels (using RT-PCR) in a set of 162 clinical samples containing SARS-CoV-2 Alpha, Delta, and Epsilon variants that were collected in identical swab kits from outpatient test sites and processed soon after collection.

An international, interlaboratory ring trial confirms the feasibility of an extraction-less "direct" RT-qPCR method for reliable detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in clinical samples.

Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) is used worldwide to test and trace the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). "Extraction-less" or "direct" real time-reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is a transparent and accessible qualitative method for SARS-CoV-2 detection from nasopharyngeal or oral pharyngeal samples with the potential to generate actionable data more quickly, at a lower cost, and with fewer experimental resources than full RT-qPCR. This study engaged 10 global testing sites, including laboratories currently experiencing testing limitations due to reagent or equipment shortages, in an international interlaboratory ring trial.

Concepts in Musculoskeletal Bone and Soft Tissue Biopsy.

Imaging-guided needle biopsy of musculoskeletal lesions is a high-yield and low-risk procedure that can be used for definitive characterization of indeterminate bone and soft tissue lesions. Familiarity with the preprocedural, technical, and postprocedural steps is vital for the appropriate management of these cases. Biopsy request triage requires an awareness of definitively benign conditions and other tumor mimics.

The effect of mandatory COVID-19 certificates on vaccine uptake: synthetic-control modelling of six countries.

Background: Mandatory COVID-19 certification (showing vaccination, recent negative test, or proof of recovery) has been introduced in some countries. We aimed to investigate the effect of certification on vaccine uptake.

Methods: We designed a synthetic control model comparing six countries (Denmark, Israel, Italy, France, Germany, and Switzerland) that introduced certification (April-August, 2021), with 19 control countries.

at 75 years: An empirical review.

advances research on fertility, mortality, family, migration, methods, policy, and beyond, yet it lacks a recent, rigorous review. We examine all papers published between 1947 and 2020 ( = 1,901) and their authors, using natural language processing, social network analysis, and mixed methods that combine unsupervised machine learning with qualitative coding. After providing a brief history, we map the evolution in authorship and papers towards shorter, multi-authored papers, also finding that females comprise 33.

A guide to the management of atrial fibrillation in Santa Claus.

•In view of his advanced age and risk factors, Santa Claus is at high risk of developing atrial fibrillation. Despite this, no guidelines exist on the subject. •Following a review of the literature, we present our position on the management of atrial fibrillation in Santa Claus, and propose the use of the SANTA CLAUS mnemonic to aid clinicians: Screen for atrial fibrillation; Anticoagulate; Normalise heart rate; Treat comorbidities; Anti-arrhythmic drugs; Cardioversion; Lifestyle measures; Ablation treatment; Understand emotional and psychological impact; Save Santa Claus.

Predicting infectivity: comparing four PCR-based assays to detect culturable SARS-CoV-2 in clinical samples.

With the COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 now in its second year, there remains an urgent need for diagnostic testing that can identify infected individuals, particularly those who harbor infectious virus. Various RT-PCR strategies have been proposed to identify specific viral RNA species that may predict the presence of infectious virus, including detection of transcriptional intermediates (e.g.

Measuring Skin Carotenoids Using Reflection Spectroscopy in a Low-Income School Setting.

Dietary behavior change is difficult to accurately measure in a low-income youth population. Objective tools to measure fruit and vegetable consumption without relying on self-report present the opportunity to do this with less respondent burden and bias. A promising tool for quantifying fruit and vegetable consumption via proxy is skin carotenoids as measured by reflection spectroscopy through a device called the Veggie Meter.

Tissue and Temperature-Specific RNA-Seq Analysis Reveals Genomic Versatility and Adaptive Potential in Wild Sea Turtle Hatchlings ().

: Digital transcriptomics is rapidly emerging as a powerful new technology for modelling the environmental dynamics of the adaptive landscape in diverse lineages. This is particularly valuable in taxa such as turtles and tortoises (order Testudines) which contain a large fraction of endangered species at risk due to anthropogenic impacts on the environment, including pollution, overharvest, habitat degradation, and climate change. Sea turtles (family Cheloniidae) in particular invite a genomics-enabled approach to investigating their remarkable portfolio of adaptive evolution.

Development of an academic-practice partnership model to anchor care coordination and population health.

The National Academy of Medicine's The Future of Nursing 2020-2030 recommends the expansion of the role of nurses throughout the continuum of health care in an effort to improve the health of the nation while decreasing costs. To accomplish this goal, nursing students and nurses must be well prepared to perform at their highest capacity to meet health care demands. Currently the U.

The habitat-modifying red alga Ramicrusta on Pacific reefs: A new generic record for the Tropical Northwestern Pacific and the description of four new species from Guam.

The genus Ramicrusta (order Peyssonneliales) is a new record for Micronesia, with range expansions of Ramicrusta fujiiana and R. lateralis to Guam. In addition, four species (Ramicrusta adjoulanensis, R.