Dyadic Ambivalence in Couples Managing Early-Stage Alzheimer's Disease: Linking Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia to Life Satisfaction.

Objectives: Caring for a spouse with Alzheimer's disease (AD) can elicit considerable distress but there are also positive moments. A growing body of work has examined caregivers' ambivalence in the care relationship and linked it to negative caregiver outcomes such as depression, but dyadic assessments of both parties' perspectives are missing. We examined ambivalence in both people with AD and their spousal caregivers, seeking to identify the correlates and well-being outcomes of such ambivalence in this unique context.

Characterising HIV-1 transmission in Victoria, Australia: a molecular epidemiological study.

Background: In Australia the incidence of HIV has declined steadily, yet sustained reduction of HIV transmission in this setting requires improved public health responses. As enhanced public health responses and prioritisation of resources may be guided by molecular epidemiological data, here we aimed to assess the applicability of these approaches in Victoria, Australia.

Methods: A comprehensive collection of HIV-1 sequences from individuals diagnosed with HIV in Victoria, Australia, between January 1st 2000 and December 31st 2020 were deidentified and used as the basis of our assessment.

Use of open-text responses to recode categorical survey data on postpartum contraception use among women in the United States: A mixed-methods inquiry of Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System data.

Background: Postpartum contraception prevents unintended pregnancies and short interpregnancy intervals. The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) collects population-based data on postpartum contraception nonuse and reasons for not using postpartum contraception. In addition to quantitative questions, PRAMS collects open-text responses that are typically left unused by secondary quantitative analyses.

Diagnostic and economic evaluation of a point-of-care test for respiratory syncytial virus.

Respiratory syncytial virus is a common cause of bronchiolitis. Historically, point-of-care tests have involved antigen detection technology with limited sensitivity. The aim of this study was to prospectively evaluate the diagnostic accuracy and model the economic impact of the Roche cobas® Liat® point-of-care influenza A/B and respiratory syncytial virus test.

Young women's reproductive health conversations: Roles of maternal figures and clinical practices.

Objective: To explore the role of clinical providers and mothers on young women's ability to have confidential, candid reproductive health conversations with their providers.

Methods: We conducted 14 focus groups with 48 women aged 15-28 years (n = 9), and 32 reproductive healthcare workers (n = 5). Focus groups were audio recorded and transcribed.

Rapid Lipid-Based Approach for Normalization of Quantum-Dot-Detected Biomarker Expression on Extracellular Vesicles in Complex Biological Samples.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are of considerable interest as tumor biomarkers because tumor-derived EVs contain a broad array of information about tumor pathophysiology. However, current EV assays cannot distinguish between EV biomarker differences resulting from altered abundance of a target EV population with stable biomarker expression, altered biomarker expression in a stable target EV population, or effects arising from changes in both parameters. We now describe a rapid nanoparticle- and dye-based fluorescent immunoassay that can distinguish among these possibilities by normalizing EV biomarker levels to EV abundance.

Analysis of transmitted HIV drug resistance from 2005 to 2015 in Victoria, Australia: a comparison of the old and the new.

Unlabelled: Background Baseline genotyping is part of standard-of-care treatment. It reveals that transmitted drug resistance (TDR) continues to be important for the management of HIV infection. Attention is typically focused on determining whether resistance to the protease inhibitors (PI) and reverse transcriptase inhibitors (RTI) occurs.

Concerted loss of TGFβ-mediated proliferation control and E-cadherin disrupts epithelial homeostasis and causes oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Although the etiology of squamous cell carcinomas of the oral mucosa is well understood, the cellular origin and the exact molecular mechanisms leading to their formation are not. Previously, we observed the coordinated loss of E-cadherin (CDH1) and transforming growth factor beta receptor II (TGFBR2) in esophageal squamous tumors. To investigate if the coordinated loss of Cdh1 and Tgfbr2 is sufficient to induce tumorigenesis in vivo, we developed two mouse models targeting ablation of both genes constitutively or inducibly in the oral-esophageal epithelium.

Hospice agencies' hospital contract status and differing levels of hospice care.

In response to a 2011 finding that approximately 27% of Medicare-certified hospices do not provide a single day of general inpatient care (GIP), the authors explored the extent to which hospices have contracts with hospitals for GIP. Using the 2007 National Home and Hospice Care Survey, we estimated that 1119 (32%) agencies had no contract with any hospitals in 2007 and half of those with no contract did not have a contract with a skilled nursing facility (SNF) either. As a result, these hospices were unable to provide GIP referrals for those in need of inpatient care for acute pain and symptom management.

A quantitative evaluation of brain dysfunction and body-burden of toxic metals.

Background: Toxic metal exposure (e.g. Hg, Pb, As) exposure is known to induce significant adverse effects on human brain function.

Production of gas phase NO₂ and halogens from the photochemical oxidation of aqueous mixtures of sea salt and nitrate ions at room temperature.

Nitrate and halide ions coexist in a number of environmental systems, including sea salt particles, the Arctic snowpack, and alkaline dry lakes. However, little is known about potential synergisms between halide and nitrate ions. The effect of sea salt on NO(3)(-) photochemistry at 311 nm was investigated at 298 K using thin films of deliquesced NaNO(3)-synthetic sea salt mixtures.

CD44 upregulation in E-cadherin-negative esophageal cancers results in cell invasion.

E-cadherin is frequently lost during epithelial-mesenchymal transition and the progression of epithelial tumorigenesis. We found a marker of epithelial-mesenchymal transition, CD44, upregulated in response to functional loss of E-cadherin in esophageal cell lines and cancer. Loss of E-cadherin expression correlates with increased expression of CD44 standard isoform.

Nitrate ion photolysis in thin water films in the presence of bromide ions.

Nitrate ions commonly coexist with halide ions in aged sea salt particles, as well as in the Arctic snowpack, where NO(3)(-) photochemistry is believed to be an important source of NO(y) (NO + NO(2) + HONO + ...

Shwachman-Diamond syndrome is associated with low-turnover osteoporosis.

Introduction: Shwachman-Diamond syndrome (SDS) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by exocrine pancreatic insufficiency and bone marrow dysfunction. These result in malabsorption and hematological abnormalities. A skeletal dysplasia is also an integral feature of SDS.

Competitive binding effects on surface-enhanced Raman scattering of peptide molecules.

Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has been conducted on tryptophan (W), proline (P) and tyrosine (Y) containing peptides that include W-P-Y, Y-P-W, W-P-P-P-Y, Y-P-P-P-W, W-P-P-P-P-P-Y, and Y-P-P-P-P-P-W to gain insight into molecular binding behavior on a metal substrate to eventually apply in protein SERS detection. The peptides are shown to bind through the molecule's carboxylic end, but the strong affinity of the tryptophan residue to the substrate surface, in conjunction with its large polarizability, dominates each molecule's SERS signal with the strong presence of its ring modes in all samples. These results are important for understanding SERS of protein molecules.

Comparison of quality of life of persons who have experienced amputations and persons who have had bowel resections.

Comparing the quality of life of persons who have experienced amputations and persons who have had bowel resections illustrates the impact of chronic disease upon all aspects of a patient's life. Because the purpose of nursing research is to bring about knowledge to better direct patient care, understanding the impact of chronic illness contributes to an improvement in the quality of life of these patients. By appreciating the patient's perspective concerning the illness, the nurse can better educate the patient in all aspects of the disease process.

Mutations in SBDS are associated with Shwachman-Diamond syndrome.

Shwachman-Diamond syndrome (SDS; OMIM 260400) is an autosomal recessive disorder with clinical features that include pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, hematological dysfunction and skeletal abnormalities. Here, we report identification of disease-associated mutations in an uncharacterized gene, SBDS, in the interval of 1.9 cM at 7q11 previously shown to be associated with the disease.

Fine mapping of the locus for Shwachman-Diamond syndrome at 7q11, identification of shared disease haplotypes, and exclusion of TPST1 as a candidate gene.

Shwachman-Diamond syndrome (SDS) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterised by exocrine pancreatic dysfunction, haematological and skeletal abnormalities. We have previously defined the SDS locus as a 2.7 cM interval spanning the centromere of chromosome 7.