An agent-based modelling framework to study growth mechanisms in mutant cell alveolar type II cells.

Mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) are common in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), particularly in never-smoker patients. However, these mutations are not always carcinogenic, and have recently been reported in histologically normal lung tissue from patients with and without lung cancer. To investigate the outcome of EGFR mutation in healthy lung stem cells, we grow murine alveolar type II organoids monoclonally in a three-dimensional Matrigel.

How do we know whether treatment has failed? Paradoxical outcomes in counseling with young people.

Background: In both routine practice contexts and research studies, evidence from standardized self-report symptom measures, administered pre- and post-treatment, is predominantly used to determine whether psychotherapy has been successful. Understanding the nature of unsuccessful psychotherapy requires an ability to evaluate the credibility of outcome data generated by such techniques. An important body of research has identified discrepancies between outcomes assessed through symptom measures and those obtained from other sources.

Can Answers to the Health Workforce Crisis Be Found in Equity-Informed Digital Health?

In this paper, we describe current pressures on health human resources (HHRs) in the Canadian context and related factors that impact equity-deserving communities/populations. We explore issues of HHR challenges in rural, remote and urban underserved contexts and explore the associated benefits and challenges of incorporating digital health (DH). We present examples and evidence of integrating hybrid models of care as a means of supporting HHRs via DH in the publicly funded health system.

Motility-Induced Phase Separation Mediated by Bacterial Quorum Sensing.

We study motility-induced phase separation (MIPS) in living active matter, in which cells interact through chemical signaling, or quorum sensing. In contrast to previous theories of MIPS, our multiscale continuum model accounts explicitly for genetic regulation of signal production and motility. Through analysis and simulations, we derive a new criterion for the onset of MIPS that depends on features of the genetic network.

Evaluation of the PaCER Algorithm for Postoperative Subthalamic Nucleus Deep Brain Stimulation Electrode Localization.

Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is an established therapy for many movement disorders. DBS entails electrical stimulation of precise brain structures using permanently implanted electrodes. Following implantation, locating the electrodes relative to the target brain structure assists patient outcome optimization.

Anatomical targeting for electrode localization in subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation: A comparative study.

Background And Purpose: In deep brain stimulation (DBS), accurate electrode placement is essential for optimizing patient outcomes. Localizing electrodes enables insight into therapeutic outcomes and development of metrics for use in clinical trials. Methods of defining anatomical targets have been described with varying accuracy and objectivity.

Meteorological data rescue: Citizen science lessons learned from Southern Weather Discovery.

Daily weather reconstructions (called "reanalyses") can help improve our understanding of meteorology and long-term climate changes. Adding undigitized historical weather observations to the datasets that underpin reanalyses is desirable; however, time requirements to capture those data from a range of archives is usually limited. Southern Weather Discovery is a citizen science data rescue project that recovered tabulated handwritten meteorological observations from ship log books and land-based stations spanning New Zealand, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica.

Feature tracking microfluidic analysis reveals differential roles of viscosity and friction in sickle cell blood.

Characterization of blood flow rheology in hematological disorders is critical for understanding disease pathophysiology. Existing methods to measure blood rheological parameters are limited in their physiological relevance, and there is a need for new tools that focus on the microcirculation and extract properties at finer resolution than overall flow resistance. Herein, we present a method that combines microfluidic systems and powerful object-tracking computational technologies with mathematical modeling to separate the red blood cell flow profile into a bulk component and a wall component.

Designing transparent nanophotonic gratings for ultra-thin solar cells.

Integration of a rear surface nanophotonic grating can increase photocurrent in ultra-thin solar cells. Transparent gratings formed of dielectric materials and high bandgap semiconductors can offer efficient diffraction with lower parasitic absorption than more widely studied metal/dielectric equivalents. In these systems, the maximum photocurrent which can be obtained for a grating made of a given combination of materials is shown to follow a simple empirical model based on the optical constants of these materials and independent of grating dimensions.

How accurately are subthalamic nucleus electrodes implanted relative to the ideal stimulation location for Parkinson's disease?

Introduction: The efficacy of subthalamic nucleus (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS) in Parkinson's disease (PD) depends on how closely electrodes are implanted relative to an individual's ideal stimulation location. Yet, previous studies have assessed how closely electrodes are implanted relative to the planned location, after homogenizing data to a reference. Thus here, we measured how accurately electrodes are implanted relative to an ideal, dorsal STN stimulation location, assessed on each individual's native imaging.

Olfactory dysfunction in the 3xTg-AD model of Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an incurable neurodegenerative disease in which the risk of development increases with age. People with AD are plagued with deficits in their cognition, memory, and basic social skills. Many of these deficits are believed to be caused by the formation of amyloid-β plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in regions of the brain associated with memory, such as the hippocampus.

Emergent robustness of bacterial quorum sensing in fluid flow.

Bacteria use intercellular signaling, or quorum sensing (QS), to share information and respond collectively to aspects of their surroundings. The autoinducers that carry this information are exposed to the external environment; consequently, they are affected by factors such as removal through fluid flow, a ubiquitous feature of bacterial habitats ranging from the gut and lungs to lakes and oceans. To understand how QS genetic architectures in cells promote appropriate population-level phenotypes throughout the bacterial life cycle requires knowledge of how these architectures determine the QS response in realistic spatiotemporally varying flow conditions.

Humanistic counselling plus pastoral care as usual versus pastoral care as usual for the treatment of psychological distress in adolescents in UK state schools (ETHOS): a randomised controlled trial.

Background: About one in seven adolescents have a mental health disorder in England, UK. School counselling is one of the most common means of trying to address such a problem. We aimed to determine the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of school-based humanistic counselling (SBHC) for the treatment of psychological distress in young people in England, UK.

Impact of hydraulic retention time on phosphorus removal from wastewater using reactive media.

Phosphorus (P) discharge from wastewater treatment plants into the environment contributes to eutrophication issues. Reactive media filters represent an effective, simple and cost-effective solution to decrease the P content. Previous research used various experimental designs and often synthetic wastewater, making assessment of real-world performance difficult.

Amiodarone-induced neuromyopathy in a geriatric patient.

Amiodarone is an antiarrhythmic medication with many side effects. Neuromyopathy is a rare adverse effect. We present an 87-year-old woman with bilateral leg pain and weakness in the context of amiodarone.

Can digital-free tourism build character strengths?

The perception of digital-free tourism for developing character strengths was explored. A golden evidence triangle fusing the views of three respondent groups was established to assess trustworthy digital-free tourism-character strength linkages. Nine strengths were commonly acknowledged.

Transition From an ICU Ventilator to a Portable Home Ventilator in Children.

Background: The transition from an ICU ventilator to a portable home ventilator (PHV) for children requiring long-term mechanical ventilation is a crucial step in preparing for discharge home and may not be successful on the first attempt. A review of this process at our institution revealed that some children required multiple trials before they were able to tolerate a PHV. A protocol was developed to standardize the transition process and reduce the number of failed attempts.

Cation insertion to break the activity/stability relationship for highly active oxygen evolution reaction catalyst.

The production of hydrogen at a large scale by the environmentally-friendly electrolysis process is currently hampered by the slow kinetics of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). We report a solid electrocatalyst α-LiIrO which upon oxidation/delithiation chemically reacts with water to form a hydrated birnessite phase, the OER activity of which is five times greater than its non-reacted counterpart. This reaction enlists a bulk redox process during which hydrated potassium ions from the alkaline electrolyte are inserted into the structure while water is oxidized and oxygen evolved.

Flow-Induced Symmetry Breaking in Growing Bacterial Biofilms.

Bacterial biofilms represent a major form of microbial life on Earth and serve as a model active nematic system, in which activity results from growth of the rod-shaped bacterial cells. In their natural environments, ranging from human organs to industrial pipelines, biofilms have evolved to grow robustly under significant fluid shear. Despite intense practical and theoretical interest, it is unclear how strong fluid flow alters the local and global architectures of biofilms.

Learning dynamical information from static protein and sequencing data.

Many complex processes, from protein folding to neuronal network dynamics, can be described as stochastic exploration of a high-dimensional energy landscape. Although efficient algorithms for cluster detection in high-dimensional spaces have been developed over the last two decades, considerably less is known about the reliable inference of state transition dynamics in such settings. Here we introduce a flexible and robust numerical framework to infer Markovian transition networks directly from time-independent data sampled from stationary equilibrium distributions.

Blast injuries in children: a mixed-methods narrative review.

Background And Significance: Blast injuries arising from high explosive weaponry is common in conflict areas. While blast injury characteristics are well recognised in the adults, there is a lack of consensus as to whether these characteristics translate to the paediatric population. Understanding blast injury patterns in this cohort is essential for providing appropriate provision of services and care for this vulnerable cohort.