Cytotoxicity induced by engineered silver nanocrystallites is dependent on surface coatings and cell types.

Due to their unique antimicrobial properties silver nanocrystallites have garnered substantial attention and are used extensively for biomedical applications as an additive to wound dressings, surgical instruments and bone substitute materials. They are also released into unintended locations such as the environment or biosphere. Therefore it is imperative to understand the potential interactions, fate and transport of nanoparticles with environmental biotic systems.

Magnetic resonance techniques in multiple sclerosis: the present and the future.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is sensitive to focal multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions. For this reason, conventional MRI measures of the burden of disease derived from dual-echo, fluid-attenuated inversion recovery and postcontrast T1-weighted sequences are regularly used to monitor disease course in patients with confirmed MS and have been included in the diagnostic workup of patients in whom MS is suspected. Other quantitative magnetic resonance (MR)-based techniques with a higher pathological specificity (including magnetization transfer-MRI, diffusion tensor-MRI, and proton MR spectroscopy) have been extensively applied to measure disease burden within focal visible lesions and in the normal-appearing white matter and gray matter of MS patients at different stages of the disease.

Conformal metric optimization on surface (CMOS) for deformation and mapping in Laplace-Beltrami embedding space.

In this paper we develop a novel technique for surface deformation and mapping in the high-dimensional Laplace-Beltrami embedding space. The key idea of our work is to realize surface deformation in the embedding space via optimization of a conformal metric on the surface. Numerical techniques are developed for computing derivatives of the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions with respect to the conformal metric, which is then applied to compute surface maps in the embedding space by minimizing an energy function.

Spearfishing regulation benefits artisanal fisheries: the ReGS indicator and its application to a multiple-use Mediterranean marine protected area.

The development of fishing efficiency coupled with an increase of fishing effort led to the overexploitation of numerous natural marine resources. In addition to this commercial pressure, the impact of recreational activities on fish assemblages remains barely known. Here we examined the impact of spearfishing limitation on resources in a marine protected area (MPA) and the benefit it provides for the local artisanal fishery through the use of a novel indicator.

The Program Assessment Guide: an approach for structuring contextual knowledge and experience to improve the design, delivery, and effectiveness of nutrition interventions.

As evidence from small-scale trials has accumulated concerning the efficacy of low-cost interventions to address undernutrition, the design, implementation, and strengthening of large-scale programs to deliver these interventions has become a high priority. This scaling up process involves a large number of technical, logistical, administrative, political, and social considerations and little research exists on how to address these in a systematic way. This paper introduces the Program Assessment Guide (PAG), a set of analysis and decision tools that seeks to fill this gap, and reports on its application in Kyrgyzstan and Bolivia.

Assessment of epidemiologic, operational, and sociopolitical domains for mainstreaming nutrition.

Although undernutrition impacts a range of short- and long-term outcomes, nutrition often has low priority on global and national development policy agendas because of overemphasis on technical solutions without adequate consideration of contextual and political factors. An approach is needed for strategic development of nutrition agendas that embraces the contexts influencing policy and program planning and implementation, while addressing salient causes of undernutrition. We describe a simple, comprehensive assessment approach to enable development of sound nutrition strategies and well-grounded effective and appropriate actions for nutrition in a given context.

The formulation of consensus on nutrition policy: policy actors' perspectives on good process.

Food security and nutrition are ascendant issues on global and national policy agendas in recent years, as a result of the global food crisis and growing recognition of the magnitude and consequences of these problems for human and economic development. The translation of this attention into effective action at the country level will require multistakeholder agreements concerning priority problems, interventions, delivery strategies, roles and responsibilities, and other matters, but this has proven to be a difficult and contentious process in many countries. This study explores stakeholders' perspectives on the characteristics of a good process in Guatemala, a country that has encountered difficulties deciding such matters in recent years, as well as their views on decision acceptance and the feasibility of implementing a good process.

The management of conflict in nutrition policy formulation: choosing growth-monitoring indicators in the context of dual burden.

We argue in this paper that a shared desire to find a solution to malnutrition and agreement at a broad level concerning priority, evidence-based interventions are important but not sufficient conditions for effective policy development. This paper illustrates this point, and draws out general implications, through a detailed analysis of a case in which conflict emerged when committed nutrition policy actors began discussing the details of program design and implementation. The case involves one country's effort to select "the best" anthropometric indicator for use in its national child growth-monitoring program.

Bolivia's multisectoral Zero Malnutrition Program: insights on commitment, collaboration, and capacities.

A number of multilateral and bilateral food security and nutrition initiatives have been launched in the wake of the 2008 food crisis, many with the explicit intention of fostering country ownership, multisectoral action, and harmonization among international partners. These bear some resemblance to the failed multisectoral nutrition planning initiatives that followed the 1974 world food crisis, raising the question of whether the current initiatives are doomed to experience the same fate. This paper explores these questions in one country by focusing on the policy sustainability of Bolivia's Zero Malnutrition Program (ZM), a multisectoral initiative that appeared at its initiation to be buttressed by political support and strengthened by design features that differed in important ways from similar efforts of the 1970s.

The nutrition policy process: the role of strategic capacity in advancing national nutrition agendas.

Undernutrition is the single largest contributor to the burden of disease in developing countries and has documented effects on social and economic development, yet progress in reducing undernutrition remains slow. This paper identifies the range of factors that have influenced the nutrition agenda in developing countries, in order to inform the implementation of three major global initiatives related to undernutrition. Data sources include interviews with nutrition practitioners at the national and international level, written accounts from six African countries, and observations of the policy process in five countries.

Identity cues and dementia in nursing home intervention.

This study examines the identity cues that family caregivers and healthcare personnel use with seniors living with dementia and living in nursing homes. The identity cues represent biographical knowledge used to stimulate the dementia sufferer, trigger signals and incite interaction. Our grounded approach hinges on three objectives: to identify and categorize identity cues; to document their uses; and to gain a better understanding of their effectiveness.

Monodispersed biocompatible silver sulfide nanoparticles: facile extracellular biosynthesis using the γ-proteobacterium, Shewanella oneidensis.

Interest in engineered metal and semiconductor nanocrystallites continues to grow due to their unique size- and shape-dependent optoelectronic, physicochemical and biological properties. Therefore identifying novel non-hazardous nanoparticle synthesis routes that address hydrophilicity, size and shape control and production costs has become a priority. In the present article we report for the first time on the efficient generation of extracellular silver sulfide (Ag₂S) nanoparticles by the metal-reducing bacterium Shewanella oneidensis.

Distinct microbial communities within the endosphere and rhizosphere of Populus deltoides roots across contrasting soil types.

The root-rhizosphere interface of Populus is the nexus of a variety of associations between bacteria, fungi, and the host plant and an ideal model for studying interactions between plants and microorganisms. However, such studies have generally been confined to greenhouse and plantation systems. Here we analyze microbial communities from the root endophytic and rhizospheric habitats of Populus deltoides in mature natural trees from both upland and bottomland sites in central Tennessee.

Grey matter volume in a large cohort of MS patients: relation to MRI parameters and disability.

Background: Although grey matter damage in multiple sclerosis is currently recognized, determinants of grey matter volume and its relationship with disability are not yet clear.

Objectives: The objectives of the study were to measure grey and white matter volumes across different disease phenotypes; identify MRI parameters associated with grey matter volume; and study grey and white matter volume as explanatory variables for clinical impairment.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study in which MRI data of 95 clinically isolated syndrome, 657 relapsing-remitting, 125 secondary-progressive and 50 primary-progressive multiple sclerosis patients from three centres were acquired.

Finding common ground: perspectives on community-based childhood obesity prevention.

To support successful and inclusive community organizing for childhood obesity prevention, this research identified stakeholder perspectives on what communities should do to prevent childhood obesity. It employed factor analysis on statement sorts (Q methodology) conducted by 95 people in an upstate New York community. These participants sorted 36 statements about the issue by how much he or she agreed or disagreed with each.

Switching multiple sclerosis patients with breakthrough disease to second-line therapy.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with breakthrough disease on immunomodulatory drugs are frequently offered to switch to natalizumab or immunosuppressants. The effect of natalizumab monotherapy in patients with breakthrough disease is unknown.

Methods: This is an open-label retrospective cohort study of 993 patients seen at least four times at the University of California San Francisco MS Center, 95 had breakthrough disease on first-line therapy (60 patients switched to natalizumab, 22 to immunosuppressants and 13 declined the switch [non-switchers]).

Nutrition agenda setting, policy formulation and implementation: lessons from the Mainstreaming Nutrition Initiative.

Undernutrition is the single largest contributor to the global burden of disease and can be addressed through a number of highly efficacious interventions. Undernutrition generally has not received commensurate attention in policy agendas at global and national levels, however, and implementing these efficacious interventions at a national scale has proven difficult. This paper reports on the findings from studies in Bangladesh, Bolivia, Guatemala, Peru and Vietnam which sought to identify the challenges in the policy process and ways to overcome them, notably with respect to commitment, agenda setting, policy formulation and implementation.

Asymptomatic spinal cord lesions predict disease progression in radiologically isolated syndrome.

Background: Technological advancements in neuroimaging and the increased use of these diagnostic modalities are responsible for the discovery of incidentally identified anomalies within the CNS. In addition to the identification of unanticipated brain MRI abnormalities suggestive of demyelinating disease in patients undergoing neuroimaging for a medical reason other than evaluation for multiple sclerosis (MS), asymptomatic spinal cord lesions are periodically identified.

Objective: To determine if asymptomatic spinal cord lesions are associated with clinical progression in subjects with radiologically isolated syndrome (RIS).

Biofabrication of discrete spherical gold nanoparticles using the metal-reducing bacterium Shewanella oneidensis.

Nanocrystallites have garnered substantial interest due to their various applications, including catalysis and medical research. Consequently important aspects of synthesis related to control of shape and size through economical and non-hazardous means are desirable. Highly efficient bioreduction-based fabrication approaches that utilize microbes and/or plant extracts are poised to meet these needs.

Effects of engineered cerium oxide nanoparticles on bacterial growth and viability.

Interest in engineered nanostructures has risen in recent years due to their use in energy conservation strategies and biomedicine. To ensure prudent development and use of nanomaterials, the fate and effects of such engineered structures on the environment should be understood. Interactions of nanomaterials with environmental microorganisms are inevitable, but the general consequences of such interactions remain unclear, due to a lack of standard methods for assessing such interactions.

Genetic variation influences glutamate concentrations in brains of patients with multiple sclerosis.

Glutamate is the main excitatory neurotransmitter in the mammalian brain. Appropriate transmission of nerve impulses through glutamatergic synapses is required throughout the brain and forms the basis of many processes including learning and memory. However, abnormally high levels of extracellular brain glutamate can lead to neuroaxonal cell death.

Developing structure-activity relationships for the prediction of hepatotoxicity.

Drug-induced liver injury is a major issue of concern and has led to the withdrawal of a significant number of marketed drugs. An understanding of structure-activity relationships (SARs) of chemicals can make a significant contribution to the identification of potential toxic effects early in the drug development process and aid in avoiding such problems. This process can be supported by the use of existing toxicity data and mechanistic understanding of the biological processes for related compounds.