Copper-rich sulfides are very promising for energy conversion applications due to their environmental compatibility, cost effectiveness, and earth abundance. Based on a comparative analysis of the structural and transport properties of CuBiS with those of tetrahedrite (CuSbS) and other Cu-rich sulfides, we highlight the role of the cationic coordination types and networks on the electrical and thermal properties. By precession-assisted 3D electron diffraction analysis, we find very high anisotropic thermal vibration of copper attributed to its 3-fold coordination, with an anisotropic atomic displacement parameter up to 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Despite proven programmes, implementing lifestyle interventions for pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes is challenging. Cardiac rehabilitation, provide a valuable opportunity to promote the adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviours for patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). However, only a limited number of studies have explored the potential for reversing the underlying causes of ASCVD in this setting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLOS Glob Public Health
September 2023
Food insecurity (FI) is at a crisis level in some Indigenous communities and impacts many of the half million First Nations Inuit and Métis (FNIM) children across Canada, particularly in isolated northern communities. This can lead to malnutrition and can have significant impacts on the physical, intellectual, emotional and social development of a child, often with lasting effects across the life course. This is a narrative review article with extensive search of the medical literature with input from the FNIM National organizations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFerrocene (Fc)/ferrocenium (Fc)-decorated carbon nanotube electrode materials have shown promise for selectively adsorbing arsenic (As) over dissimilar anions like Cl and ClO, and isostructural transition-metal oxyanions for water remediation; however, the competition between same-group oxyanions (such as arsenate vs phosphate) is underexplored and poorly understood. We use calculations to examine the competitive binding of As(V), P(V), and As(III) to Fc/Fc with and without functional substitutions (OH, SH, NH, COOH, CH, CH, NO, and Cl). This work aims to understand factors that induce the selective binding of toxic arsenic over phosphate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPerceived competence plays a crucial role in establishing environments favorable to individual development in youth sport. As most assessment tools of perceived competence are not sport-specific, they have limited usefulness for sport practitioners and researchers. This study had two-fold aims: (i) to develop a perceived competence assessment tool specific to ice hockey; and (ii) to examine its factorial structure and internal consistency.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis work reports the preparation of new quaternary sulfides CsLnCuS (Ln = La-Nd, Sm-Tb), their original crystal and electronic structures, and their magnetic properties. The sulfides were prepared using a reactive flux method from mixtures of LnS (EuS), CsS, CuS, and S. They crystallize in a new type of structure (2/ space group) and exhibit a layer-like crystal structure, which is a hybrid of those of the ACeCuS series (A = Cs, K) and that of KCeCuS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOn September 30, 2022, after >3 years with no confirmed cholera cases (1), the Directorate of Epidemiology, Laboratories and Research (DELR) of the Haitian Ministry of Public Health and Population (Ministère de la Santé Publique et de la Population [MSPP]) was notified of two patients with acute, watery diarrhea in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince. Within 2 days, Haiti's National Public Health Laboratory confirmed the bacterium Vibrio cholerae O1 in specimens from the two patients with suspected cholera infection, and an outbreak investigation began immediately. As of January 3, 2023, >20,000 suspected cholera cases had been reported throughout the country, and 79% of patients have been hospitalized.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Although lifestyle interventions are first-line treatment for individuals living with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes (T2D), they are rarely implemented effectively in routine clinical care.
Methods: We present a retrospective analysis of a 12-month, single-centre, structured multidomain lifestyle intervention clinic offered to individuals living with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. The intervention consisted of expert-guided educational and nutritional counselling combined with a personalized physical exercise prescription, with the main goal of improving metabolic health and reaching remission.
Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is an autosomal dominant disease with complete penetrance but highly variable expressivity. In most patients, Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies allow the identification of a loss-of-function pathogenic variant in the NF1 gene, a negative regulator of the RAS-MAPK pathway. We describe the 5-year diagnosis wandering of a patient with a clear NF1 clinical diagnosis, but no molecular diagnosis using standard molecular technologies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiallelic gene defects in MFSD8 are not only a cause of the late-infantile form of neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis, but also of rare isolated retinal degeneration. We report clinical and genetic data of seven patients compound heterozygous or homozygous for variants in MFSD8, issued from a French cohort with inherited retinal degeneration, and two additional patients retrieved from a Swiss cohort. Next-generation sequencing of large panels combined with whole-genome sequencing allowed for the identification of twelve variants from which seven were novel.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVariants of the gene, which encodes tubulin tyrosine ligase-like family member five, are a rare cause of cone dystrophy (COD) or cone-rod dystrophy (CORD). To date, only a few patients have been clinically and genetically described. In this study, we report five patients harbouring biallelic variants of Four adult patients presented either COD or CORD with onset in the late teenage years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlström syndrome (ALMS) is a rare autosomal recessive multi-organ syndrome considered to date as a ciliopathy and caused by variations in . Phenotypic variability is well-documented, particularly for the systemic disease manifestations; however, early-onset progressive retinal degeneration affecting both cones and rods (cone-rod type) is universal, leading to blindness by the teenage years. Other features include cardiomyopathy, kidney dysfunction, sensorineural deafness, and childhood obesity associated with hyperinsulinemia and type 2 diabetes mellitus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMutations in genes encoding aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases have been reported in several neurological disorders. KARS is a dual localized lysyl-tRNA synthetase and its cytosolic isoform belongs to the multiple aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase complex (MSC). Biallelic mutations in the KARS gene were described in a wide phenotypic spectrum ranging from nonsyndromic deafness to complex impairments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInherited retinal disorders (IRD) represent clinically and genetically heterogeneous diseases. To date, pathogenic variants have been identified in ~260 genes. Albeit that many genes are implicated in IRD, for 30-50% of the cases, the gene defect is unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Few data are available on the application of transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) recommendations in daily practice.
Aims: To evaluate TOE practice based on echocardiography societies' guidelines, and to determine complication rates and factors associated with patient feelings.
Methods: Between April and June 2017, we prospectively included all consecutive patients referred to 14 French hospitals for a transoesophageal echocardiogram (TOE).
Inherited bone marrow failure syndromes (IBMFS) are caused by mutations in genes involved in genomic stability. Although they may be recognized by the association of typical clinical features, variable penetrance and expressivity are common, and clinical diagnosis is often challenging. DNAJC21, which is involved in ribosome biogenesis, was recently linked to bone marrow failure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Viral load (VL) assessment is the preferred method for diagnosing and confirming virologic failure for patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART). We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study to evaluate the virologic suppression rate among patients on ART for ≥6 months in five hospitals around Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Methods: Plasma VL was measured and patients with VL <1,000 copies/mL were defined as virologically suppressed.
Monitoring prevalence of advanced human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease (i.e., CD4+ T-cell count <200 cells/μL) among persons starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) is important to understand ART program outcomes, inform HIV prevention strategy, and forecast need for adjunctive therapies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Optimal ventricular catheter positioning is able to reduce the risk of catheter dysfunction, and subsequently the risk of multiple revision surgery. The objective of our study was to compare the proportion of optimal ventricular catheter placements in a cohort of patients operated for ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt between a free-hand group and a neuronavigated group.
Patients And Methods: Twenty patients with hydrocephalus requiring VP shunt were prospectively included in this study.
Improving the reproductive health of immigrant populations requires understanding the specific context of risk and need. As part of a field trial of the FemCap™, a woman-initiated cervical barrier contraceptive, we conducted postintervention focus group discussions (FGDs) with 20 women (five FGDs) of Haitian background, the majority of whom were born in Haiti and spoke Haitian Créole at home, at a community health center in south Florida. Participants discussed the role of religion and inequitable gender norms in Haitian traditions about family planning decisions and provided important insights into the gender-power nuances of their partnership dynamics vis à vis the use of female barrier methods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEquitable access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) for men and women with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is a principle endorsed by most countries and funding bodies, including the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) Relief (PEPFAR) (1).
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