RAFT Dispersion Polymerization of 2-Hydroxyethyl Methacrylate in Non-polar Media.

We report the reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) dispersion polymerization of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) in -dodecane using a poly(lauryl methacrylate) (PLMA) precursor at 90 °C. This formulation is an example of polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA), which leads to the formation of a colloidal dispersion of spherical PLMA-PHEMA nanoparticles at 10-20% w/w solids. PISA syntheses involving polar monomers in non-polar media have been previously reported but this particular system offers some unexpected and interesting challenges in terms of both synthesis and characterization.

Development of the Student Nurse Subjective Evaluation of Completed Clinical Practice Placement Instrument.

Background: Instruments that measure clinical learning environments have lacked rigorous methodological approaches in their development and validity.

Method: Development research using a survey design approach was conducted for an instrument to evaluate the quality of nursing students' clinical practice placement.

Results: The development and validity of the Student Nurse Subjective Evaluation of Completed Clinical Practice Placement (SNEP) resulted in a 40-item instrument to evaluate nursing students' experience of their completed clinical practice placement.

Longitudinal Associations Between Athletes' Psychological Needs and Burnout Across a Competitive Season: A Latent Difference Score Analysis.

Participation in sport can paradoxically be a source of psychological needs satisfaction and psychological needs frustration. Self-determination theory was applied to explain temporal relationships of athletes' psychological needs satisfactions and psychological needs frustrations with burnout through a two-wave longitudinal study. Participants included 184 athletes (Mage = 24.

Complete splenic infarction in association with COVID-19.

COVID-19 predominantly affects the respiratory system. As a novel disease, understanding of its management and complications continues to grow. Herein, we present a case of almost complete splenic infarction in a patient with COVID-19 pneumonia.

Segmentation of intentions towards COVID-19 vaccine acceptance through political and health behaviour explanatory models.

Background: Management of the COVID-19 pandemic has been plagued by an online 'infodemic', not least on the topic of vaccine safety. Failure to vaccinate is often addressed with corrective, factually based information. However, this may be overly simplistic.

Comparing Mental Health of Athletes and Non-athletes as They Emerge From a COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown.

Athletes going through transition periods such as injury or retirement have previously reported feelings of depression and anxiety, especially when feeling unsupported. Cessation of competitive sport during the pandemic has forced athletes through a non-normative transition and has reduced many opportunities to satisfy their basic psychological needs increasing the risk of poor wellbeing and loneliness. Whilst athletes are often praised for their resilience-a trait that serves to support them during tough times-the inability to play sport can be particularly challenging for those with strong athletic identities.

Athletes' Psychological Needs and Coaches' Interpersonal Behaviors: A Within-Person Latent Profile Analysis.

Basic psychological needs theory is limited by variable-centered studies focused on linear relationships between perceived needs-supportive/controlling coach behaviors. Therefore, latent profile analysis was used to determine if heterogenous profiles emerged from the interactive effects of needs-supportive and -controlling coach behaviors and the subsequent association with sport-specific mental health outcomes (i.e.

Testing the factor structure of the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale in adolescents: A bi-factor modelling methodology.

Aim: Despite extensive use in mental health research and practice, limited evidence exists for the hypothesised unidimensional model of the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale in adolescents. Few studies have assessed competing Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) models, and the instrument has yet to be assessed in younger adolescents in Northern Ireland, a jurisdiction characterised by high rates of mental illness.

Subject And Methods: School pupils (n=1,673) aged 13-18 years (M = 14.

Isolated 'soft signs' of fetal choroid plexus cysts or echogenic intracardiac focus - consequences of their continued reporting.

Background: Choroid plexus cysts (CPC) and echogenic intracardiac focus (EIF) are obsolete soft markers found on morphology ultrasound and not a valid reason for adjusting fetal risk of aneuploidy.

Method: We conducted a retrospective audit of women referred to genetic counsellor and fetal medicine services at St George Hospital (SGH) and the Royal Hospital for Women (RHW) for CPC and EIF from 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2016 inclusive.

Results: In total, 208 CPC and/or EIF referrals were identified, 118 (57%) of which were for isolated CPC and/or EIF and 102 (49%) occurring in women low risk for aneuploidy prior to morphology ultrasound.

Defibrotide for Treatment of Severe Veno-Occlusive Disease in Pediatrics and Adults: An Exploratory Analysis Using Data from the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research.

Veno-occlusive disease (VOD) is an early and serious complication of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) that is associated with inferior survival, particularly when it is complicated by multiorgan failure (severe VOD). We evaluated the efficacy of defibrotide in the treatment of severe VOD using observational data from the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR). Eight thousand three hundred forty-one patients treated by HCT between 2008 and 2011 were identified from the CIBMTR clinical database; 3.

Aromatic donor-acceptor interactions in non-polar environments.

We have evaluated the strength of aromatic donor-acceptor interactions between dialkyl naphthalenediimide and dialkoxynaphthalene in non-polar environments. (1)H NMR, UV-vis spectroscopy and isothermal titration calorimetry were used to characterise this interaction. We concluded that the strength of donor-acceptor interactions in heptane is sufficient to drive supramolecular assemblies in this and other aliphatic solvents.

Post-traumatic growth, illness perceptions and coping in people with acquired brain injury.

Post-traumatic growth is a process by which an individual who has faced a significantly adverse and life-altering event, can show evidence of an ability meaningfully to construe benefits from such adversity. The purpose of this study was to investigate, in a sample of people with acquired brain injury (ABI), the contribution of illness perceptions, distress, disability, and coping strategies and health to post-traumatic growth. Seventy people with an ABI took part in this cross-sectional investigation, comprising 70% males and 30% females.

Electroconvulsive therapy in an adolescent with autism and bipolar I disorder.

Objectives: We report a positive response to electroconvulsive therapy in a severely functionally impaired adolescent with autistic disorder and classic bipolar I disorder, including an episodic pattern of decreased need for sleep, hypersexuality, expansive and agitated affect, aggression, self-injury, and property destruction.

Methods: After ineffective trials of mood stabilizers and antipsychotics as well as inability to sustain a positive response to lithium due to medication noncompliance, a course of acute and maintenance electroconvulsive therapy was attempted.

Results: A marked and sustained improvement across all symptom categories, as measured by directly observed frequency counts of target behaviors in an inpatient setting, was obtained.

Prediction of self-monitoring compliance: application of the theory of planned behaviour to chronic illness sufferers.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes and asthma are chronic illnesses that affect a substantial number of people. The continued high cost of clinic- and hospital-based care provision in these areas could be reduced by patients self-monitoring their condition more effectively. Such a move requires an understanding of how to predict self-monitoring compliance.

Precursors and mediators of intergroup reconciliation in Northern Ireland: a new model.

We examined social psychological factors contributing to the restoration of the intergroup relationship between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland. A theoretical model of reconciliation orientation (ROM) was developed, with intergroup forgiveness and subjective evaluation of past violence as the main precursors of that orientation. Data from a Northern Irish sample (N=318) validated and extended the model.

Genetically identical twin transplantation for chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

We identified 19 persons with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who received genetically identical twin blood cell or bone marrow transplants after high-dose conditioning. Ten are alive (eight disease-free) with a median follow-up of 89 months (range, 31-171 months); 5-year relapse rate was 50% (95% confidence interval (CI), 26-73%). Estimated 5-year survival and disease-free survival were 61% (95% CI, 37-82%) and 45% (95% CI, 23-68%).

Scanning the membrane-bound conformation of helix 1 in the colicin E1 channel domain by site-directed fluorescence labeling.

Helix 1 of the membrane-associated closed state of the colicin E1 channel domain was studied by site-directed fluorescence labeling where bimane was covalently attached to a single cysteine residue in each mutant protein. A number of fluorescence properties of the tethered bimane fluorophore were measured in the membrane-bound state of the channel domain, including fluorescence emission maximum, fluorescence quantum yield, fluorescence anisotropy, membrane bilayer penetration depth, surface accessibility, and apparent polarity. The data show that helix 1 is an amphipathic alpha-helix that is situated parallel to the membrane surface.

National character does not reflect mean personality trait levels in 49 cultures.

Most people hold beliefs about personality characteristics typical of members of their own and others' cultures. These perceptions of national character may be generalizations from personal experience, stereotypes with a "kernel of truth," or inaccurate stereotypes. We obtained national character ratings of 3989 people from 49 cultures and compared them with the average personality scores of culture members assessed by observer ratings and self-reports.

Crystal structure of ADP-ribosylated ribosomal translocase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The crystal structure of ADP-ribosylated yeast elongation factor 2 in the presence of sordarin and GDP has been determined at 2.6 A resolution. The diphthamide at the tip of domain IV, which is the target for diphtheria toxin and Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A, contains a covalently attached ADP-ribose that functions as a very potent inhibitor of the factor.

A randomized, controlled trial comparing ganciclovir to ganciclovir plus foscarnet (each at half dose) for preemptive therapy of cytomegalovirus infection in transplant recipients.

Forty-eight patients who provided 2 consecutive blood samples that tested positive for cytomegalovirus DNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were randomized to receive either full-dose ganciclovir (5 mg/kg intravenously [iv] twice daily) or half-dose ganciclovir (5 mg/kg iv once daily) plus half-dose foscarnet (90 mg/kg iv once daily) for 14 days. In the ganciclovir arm, 17 (71%) of 24 patients reached the primary end point of being CMV negative by PCR within 14 days of initiation of therapy, compared with 12 (50%) of 24 patients in the ganciclovir-plus-foscarnet arm (P = .12).

Protein-protein interaction using tryptophan analogues: novel spectroscopic probes for toxin-elongation factor-2 interactions.

Previously, we characterized the role of the three naturally occurring Trp residues (W-417, -466, and -558) in the catalytic mechanism of the toxin-enzyme produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa [Beattie and Merrill (1999) J. Biol. Chem.

Collection of hematopoietic stem cells from patients with autoimmune diseases.

We reviewed data from 24 transplant centers in Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America to determine the outcomes of stem cell collection including methods used, cell yields, effects on disease activity, and complications in patients with autoimmune diseases. Twenty-one unprimed bone marrow harvests and 174 peripheral blood stem cell mobilizations were performed on 187 patients. Disease indications were multiple sclerosis (76 patients), rheumatoid arthritis (37 patients), scleroderma (26 patients), systemic lupus erythematosus (19 patients), juvenile chronic arthritis (13 patients), idiopathic autoimmune thrombocytopenia (8 patients), Behcet's disease (3 patients), undifferentiated vasculitis (3 patients), polychondritis (1 patient) and polymyositis (1 patient).

Comparison of bicistronic retroviral vectors containing internal ribosome entry sites (IRES) using expression of human interleukin-12 (IL-12) as a readout.

Background: Many gene therapy applications require the co-ordinated delivery of more than one reading frame. We wished to systematically compare IRES in the context of a retroviral vector to determine which was the most effective for protein production and viral titre. To do this we monitored expression of IL-12, as co-ordinated expression of both p35 and p40 subunits is required for production of the active heterodimer.