MRI-based methodology to monitor the impact of positional changes on the airway caliber in obstructive sleep apnea patients.

Purpose: To develop a non-invasive MRI-based methodology to visually and quantitatively assess the impact of head and chest rotations on the airway caliber.

Methods: An MRI table set-up was developed for independent rotations of the head and chest along B field and tested for feasibility using phantom scans. The accuracy of the head and chest rotations was validated with ten volunteer scans.

Pressure Ulcer Risk in the Incontinent Patient: Analysis of Incontinence and Hospital-Acquired Pressure Ulcers From the International Pressure Ulcer Prevalence™ Survey.

Purpose: To measure the prevalence of incontinence in the 2013-2014 International Pressure Ulcer Prevalence (IPUP) surveys and determine the relative risk of developing a facility-acquired pressure ulcers (FAPUs) by stage and by Braden Scale score groupings.

Design: The IPUP survey is an observational, cross-sectional cohort database designed to determine the frequency and severity of pressure ulcers in various populations.

Subjects And Setting: The survey includes acute care (91.

Hierarchical competition models with Allee effects.

We consider a two-species hierarchical competition model with a strong Allee effect. The Allee effect is assumed to be caused by predator saturation. Moreover, we assume that there is a 'silverback' species x that gets first choice of the resources and where growth is limited by its own intraspecific competition, while the second 'inferior' species y gets whatever is left.

Perception of the risk of sexual transmission of HIV among Congolese and Japanese university students.

Objective: Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region most heavily affected by HIV infection. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Congolese students of risk behaviors for sexual transmission of HIV in comparison with their Japanese counterparts.

Methods: Of the 1,747 undergraduate students who participated in the survey, there were 1,326 respondents (752 Japanese, 574 Congolese) who voluntarily and fully filled out the auto-administered questionnaire.

Differences in ultrasonic vocalizations between wild and laboratory California mice (Peromyscus californicus).

Background: Ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) emitted by muroid rodents, including laboratory mice and rats, are used as phenotypic markers in behavioral assays and biomedical research. Interpretation of these USVs depends on understanding the significance of USV production by rodents in the wild. However, there has never been a study of muroid rodent ultrasound function in the wild and comparisons of USVs produced by wild and laboratory rodents are lacking to date.

A simple technique for quantifying apoptosis in 96-well plates.

Background: Analyzing apoptosis has been an integral component of many biological studies. However, currently available methods for quantifying apoptosis have various limitations including multiple, sometimes cell-damaging steps, the inability to quantify live, necrotic and apoptotic cells at the same time, and non-specific detection (i.e.

Lovastatin-induced apoptosis in human melanoma cell lines.

The cholesterol-lowering medications, statins, inhibit cellular proliferation and induce apoptosis in an array of cancer cell lines, including melanoma. We investigated the apoptotic mechanism of lovastatin on human melanoma cell lines in vitro. The cytotoxicity of statins on multiple cell lines was examined by Cell Titer 96 Aqueous One solution cell proliferation assay (MTS assay).

Fast response temperature measurement and highly reproducible heating methods for 96-well plates.

Hyperthermia, the procedure of exposing cells to a temperature between 42 degrees and 49 degrees C, has been shown to be a promising approach for cancer treatment. To understand the underlying mechanisms of hyperthermic killing of cancer cells, it is critical to have an accurate temperature measurement technique and a heating method with high reproducibility. To this end, we have developed a method using fine thermocouples with fast response time to measure the temperatures in multiple wells of a 96-well plate.

Exogenous passive heating during torpor arousal in free-ranging rock elephant shrews, Elephantulus myurus.

In the laboratory rock elephant shrews (Elephantulus myurus; mean body mass 56.6 g) displayed the lowest torpor T yet recorded (ca. 5°C) in a placental daily heterotherm.

Ecological half-life of 137Cs in fish from a stream contaminated by nuclear reactor effluents.

Radiocesium (137Cs) concentrations were determined during 1974, 1981 and 1998 for seven species of fish inhabiting a stream (Steel Creek) contaminated by effluents from a nuclear reactor to examine the decline of this radionuclide in a natural ecosystem. Median 137Cs concentrations were highest in Micropterus salmoides (largemouth bass) during each year of the investigation (1974 = 6.67 Bq g(-1) dry wt.

Patients with disordered water balance. Innovative psychiatric nursing intervention strategies.

1. Patients with disordered water balance (DWB) have difficulty with fluid intake/output and osmoregulation. These difficulties are characterized by polydipsia, polyuria, significant variation in pattern of excretion, abnormal diurnal weight gain, and behavioral changes.

Psychosocial support groups for people with HIV infection and AIDS.

Conventional models of nursing are often forced to focus on medical management and pathology reduction outcomes. A holistic model of care allows for mental, emotional, motivational, and spiritual outcomes as well as physical outcomes. Facilitating empowerment for clients with HIV infection is a specific area of challenge in holistic nursing.

Relative intestine length and feeding ecology of freshwater fishes.

There is a significant relationship between the intestine length (Y) and total body length (X) for 11 species of freshwater fish (Y = 0.08X1.42).