InP-Based Quantum Dots as Photosensitizers in Photodynamic Antimicrobial Materials.

Ligand-functionalized InP-based quantum dots (QDs) have been developed as an innovative class of nontoxic photosensitizer suitable for antimicrobial applications, aimed at reducing or preventing pathogen transmission from one host to another via high contact surfaces. A hot injection method followed by functionalization via ligand exchange with 9-anthracene carboxylic acid (ACA) yielded the desired core/shell InP/ZnSe/ZnS QDs. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed these QDs to be uniform in size (∼3.

Age-Related Ventricular Tachycardia Substrate Characteristics for Repaired Tetralogy of Fallot Before Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Placement.

Background: Ventricular tachycardia (VT) substrate characteristics before transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement (TPVR) in repaired tetralogy of Fallot (rTOF) are unknown.

Objectives: In this study, the authors sought to evaluate substrates for sustained monomorphic VT before TPVR in rTOF.

Methods: Retrospective (2017 to 2021) and prospective (commencing 2021) rTOF patients with native right ventricular outflow tract referred for electrophysiology study (EPS) before TPVR were included.

The Evidence Alone Was Not Enough to Change Practice: A Mixed-methods Analysis Using a Standardized Framework to Understand Perceptions of Barriers and Compliance to ERAS Recommendations.

Purpose: Understanding barriers to compliance can aid in mitigation strategies to address them. This study aims to quantitatively and qualitatively assess the relationship between barriers to ERAS recommendations and perceived ability to assure compliance among multidisciplinary team (MDT) members who deliver Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) care.

Design: Embedded mixed-methods survey analysis.

Metabolomics signatures of serotonin reuptake inhibitor (escitalopram), serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (duloxetine) and cognitive-behavioral therapy on key neurotransmitter pathways in major depressive disorder.

Metabolomics provides powerful tools that can inform about heterogeneity in disease and response to treatments. In this exploratory study, we employed an electrochemistry-based targeted metabolomics platform to assess the metabolic effects of three randomly-assigned treatments: escitalopram, duloxetine, and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in 163 treatment-naïve outpatients with major depressive disorder. Serum samples from baseline and 12 weeks post-treatment were analyzed using targeted liquid chromatography-electrochemistry for metabolites related to tryptophan, tyrosine metabolism and related pathways.

Chronic Low Back Pain Causal Risk Factors Identified by Mendelian Randomization: a Cross-Sectional Cohort Analysis.

Background Context: There are a number of risk factors- from biological, psychological, and social domains- for non-specific chronic low back pain (cLBP). Many cLBP treatments target risk factors on the assumption that the targeted factor is not just associated with cLBP but is also a cause (i.e, a causal risk factor).

Opening the black box: Think Aloud as a method to study the spontaneous stream of consciousness.

Asking participants to Think Aloud is a common method for studying conscious experience, but it remains unclear whether this approach alters thought qualities-such as meta-awareness, rate of topic shifts, or the content of thoughts in task-absent conditions. To investigate this, we conducted two studies comparing thinking aloud to thinking silently. In Study 1, 111 participants alternated between 15-minute intervals of verbalizing and silently reflecting on their stream of consciousness in a counterbalanced design.

Developmental changes of skin quality from breast, back, and thigh of Pekin ducks from 1 to 6 weeks of age.

Good skin quality not only improved carcass quality but also increased consumer demand for fresh poultry meat. This study aimed to investigate the developmental changes in skin growth and quality of Pekin ducks during 1-6 weeks of age. The skin samples were collected from the breast, back, and thigh tissues of six male ducks at the end of each week.

Transition of Perovskite Solar Technologies to Being Flexible.

Perovskite technologies has taken giant steps on its advances in only a decade time, from fundamental science to device engineering. The possibility to exploit this technology on a thin flexible substrate gives an unbeatable power to weight ratio compares to similar photovoltaic systems, opening new possibilities and new integration concepts, going from building integrated and applied photovoltaics (BIPV, BAPV) to internet of things (IoT). In this perspective, the recent progress of perovskite solar technologies on flexible substrates are summarized, focusing on the challenges that researchers face upon using flexible substrates.

Readily Accessible, Versatile, and Adaptive Biaxially Chiral Chromophores.

Precisely controlling quantum states is relevant in next-generation quantum computing, encryption, and sensing. Chiral organic chromophores host unique light-matter interactions, which allow them to manipulate the quantized circular polarization of photons. Axially chiral organic scaffolds, such as helicenes or twisted acenes, are powerful motifs in chiral light manipulation.

The Impact of Storage Conditions on Stool Smellprints as Assessed by an Electronic Nose.

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a devastating disease of the neonatal gastrointestinal tract. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), odoriferous compounds released as a byproduct of bacterial metabolism, can be used as a proxy for gut health. We hypothesized that patients with NEC would have different microbial profiles and elicit different VOC signatures as assessed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) or an electronic nose compared to controls.

Multiple sclerosis and infection: history, EBV, and the search for mechanism.

SUMMARYInfection has long been hypothesized as the cause of multiple sclerosis (MS), and recent evidence for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) as the trigger of MS is clear and compelling. This clarity contrasts with yet uncertain viral mechanisms and their relation to MS neuroinflammation and demyelination. As long as this disparity persists, it will invigorate virologists, molecular biologists, immunologists, and clinicians to ascertain how EBV potentiates MS onset, and possibly the disease's chronic activity and progression.

Ecological Drivers of Evolution of Swine Influenza in the United States: A Review.

Influenza A viruses (IAVs) pose a major public health threat due to their wide host range and pandemic potential. Pigs have been proposed as "mixing vessels" for avian, swine, and human IAVs, significantly contributing to influenza ecology. In the United States, IAVs are enzootic in commercial swine farming operations, with numerous genetic and antigenic IAV variants having emerged in the past two decades.

Predictive validity of obstacle-crossing test variations in identifying fallers after inpatient rehabilitation for stroke.

Background: The ability to step over an obstacle is often evaluated as part of fall-risk and balance assessments. Although different obstacle-crossing tests exist, their comparative predictive validity in stroke is unknown.

Objectives: To examine the predictive validity of different obstacle depths and different obstacle-crossing tests, including a novel, custom-height test and an existing "one-size-fits-all" obstacle test, for predicting post-stroke fallers.

The association of seizure control with neuropathology in dementia.

Seizures in people with dementia (PWD) are associated with faster cognitive decline and worse clinical outcomes. However, the relationship between ongoing seizure activity and postmortem neuropathology in PWD remains unexplored. We compared post-mortem findings in PWD with active, remote, and no seizures using multicentre data from 39 Alzheimer's Disease Centres from 2005 to 2021.

OzNOxESI: A Novel Mass Spectrometry Ion Chemistry for Elucidating Lipid Double-Bond Regioisomerism in Complex Mixtures.

Double bond (C═C) position isomerism in unsaturated lipids can indicate abnormal lipid metabolism and pathological conditions. Novel chemical derivatization and mass spectrometry-based techniques are under continuing development to provide more accurate elucidation of lipid structure in finer structural detail. Here, we introduce a new ion chemistry for annotating lipid C═C positions, which is highly efficient for liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based lipidomics.

Use of a Nutritional Risk Assessment Tool to Guide Early Enteral Nutrition among Mechanically Ventilated Trauma Patients.

Background: The Modified Nutritional Risk in Critically Ill (mNUTRIC) score has been proposed as a tool to identify hospitalized patients at risk for malnutrition who may benefit from early enteral nutrition (EN) therapy.

Objective: Our goal was to determine if mNUTRIC scores could predict, at time of intensive care unit admission, which mechanically ventilated trauma patients were at risk for malnutrition and might benefit from early EN, as indicated by reduced mortality.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective chart review of all adult trauma patients requiring mechanical ventilation for at least 48 hours between 01/21/2012 and 12/31/2016, reviewing inpatient medical records, demographic data, disease markers, injury severity, and comorbidities.

Hearing Pronouns Primes Speakers to Use Pronouns.

Speaking requires frequent decisions about how to refer, for example whether to use a pronoun (she) or a name (Ana). It is well known that this choice is guided by the discourse context, but little is known about the representations that are activated. We use priming to test whether this choice can be facilitated through recent exposure, and if so, what representations are activated.

Ethnic Differences in Atrial Fibrillation in the United Kingdom.

Background: Within the United States, White individuals experience a higher risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) while exhibiting a lower AF-related stroke risk compared to other ethnic groups. It is possible that these observations stem from phenomena unique to the United States, such as differential health care access. The United Kingdom provides socialized medicine, which ostensibly promotes equitable health care access.

Electrical Heterogeneity in Hispanic Background Subpopulations: The HCHS/SOL.

Background: The Hispanic/Latino population is not uniform. Prevalence and clinical outcomes of cardiac arrhythmias in ethnic background subgroups are variable, but the reasons for differences are unclear. Vectorcardiographic Global Electrical Heterogeneity (GEH) has been shown to be associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes.