Nanoscopic morphological effect on the optical properties of polymer-grafted gold polyhedra.

Plasmonic nanoparticles show highly sensitive optical properties upon local dielectric environment changes. Hybridisation of plasmonic nanoparticles with active polymeric materials can allow stimuli-responsive and multiplex sensing over conventional monotonic sensing capacity. Such heterogeneous adlayers around the plasmonic core component, however, are likely to perturb the local refractive index in the nanometre regime and lead to uncertainty in its intrinsic sensitivity.

Hamiltonian cycles in planar cubic graphs with facial 2-factors, and a new partial solution of Barnette's Conjecture.

We study the existence of hamiltonian cycles in plane cubic graphs having a facial 2-factor . Thus hamiltonicity in is transformed into the existence of a (quasi) spanning tree of faces in the contraction . In particular, we study the case where is the leapfrog extension (called vertex envelope of a plane cubic graph .

Circulating tumor cell analysis in locally advanced and metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Background: Circulating tumors cells (CTCs) are considered an early step towards metastasis and have been linked to poor prognosis in several types of cancer. CTCs in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) have an unclear role.

Methods: In this prospective study, patients with locally advanced or metastatic SCCHN had CTC counts assessed before starting systemic treatment using the CellSearch System.

Emergency department implementation of abbreviated magnetic resonance imaging for pediatric traumatic brain injury.

Pediatric head injury is a common presenting complaint in the emergency department (ED), often requiring neuroimaging or ED observation for diagnosis. However, the traditional diagnostic neuroimaging modality, head computed tomography (CT), is associated with radiation exposure while prolonged ED observation impacts patient flow and resource utilization. Recent scientific literature supports abbreviated, or focused and shorter, brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a feasible and accurate diagnostic alternative to CT for traumatic brain injury.

Phenotyping severity of patient-centered outcomes using clinical notes: A prostate cancer use case.

Introduction: A learning health system (LHS) must improve care in ways that are meaningful to patients, integrating patient-centered outcomes (PCOs) into core infrastructure. PCOs are common following cancer treatment, such as urinary incontinence (UI) following prostatectomy. However, PCOs are not systematically recorded because they can only be described by the patient, are subjective and captured as unstructured text in the electronic health record (EHR).

Efficacy of a Web-Based Tool in Reducing Burnout Among Behavioral Health Clinicians: Results From the PTSD Clinicians Exchange.

Objective: Burnout is widespread among behavioral health clinicians treating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among military populations. Intervention-based strategies have shown some benefit in addressing clinician burnout. One Web-based tool, the PTSD Clinicians Exchange, was designed to disseminate clinical best practices for the treatment of PTSD and facilitate self-care to mitigate burnout.

X-ray absorption spectroscopy of organic sulfoxides.

Organic sulfoxides, a group of compounds containing the sulfinyl S[double bond, length as m-dash]O group, are widespread in nature, important in health and disease, and used in a variety of applications in the pharmaceutical industry. We have examined the sulfur K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge spectra of a range of different sulfoxides and find that their spectra are remarkably similar. Spectra show an intense absorption peak that is comprised of two transitions; a S 1s → (S-O)σ* and a S 1s → [(S-O)π* + (S-C)σ*] transition.

The use of platelet-rich plasma in treatment of olfactory dysfunction: A pilot study.

Background: Olfactory dysfunction is a prevalent problem with a significant impact on quality of life and increased mortality. Limited effective therapies exist. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is an autologous biologic product with anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects.

Chemical control of competing electron transfer pathways in iron tetracyano-polypyridyl photosensitizers.

Photoinduced intramolecular electron transfer dynamics following metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) excitation of [Fe(CN)(2,2'-bipyridine)] (), [Fe(CN)(2,3-bis(2-pyridyl)pyrazine)] () and [Fe(CN)(2,2'-bipyrimidine)] () were investigated in various solvents with static and time-resolved UV-Visible absorption spectroscopy and Fe 2p3d resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS). This series of polypyridyl ligands, combined with the strong solvatochromism of the complexes, enables the MLCT vertical energy to be varied from 1.64 eV to 2.

Diagnostic yield of pulmonary embolism testing in patients presenting to the emergency department with syncope.

Background: Syncope occurs in 1 in 4 people during their lifetime and accounts for 1% to 1.5% of emergency department (ED) visits. Most causes of syncope are benign, but syncope may be caused by life-threatening conditions including pulmonary embolism (PE) in up to 2% of cases.

Machine learning to predict venous thrombosis in acutely ill medical patients.

Background: The identification of acutely ill patients at high risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE) may be determined clinically or by use of integer-based scoring systems. These scores demonstrated modest performance in external data sets.

Objectives: To evaluate the performance of machine learning models compared to the IMPROVE score.

Hypoglycemia in CDG patients due to PMM2 mutations: Follow up on hyperinsulinemic patients.

Background: Phosphomannomutase 2 deficiency (PMM2-CDG) is the most common congenital disorder of glycosylation (CDG). Hypoglycemia has been reported in various CDG including PMM2-CDG. The frequency and etiology of hypoglycemia in PMM2-CDG are not well studied.

Injectable supramolecular polymer-nanoparticle hydrogels enhance human mesenchymal stem cell delivery.

Stem cell therapies have emerged as promising treatments for injuries and diseases in regenerative medicine. Yet, delivering stem cells therapeutically can be complicated by invasive administration techniques, heterogeneity in the injection media, and/or poor cell retention at the injection site. Despite these issues, traditional administration protocols using bolus injections in a saline solution or surgical implants of cell-laden hydrogels have highlighted the promise of cell administration as a treatment strategy.

Advances in screening instruments for Alzheimer's disease.

At its fundamental basis, Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a pathological process that affects neuroplasticity, leading to a specific disruption of episodic memory. This review will provide a rationale for calls to screen for the early detection of AD, appraise the currently available cognitive instruments for AD detection, and focus on the development of the MemTrax test, which provides a new approach to detect the early manifestations and progression of the dementia associated with AD. MemTrax assesses metrics that reflect the effects of neuroplastic processes on learning, memory, and cognition, which are affected by age and AD, particularly episodic memory functions, which cannot presently be measured with enough precision for meaningful use.

Polyamide monomers carbonate-promoted C-H carboxylation of furfurylamine.

Inedible biomass (lignocellulose) is a largely untapped resource for polymer production because it is synthetically challenging to convert to useful monomers. Here we describe streamlined syntheses of two polyamide monomers from furfurylamine, one of very few chemicals made industrially from lignocellulose. Using carbonate-promoted C-H carboxylation, furfurylamine is converted into a furan-containing amino acid and a tetrahydrofuran-containing bicyclic lactam in two and four steps, respectively.

Fluoroscopic-assisted laparoscopic retrieval of retained glucose sensor wire from the omentum.

We describe a case in which retained wires from a continuous glucose monitor were removed from the abdominal wall and peritoneum of a 6-year-old boy. We highlight a concern for continuous glucose monitor use in children and discuss surgical techniques used to retrieve tiny, mobile objects from complex body cavities.

Case series of sebelipase alfa hypersensitivity reactions and successful sebelipase alfa rapid desensitization.

Allergic immune-mediated hypersensitivity reactions are known potential complications of enzyme replacement therapy. Sebelipase alfa, recombinant lysosomal acid lipase (LAL), is a potentially life-altering treatment for patients with LAL deficiency. There is very little information on the diagnosis and management of immediate hypersensitivity reactions to this drug.

From canopy to seed: Loss of snow drives directional changes in forest composition.

Climate change is altering the conditions for tree recruitment, growth, and survival, and impacting forest community composition. Across southeast Alaska, USA, and British Columbia, Canada, (Alaska yellow-cedar) is experiencing extensive climate change-induced canopy mortality due to fine-root death during soil freezing events following warmer winters and the loss of insulating snowpack. Here, we examine the effects of ongoing, climate-driven canopy mortality on forest community composition and identify potential shifts in stand trajectories due to the loss of a single canopy species.

Drivers and patterns of microbial community assembly in a Lyme disease vector.

Vector-borne diseases constitute a major global health burden and are increasing in geographic range and prevalence. Mounting evidence has demonstrated that the vector microbiome can impact pathogen dynamics, making the microbiome a focal point in vector-borne disease ecology. However, efforts to generalize preliminary findings across studies and systems and translate these findings into disease control strategies are hindered by a lack of fundamental understanding of the processes shaping the vector microbiome and the interactions therein.

Directions for research and training in plant omics: Big Questions and Big Data.

A key remit of the NSF-funded "Arabidopsis Research and Training for the 21 Century" (ART-21) Research Coordination Network has been to convene a series of workshops with community members to explore issues concerning research and training in plant biology, including the role that research using can play in addressing those issues. A first workshop focused on training needs for bioinformatic and computational approaches in plant biology was held in 2016, and recommendations from that workshop have been published (Friesner et al., , 175, 2017, 1499).

Block copolymer composition drives function of self-assembled nanoparticles for delivery of small-molecule cargo.

Nanoparticles are useful for the delivery of small molecule therapeutics, increasing their solubility, residence time, and stability. Here, we used organocatalytic ring opening polymerization to produce amphiphilic block copolymers for the formation of nanoparticle drug carriers with enhanced stability, cargo encapsulation, and sustained delivery. These polymers comprised blocks of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), poly(valerolactone) (PVL), and poly(lactide) (PLA).

Ripple-related firing of identified deep CA1 pyramidal cells in chronic temporal lobe epilepsy in mice.

Objective: Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is often associated with memory deficits. Reactivation of memory traces in the hippocampus occurs during sharp-wave ripples (SWRs; 140-250 Hz). To better understand the mechanisms underlying high-frequency oscillations and cognitive comorbidities in epilepsy, we evaluated how rigorously identified deep CA1 pyramidal cells (dPCs) discharge during SWRs in control and TLE mice.

Rechargeable aluminum batteries: effects of cations in ionic liquid electrolytes.

Room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) are solvent-free liquids comprised of densely packed cations and anions. The low vapor pressure and low flammability make ILs interesting for electrolytes in batteries. In this work, a new class of ionic liquids were formed for rechargeable aluminum/graphite battery electrolytes by mixing 1-methyl-1-propylpyrrolidinium chloride (Py13Cl) with various ratios of aluminum chloride (AlCl) (AlCl/Py13Cl molar ratio = 1.

Systematic review of therapeutic nipple-sparing skin-sparing mastectomy.

Background: The use of nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM) is increasing, despite unproven oncological safety in the therapeutic setting. The aim of this systematic review was to determine the safety and efficacy of NSM compared with skin-sparing mastectomy (SSM).

Methods: A literature search of all original studies including RCTs, cohort studies and case-control studies comparing women undergoing therapeutic NSM or SSM for breast cancer was undertaken.

Long-term sound and movement recording tags to study natural behavior and reaction to ship noise of seals.

The impact of anthropogenic noise on marine fauna is of increasing conservation concern with vessel noise being one of the major contributors. Animals that rely on shallow coastal habitats may be especially vulnerable to this form of pollution.Very limited information is available on how much noise from ship traffic individual animals experience, and how they may react to it due to a lack of suitable methods.