Factors associated with discharge destination following inpatient functional rehabilitation in patients with traumatic spinal cord injury.

Study Design: Retrospective review of data from a prospective database of a Level 1 trauma center.

Objectives: This project aims to identify factors collected during the acute and rehabilitative care following a traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) associated with success and failure to return home after inpatient intensive functional rehabilitation (IFR).

Setting: Level 1 trauma center specialized in TSCI care in Montreal, Canada.

Individual and combined effects of amoxicillin, enrofloxacin, and oxytetracycline on Lemna minor physiology.

We investigated individual and combined effects of environmentally representative concentrations of amoxicillin (AMX; 2 μg l), enrofloxacin (ENR; 2 μg l), and oxytetracycline (OXY; 1 μg l) on the aquatic macrophyte Lemna minor. While the concentrations of AMX and ENR tested were not toxic, OXY decreased plant growth and cell division. OXY induced hydrogen peroxide (HO) accumulation and related oxidative stress through its interference with the activities of mitochondria electron transport chain enzymes, although those deleterious effects could be ameliorated by the presence of AMX and/or ENR, which prevented the overaccumulation of ROS by increasing catalase enzyme activity.

Balancing supply and demand in the presence of renewable generation via demand response for electric water heaters.

With the increasing presence of renewable energy sources in the electrical power grid, demand response via thermostatic appliances such as electric water heaters is a promising way to compensate for the significant variability in renewable power generation. We propose a multistage stochastic optimization model that computes the optimal day-ahead target profile of the mean thermal energy contained in a large population of heaters, given various possible wind power production and uncontrollable load scenarios. This optimal profile is calculated to make the variable net demand as even as possible.

Optimizing short time-step monitoring and management strategies using environmental tracers at flood-affected bank filtration sites.

Bank filtration is a popular pre-treatment method to produce drinking water as it benefits from the natural capacity of the sediments to attenuate contaminants. Under flood conditions, bank filtration systems are known to be vulnerable to contamination, partly because flow patterns may evolve at short timescales and result in a rapid evolution of the origin and travel times of surface water in the aquifer. However, high frequency monitoring for water quality is not common practice yet, and water quality management decisions for the operation of bank filtration systems are typically based on weekly to monthly assays.

Pandemic Surveillance and Racialized Subpopulations: Mitigating Vulnerabilities in COVID-19 Apps.

Debates about effective responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have emphasized the paramount importance of digital tracing technology in suppressing the disease. So far, discussions about the ethics of this technology have focused on privacy concerns, efficacy, and uptake. However, important issues regarding power imbalances and vulnerability also warrant attention.

Unleashing β-catenin with a new anti-Alzheimer drug for bone tissue regeneration.

The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is critical for bone differentiation and regeneration. Tideglusib, a selective FDA approved glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) inhibitor, has been shown to promote dentine formation, but its effect on bone has not been examined. Our objective was to study the effect of localized Tideglusib administration on bone repair.

Superlubricity of Zwitterionic Bottlebrush Polymers in the Presence of Multivalent Ions.

In this study, we report lubrication properties of physisorbed zwitterionic bottlebrush polymers in the presence of multivalent ions using the surface force apparatus. Unlike polyelectrolyte brushes, the lubrication properties of which diminish drastically in the presence of multivalent ions at concentrations as low as 0.1 mM, zwitterionic bottlebrush polymers exhibit friction coefficients as low as ∼10 at such concentrations of multivalent ions up to intermediate normal loads.

The Global Emergency of Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2): An Update of the Current Status and Forecasting.

Over the past two decades, there have been two major outbreaks where the crossover of animal to humans has resulted in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). In December 2019, a global public health concern started with the emergence of a new strain of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2 or 2019 novel coronavirus, 2019-nCoV) which has rapidly spread all over the world from its origin in Wuhan, China. SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the genus, which includes human SARS-CoV, MERS and two other human coronaviruses (HCoVs), HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-HKU1.

Fish growth rates and lake sulphate explain variation in mercury levels in ninespine stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) on the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska.

Mercury concentrations in freshwater food webs are governed by complex biogeochemical and ecological interactions that spatially vary and are often mediated by climate. The Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska (ACP) is a heterogeneous, lake-rich landscape where variability in mercury accumulation is poorly understood. Earlier research indicated that the level of catchment influence on lakes varied spatially on the ACP, and affected mercury accumulation in lake sediments.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of olfactive stimulation interventions to manage procedural pain in preterm and full-term neonates.

Background: Preterm and full-term neonates undergo many painful procedures during their hospitalization in the neonatal intensive care unit. Unrelieved and repeated pain can have important repercussions on their motor and intellectual development. Still, pain management interventions are limited for neonates.

Differential expression of tissue-restricted antigens among mTEC is associated with distinct autoreactive T cell fates.

Medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTEC) contribute to the development of T cell tolerance by expressing and presenting tissue-restricted antigens (TRA), so that developing T cells can assess the self-reactivity of their antigen receptors prior to leaving the thymus. mTEC are a heterogeneous population of cells that differentially express TRA. Whether mTEC subsets induce distinct autoreactive T cell fates remains unclear.

The interactions of oil droplets with filter feeders: A fluid mechanics approach.

Filter feeding animals capture and lose oil droplets using cilia or ramified appendages. Here we demonstrate that copepod and barnacle appendages capture fish, canola and 1-decanol oil droplets up to 11μm without selectivity for size, chemistry, density, viscosity, or interfacial tension. Following capture, the droplets are ingested or lost via detachment.

Identification of global and local states during seizures using quantitative functional connectivity and recurrence plot analysis.

Introduction: As a dynamical system, the brain constantly modulates its state and epileptic seizures have been hypothesized to be low dimensional periodic states of the brain. With this assumption, seizures have previously been investigated to identify patterns of these recurrent states; however, these attempts have generated conflicting results. These discrepant observations led us to reconsider the dynamic of state transitions during seizures.

Tracking of Solution-Phase Concentration Profiles in Li-Ion Battery Positive Electrodes Using X-ray Fluorescence.

The trade-off between energy density and power capabilities is a challenge for Li-ion battery design as it highly depends on the complex porous structures that holds the liquid electrolyte. Specifically, mass-transport limitations lead to large concentration gradients in the solution-phase and subsequently to crippling overpotentials. The direct study of these solution-phase concentration profiles in Li-ion battery positive electrodes has been elusive, in part because they are shielded by an opaque and paramagnetic matrix.

Control of stress-induced apoptosis by freezing tolerance-associated wheat proteins during cryopreservation of rat hepatocytes.

Cryopreservation is used for long-term storage of cells and tissues. Cryoprotectants such as dimethyl disulfoxide (DMSO) are used to protect cells against freeze-thaw damage. Despite the use of cryoprotectants, hepatocytes are sensitive to stresses imposed by freeze and thaw processes, which cause physical damage, loss of functionality, or cell death.

Branched Au Nanoparticles on Nanofibers for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Sensing of Intracellular pH and Extracellular pH Gradients.

The development of plasmonic-active nanosensors for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensing is important for gaining knowledge on intracellular and extracellular chemical processes, hypoxia detection, and label-free detection of neurotransmitters and metabolites, among other applications in cell biology. The fabrication of SERS nanosensors for optophysiology measurements using substrates such as nanofibers with a uniform distribution of plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) remains a critical hurdle. We report here on a strategy using block copolymer brush-layer templating and ligand exchange for fabricating highly reproducible and stable SERS-active nanofibers with tip diameters down to 60 nm and covered with well-dispersed and uniformly distributed branched AuNPs, which have intrinsic hotspots favoring inherently high plasmonic sensitivity.

Reliability of a Repeated High-Intensity Effort Test for Elite Rugby Union Players.

This study aimed to adapt a repeated high-intensity effort (RHIE) test to the rugby union physical demands and assess both sprint time and tackle indices reliability. Following a familiarization session, sixteen elite rugby union players completed two RHIE tests consisting of 12 × 20 m sprint + tackle. Total sprint time and total g-force during tackling, average sprint time and average g-force as well as percentage decrement and percentage decrement were considered for the analysis.

Dataset related to the characteristics of the champion that influence the implementation of quality improvement programs in health facilities.

Analyses of the present data are reported in the article "What are the characteristics of the champion that influence the implementation of quality improvement programs?" [5]. Data were collected from April to September 2019 using a qualitative data collection tool, an interview guide (see Appendix 1). A total of 21 staff were interviewed from three different health facilities in the Northern Department of Haiti.

Emerging Technologies for the Electrochemical Detection of Bacteria.

Infections are a huge economic liability to the health care system, although real-time detection can allow early treatment protocols to avoid some of this cost and patient morbidity and mortality. Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) is a drug-resistant gram-negative bacterium found ubiquitously in clinical settings, accounting for up to 27% of hospital acquired infections. PA secretes a vast array of molecules, ranging from secondary metabolites to quorum sensing molecules, of which many can be exploited to monitor bacterial presence.

Tsc1 haploinsufficiency in Nkx2.1 cells upregulates hippocampal interneuron mTORC1 activity, impairs pyramidal cell synaptic inhibition, and alters contextual fear discrimination and spatial working memory in mice.

Background: Mutations in TSC1 or TSC2 genes cause tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), a disorder associated with epilepsy, autism, and intellectual disability. TSC1 and TSC2 are repressors of the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1), a key regulator of protein synthesis. Dysregulation of mTORC1 in TSC mouse models leads to impairments in excitation-inhibition balance, synaptic plasticity, and hippocampus-dependent learning and memory deficits.

Portable and field-deployed surface plasmon resonance and plasmonic sensors.

Plasmonic sensors are ideally suited for the design of small, integrated, and portable devices that can be employed in situ for the detection of analytes relevant to environmental sciences, clinical diagnostics, infectious diseases, food, and industrial applications. To successfully deploy plasmonic sensors, scaled-down analytical devices based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) must integrate optics, plasmonic materials, surface chemistry, fluidics, detectors and data processing in a functional instrument with a small footprint. The field has significantly progressed from the implementation of the various components in specifically designed prism-based instruments to the use of nanomaterials, optical fibers and smartphones to yield increasingly portable devices, which have been shown for a number of applications in the laboratory and deployed on site for environmental, biomedical/clinical, and food applications.

Wide-field optical spectroscopy system integrating reflectance and spatial frequency domain imaging to measure attenuation-corrected intrinsic tissue fluorescence in radical prostatectomy specimens.

The development of a multimodal optical imaging system is presented that integrates endogenous fluorescence and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy with single-wavelength spatial frequency domain imaging (SFDI) and surface profilometry. The system images specimens at visible wavelengths with a spatial resolution of 70 µm, a field of view of 25 cm and a depth of field of ∼1.5 cm.