Health Coaching in Primary Care: A Pilot Study

Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP)http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/116124/1/Health_Coaching_In_Primary_Care.pd

Fractionation of cellulose nanocrystals : enhancing liquid crystal ordering without promoting gelation

Colloids of electrically charged nanorods can spontaneously develop a fluid yet ordered liquid crystal phase, but this ordering competes with a tendency to form a gel of percolating rods. The threshold for ordering is reduced by increasing the rod aspect ratio, but the percolation threshold is also reduced with this change; hence, prediction of the outcome is nontrivial. Here, we show that by establishing the phase behavior of suspensions of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) fractionated according to length, an increased aspect ratio can strongly favor liquid crystallinity without necessarily influencing gelation. Gelation is instead triggered by increasing the counterion concentration until the CNCs lose colloidal stability, triggering linear aggregation, which promotes percolation regardless of the original rod aspect ratio. Our results shine new light on the competition between liquid crystal formation and gelation in nanoparticle suspensions and provide a path for enhanced control of CNC self-organization for applications in photonic crystal paper or advanced composites

International consensus on the most useful physical examination tests used by physiotherapists for patients with headache: A Delphi study

Background: A wide range of physical tests have been published for use in the assessment of musculoskeletal dysfunction in patients with headache. Which tests are used depends on a physiotherapist's clinical and scientific background as there is little guidance on the most clinically useful tests. Objectives: To identify which physical examination tests international experts in physiotherapy consider the most clinically useful for the assessment of patients with headache. Design/methods: Delphi survey with pre-specified procedures based on a systematic search of the literature for physical examination tests proposed for the assessment of musculoskeletal dysfunction in patients with headache. Results: Seventeen experts completed all three rounds of the survey. Fifteen tests were included in round one with eleven additional tests suggested by the experts. Finally eleven physical examination tests were considered clinically useful: manual joint palpation, the cranio-cervical flexion test, the cervical flexion-rotation test, active range of cervical movement, head forward position, trigger point palpation, muscle tests of the shoulder girdle, passive physiological intervertebral movements, reproduction and resolution of headache symptoms, screening of the thoracic spine, and combined movement tests. Conclusions: Eleven tests are suggested as a minimum standard for the physical examination of musculoskeletal dysfunctions in patients with headache

The United States COVID-19 Forecast Hub dataset

Academic researchers, government agencies, industry groups, and individuals have produced forecasts at an unprecedented scale during the COVID-19 pandemic. To leverage these forecasts, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) partnered with an academic research lab at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to create the US COVID-19 Forecast Hub. Launched in April 2020, the Forecast Hub is a dataset with point and probabilistic forecasts of incident cases, incident hospitalizations, incident deaths, and cumulative deaths due to COVID-19 at county, state, and national, levels in the United States. Included forecasts represent a variety of modeling approaches, data sources, and assumptions regarding the spread of COVID-19. The goal of this dataset is to establish a standardized and comparable set of short-term forecasts from modeling teams. These data can be used to develop ensemble models, communicate forecasts to the public, create visualizations, compare models, and inform policies regarding COVID-19 mitigation. These open-source data are available via download from GitHub, through an online API, and through R packages

Effect of pinching-evoked pain on jaw-stretch reflexes and exteroceptive suppression periods in healthy subjects

Objective: To investigate the influence of conditioning cutaneous nociceptive inputs by a new "pinch" model on the jaw-stretch reflex and the exteroceptive suppression periods (ES1 and ES2) in jaw muscles. Methods: The jaw-stretch reflex was evoked with the use of a custom-made muscle stretcher and electrical stimuli were used to evoke an early and late exteroceptive suppression period (ES1 and ES2) in the jaw-closing muscles. Electromyographic (EMG) activity was recorded bilaterally from the masseter and temporalis muscles. These brainstem reflexes were recorded in 19 healthy men (28.8 +/- 1.1 years) during three different conditions: one painful clip applied to the earlobe; one painful clip applied to the nostril, and four painful clips applied simultaneously to the earlobe, nostril, eyebrow, and lower lip. Pain intensity induced by the application of the clips was scored continuously by the subjects on a 100 mm visual analogue scale (VAS). Results: The highest VAS pain scores were evoked by placement of four clips (79 +/- 0.5 mm). There was no significant modulation of the jaw-stretch reflex (ANOVAs: P = 0.929), the ES1 (P = 0.298) or ES2 (P = 0.082) in any of the three painful conditions. Conclusions: Intense and tonic cutaneous pain could be elicited by this new "pinch" pain model; however, there was no significant modulation on either excitatory or inhibitory brainstem reflex responses. Significance: The novel observation that high-intensity pinch stimuli applied to the craniofacial region fail to modulate two different brainstem reflexes is in contrast to other experimental pain studies documented facilitation of the jaw-stretch reflexes or inhibition of exteroceptive suppression periods. The clinical implication of the present findings is that only some craniofacial pain conditions could be expected to show perturbation of the brainstem reflex responses. (C) 2007 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

Canal reconstruction mastoidectomy: Outcomes comparison following primary versus secondary surgery

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Compare surgical and audiometric outcomes following canal wall reconstruction (CWR) tympanomastoidectomy used as a primary versus secondary approach for treating cholesteatoma. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective. METHODS: Patients treated for primary/secondary cholesteatoma from 2006 to 2017 via CWR were included if they had preoperative/postoperative audiograms, detailed operative note(s), and \u3e12 months\u27 follow-up. Patients were stratified by previous surgical history into two groups: primary CWR group (PG) and secondary CWR group (SG). Surgical outcomes measured were prevalence of recidivistic cholesteatoma, canal cholesteatoma, revision rate, and canal wall down (CWD) conversion rates. Secondary outcomes were prevalence of infection, external canal adhesions/stenoses, and retractions. Audiometric outcomes included change in pure-tone average and air-bone gap. RESULTS: We stratified 45 patients/ears into the PG and 26 into the SG. The groups did not significantly differ in age, sex, or smoking status. Overall, median follow-up was 35 months. SG patients had higher rates of cholesteatoma detected at staged surgery than did PG patients (P = .04). However, these patients exhibited lower rates of open revision surgery (4% vs.13%) and a significant improvement in air-bone gap (P = .004). Three PG patients (7%) required conversion to CWD versus zero SG patients. Secondary outcomes were similar. Patients who underwent delayed staging \u3e12 months from CWR had increased rates of recidivism and canal adhesion/stenosis. CONCLUSIONS: CWR was effective for treating cholesteatoma as both a primary and secondary surgical approach. SG patients experienced higher rates of recidivism and secondary canal cholesteatoma. PG patients had higher rates of revision surgery. Staging of ears undergoing CWR is important regardless of prior surgical history. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4 Laryngoscope, 129:2580-2587, 2019

Mycobacterium tuberculosis DosR regulon gene Rv2004c contributes to streptomycin resistance and intracellular survival

Tuberculosis (TB) is the deadly infectious disease challenging the public health globally and its impact is further aggravated by co-infection with HIV and the emergence of drug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In this study, we attempted to characterise the Rv2004c encoded protein, a member of DosR regulon, for its role in drug resistance. In silico docking analysis revealed that Rv2004c binds with streptomycin (SM). Phosphotransferase assay demonstrated that Rv2004c possibly mediates SM resistance through the aminoglycoside phosphotransferase activity. Further, E. coli expressing Rv2004c conferred resistance to 100μM of SM in liquid broth cultures indicating a mild aminoglycoside phosphotransferase activity of Rv2004c. Moreover, we investigated the role of MSMEG_3942 (an orthologous gene of Rv2004c) encoded protein in intracellular survival, its effect on in-vitro growth and its expression in different stress conditions by over expressing it in Mycobacterium smegmatis (M. smegmatis). MSMEG_3942 overexpressing recombinant M. smegmatis strains grew faster in acidic medium and also showed higher bacillary counts in infected macrophages when compared to M. smegmatis transformed with vector alone. Our results are likely to contribute to the better understanding of the involvement of Rv2004c in partial drug resistance, intracellular survival and adaptation of bacilli to stress conditions