Discovery of a Distinctive Spotted Color Pattern in the Cuskeel Neobythites unicolor (Teleostei, Ophidiidae) Based on Underwater-Vehicle Dives, with New Records from the Southern and Eastern Caribbean

In situ images and/or collection of seven specimens by underwater-vehicle dives at 269–609 m depth off Curaçao, Dominica, and Puerto Rico (S, E, and NE Caribbean) revealed new records and a previously unknown, distinctive color pattern for the cuskeel Neobythites unicolor (Ophidiidae). Species identification was based on detailed comparisons with earlier studied type and non-type material using morphometric, meristic, and otolith-form characters. A revised color description is provided based on images of live specimens in situ in their habitat, shortly after capture, and after preservation. Live and fresh specimens of Neobythites unicolor show a large number of distinctive, dark, rounded or irregularly shaped spots distributed dorsally on head, dorsal portion of body, and on the dorsal fin. This color pattern fades when fish are frozen, and it is completely lost during preservation over several years. The available images of fresh color patterns indicate an increase in spot size with fish size. In addition, some of the quantitatively examined morphometric and otolith characters of museum specimens show positive allometry. No geographic variation in color patterns could be detected. Although the Curaçao population is separated from all other known populations of N. unicolor by at least 650 km, the only population difference found was a slightly lower pectoral-fin ray count for the four specimens collected off Curaçao. An updated distribution map is provided correcting for an erroneous record in the inner Gulf of Mexico from which N. unicolor appears to be completely absent. While the spotted color pattern described here is unique among the 54 species of Neobythites, a similar pattern occurs in two other genera of the subfamily Neobythitinae, Sirembo and Spottobrotula. Further requirements to more fully understand the color diversity and related biology, ecology, and evolution in the species-rich genus Neobythites are emphasized.publishedVersio

The Crossroads of Interprofessionalism: Four Avenues of Collaboration at the Wegmans School of Pharmacy

Objective: The utilization of interprofessional education and collaborative practice delivers optimal health services and improves patient outcomes. Training future healthcare providers in an integrated environment promotes a “collaborative practice-ready” workforce. The aim of this study was to identify ongoing specific interprofessional collaborative projects and promote their awareness among faculty at the St. John Fisher College Wegmans School of Pharmacy. Methods: Faculty members were surveyed to identify the ongoing interprofessional collaborative initiatives among pharmacy faculty. Results: A total of four collaborative practices were identified among faculty: ambulatory care, assisted-living, didactic, and assessment. The ambulatory care setting at an osteoporosis clinic provides patient-centered care with a clinical component. Each patient with a new diagnosis or change in medication therapy receives education/counseling from a pharmacist, a registered nurse for medication administration and a physician for a physical exam. In the assisted-living setting, pharmacy and nursing students are paired to conduct a high-level health assessment in their respective disciplines. Didactic interprofessional efforts are being conducted to create a flexible and comprehensive pain education curriculum. Physicians, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, psychologists, chiropractors, and oriental medicine practitioners will develop the curriculum. The pain module will be adaptable for interprofessional education activities. Finally, recognizing the similarities in accreditation standards for communication and professionalism, the School of Pharmacy and the NY Chiropractic School are sharing strategies and rubrics for assessing these outcomes. Implications: The survey revealed a broader range of interprofessional collaborations than was originally suspected. The school will continue to foster and support interprofessional education and collaborative practice

The National Competency Framework for registered nurses in adult critical care: An overview

In the years following the abolition of the English National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting (ENB) in 2002, concerns were raised within the Critical Care nursing community about a lack of consistency in post-registration education programmes. In response to this the Critical Care Network National Nurse Leads (CC3N) formed a sub-group, the Critical Care Nurse Education Review Forum (CCNERF) to address these concerns. A review of UK course provision confirmed marked inconsistency in the length, content and associated academic award. The CCNERF commenced a two phase project, first developing national standards for critical care nurse education such as length of course and academic credit level; followed by the development of a national competency framework1, 2. Following significant review and revision, version two of the National Competency Framework for Registered Nurses in Adult Critical Care was published by CC3N in 20153. This paper introduces the National Competency Framework and provides an overview of its background, development and implementation. It then considers the future direction of UK post-registration Critical Care nurse education

Complications among colorectal cancer survivors: SF-6D preference-weighted quality of life scores

Background Societal preference-weighted health-related quality of life (HRQOL) scores enable comparing multi-dimensional health states across diseases and treatments for research and policy. Objective To assess the effects of living with a permanent intestinal stoma, compared to a major bowel resection, among colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors. Research Design Cross-sectional multivariate linear regression analysis to explain preference-weighted HRQOL scores. Subjects Six-hundred-forty CRC survivors (≥5 years) from three group-model HMOs; ostomates and non-ostomates with colorectal resections for CRC were matched on gender, age (±5 years), time since diagnosis, and tumor site (rectum vs. colon). Measures SF-6D scoring system applied to Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 version 2 (SF-36v2); City of Hope Quality of Life-Ostomy (mCOH-QOL-O); Charlson-Deyo comorbidity index. Methods Survey of CRC survivors linked to respondents’ clinical data extracted from HMO files. Results Response rate was 52%. Ostomates and non-ostomates had similar sociodemographic characteristics. Mean SF-6D score was 0.69 for ostomates, compared to 0.73 for non-ostomates (p <.001), but other factors explained this difference. Complications of initial cancer surgery, and prior-year comorbidity burden and hospital use were negatively associated with SF-6D scores, while household income was positively associated. Conclusions CRC survivors’ SF-6D scores were not associated with living with a permanent ostomy after other factors were taken into account. Surgical complications, comorbidities, and metastatic disease lowered the preference-weighted HRQOL of CRC survivors with and without ostomies. Further research to understand and reduce late complications from CRC surgeries as well as associated depression is warranted

Composite Fermion Wavefunctions Derived by Conformal Field Theory

The Jain theory of hierarchical Hall states is reconsidered in the light of recent analyses that have found exact relations between projected Jain wavefunctions and conformal field theory correlators. We show that the underlying conformal theory is precisely given by the W-infinity minimal models introduced earlier. This theory involves a reduction of the multicomponent Abelian theory that is similar to the projection to the lowest Landau level in the Jain approach. The projection yields quasihole excitations obeying non-Abelian fractional statistics. The analysis closely parallels the bosonic conformal theory description of the Pfaffian and Read-Rezayi states.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Directed evolution of GFP with non-natural amino acids identifies residues for augmenting and photoswitching fluorescence

Genetic code reprogramming allows proteins to sample new chemistry through the defined and targeted introduction of non-natural amino acids (nAAs). Many useful nAAs are derivatives of the natural aromatic amino acid tyrosine, with the para OH group replaced with useful but often bulkier substituents. Extending residue sampling by directed evolution identified positions in Green Fluorescent Protein tolerant to aromatic nAAs, including identification of novel sites that modulate fluorescence. Replacement of the buried L44 residue by photosensitive p-azidophenylalanine (azF) conferred environmentally sensitive photoswitching. In silico modelling of the L44azF dark state provided an insight into the mechanism of action through modulation of the hydrogen bonding network surrounding the chromophore. Targeted mutagenesis of T203 with aromatic nAAs to introduce π-stacking with the chromophore successfully generated red shifted versions of GFP. Incorporation of azF at residue 203 conferred high photosensitivity on sfGFP with even ambient light mediating a functional switch. Thus, engineering proteins with non-natural aromatic amino acids by surveying a wide residue set can introduce new and beneficial properties into a protein through the sampling of non-intuitive mutations. Coupled with retrospective in silico modelling, this will facilitate both our understanding of the impact of nAAs on protein structure and function, and future design endeavours

Behind the stiff upper lip: war narratives of older men with dementia.

The concept of the stiff upper lip stands as a cultural metaphor for the repression and figurative ¿biting back¿ of traumatic experience, particularly in military contexts. For men born in the first half of the 20th century, maintaining a stiff upper lip involved the ability to exert high levels of cognitive control over the subjective, visceral and emotional domains of experience. In the most common forms of dementia, which affect at least one in five men now in their 80s and 90s, this cognitive control is increasingly lost. One result is that, with the onset of dementia, men who have in the intervening years maintained a relative silence about their wartime experiences begin to disclose detailed memories of such events, in some cases for the first time. This article draws on narrative biographical data from three men with late-onset dementia who make extensive reference to their experience of war. The narratives of Sid, Leonard and Nelson are used to explore aspects of collective memory of the two World Wars, and the socially constructed masculinities imposed on men who grew up and came of age during those decades. The findings show that in spite of their difficulties with short term memory, people with dementia can contribute rich data to cultural studies research. Some aspects of the narratives discussed here may also be considered to work along the line of the counter-hegemonic, offering insights into lived experiences of war that have been elided in popular culture in the post-War years

Amyloid-Associated Nucleic Acid Hybridisation

Nucleic acids promote amyloid formation in diseases including Alzheimer's and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. However, it remains unclear whether the close interactions between amyloid and nucleic acid allow nucleic acid secondary structure to play a role in modulating amyloid structure and function. Here we have used a simplified system of short basic peptides with alternating hydrophobic and hydrophilic amino acid residues to study nucleic acid - amyloid interactions. Employing biophysical techniques including X-ray fibre diffraction, circular dichroism spectroscopy and electron microscopy we show that the polymerized charges of nucleic acids concentrate and enhance the formation of amyloid from short basic peptides, many of which would not otherwise form fibres. In turn, the amyloid component binds nucleic acids and promotes their hybridisation at concentrations below their solution Kd, as shown by time-resolved FRET studies. The self-reinforcing interactions between peptides and nucleic acids lead to the formation of amyloid nucleic acid (ANA) fibres whose properties are distinct from their component polymers. In addition to their importance in disease and potential in engineering, ANA fibres formed from prebiotically-produced peptides and nucleic acids may have played a role in early evolution, constituting the first entities subject to Darwinian evolution

Modulation of spinal excitability following neuromuscular electrical stimulation superimposed to voluntary contraction

Purpose. Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) superimposed on voluntary muscle contraction has been recently shown as an innovative training modality within sport and rehabilitation, but its effects on the neuromuscular system are still unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate acute responses in spinal excitability, as measured by the Hoffmann (H) reflex, and in maximal voluntary contraction (MVIC) following NMES superimposed to voluntary isometric contractions (NMES+ISO) compared to passive NMES only and to voluntary isometric contractions only (ISO). Method. Fifteen young adults were required to maintain an ankle plantar-flexor torque of 20% MVC for 20 repetitions during each experimental condition (NMES+ISO, NMES and ISO). Surface electromyography was used to record peak-to-peak Hreflex and motor waves following percutaneous stimulation of the posterior tibial nerve in the dominant limb. An isokinetic dynamometer was used to assess maximal voluntary contraction output of the ankle plantar flexor muscles. Results. H-reflex amplitude was increased by 4.5% after the NMES+ISO condition (p < 0.05), while passive NMES and ISO conditions showed a decrease by 7.8% (p < 0.05) and no change in reflex responses, respectively. There was no change in amplitude of maximal motor wave and in MVIC torque during each experimental condition. Conclusion. The reported facilitation of spinal excitability following NMES+ISO could be due to a combination of greater motor neuronal and corticospinal excitability, thus suggesting that NMES superimposed onto isometric voluntary contractions may provide a more effective neuromuscular stimulus and, hence, training modality compared to NMES alone