Support during birth interacts with prior trauma and birth intervention to predict postnatal post-traumatic stress symptoms

Background: Many women experience childbirth as traumatic and 2% develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study examined the role of health practitioner support and personal control during birth as predictors of PTS symptoms, adjusting for vulnerability factors of prior trauma, depression, control beliefs and birth intervention. It also investigated interactions between support, prior trauma and birth intervention and their association with PTS symptoms. Methods: A prospective longitudinal survey of 138 women recruited from UK NHS maternity clinics. Measures were taken in pregnancy, three-weeks and three-months after the birth. Results: Support and control during birth were not predictive of postnatal PTS symptoms. However, support was predictive of PTS symptoms in a subset of women with prior trauma (beta = -.41, R2 = 16%) at both three-weeks and three-months postpartum. The interaction of birth intervention and support was associated with PTS symptoms three-months after birth, the relationship between support and PTS symptoms was stronger in women experiencing more intervention. Conclusions: Low support from health practitioners is predictive of postnatal PTS symptoms in women who have a history of trauma. Longer-term effects of low support on postnatal PTS symptoms are also found in women who had more intervention during birth

Electronic stress tensor analysis of hydrogenated palladium clusters

We study the chemical bonds of small palladium clusters Pd_n (n=2-9) saturated by hydrogen atoms using electronic stress tensor. Our calculation includes bond orders which are recently proposed based on the stress tensor. It is shown that our bond orders can classify the different types of chemical bonds in those clusters. In particular, we discuss Pd-H bonds associated with the H atoms with high coordination numbers and the difference of H-H bonds in the different Pd clusters from viewpoint of the electronic stress tensor. The notion of "pseudo-spindle structure" is proposed as the region between two atoms where the largest eigenvalue of the electronic stress tensor is negative and corresponding eigenvectors forming a pattern which connects them.Comment: 22 pages, 13 figures, published online, Theoretical Chemistry Account

Exome sequencing in dementia with Lewy bodies.

Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is the second most common form of degenerative dementia. Siblings of affected individuals are at greater risk of developing DLB, but little is known about the underlying genetic basis of the disease. We set out to determine whether mutations in known highly penetrant neurodegenerative disease genes are found in patients with DLB. Whole-exome sequencing was performed on 91 neuropathologically confirmed cases of DLB, supplemented by independent APOE genotyping. Genetic variants were classified using established criteria, and additional neuropathological examination was performed for putative mutation carriers. Likely pathogenic variants previously described as causing monogenic forms of neurodegenerative disease were found in 4.4% of patients with DLB. The APOE ɛ4 allele increased the risk of disease (P=0.0001), conferred a shorter disease duration (P=0.043) and earlier age of death (P=0.0015). In conclusion, although known pathogenic mutations in neurodegenerative disease genes are uncommon in DLB, known genetic risk factors are present in >60% of cases. APOE ɛ4 not only modifies disease risk, but also modulates the rate of disease progression. The reduced penetrance of reported pathogenic alleles explains the lack of a family history in most patients, and the presence of variants previously described as causing frontotemporal dementia suggests a mechanistic overlap between DLB and other neurodegenerative diseases.This study was funded by the NHS National Institute of Health Research Biomedical Research Unit for Lewy body dementia at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Newcastle University. Tissue for this study was provided by Newcastle Brain Tissue Resource, which is funded in part by a grant from the UK Medical Research Council and by Brains for Dementia Research, a joint venture between Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK. MJK is a Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Training Fellow. PFC is a Wellcome Trust Senior Fellow in Clinical Science and National Institute for Health Research Senior Investigator. He receives funding from the Medical Research Council and the National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre for Ageing and Age-Related Disease award to the Newcastle upon Tyne Foundation Hospitals National Health Service Trust. The funding sources had no role in study design, data collection/analysis, the writing of the paper or the decision of when or where to publish it. The views expressed here are the views of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, NIHR or the Department of Health.This is the final published version. It first appeared at http://www.nature.com/tp/journal/v6/n2/full/tp2015220a.html

The promise of microarrays in the management and treatment of breast cancer

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy afflicting women from Western cultures. Developments in breast cancer molecular and cellular biology research have brought us closer to understanding the genetic basis of this disease. Recent advances in microarray technology hold the promise of further increasing our understanding of the complexity and heterogeneity of this disease, and providing new avenues for the prognostication and prediction of breast cancer outcomes. These new technologies have some limitations and have yet to be incorporated into clinical use, for both the diagnosis and treatment of women with breast cancer. The most recent application of microarray genomic technologies to studying breast cancer is the focus of this review

Finite element analysis of the effect of cementing concepts on implant stability and cement fatigue failure

Background and purpose Two contradictory cementing techniques (using an undersized stem versus a canal-filling stem) can both lead to excellent survival rates, a phenomenon known as the “French paradox”. Furthermore, previous studies have indicated that the type of bone supporting the cement mantle may affect implant survival. To further evaluate the mechanical consequences of variations in cementing technique, we studied the effect of implant size and type of bone supporting the cement mantle on the mechanical performance of cemented total hip arthroplasty, using finite element analysis

Stability and aromaticity of nH2@B12N12 (n=1–12) clusters

Standard ab initio and density functional calculations are carried out to determine the structure, stability, and reactivity of B12N12 clusters with hydrogen doping. To lend additional support, conceptual DFT-based reactivity descriptors and the associated electronic structure principles are also used. Related cage aromaticity of this B12N12 and nH2@B12N12 are analyzed through the nucleus independent chemical shift values

The influence of gravimetric moisture content on studded shoe–surface interactions in soccer

It is desirable for the studs of a soccer shoe to penetrate the sport surface and provide the player with sufficient traction when accelerating. Mechanical tests are often used to measure the traction of shoe–surface combinations. Mechanical testing offers a repeatable measure of shoe–surface traction, eliminating the inherent uncertainties that exist when human participant testing is employed, and are hence used to directly compare the performance of shoe–surface combinations. However, the influence specific surface characteristics has on traction is often overlooked. Examining the influence of surface characteristics on mechanical test results improves the understanding of the traction mechanisms at the shoe–surface interface. This allows footwear developers to make informed decisions on the design of studded outsoles. The aim of this paper is to understand the effect gravimetric moisture content has on the tribological mechanisms at play during stud–surface interaction. This study investigates the relationships between: the gravimetric moisture content of a natural sand-based soccer surface; surface stiffness measured via a bespoke impact test device; and surface traction measured via a bespoke mechanical test device. Regression analysis revealed that surface stiffness decreases linearly with increased gravimetric moisture content (p = 0.04). Traction was found to initially increase and then decrease with gravimetric moisture content. It was observed that: a surface of low moisture content provides low stud penetration and therefore reduced traction; a surface of high moisture content provides high stud penetration but also reduced traction due to a lubricating effect; and surfaces with moisture content in between the two extremes provide increased traction. In this study a standard commercially available stud was used and other studs may provide slightly different results. The results provide insight into the traction mechanisms at the stud–surface interface which are described in the paper. The variation between traction measurements shows the influence gravimetric moisture content will have on player performance. This highlights the requirement to understand surface conditions prior to making comparative shoe–surface traction studies and the importance of using a studded outsole that is appropriate to the surface condition during play

Increase in mammography detected breast cancer over time at a community based regional cancer center: a longitudinal cohort study 1990–2005

Background: Coincident with the advent of mammography screening, breast carcinoma in situ has increased in the US population. Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study of all women presenting with primary breast cancer, aged 21-94, and biopsy confirmed Stage 0-IV from 1990-2005 identified and tracked by our registry. Clinical presentation characteristics including age, race, TNM stage, family and pregnancy history, histologic type and method of detection by patient (PtD), physician (PhysD) or mammography (MgD) were chart abstracted at time of diagnosis. Cases with unknown or other method of detection (n = 84), or unusual cell types (n = 26) were removed (n = 6074). Results: From 1990 to 1998 the percentage of PtD and MgD cases was roughly equivalent. In 1999 the percentage of MgD cases increased to 56% and PtD dropped to 37%, a significant 20% differential, constant to 2005 (Pearson chi square = 120.99, p less than .001). Overall, percent TNM stage 0 (breast carcinoma in situ) cases increased after 1990, percent stage I and III cases declined, and stage II and IV cases remained constant (Pearson chi square = 218.36, p less than .001). Increase in MgD over time differed by age group with an 8.5% increase among women age 40-49 and 12% increase among women age 50-95. Women age 21-39 rarely had MgD BC. In forward stepwise logistic regression modeling, significant predictors of MgD BC by order of entry were TNM stage, age at diagnosis, diagnosis year, and race (chi square = 1867.56, p less than .001). Conclusion: In our cohort the relative proportion of mammography detected breast cancer increased over time with a higher increase among women age 50+ and an increase of breast carcinoma in situ exclusively among MgD cases. The increase among women currently targeted by mammography screening programs (age = 50) combined with an increase of breast carcinoma in situ most often detected by mammography screening indicates a possible incidence shift to lower stage breast cancer as a result of mammographic detection.Kaplan Research Fun

A cobalt complex redox shuttle for dye-sensitized solar cells with high open-circuit potentials

Dye-sensitized solar cells are a promising alternative to traditional inorganic semiconductor-based solar cells. Here we report an open-circuit voltage of over 1,000 mV in mesoscopic dye-sensitized solar cells incorporating a molecularly engineered cobalt complex as redox mediator. Cobalt complexes have negligible absorption in the visible region of the solar spectrum, and their redox properties can be tuned in a controlled fashion by selecting suitable donor/acceptor substituents on the ligand. This approach offers an attractive alternate to the traditional I3−/I− redox shuttle used in dye-sensitized solar cells. A cobalt complex using tridendate ligands [Co(bpy-pz)2]3+/2+(PF6)3/2 as redox mediator in combination with a cyclopentadithiophene-bridged donor-acceptor dye (Y123), adsorbed on TiO2, yielded a power conversion efficiency of over 10% at 100 mW cm−2. This result indicates that the molecularly engineered cobalt redox shuttle is a legitimate alternative to the commonly used I3−/I− redox shuttle

Understanding emotionally relevant situations in primary dental practice. 3. Emerging narratives

Background and aims. Dentists experience considerable occupational stress. Stressful clinical situations can provoke high levels of negative emotions, and situations which are associated with positive emotions tend to be overlooked by practitioners. Reflection regarding difficult situations is encouraged to facilitate learning. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) formulations may be applied to situations appraised both positively and negatively. Analysis and interpretation of the dentist's coping behaviour and the consequent outcomes facilitate learning and reflection upon individual interactions with patients. Method. Twenty primary care dental practitioners in the greater Lincoln area participated in a semi-structured interview which explored their stressful and positive clinical experiences. Some of the episodes were analysed to create CBT formulations. Results and discussion. CBT formulations are presented and the learning points highlighted by this structured presentation are discussed. In particular, it is suggested that this structured reconstruction of events, which highlights dentists' emotions, responses and the transactional effects of coping responses, might well facilitate objective reflective learning either individually or as part of peer to peer support. It should facilitate dentists' emotional processing of events and may thus contribute to stress reduction. Conclusion. CBT formulations of positive and negative dental scenarios may be constructed. It is proposed that this is a useful technique to foster reflection and learning in clinical situations and should lead to improved communication skills and shared decision-making, resulting in fewer complaints and thereby reduced stress. It should also improve dentists' emotional processing