Extended conjugated microporous polymers for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water

Conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) have been used as photocatalysts for hydrogen production from water in the presence of a sacrificial electron donor. The relative importance of the linker geometry, the co-monomer linker length, and the degree of planarisation were studied with respect to the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate

Trematominae and Artedidraconinae: contrasted mitogenome evolution for two Antarctic radiations

Cellular respiration has been widely studied in Antarctic teleost fishes because of their peculiar adaptations to an extreme environment. In parallel mitochondrial sequence markers have become highly popular for molecular systematics. However, there are few whole mitochondrial genome sequences published, and none available for some of the subfamilies. Here, we present two large mitogenome datasets including most species and multiple sequences for many species of two subfamilies, Trematominae and Artedidraconinae (Duhamel et al. 2014). These include two highly diverse but very different adaptative radiations, with contrasting divergence dates, morphological polymorphism, and habitat dominance. The sampling is based on a well identified, extensive collection resulting from the 2008 CEAMARC survey and the subsequent REVOLTA surveys in Terre Adélie (IPEV), already DNA barcoded and sequenced in previous studies. The mitogenome sequences for these two subfamilies differ in composition, gene order, and relative divergence of mitochondrial markers, with strong, taxon-specific biases like very high C contents in some regions. The gene order change provides a synapomorphy for the subfamily Trematominae and an interesting development in teleost mitogenomes. The complete Artedidraconinae mitogenomes provide a much higher amount of variable sites (approx*30), while previous sequence datasets were plagued by low informativeness (Lecointre et al. 2011). As already established on single mitochondrial genes, intraspecific variability is lower than interspecific variability within each subfamily, however interspecific variability in Artedidraconinae is lower or similar to intraspecific variability in Trematominae. This expanded dataset confirms the unusual evolution of the mitochondrial coded sequences involved in the cellular respiration in Antarctic Nototheniidae, as well as the usefulness of complete mitochondrial genomes for their systematics. The two level multiplexing (Timmermans et al. 2010) and next generation sequencing of long PCR amplicons (following Hinsinger et al. 2015) is efficient to obtain large mitogenomic datasets representative of both inter- and intraspecific variability, key to the understanding of mitochondrial evolution and a step closer to resolving the relationships among these taxa.RECTO (Refugia and Ecosystem Tolerance in the Southern Ocean, BR/154/A1/RECTO

Structural Elucidation of Amorphous Photocatalytic Polymers from Dynamic Nuclear Polarization Enhanced Solid State NMR

Dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) offers a recent approach to dramatically enhance NMR signals and has enabled detailed structural information to be obtained in a series of amorphous photocatalytic copolymers of alternating pyrene and benzene monomer units, the structures of which cannot be reliably established by other spectroscopic or analytical techniques. Large 13C cross-polarization (CP) magic angle spinning (MAS) signal enhancements were obtained at high magnetic fields (9.4–14.1 T) and low temperature (110–120 K), permitting the acquisition of a 13C INADEQUATE spectrum at natural abundance and facilitating complete spectral assignments, including when small amounts of specific monomers are present. The high 13C signal-to-noise ratios obtained are harnessed to record quantitative multiple contact CP NMR data, used to determine the polymers’ composition. This correlates well with the putative pyrene:benzene stoichiometry from the monomer feed ratio, enabling their structures to be understood

Psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version

Acord transformatiu CRUE-CSICThe current study examined the psychometric properties (factor structure, reliability and validity) of the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV; Forth et al., 2003) in Spanish samples of male justice-involved youths between 15 and 22-years old. The PCL:YV was administered to two groups of youths who were incarcerated (n = 62; n = 95) and a sample of youth on probation (n = 122). Confirmatory factor analyses showed acceptable-to-good fit for three- and four-factor models. The four-factor hierarchical model with a second-order higher factor representing the whole psychopathy construct was considered for further analyses. PCL:YV scores showed high internal consistency and inter-rater reliability. Low-to-moderate convergence with other measures of psychopathic traits evinced an adequate convergent validity. Convergent and discriminant validity of the PCL:YV total scores were also confirmed considering several measures of psychopathology and personality traits. Importantly, the differential external correlates of the PCL:YV factors provide support for a multidimensional conceptualization of the psychopathy construct. Altogether, these results reveal adequate psychometric properties of the PCL:YV in Spanish population of justice-involved youths and justifies its use to assess psychopathic traits in this kind of populations

Commentaries on Viewpoint: The ongoing need for good physiological investigation: Obstructive sleep apnea in HIV patients as a paradigm

The final publication is available via http://dx.doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00989.2014[Abstract] The intriguing paradigm put forth by Darquenne et al. (3) highlighted that improved therapy against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has come at the cost of elevated rates of chronic diseases, such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and obesity, during the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) era.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; TIN2013-40686-P

Impact Factor: outdated artefact or stepping-stone to journal certification?

A review of Garfield's journal impact factor and its specific implementation as the Thomson Reuters Impact Factor reveals several weaknesses in this commonly-used indicator of journal standing. Key limitations include the mismatch between citing and cited documents, the deceptive display of three decimals that belies the real precision, and the absence of confidence intervals. These are minor issues that are easily amended and should be corrected, but more substantive improvements are needed. There are indications that the scientific community seeks and needs better certification of journal procedures to improve the quality of published science. Comprehensive certification of editorial and review procedures could help ensure adequate procedures to detect duplicate and fraudulent submissions.Comment: 25 pages, 12 figures, 6 table

Co-infection and ICU-acquired infection in COIVD-19 ICU patients: a secondary analysis of the UNITE-COVID data set

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic presented major challenges for critical care facilities worldwide. Infections which develop alongside or subsequent to viral pneumonitis are a challenge under sporadic and pandemic conditions; however, data have suggested that patterns of these differ between COVID-19 and other viral pneumonitides. This secondary analysis aimed to explore patterns of co-infection and intensive care unit-acquired infections (ICU-AI) and the relationship to use of corticosteroids in a large, international cohort of critically ill COVID-19 patients.Methods: This is a multicenter, international, observational study, including adult patients with PCR-confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis admitted to ICUs at the peak of wave one of COVID-19 (February 15th to May 15th, 2020). Data collected included investigator-assessed co-infection at ICU admission, infection acquired in ICU, infection with multi-drug resistant organisms (MDRO) and antibiotic use. Frequencies were compared by Pearson's Chi-squared and continuous variables by Mann-Whitney U test. Propensity score matching for variables associated with ICU-acquired infection was undertaken using R library MatchIT using the "full" matching method.Results: Data were available from 4994 patients. Bacterial co-infection at admission was detected in 716 patients (14%), whilst 85% of patients received antibiotics at that stage. ICU-AI developed in 2715 (54%). The most common ICU-AI was bacterial pneumonia (44% of infections), whilst 9% of patients developed fungal pneumonia; 25% of infections involved MDRO. Patients developing infections in ICU had greater antimicrobial exposure than those without such infections. Incident density (ICU-AI per 1000 ICU days) was in considerable excess of reports from pre-pandemic surveillance. Corticosteroid use was heterogenous between ICUs. In univariate analysis, 58% of patients receiving corticosteroids and 43% of those not receiving steroids developed ICU-AI. Adjusting for potential confounders in the propensity-matched cohort, 71% of patients receiving corticosteroids developed ICU-AI vs 52% of those not receiving corticosteroids. Duration of corticosteroid therapy was also associated with development of ICU-AI and infection with an MDRO.Conclusions: In patients with severe COVID-19 in the first wave, co-infection at admission to ICU was relatively rare but antibiotic use was in substantial excess to that indication. ICU-AI were common and were significantly associated with use of corticosteroids

Clinical and organizational factors associated with mortality during the peak of first COVID-19 wave: the global UNITE-COVID study

Purpose: To accommodate the unprecedented number of critically ill patients with pneumonia caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) expansion of the capacity of intensive care unit (ICU) to clinical areas not previously used for critical care was necessary. We describe the global burden of COVID-19 admissions and the clinical and organizational characteristics associated with outcomes in critically ill COVID-19 patients. Methods: Multicenter, international, point prevalence study, including adult patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and a diagnosis of COVID-19 admitted to ICU between February 15th and May 15th, 2020. Results: 4994 patients from 280 ICUs in 46 countries were included. Included ICUs increased their total capacity from 4931 to 7630 beds, deploying personnel from other areas. Overall, 1986 (39.8%) patients were admitted to surge capacity beds. Invasive ventilation at admission was present in 2325 (46.5%) patients and was required during ICU stay in 85.8% of patients. 60-day mortality was 33.9% (IQR across units: 20%–50%) and ICU mortality 32.7%. Older age, invasive mechanical ventilation, and acute kidney injury (AKI) were associated with increased mortality. These associations were also confirmed specifically in mechanically ventilated patients. Admission to surge capacity beds was not associated with mortality, even after controlling for other factors. Conclusions: ICUs responded to the increase in COVID-19 patients by increasing bed availability and staff, admitting up to 40% of patients in surge capacity beds. Although mortality in this population was high, admission to a surge capacity bed was not associated with increased mortality. Older age, invasive mechanical ventilation, and AKI were identified as the strongest predictors of mortality