Relationship between endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene polymorphisms and the risk of myocardial infarction in the Algerian population

Introduction: Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), the enzyme in charge of nitric oxide production, plays a crucial role in vascular biology. However, the impact of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) affecting the gene encoding for eNOS (eNOS) on coronary artery diseases remains under debate and no data were available at present in populations originating from Mahghreb.Aim of the Study: Our purpose was to evaluate the association between the eNOS -786T/C and +894G/T SNPs and (i) the risk of myocardial infarction (MI) and (ii) variations in systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure values.Patients and Methods: Concerning MI, the SNPs were characterised in a casecontrol study (70 cases vs 68 controls) based on the male population originating from Oran, Algeria.Results: The associations with blood pressure values were assessed in anenlarged control group including 115 male subjects. Since the -786T/CSNP could not be associated to MI, the genotype distribution of the+894G/T genotypes signifi cantly differed between MI cases and controls(p=0.025). The risk of MI (odds ratio) associated to the +894G/T SNP wasestimated to 1.2 (95%CI=[1.03;1.32]). The haplotype analysis confi rmedthis association and the absence of impact of the -786T/C SNP. On the other hand, no consistent association was shown between the two SNPs and SBP or DBP.Conclusion: As observed in other populations, the eNOS +894G/T SNPwas associated with MI in the Algerian population but the mechanismunderlying the effect could not be related to variations in blood pressure.Keywords: Endothelial nitric oxide synthase, myocardial infarction, blood pressure, genetic epidemiology

Insight into mechanics of AFM tip-based nanomachining: bending of cantilevers and machined grooves

Atomic force microscope (AFM) tip-based nanomachining is currently the object of intense research investigations. Values of the load applied to the tip at the free end of the AFM cantilever probe used for nanomachining are always large enough to induce plastic deformation on the specimen surface contrary to the small load values used for the conventional contact mode AFM imaging. This study describes an important phenomenon specific for AFM nanomachining in the forward direction: under certain processing conditions, the deformed shape of the cantilever probe may change from a convex to a concave orientation. The phenomenon can principally change the depth and width of grooves machined, e.g. the grooves machined on a single crystal copper specimen may increase by 50% on average following such a change in the deformed shape of the cantilever. It is argued that this phenomenon can take place even when the AFM-based tool is operated in the so-called force-controlled mode. The study involves the refined theoretical analysis of cantilever probe bending, the analysis of experimental signals monitored during the backward and forward AFM tip-based machining and the inspection of the topography of produced grooves

Comparison between torsional spring constants of rectangular and V-shaped AFM cantilevers

The properties of force-sensing micro-cantilevers are of fundamental importance for measurements employing atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques. Due to the well-known arguments of Sader, it is generally accepted that V-shaped cantilevers are more sensitive to lateral forces than rectangular ones. We present results of numerical (finite element modelling) and experimental comparison between torsional spring constants of rectangular and V-shaped commercial AFM cantilevers. As representative example of such beams, we considered AFM probes available commercially. In particular, we tested scaled-up models of V-shaped cantilevers which had the same geometrical shapes as commercial AFM cantilevers. Both the rectangular and the Vshaped larger scale models were made of the same material; they had the same length, thickness, normal spring constant, as well as the same location and shape of the tip base. In the experiments and the simulations, an external lateral load was applied to the free end of the tip. A good agreement between the experimental work and finite element method (FEM) simulations was observed. The results show that the torsional spring constant of the V-shape cantilevers considered here was greater than that of the equivalent rectangular beams by up to 45%. The discrepancy with the results from Sader should be caused by differences in both the load transfer scheme and the geometrical shapes of the V-shaped beams

Antimicrobial Activity in the Pallial Cavity Fluids of the Oyster Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin) from a Highly Impacted Harbor in Western Long Island Sound

Fluid and its associatedmucus from the pallial (mantle) cavity of eastern oysters Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin) from Black RockHarbor, Bridgeport, Connecticut, inhibited growth of both Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Serratia marcescens, and Vibrio parahaemolyticus) bacteria in antimicrobial assays. In the presence of oyster fluid, E. coli resulted in significant reduction in growth after 26 h. Soluble lysozyme activity in pallial cavity fluid of oysters collected in the fall was 3 times greater than that measured in combined winter—spring—summer samples (P = 0.0008). During the course of the study, copper concentrations in pallial cavity fluid ranged from 0.60–2.49 ppm and zinc concentrations ranged from 9.7–61.0 ppm. Copper concentrations remained relatively constant throughout the study; the highest zinc concentrations were recorded in the fall. Fall antimicrobial assays showed heightened antimicrobial activity compared with the spring, which may be the result of increased lysozyme activity and higher zinc concentrations present in the pallial cavity fluid at that time of year. Results of this study suggest that pallial cavity fluid and its associated mucus likely serve an important role in defense-related functions as the first line of defense against infections from environmental pathogens in Crassostrea virginica

Effects of an educational intervention to strengthen humanistic practice on haemodialysis nurses' caring attitudes and behaviours and quality of working life: a cluster randomised controlled trial.

Nurses are trained to establish a trusting relationship with patients to create an environment promoting patients' quality of life. However, in tech-heavy care settings, such as haemodialysis units, dehumanising practices may emerge and take root for various reasons to the potential detriment of both patients and nurses. For patients, this may lead to a deterioration of quality of life and, ultimately, of health status. For nurses, it may cause a deterioration of the work environment and, in turn, of quality of working life. Based on Watson's Theory of Human Caring, we developed a brief educational intervention for haemodialysis nurses to strengthen their humanistic practice in the aim of improving the nurse-patient relationship and nurse quality of working life.. The intervention was tested by way of an experimental design. One hundred and one haemodialysis nurses, recruited in ten hospitals in French-speaking Switzerland, were randomised into an experimental group that received the intervention and a control group. The nurse-patient relationship was measured with the Caring Nurse-Patient Interaction Scale (EIIP-70) and nurse quality of life at work was measured with the Quality of Work Life Questionnaire at four time points: pre-intervention, intervention completion, and six-month and one-year follow-ups. Random intercept regression analysis was used to evaluate change over time in the two variables under study. The intervention appeared to reinforce nurse attitudes and behaviours geared to a more humanistic practice. The effect seemed to fade over time but, 1 year post-intervention, six dimensions of the nurse-patient relationship (hope, sensibility, helping relationship, expression of emotions, problem solving, teaching) scored above baseline. Nurse quality of working life, too, seemed positively impacted. The cultural dimension of nurse quality of working life, that is, the degree to which everyday work activities attune with personal and cultural values, seemed positively impacted, as well, with improvement stable throughout the year following the intervention. Results support a positive effect of the intervention over both the short term and the medium-to-long term. A brief intervention of the sort may constitute an effective means to improve the nurse-patient relationship by preventing or reducing dehumanising practices. NCT03283891

Justifications-on-demand as a device to promote shifts of attention associated with relational thinking in elementary arithmetic

Student responses to arithmetical questions that can be solved by using arithmetical structure can serve to reveal the extent and nature of relational, as opposed to computational thinking. Here, student responses to probes which require them to justify-on-demand are analysed using a conceptual framework which highlights distinctions between different forms of attention. We analyse a number of actions observed in students in terms of forms of attention and shifts between them: in the short-term (in the moment), medium-term (over several tasks), and long-term (over a year). The main factors conditioning students´ attention and its movement are identified and some didactical consequences are proposed

Toward food sovereignty for coastal communities of eastern Québec : co-designing a website to support consumption of edible resources from the St. Lawrence River, Estuary, and Gulf

Background. Despite the abundance and proximity of edible marine resources, coastal communities along the St. Lawrence in Eastern Québec rarely consume these resources. Within a community-based food sovereignty project, Manger notre Saint-Laurent (‘‘Sustenance from our St. Lawrence''), members of participating communities (3 nonIndigenous, 1 Indigenous) identified a need for a web-based decision tool to help make informed consumption choices. Methods. We thus aimed to co-design a prototype website that facilitates informed choices about consuming local edible marine resources based on seasonal and regional availability, food safety, nutrition, and sustainability, with community members, regional stakeholders, and experts in user experience design and web development. We conducted 48 interviews with a variety of people over 3 iterative cycles, assessing the prototype's ease of use with a validated measure, the System Usability Scale. Results. Community members, regional stakeholders, and other experts identified problematic elements in initial versions of the website (e.g., confusing symbols). We resolved issues and added features people identified as useful. Usability scores reached ‘‘best imaginable'' for both the second and the third versions and did not differ significantly between sociodemographic groups. The final prototype includes a tool to explore each species and index cards to regroup accurate evidence relevant to each species. Conclusions. Engaging co-designers with different sociodemographic characteristics brought together a variety of perspectives. Several components would not have been included without co-designers' input; other components were greatly improved thanks to their feedback. Co-design approaches in research and intervention development are preferable to foster the inclusion of a variety of people. Once the prototype is programmed and available online, we hope to evaluate the website to determine its effects on food choices

Discrimination of benign from malignant breast lesions in dense breasts with model-based analysis of regions-of-interest using directional diffusion-weighted images.

BACKGROUND: There is an increasing interest in non-contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for detecting and evaluating breast lesions. We present a methodology utilizing lesion core and periphery region of interest (ROI) features derived from directional diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) data to evaluate performance in discriminating benign from malignant lesions in dense breasts. METHODS: We accrued 55 dense-breast cases with 69 lesions (31 benign; 38 cancer) at a single institution in a prospective study; cases with ROIs exceeding 7.50 cm RESULTS: The region-growing algorithm for 3D lesion model generation improved inter-observer variability over hand drawn ROIs (DSC: 0.66 vs 0.56 (p \u3c 0.001) with substantial agreement (DSC \u3e 0.8) in 46% vs 13% of cases, respectively (p \u3c 0.001)). The overall classifier improved discrimination over mean ADC, (ROC- area under the curve (AUC): 0.85 vs 0.75 and 0.83 vs 0.74 respectively for the two readers). CONCLUSIONS: A classifier generated from directional DWI information using lesion core and lesion periphery information separately can improve lesion discrimination in dense breasts over mean ADC and should be considered for inclusion in computer-aided diagnosis algorithms. Our model-based ROIs could facilitate standardization of breast MRI computer-aided diagnostics (CADx)