Super-resolution electron ptychography of low dimensional materials at 30 keV: beyond the detector limit

We demonstrate that electron ptychographic phase reconstruction can recover spatial frequencies higher than those directly recorded in the experimental electron diffraction patterns. This ability to recover high angle information from the oversampled low angle information allows an annular detector to be inserted which partially shadows a lower pixelated detector to simultaneously record a conventional annular dark field image and a ptychographic dataset. We apply this approach to 30 keV imaging of monolayer molybdenum disulfide and achieve an Abbe limited resolution of 1.2 ± 0.1Å in our reconstructions

Geographic access to high capability severe acute respiratory failure centers in the United States

Objective: Optimal care of adults with severe acute respiratory failure requires specific resources and expertise. We sought to measure geographic access to these centers in the United States. Design: Cross-sectional analysis of geographic access to high capability severe acute respiratory failure centers in the United States. We defined high capability centers using two criteria: (1) provision of adult extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), based on either 2008-2013 Extracorporeal Life Support Organization reporting or provision of ECMO to 2010 Medicare beneficiaries; or (2) high annual hospital mechanical ventilation volume, based 2010 Medicare claims. Setting: Nonfederal acute care hospitals in the United States. Measurements and Main Results: We defined geographic access as the percentage of the state, region and national population with either direct or hospital-transferred access within one or two hours by air or ground transport. Of 4,822 acute care hospitals, 148 hospitals met our ECMO criteria and 447 hospitals met our mechanical ventilation criteria. Geographic access varied substantially across states and regions in the United States, depending on center criteria. Without interhospital transfer, an estimated 58.5% of the national adult population had geographic access to hospitals performing ECMO and 79.0% had geographic access to hospitals performing a high annual volume of mechanical ventilation. With interhospital transfer and under ideal circumstances, an estimated 96.4% of the national adult population had geographic access to hospitals performing ECMO and 98.6% had geographic access to hospitals performing a high annual volume of mechanical ventilation. However, this degree of geographic access required substantial interhospital transfer of patients, including up to two hours by air. Conclusions: Geographic access to high capability severe acute respiratory failure centers varies widely across states and regions in the United States. Adequate referral center access in the case of disasters and pandemics will depend highly on local and regional care coordination across political boundaries. © 2014 Wallace et al

Visualising Conversation Structure across Time: Insights into Effective Doctor-Patient Consultations

Effective communication between healthcare professionals and patients is critical to patients’ health outcomes. The doctor/patient dialogue has been extensively researched from different perspectives, with findings emphasising a range of behaviours that lead to effective communication. Much research involves self-reports, however, so that behavioural engagement cannot be disentangled from patients’ ratings of effectiveness. In this study we used a highly efficient and time economic automated computer visualisation measurement technique called Discursis to analyse conversational behaviour in consultations. Discursis automatically builds an internal language model from a transcript, mines the transcript for its conceptual content, and generates an interactive visual account of the discourse. The resultant visual account of the whole consultation can be analysed for patterns of engagement between interactants. The findings from this study show that Discursis is effective at highlighting a range of consultation techniques, including communication accommodation, engagement and repetition

Exogenous spatial precuing reliably modulates object processing but not object substitution masking

Object substitution masking (OSM) is used in behavioral and imaging studies to investigate processes associated with the formation of a conscious percept. Reportedly, OSM occurs only when visual attention is diffusely spread over a search display or focused away from the target location. Indeed, the presumed role of spatial attention is central to theoretical accounts of OSM and of visual processing more generally (Di Lollo, Enns, & Rensink, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 129:481–507, 2000). We report a series of five experiments in which valid spatial precuing is shown to enhance the ability of participants to accurately report a target but, in most cases, without affecting OSM. In only one experiment (Experiment 5) was a significant effect of precuing observed on masking. This is in contrast to the reliable effect shown across all five experiments in which precuing improved overall performance. The results are convergent with recent findings from Argyropoulos, Gellatly, and Pilling (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 39:646–661, 2013), which show that OSM is independent of the number of distractor items in a display. Our results demonstrate that OSM can operate independently of focal attention. Previous claims of the strong interrelationship between OSM and spatial attention are likely to have arisen from ceiling or floor artifacts that restricted measurable performance

The R136 star cluster dissected with Hubble Space Telescope/STIS. I. Far-ultraviolet spectroscopic census and the origin of He II lambda 1640 in young star clusters

We introduce a Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) stellar census of R136a, the central ionizing star cluster of 30 Doradus. We present low resolution far-ultraviolet STIS spectroscopy of R136 using 17 contiguous 52 arcsec × 0.2 arcsec slits which together provide complete coverage of the central 0.85 parsec (3.4 arcsec). We provide spectral types of 90 per cent of the 57 sources brighter than mF555W = 16.0 mag within a radius of 0.5 parsec of R136a1, plus 8 additional nearby sources including R136b (O4 If/WN8). We measure wind velocities for 52 early-type stars from C IVλλ1548–51, including 16 O2–3 stars. For the first time, we spectroscopically classify all Weigelt and Baier members of R136a, which comprise three WN5 stars (a1–a3), two O supergiants (a5–a6) and three early O dwarfs (a4, a7, a8). A complete Hertzsprung–Russell diagram for the most massive O stars in R136 is provided, from which we obtain a cluster age of 1.5 +0.3−0.7 −0.7+0.3 Myr. In addition, we discuss the integrated ultraviolet spectrum of R136, and highlight the central role played by the most luminous stars in producing the prominent He II λ1640 emission line. This emission is totally dominated by very massive stars with initial masses above ∼100 M⊙. The presence of strong He II λ1640 emission in the integrated light of very young star clusters (e.g. A1 in NGC 3125) favours an initial mass function extending well beyond a conventional upper limit of 100 M⊙. We include montages of ultraviolet spectroscopy for Large Magellanic Cloud O stars in the appendix. Future studies in this series will focus on optical STIS medium resolution observations

Pseudomonas aeruginosa Adaptation to Lungs of Cystic Fibrosis Patients Leads to Lowered Resistance to Phage and Protist Enemies

Pathogenic life styles can lead to highly specialized interactions with host species, potentially resulting in fitness trade-offs in other ecological contexts. Here we studied how adaptation of the environmentally transmitted bacterial pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, to cystic fibrosis (CF) patients affects its survival in the presence of natural phage (14/1, ΦKZ, PNM and PT7) and protist (Tetrahymena thermophila and Acanthamoebae polyphaga) enemies. We found that most of the bacteria isolated from relatively recently intermittently colonised patients (1-25 months), were innately phage-resistant and highly toxic for protists. In contrast, bacteria isolated from long time chronically infected patients (2-23 years), were less efficient in both resisting phages and killing protists. Moreover, chronic isolates showed reduced killing of wax moth larvae (Galleria mellonella) probably due to weaker in vitro growth and protease expression. These results suggest that P. aeruginosa long-term adaptation to CF-lungs could trade off with its survival in aquatic environmental reservoirs in the presence of microbial enemies, while lowered virulence could reduce pathogen opportunities to infect insect vectors; factors that are both likely to result in poorer environmental transmission. From an applied perspective, phage therapy could be useful against chronic P. aeruginosa lung infections that are often characterized by multidrug resistance: chronic isolates were least resistant to phages and their poor growth will likely slow down the emergence of beneficial resistance mutations

Quantifying serum antibody in bird fanciers' hypersensitivity pneumonitis

BACKGROUND: Detecting serum antibody against inhaled antigens is an important diagnostic adjunct for hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP). We sought to validate a quantitative fluorimetric assay testing serum from bird fanciers. METHODS: Antibody activity was assessed in bird fanciers and control subjects using various avian antigens and serological methods, and the titer was compared with symptoms of HP. RESULTS: IgG antibody against pigeon serum antigens, quantified by fluorimetry, provided a good discriminator of disease. Levels below 10 mg/L were insignificant, and increasing titers were associated with disease. The assay was unaffected by total IgG, autoantibodies and antibody to dietary hen's egg antigens. Antigens from pigeon serum seem sufficient to recognize immune sensitivity to most common pet avian species. Decreasing antibody titers confirmed antigen avoidance. CONCLUSION: Increasing antibody titer reflected the likelihood of HP, and decreasing titers confirmed antigen avoidance. Quantifying antibody was rapid and the increased sensitivity will improve the rate of false-negative reporting and obviate the need for invasive diagnostic procedures. Automated fluorimetry provides a method for the international standardization of HP serology thereby improving quality control and improving its suitability as a diagnostic adjunct

Diagnosing problems of fine sediment delivery and transfer in a lowland catchment

This paper is a product of research conducted within the REFORM collaborative project funded by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement 282656