Do temporal changes in facial expressions help identify patients at risk of deterioration in hospital wards? A post hoc analysis of the Visual Early Warning Score study

Objectives: To determine whether time-series analysis and Shannon information entropy of facial expressions predict acute clinical deterioration in patients on general hospital wards. Design: Post hoc analysis of a prospective observational feasibility study (Visual Early Warning Score study). Setting: General ward patients in a community hospital. Patients: Thirty-four patients at risk of clinical deterioration. Interventions: A 3-minute video (153,000 frames) for each of the patients enrolled into the Visual Early Warning Score study database was analyzed by a trained psychologist for facial expressions measured as action units using the Facial Action Coding System. Measurements and Main Results: Three-thousand six-hundred eighty-eight action unit were analyzed over the 34 3-minute study periods. The action unit time variables considered were onset, apex, offset, and total time duration. A generalized linear regression model and time-series analyses were performed. Shannon information entropy (Hn) and diversity (Dn) were calculated from the frequency and repertoire of facial expressions. Patients subsequently admitted to critical care displayed a reduced frequency rate (95% CI moving average of the mean: 9.5–10.9 vs 26.1–28.9 in those not admitted), a higher Shannon information entropy (0.30 ± 0.06 vs 0.26 ± 0.05; p = 0.019) and diversity index (1.36 ± 0.08 vs 1.30 ± 0.07; p = 0.020) and a prolonged action unit reaction time (23.5 vs 9.4 s) compared with patients not admitted to ICU. The number of action unit identified per window within the time-series analysis predicted admission to critical care with an area under the curve of 0.88. The area under the curve for National Early Warning Score alone, Hn alone, National Early Warning Score plus Hn, and National Early Warning Score plus Hn plus Dn were 0.53, 0.75, 0.76, and 0.81, respectively. Conclusions: Patients who will be admitted to intensive care have a decrease in the number of facial expressions per unit of time and an increase in their diversity

Child-parent interactions in American and Turkish families: Examining measurement invariance analysis of child-parent relationship scale

The parent-child relationship is a cornerstone of early childhood development and one-way early childhood programs can have a positive influence on early development is to adopt programmatic features to enhance this relationship. Research supports these conclusions in both U.S. and cross-cultural contexts, even though assumptions about parenting and the parent-child relationship may differ across cultures. However, for true understanding of cultural differences, it is important to have comparable measures across cultures. The purpose of the study is to assess measurement invariance of the two constructs of the Child-parent Relationship Scale using data gathered in programs serving low-income preschool children in the U.S.(n = 4,450) and Turkey (n = 592) from 2014 to 2015. Using Single-group Confirmatory Factor Analysis, the original factor structures of the Turkish and the English versions were tested. Besides, Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis provided evidence for configural, metric, scalar invariance, strict factorial invariance or error variance invariance and construct level invariance across the two versions. Only configural invariance was established, which showed an agreement for the existence of an underlying theoretical construct for each subscale (Conflict and Closeness) of the Turkish and the English versions. However, item CPRS 4 was a non-significant item for Conflict in the Turkish version that affected the possibility to conduct further analyses. Findings encourage researchers to propose and assess cultural and linguistic adaptations for the Child-parent Relationship Scale before cross-cultural comparisons related to family relationships

Child-parent Interactions in American and Turkish Families: Examining Measurement Invariance Analysis of Child-parent Relationship Scale

The parent-child relationship is a cornerstone of early childhood development and one-way early childhood programs can have a positive influence on early development is to adopt programmatic features to enhance this relationship. Research supports these conclusions in both U.S. and cross-cultural contexts, even though assumptions about parenting and the parent-child relationship may differ across cultures. However, for true understanding of cultural differences, it is important to have comparable measures across cultures. The purpose of the study is to assess measurement invariance of the two constructs of the Child-parent Relationship Scale using data gathered in programs serving low-income preschool children in the U.S.(n = 4,450) and Turkey (n = 592) from 2014 to 2015. Using Single-group Confirmatory Factor Analysis, the original factor structures of the Turkish and the English versions were tested. Besides, Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis provided evidence for configural, metric, scalar invariance, strict factorial invariance or error variance invariance and construct level invariance across the two versions. Only configural invariance was established, which showed an agreement for the existence of an underlying theoretical construct for each subscale (Conflict and Closeness) of the Turkish and the English versions. However, item CPRS 4 was a non-significant item for Conflict in the Turkish version that affected the possibility to conduct further analyses. Findings encourage researchers to propose and assess cultural and linguistic adaptations for the Child-parent Relationship Scale before cross-cultural comparisons related to family relationships

Genome-Wide Analysis of the Effects of Heat Shock on a Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mutant With a Constitutively Activated cAMP-Dependent Pathway

We have used DNA microarray technology and 2-D gel electrophoresis combined with mass spectrometry to investigate the effects of a drastic heat shock from 30℃ to 50℃ on a genome-wide scale. This experimental condition is used to differentiate between wild-type cells and those with a constitutively active cAMP-dependent pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Whilst more than 50% of the former survive this shock, almost all of the latter lose viability. We compared the transcriptomes of the wildtype and a mutant strain deleted for the gene PDE2, encoding the high-affinity cAMP phosphodiesterase before and after heat shock treatment. We also compared the two heat-shocked samples with one another, allowing us to determine the changes that occur in the pde2Δ mutant which cause such a dramatic loss of viability after heat shock. Several genes involved in ergosterol biosynthesis and carbon source utilization had altered expression levels, suggesting that these processes might be potential factors in heat shock survival. These predictions and also the effect of the different phases of the cell cycle were confirmed by biochemical and phenotypic analyses. 146 genes of previously unknown function were identified amongst the genes with altered expression levels and deletion mutants in 13 of these genes were found to be highly sensitive to heat shock. Differences in response to heat shock were also observed at the level of the proteome, with a higher level of protein degradation in the mutant, as revealed by comparing 2-D gels of wild-type and mutant heat-shocked samples and mass spectrometry analysis of the differentially produced proteins

Prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum Infection in Rainy Season, Artibonite Valley, Haiti, 2006

We conducted a population-based survey to estimate the prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum infection among persons older than 1 month in the Artibonite Valley of Haiti during the high malaria transmission season in 2006. Results from PCR for 714 persons showed a prevalence of 3.1% for P. falciparum infection

A Novel Mechanism for CTCF in the Epigenetic Regulation of Bax in Breast Cancer Cells

Wepreviously reported the association of elevated levels of themultifunctional transcription factor, CCCTC binding factor (CTCF), in breast cancer cells with the specific anti-apoptotic function of CTCF. To understand the molecularmechanisms of this phenomenon, we investigated regulation of the human Bax gene by CTCF in breast and non-breast cells. Two CTCF binding sites (CTSs) within the Bax promoter were identified. In all cells, breast and non-breast, active histone modifications were present at these CTSs, DNA harboring this region was unmethylated, and levels of Bax mRNA and protein were similar. Nevertheless, up-regulation of Bax mRNA and protein and apoptotic cell deathwere observed only in breast cancer cells depleted of CTCF.We proposed that increased CTCF binding to the Bax promoter in breast cancer cells, by comparison with non-breast cells, may be mechanistically linked to the specific apoptotic phenotype in CTCF-depleted breast cancer cells. In this study, we show that CTCF binding was enriched at the Bax CTSs in breast cancer cells and tumors; in contrast, binding of other transcription factors (SP1,WT1, EGR1, and c-Myc) was generally increased in non- breast cells and normal breast tissues. Our findings suggest a novel mechanism for CTCF in the epigenetic regulation of Bax in breast cancer cells, whereby elevated levels of CTCF support preferential binding of CTCF to the Bax CTSs. In this context, CTCF functions as a transcriptional repressor counteracting influences of positive regulatory factors; depletion of breast cancer cells from CTCF therefore results in the activation of Bax and apoptosis. © 2013 Neoplasia Press, Inc

Positive and negative well-being and objectively measured sedentary behaviour in older adults: evidence from three cohorts

Background: Sedentary behaviour is related to poorer health independently of time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity. The aim of this study was to investigate whether wellbeing or symptoms of anxiety or depression predict sedentary behaviour in older adults. Method: Participants were drawn from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 (LBC1936) (n = 271), and the West of Scotland Twenty-07 1950s (n = 309) and 1930s (n = 118) cohorts. Sedentary outcomes, sedentary time, and number of sit-to-stand transitions, were measured with a three-dimensional accelerometer (activPAL activity monitor) worn for 7 days. In the Twenty-07 cohorts, symptoms of anxiety and depression were assessed in 2008 and sedentary outcomes were assessed ~ 8 years later in 2015 and 2016. In the LBC1936 cohort, wellbeing and symptoms of anxiety and depression were assessed concurrently with sedentary behaviour in 2015 and 2016. We tested for an association between wellbeing, anxiety or depression and the sedentary outcomes using multivariate regression analysis. Results: We observed no association between wellbeing or symptoms of anxiety and the sedentary outcomes. Symptoms of depression were positively associated with sedentary time in the LBC1936 and Twenty-07 1950s cohort, and negatively associated with number of sit-to-stand transitions in the LBC1936. Meta-analytic estimates of the association between depressive symptoms and sedentary time or number of sit-to-stand transitions, adjusted for age, sex, BMI, long-standing illness, and education, were β = 0.11 (95% CI = 0.03, 0.18) and β = − 0.11 (95% CI = − 0.19, −0.03) respectively. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that depressive symptoms are positively associated with sedentary behavior. Future studies should investigate the causal direction of this association

Endoscopic treatment of prepatellar bursitis

Operative treatment of prepatellar bursitis is indicated in intractable bursitis. The most common complication of surgical treatment for prepatellar bursitis is skin problems. For traumatic prepatellar bursitis, we propose a protocol of outpatient endoscopic surgery under local anaesthesia. From September 1996 to February 2001, 60 cases of failed nonoperative treatment for prepatellar bursitis were included. The average age was 33.5 ± 11.1 years (range 21–55). The average operation duration was 18 minutes. Two to three mini-arthroscopic portals were used in our series. No sutures or a simple suture was needed for the portals after operation. After follow-up for an average of 36.3 months, all patients are were symptom-free and had regained knee function. None of the population had local tenderness or hypo-aesthesia around their wound. Their radiographic and sonographic examinations showed no recurrence of bursitis. Outpatient arthroscopic bursectomy under local anaesthesia is an effective procedure for the treatment of post-traumatic prepatellar bursitis after failed conservative treatments. Both the cosmetic results and functional results were satisfactory

The actin cytoskeleton modulates the activation of iNKT cells by segregating CD1d nanoclusters on antigen-presenting cells

Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells recognize endogenous and exogenous lipid antigens presented in the context of CD1d molecules. The ability of iNKT cells to recognize endogenous antigens represents a distinct immune recognition strategy, which underscores the constitutive memory phenotype of iNKT cells and their activation during inflammatory conditions. However, the mechanisms regulating such “tonic” activation of iNKT cells remain unclear. Here, we show that the spatiotemporal distribution of CD1d molecules on the surface of antigen-presenting cells (APCs) modulates activation of iNKT cells. By using superresolution microscopy, we show that CD1d molecules form nanoclusters at the cell surface of APCs, and their size and density are constrained by the actin cytoskeleton. Dual-color single-particle tracking revealed that diffusing CD1d nanoclusters are actively arrested by the actin cytoskeleton, preventing their further coalescence. Formation of larger nanoclusters occurs in the absence of interactions between CD1d cytosolic tail and the actin cytoskeleton and correlates with enhanced iNKT cell activation. Importantly and consistently with iNKT cell activation during inflammatory conditions, exposure of APCs to the Toll-like receptor 7/8 agonist R848 increases nanocluster density and iNKT cell activation. Overall, these results define a previously unidentified mechanism that modulates iNKT cell autoreactivity based on the tight control by the APC cytoskeleton of the sizes and densities of endogenous antigen-loaded CD1d nanoclusters

The Astropy Problem

The Astropy Project (http://astropy.org) is, in its own words, "a community effort to develop a single core package for Astronomy in Python and foster interoperability between Python astronomy packages." For five years this project has been managed, written, and operated as a grassroots, self-organized, almost entirely volunteer effort while the software is used by the majority of the astronomical community. Despite this, the project has always been and remains to this day effectively unfunded. Further, contributors receive little or no formal recognition for creating and supporting what is now critical software. This paper explores the problem in detail, outlines possible solutions to correct this, and presents a few suggestions on how to address the sustainability of general purpose astronomical software