Cell–cell and cell–surface interactions in an illuminated biofilm: Implications for marine sediment stabilization†

Most wetted surfaces that are illuminated support a population of phototrophs. The marine sediment is no exception and there the major component of the microphytobenthic population is diatoms. These organisms are credited with stabilizing the sediment against physical disturbance by virtue of the extracellular carbohydrate polymers that they elaborate. However, diatoms synthesize and secrete several carbohydrate polymers and it is not certain which of them is involved in the stabilization process. In order to investigate this, we have constructed small glass bead-filled flow through bioreactors to mimic marine sediments. The flow rate through the bioreactors was found to reflect the physical stability of the bead bed. Thus flow rate was measured as a function of diatom growth and the production of three operationally-defined polymers, i.e., those soluble in the medium, those soluble in 0.5 M NaHCO(3 )at 90 °C and those not soluble in either solvent (matrix polymer). Growth of the diatoms did not change the hydraulic conductivity of the bioreactors. For Amphora coffeaeformis, neither did the production of medium-soluble nor NaHCO(3)-soluble polymers. However, matrix polymer accumulation was directly correlated with a reduction in flow (regression coefficient R(2 )= 0.96) and stabilization against physical disturbance. Results with species of Navicula were not as clear. Both NaHCO(3)-soluble and matrix polymers were involved in producing the flow reduction. In the same manner we also measured the effect of Pseudoalteromonas haloplanktis growth on bead bed hydraulic conductivity and bead bed stability. Growing alone, no effect was found, but in co-culture with a single diatom species, the bacteria reduced the diatom effect on flow through the bioreactors seen earlier, however did not reduce the extent of their growth. Confocal scanning laser microscopy of beads colonized with diatoms alone, or diatoms in co-culture with bacteria, revealed that P. haloplanktis was able to inhibit diatom adhesion to the beads. When the bacteria were present there was less matrix polymer evident. We speculate that this interference with diatom metabolic activity was either the result of less matrix polymer synthesis, or its hydrolysis by the bacteria. The results are applicable to mixed species biofilms of this type on surfaces other than sediments

Flying Insect Populations as Sampled by Malaise Trap on Crowley\u27s Ridge in Northeast Arkansas

Malaise trap collections from woodlot and open field sampling sites on Crowley\u27s Ridge yielded 10,830 individuals during the months of May, July and September, 1980. Greatest numbers of insects were collected in May, with fewest in September. Four orders comprised 97% of the total catch: Diptera (57%), Lepidoptera (17%), Hymenoptera (15%) and Homoptera (8%). Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Neuroptera, Odonata and Orthoptera comprised the remaining 3%. Ordinal composition and seasonal occurrence patterns are discussed and compared for the two sampling sites

An Eye-Tracking Methodology for Testing Consumer Preference of Display Trays in a Simulated Retail Environment

Display trays have traditionally been used to support distribution packaging and retail stocking. Yet, it is becoming increasingly common to find display trays as devices to garner attention and increase the shelf presence of packaging. This paper presents a method for testing consumer preference of display trays for liquid dish soap and canned tomatoes in CUShop™, a consumer experience laboratory, using eye-tracking technology. It was hypothesized that display trays would increase total fixation duration and decrease time to first fixation on the respective products tested. However, it was determined that attention to products in a display tray was less favorable to products not in a display tray. Experimental results are limited because of the many variables that exist for display trays. If further studies were to be conducted on a larger variety of display trays using the methodology described, the appeal and attention value of display trays could be comprehensively understood

The Effect of Decorative Foil Stamping on Consumer Attention

Packaging plays a crucial role in communicating product benefits to consumers. Oftentimes, designers use high visibility enhancements to differentiate packaging within the competitive array. Although luxury brands commonly use enhanced graphical and printing techniques to convey high quality products, many private label package designers are also utilizing enhancements to attract attention to their products. This research sought to understand how incorporating foil stamping to the primary panel of fast moving consumer good packaging will affect consumer attention and purchase preference. Through the collection of quantitative data, consumer attention and purchase preference were evaluated. Three different products were selected for evaluation for the study: popcorn, cereal, and boxed pasta dinners. A total of 172 participants completed the study, which took place in a realistic and immersive shopping environment (CUshop™). Two eye tracking metrics were collected using mobile eye tracking technology. Participants completed a qualitative survey, which recorded basic demographic information. Significance tests were conducted to test for statistical differences in consumer attention behavior as well as purchase decision between the foil and control packages. It was determined that foil stamping did significantly (α =0.05) affect consumer attention towards the respective product compared to the control, yet the effect was not consistent. Eye tracking metrics varied across the products and categories tested; some foil stamped samples positively affected consumer attention, others negatively and some had no effect whatsoever. Results show that foil stamping can be a highly strategic influencer (both positively and negatively) on consumer attention and purchase decision. However, it is recommended that this enhancement be tested within an in-context environment to ensure it benefits the brand and product within the competitive array

Evaluation of the neonatal Sequential Organ Failure Assessment and mortality risk in preterm infants with late-onset infection

Importance: Infection in neonates remains a substantial problem. Advances for this population are hindered by the absence of a consensus definition for sepsis. In adults, the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) operationalizes mortality risk with infection and defines sepsis. The generalizability of the neonatal SOFA (nSOFA) for neonatal late-onset infection-related mortality remains unknown. Objective: To determine the generalizability of the nSOFA for neonatal late-onset infection-related mortality across multiple sites. Design, Setting, and Participants: A multicenter retrospective cohort study was conducted at 7 academic neonatal intensive care units between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2019. Participants included 653 preterm (\u3c33 weeks) very low-birth-weight infants. Exposures: Late-onset (\u3e72 hours of life) infection including bacteremia, fungemia, or surgical peritonitis. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was late-onset infection episode mortality. The nSOFA scores from survivors and nonsurvivors with confirmed late-onset infection were compared at 9 time points (T) preceding and following event onset. Results: In the 653 infants who met inclusion criteria, median gestational age was 25.5 weeks (interquartile range, 24-27 weeks) and median birth weight was 780 g (interquartile range, 638-960 g). A total of 366 infants (56%) were male. Late-onset infection episode mortality occurred in 97 infants (15%). Area under the receiver operating characteristic curves for mortality in the total cohort ranged across study centers from 0.71 to 0.95 (T0 hours), 0.77 to 0.96 (T6 hours), and 0.78 to 0.96 (T12 hours), with utility noted at all centers and in aggregate. Using the maximum nSOFA score at T0 or T6, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for mortality was 0.88 (95% CI, 0.84-0.91). Analyses stratified by sex or Gram-stain identification of pathogen class or restricted to infants born at less than 25 weeks\u27 completed gestation did not reduce the association of the nSOFA score with infection-related mortality. Conclusions and Relevance: The nSOFA score was associated with late-onset infection mortality in preterm infants at the time of evaluation both in aggregate and in each center. These findings suggest that the nSOFA may serve as the foundation for a consensus definition of sepsis in this population

Mining Primary Care Electronic Health Records for Automatic Disease Phenotyping: A Transparent Machine Learning Framework

(1) Background: We aimed to develop a transparent machine-learning (ML) framework to automatically identify patients with a condition from electronic health records (EHRs) via a parsimonious set of features. (2) Methods: We linked multiple sources of EHRs, including 917,496,869 primary care records and 40,656,805 secondary care records and 694,954 records from specialist surgeries between 2002 and 2012, to generate a unique dataset. Then, we treated patient identification as a problem of text classification and proposed a transparent disease-phenotyping framework. This framework comprises a generation of patient representation, feature selection, and optimal phenotyping algorithm development to tackle the imbalanced nature of the data. This framework was extensively evaluated by identifying rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS). (3) Results: Being applied to the linked dataset of 9657 patients with 1484 cases of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 204 cases of ankylosing spondylitis (AS), this framework achieved accuracy and positive predictive values of 86.19% and 88.46%, respectively, for RA and 99.23% and 97.75% for AS, comparable with expert knowledge-driven methods. (4) Conclusions: This framework could potentially be used as an efficient tool for identifying patients with a condition of interest from EHRs, helping clinicians in clinical decision-support process

Exploring the Provider-Level Socio-Demographic Determinants of Diet Quality of Preschool-Aged Children Attending Family Childcare Homes

Since food preferences develop during early childhood and contribute to dietary patterns that can track into adulthood, it is critical to support healthy food environments in places where children spend significant amounts of time in, such as childcare. It is important to understand what factors influence the diet quality of children cared for in family childcare homes (FCCH). Methods: This study used baseline data from a cluster-randomized trial in FCCH, Healthy Start/Comienzos Sanos. Surveys capturing providers’ socio-demographic characteristics were completed. Food and beverage consumptions were estimated using the Dietary Observation in Childcare protocol, and diet quality was calculated using the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2015. Comparison of mean HEI scores by provider socio-demographic variables were completed using ANOVAs, followed by multiple linear regression models for significant variables. Post-hoc ANOVA models compared mean HEI-2015 sub-components by income and ethnicity. Results: Significant differences in mean HEI-2015 scores were found for provider income level (less than $25,000, HEI: 64.8 vs.$25,001–$50,000: 62.9 vs.$75,001 or more: 56.2; p = 0.03), ethnicity (Non-Latinx: 56.6 vs. Latinx: 64.4; p = 0.002), language spoken outside of childcare (English: 58.6 vs. Spanish: 64.3, p = 0.005), and language spoken in childcare (English: 59.6 vs. Spanish: 64.4; p = 0.02). In linear regression models, a higher provider income ($75,001 or more) was negatively and significantly associated with the total HEI-2015 scores (β = −9.8, SE = 3.7; p = 0.009) vs. lower income (less than$25,000). When entering provider income and ethnicity to the same model, adjusting for Child and Adult Food Program (CACFP), only ethnicity was significant, with Latinx being positively associated with total HEI-2015 scores vs. non-Latinx (β = 6.5, SE = 2.4; p = 0.007). Statistically significant differences were found by ethnicity and language for greens/beans, total protein, and seafood and plant protein HEI-2015 component scores. Discussion: Lower income, and Latinx providers cared-for children had higher diet quality in FCCH compared to the other providers. Future studies should better understand what specific foods contribute to each of the HEI-2015 components in order to better tailor trainings and interventions

A case study of adapting a health insurance decision intervention from trial into routine cancer care

OBJECTIVE: This study adapted Improving Cancer Patients\u27 Insurance Choices (I Can PIC), an intervention to help cancer patients navigate health insurance decisions and care costs. The original intervention improved knowledge and confidence making insurance decisions, however, users felt limited by choices provided in insurance markets. Using decision trees and frameworks to guide adaptations, we modified I Can PIC to focus on using rather than choosing health insurance. The COVID-19 pandemic introduced unforeseen obstacles, prompting changes to study protocols. As a result, we allowed users outside of the study to use I Can PIC (\u3e 1050 guest users) to optimize public benefit. This paper describes the steps took to conduct the study, evaluating both the effectiveness of I Can PIC and the implementation process to improve its impact. RESULTS: Although I Can PIC users had higher knowledge and health insurance literacy compared to the control group, results were not statistically significant. This outcome may be associated with systems-level challenges as well as the number and demographic characteristics of participants. The publicly available tool can be a resource for those navigating insurance and care costs, and researchers can use this flexible approach to intervention delivery and testing as future health emergencies arise