The importance of perceptual experience in the esthetic appreciation of the body.

Several studies suggest that sociocultural models conveying extreme thinness as the widespread ideal of beauty exert an important influence on the perceptual and emotional representation of body image. The psychological mechanisms underlying such environmental influences, however, are unclear. Here, we utilized a perceptual adaptation paradigm to investigate how perceptual experience modulates body esthetic appreciation. We found that the liking judgments of round bodies increased or decreased after brief exposure to round or thin bodies, respectively. No change occurred in the liking judgments of thin bodies. The results suggest that perceptual experience may shape our esthetic appreciation to favor more familiar round body figures. Importantly, individuals with more deficits in interoceptive awareness were less prone to increase their liking ratings of round bodies after exposure, suggesting a specific risk factor for the susceptibility to the influence of the extreme thin vs. round body ideals of beauty portrayed by the media

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Gram Negative Wound Infection in Hospitalised Adult Burn Patients-Systematic Review and Metanalysis-

BACKGROUND: Gram negative infection is a major determinant of morbidity and survival. Traditional teaching suggests that burn wound infections in different centres are caused by differing sets of causative organisms. This study established whether Gram-negative burn wound isolates associated to clinical wound infection differ between burn centres. METHODS: Studies investigating adult hospitalised patients (2000-2010) were critically appraised and qualified to a levels of evidence hierarchy. The contribution of bacterial pathogen type, and burn centre to the variance in standardised incidence of Gram-negative burn wound infection was analysed using two-way analysis of variance. PRIMARY FINDINGS: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumanni, Enterobacter spp., Proteus spp. and Escherichia coli emerged as the commonest Gram-negative burn wound pathogens. Individual pathogens' incidence did not differ significantly between burn centres (F (4, 20) = 1.1, p = 0.3797; r2 = 9.84). INTERPRETATION: Gram-negative infections predominate in burn surgery. This study is the first to establish that burn wound infections do not differ significantly between burn centres. It is the first study to report the pathogens responsible for the majority of Gram-negative infections in these patients. Whilst burn wound infection is not exclusive to these bacteria, it is hoped that reporting the presence of this group of common Gram-negative "target organisms" facilitate clinical practice and target research towards a defined clinical demand.peer-reviewe

Prospective Study of Infection, Colonization and Carriage of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus in an Outbreak Affecting 990 Patients

In the three years between November 1989 and October 1992, an outbreak of methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus (MRSA) affected 990 patients at a university hospital. The distribution of patients with carriage, colonization or infection was investigated prospectively. Nosocomial acquisition was confirmed in at least 928 patients, 525 of whom were identified from clinical specimens as being infected (n=418) or colonized (n=107) by MRSA. An additional 403 patients were identified from screening specimens, of whom 58 subsequently became infected and 18 colonized. Screening of the nose, throat and perineum detected 98 % of all carriers. Of the 580 infections in 476 patients, surgical wound, urinary tract and skin infections accounted for 58 % of the infections. Of the 476 infected patients, death was attributable to MRSA infection in 13 %. Colonization with MRSA was found in 127 patients and 42 % of 165 colonized sites were the skin. Auto-infection from nasal carriage or cross-infection, probably via staff hands, seemed to be the most common mode of acquisition of MRSA infections

Enhancing volunteer engagement to achieve desirable outcomes: what can non-profit employers do?

Abstract Engagement is a positive psychological state that is linked with a range of beneficial individual and organizational outcomes. However, the factors associated with volunteer engagement have rarely been examined. Data from 1064 volunteers of a wildlife charity in the United Kingdom revealed that both task- and emotion-oriented organizational support were positively related to volunteer engagement, and volunteer engagement was positively related to volunteer happiness and perceived social worth and negatively related to intent to leave the voluntary organization. Consistent with theory, engagement acted as a mediator between these factors. The implications for future research and the relevance of the findings for voluntary organizations are discussed

Surgical wound infection: epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis and management

Surgical wound infection remains a significant problem following an operation, although surveillance for such infections remains a challenge exacerbated by early discharge and outpatient surgery. The riskof such infections isdetermined by technical problems with the operation, particularly bleeding, the amount of devitalized tissue created, and the need for drains within the wound, as well as such metabolic factors as obesity and diabetes. Perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis can decrease the incidence of such infections further, but a technically perfect operation is even more important

HER2-family signalling mechanisms, clinical implications and targeting in breast cancer.

Approximately 20 % of human breast cancers (BC) overexpress HER2 protein, and HER2-positivity is associated with a worse prognosis. Although HER2-targeted therapies have significantly improved outcomes for HER2-positive BC patients, resistance to trastuzumab-based therapy remains a clinical problem. In order to better understand resistance to HER2-targeted therapies in HER2-positive BC, it is necessary to examine HER family signalling as a whole. An extensive literature search was carried out to critically assess the current knowledge of HER family signalling in HER2-positive BC and response to HER2-targeted therapy. Known mechanisms of trastuzumab resistance include reduced receptor-antibody binding (MUC4, p95HER2), increased signalling through alternative HER family receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK), altered intracellular signalling involving loss of PTEN, reduced p27kip1, or increased PI3K/AKT activity and altered signalling via non-HER family RTKs such as IGF1R. Emerging strategies to circumvent resistance to HER2-targeted therapies in HER2-positive BC include co-targeting HER2/PI3K, pan-HER family inhibition, and novel therapies such as T-DM1. There is evidence that immunity plays a key role in the efficacy of HER-targeted therapy, and efforts are being made to exploit the immune system in order to improve the efficacy of current anti-HER therapies. With our rapidly expanding understanding of HER2 signalling mechanisms along with the repertoire of HER family and other targeted therapies, it is likely that the near future holds further dramatic improvements to the prognosis of women with HER2-positive BC

Mechanisms of Hearing Loss after Blast Injury to the Ear

Given the frequent use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) around the world, the study of traumatic blast injuries is of increasing interest. The ear is the most common organ affected by blast injury because it is the bodyﾒs most sensitive pressure transducer. We fabricated a blast chamber to re-create blast profiles similar to that of IEDs and used it to develop a reproducible mouse model to study blast-induced hearing loss. The tympanic membrane was perforated in all mice after blast exposure and found to heal spontaneously. Micro-computed tomography demonstrated no evidence for middle ear or otic capsule injuries; however, the healed tympanic membrane was thickened. Auditory brainstem response and distortion product otoacoustic emission threshold shifts were found to be correlated with blast intensity. As well, these threshold shifts were larger than those found in control mice that underwent surgical perforation of their tympanic membranes, indicating cochlear trauma. Histological studies one week and three months after the blast demonstrated no disruption or damage to the intra-cochlear membranes. However, there was loss of outer hair cells (OHCs) within the basal turn of the cochlea and decreased spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) and afferent nerve synapses. Using our mouse model that recapitulates human IED exposure, our results identify that the mechanisms underlying blast-induced hearing loss does not include gross membranous rupture as is commonly believed. Instead, there is both OHC and SGN loss that produce auditory dysfunction

Co-Housing Rodents with Different Coat Colours as a Simple, Non-Invasive Means of Individual Identification:Validating Mixed-Strain Housing for C57BL/6 and DBA/2 Mice

Standard practice typically requires the marking of laboratory mice so that they can be individually identified. However, many of the common methods compromise the welfare of the individuals being marked (as well as requiring time, effort, and/or resources on the part of researchers and technicians). Mixing strains of different colour within a cage would allow them to be readily visually identifiable, negating the need for more invasive marking techniques. Here we assess the impact that mixed strain housing has on the phenotypes of female C57BL/6 (black) and DBA/2 (brown) mice, and on the variability in the data obtained from them. Mice were housed in either mixed strain or single strain pairs for 19 weeks, and their phenotypes then assessed using 23 different behavioural, morphological, haematological and physiological measures widely used in research and/or important for assessing mouse welfare. No negative effects of mixed strain housing could be found on the phenotypes of either strain, including variables relevant to welfare. Differences and similarities between the two strains were almost all as expected from previously published studies, and none were affected by whether mice were housed in mixed- or single-strain pairs. Only one significant main effect of housing type was detected: mixed strain pairs had smaller red blood cell distribution widths, a measure suggesting better health (findings that now need replicating in case they were Type 1 errors resulting from our multiplicity of tests). Furthermore, mixed strain housing did not increase the variation in data obtained from the mice: the standard errors for all variables were essentially identical between the two housing conditions. Mixed strain housing also made animals very easy to distinguish while in the home cage. Female DBA/2 and C57BL/6 mice can thus be housed in mixed strain pairs for identification purposes, with no apparent negative effects on their welfare or the data they generate. This suggests that there is much value in exploring other combinations of strains