Smoking Cessation Post-Discharge for Medical Surgical Patients

Introduction: Does the combination of behavioral counseling coupled with medication (vs medication alone) result in greater smoking cessation for our patients after discharge?https://knowledgeconnection.mainehealth.org/nurseresidency/1003/thumbnail.jp

Healthy Retail as a Strategy for Improving Food Security and the Built Environment in San Francisco.

In low-income neighborhoods without supermarkets, lack of healthy food access often is exacerbated by the saturation of small corner stores with tobacco and unhealthy foods and beverages. We describe a municipal healthy retail program in San Francisco, California, focusing on the role of a local coalition in program implementation and outcomes in the city's low income Tenderloin neighborhood. By incentivizing selected corner stores to become healthy retailers, and through community engagement and cross-sector partnerships, the program is seeing promising outcomes, including a "ripple effect" of improvement across nonparticipating neighborhood stores

The ability of Ruppia polycarpa to regenerate from seed depends on seasonal porewater salinity dynamics and declining winter rainfall could delay recruitment

For many plants, regeneration from seed is vital for population recovery. Climate change is modifying the global hydrological cycle and a primary factor controlling germination of marine plants: salinity. How altered salinity regimes, and especially altered porewater salinity regimes, will regulate early life history stages of estuarine seagrasses is poorly understood. Here, we quantified the porewater salinity dynamics in two ephemeral estuaries that are dominated by the cosmopolitan genus Ruppia. Seedbank, germlings (germinated seeds) and seedlings were found in salinities ranging from 5 to 110 over an annual cycle. To understand the germination ecology of the dominant species, Ruppia polycarpa, seeds were exposed to treatments simulating current salinity regimes and those predicted under climate change. Seeds underwent a Dormancy treatment (15, 60, 150) followed by a Germination treatment (10, 20, 80). Generally, early life history stages were positively affected by hypersaline dormancy conditions if the subsequent Germination salinity was ≤ 20. Germination success was significantly higher for seeds transferred to 10 (65%) compared to 20 (49%) whilst no seeds germinated in 80 highlighting the risk of lower germination as estuaries become drier and more hypersaline with declining winter rainfall. However, germlings were found in situ in salinities ≥ 80 suggesting aspects of the salinity dynamics, not captured by our experimental conditions, may broaden tolerances. Dormant seeds were continuously present in situ and seedlings were observed throughout the whole of the growing season. These results are indicative of bet-hedging strategies. Future research should explore the capacity of these strategies to afford resilience to R. polycarpa to salinity variability under climate change

The prevalence of potentially modifiable functional deficits and the subsequent use of occupational and physical therapy by older adults with cancer

Occupational and physical therapy (OT/PT) services seek to reduce morbidity, mortality, and improve the quality of life of individuals; however, little is known about the needs and use of OT/PT for older adults with cancer. The goal of this study was to describe the functional deficits and their associations with other factors, and to examine the use of OT/PT after a noted functional deficit

A Roadmap for the Development of Ivermectin as a Complementary Malaria Vector Control Tool.

In the context of stalling progress against malaria, resistance of mosquitoes to insecticides, and residual transmission, mass drug administration (MDA) of ivermectin, an endectocide used for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), has emerged as a promising complementary vector control method. Ivermectin reduces the life span of Anopheles mosquitoes that feed on treated humans and/or livestock, potentially decreasing malaria parasite transmission when administered at the community level. Following the publication by WHO of the preferred product characteristics for endectocides as vector control tools, this roadmap provides a comprehensive view of processes needed to make ivermectin available as a vector control tool by 2024 with a completely novel mechanism of action. The roadmap covers various aspects, which include 1) the definition of optimal dosage/regimens for ivermectin MDA in both humans and livestock, 2) the risk of resistance to the drug and environmental impact, 3) ethical issues, 4) political and community engagement, 5) translation of evidence into policy, and 6) operational aspects of large-scale deployment of the drug, all in the context of a drug given as a prevention tool acting at the community level. The roadmap reflects the insights of a multidisciplinary group of global health experts who worked together to elucidate the path to inclusion of ivermectin in the toolbox against malaria, to address residual transmission, counteract insecticide resistance, and contribute to the end of this deadly disease

Expert range maps of global mammal distributions harmonised to three taxonomic authorities

AimComprehensive, global information on species' occurrences is an essential biodiversity variable and central to a range of applications in ecology, evolution, biogeography and conservation. Expert range maps often represent a species' only available distributional information and play an increasing role in conservation assessments and macroecology. We provide global range maps for the native ranges of all extant mammal species harmonised to the taxonomy of the Mammal Diversity Database (MDD) mobilised from two sources, the Handbook of the Mammals of the World (HMW) and the Illustrated Checklist of the Mammals of the World (CMW).LocationGlobal.TaxonAll extant mammal species.MethodsRange maps were digitally interpreted, georeferenced, error-checked and subsequently taxonomically aligned between the HMW (6253 species), the CMW (6431 species) and the MDD taxonomies (6362 species).ResultsRange maps can be evaluated and visualised in an online map browser at Map of Life (mol.org) and accessed for individual or batch download for non-commercial use.Main conclusionExpert maps of species' global distributions are limited in their spatial detail and temporal specificity, but form a useful basis for broad-scale characterizations and model-based integration with other data. We provide georeferenced range maps for the native ranges of all extant mammal species as shapefiles, with species-level metadata and source information packaged together in geodatabase format. Across the three taxonomic sources our maps entail, there are 1784 taxonomic name differences compared to the maps currently available on the IUCN Red List website. The expert maps provided here are harmonised to the MDD taxonomic authority and linked to a community of online tools that will enable transparent future updates and version control

Mitochondrial physiology

As the knowledge base and importance of mitochondrial physiology to evolution, health and disease expands, the necessity for harmonizing the terminology concerning mitochondrial respiratory states and rates has become increasingly apparent. The chemiosmotic theory establishes the mechanism of energy transformation and coupling in oxidative phosphorylation. The unifying concept of the protonmotive force provides the framework for developing a consistent theoretical foundation of mitochondrial physiology and bioenergetics. We follow the latest SI guidelines and those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) on terminology in physical chemistry, extended by considerations of open systems and thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The concept-driven constructive terminology incorporates the meaning of each quantity and aligns concepts and symbols with the nomenclature of classical bioenergetics. We endeavour to provide a balanced view of mitochondrial respiratory control and a critical discussion on reporting data of mitochondrial respiration in terms of metabolic flows and fluxes. Uniform standards for evaluation of respiratory states and rates will ultimately contribute to reproducibility between laboratories and thus support the development of data repositories of mitochondrial respiratory function in species, tissues, and cells. Clarity of concept and consistency of nomenclature facilitate effective transdisciplinary communication, education, and ultimately further discovery

Mitochondrial physiology

As the knowledge base and importance of mitochondrial physiology to evolution, health and disease expands, the necessity for harmonizing the terminology concerning mitochondrial respiratory states and rates has become increasingly apparent. The chemiosmotic theory establishes the mechanism of energy transformation and coupling in oxidative phosphorylation. The unifying concept of the protonmotive force provides the framework for developing a consistent theoretical foundation of mitochondrial physiology and bioenergetics. We follow the latest SI guidelines and those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) on terminology in physical chemistry, extended by considerations of open systems and thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The concept-driven constructive terminology incorporates the meaning of each quantity and aligns concepts and symbols with the nomenclature of classical bioenergetics. We endeavour to provide a balanced view of mitochondrial respiratory control and a critical discussion on reporting data of mitochondrial respiration in terms of metabolic flows and fluxes. Uniform standards for evaluation of respiratory states and rates will ultimately contribute to reproducibility between laboratories and thus support the development of data repositories of mitochondrial respiratory function in species, tissues, and cells. Clarity of concept and consistency of nomenclature facilitate effective transdisciplinary communication, education, and ultimately further discovery

A first update on mapping the human genetic architecture of COVID-19

peer reviewe

Acetaminophen's Effects on Bone Quantity and Microarchitecture in the Tibia and Femur of Female C57BL/6 Mice

Studies have shown that users of Tylenol, or acetaminophen, experience a greater risk of fracture (Williams et al., 2011, Vestergaard et al., 2006), while former users experience a decrease in this risk (Vestergaard et al., 2006). Tylenol affects the cannabinoid system through its key metabolite, AM404, and studies have shown that the cannabinoid system affects the skeletal system. To better understand if and how prenatal exposure to Tylenol affects bone, we used micro-computed tomography to analyze the trabecular bone components of the epiphysis and metaphysis and the cortical bone components of the mid-diaphysis in the femur and tibia. We were examining whether there were differences between mice that had been exposed prenatally to Tylenol versus those that had not. We did not find significant differences in bone quantity in any region examined. However, we did find significant differences in the tissue mineral density in the epiphysis and mid-diaphysis of both bones, the trabecular thickness in the epiphysis of both bones, and the connectivity density in the epiphysis of the tibia of the mice who had been exposed to Tylenol. It is possible that these differences indicate that the bones of exposed mice were stronger than those not exposed, which may be a result of these mice being former users of the drug. The fact that we did not observe changes in trabecular bone volume fraction was not expected and could be a result of interactions with the cannabinoid receptors canceling each other out. In the future, more work needs to be done to gain a better understanding of the potential mechanisms of action of Tylenol on bone and the possible timing of its effects