pH-triggered phase inversion and separation of hydrophobised bacterial cellulose stabilised Pickering emulsions

The pH-triggered transitional phase behaviour of Pickering emulsions stabilised by hydrophobised bacterial cellulose (BC) is reported in this work. Neat BC was esterified with acetic (C2–), hexanoic (C6–) and dodecanoic (C12–) acids, respectively. We observed that C6– and C12–BC stabilised emulsions exhibited a pH-triggered reversible transitional phase separation. Water-in-toluene emulsions containing of 60 vol.% dispersed phase stabilised by C6– and C12–BC were produced at pH 5. Lowering the pH of the aqueous phase to 1 did not affect the emulsion type. Increasing the pH to 14, however, caused the emulsions to phase separate. This phase separation was caused by electrostatic repulsion between modified BC due to dissociable acidic surface groups at high pH, which lowered the surface coverage of the water droplets by modified BC. When the pH was re-adjusted to 1 again, w/o emulsions re-formed for C6– and C12–BC stabilised emulsions. C2–BC stabilised emulsions, on the other hand, underwent an irreversible pH-triggered transitional phase separation and inversion. This difference in phase behaviour between C2–BC and C6–/C12–BC was attributed to the hydrolysis of the ester bonds of C2–BC at high pH. This hypothesis is in good agreement with the measured degree of surface substitution (DSS) of modified BC after the pH-triggered experiments. The DSS of C2–BC decreased by 20% whilst the DSS remained constant for C6– and C12–BC

Methamphetamine-Induced Brain Injury and Alcohol Drinking

A majority of methamphetamine (Meth) abusers also abuse alcohol but the neurochemical consequences of this co-abuse are unknown. Individually, alcohol and Meth cause inflammation and long-term alterations in dopamine and serotonin signaling within the brain. Experiments were conducted to identify if serial exposure to alcohol and Meth has neurochemical consequences that are greater than after either drug alone. Male Sprague Dawley rats voluntarily drank 10% ethanol (EtOH) every other day for 4 weeks and were then exposed to a binge injection regimen of Meth (10 mg/kg injected every 2 h, for a total of 4 injections). EtOH drinking and preference increased over the 4 weeks and caused inflammation evidenced by increases in serum and brain lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and brain cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) 24 h after the last day of drinking. Meth alone depleted dopamine and serotonin in the striatum, as well as serotonin in the prefrontal cortex when measured 1 week later. In contrast, EtOH drinking alone did not affect dopamine and serotonin content in the striatum and prefrontal cortex, but prior EtOH drinking followed by injections of Meth enhanced Meth-induced depletions of dopamine, serotonin, as well as dopamine and serotonin transporter immunoreactivities in a manner that was correlated with the degree of EtOH consumption. Cyclooxygenase inhibition by ketoprofen during EtOH drinking blocked the increases in LPS and COX-2 and the enhanced decreases in dopamine and serotonin produced by Meth. Therefore, prior EtOH drinking causes an increase in inflammatory mediators that mediate a synergistic interaction with Meth to cause an enhanced neurotoxicity

Surface functionalisation of bacterial cellulose as the route to produce green polylactide nanocomposites with improved properties

The effect of surface functionalisation of bacterial cellulose nanofibrils (BC) and their use as reinforcement for polylactide (PLLA) nanocomposites was investigated. BC was functionalised with various organic acids via an esterification reaction. This rendered the otherwise hydrophilic BC hydrophobic and resulted in better compatibility (interfacial adhesion) between PLLA and BC. A direct wetting method, allowing the determination of the contact angle of polymer droplets on a single BC nanofibre, was developed to quantify the interfacial adhesion between PLLA and functionalised BC. It was found that the contact angle between PLLA droplets and functionalised BC decreased with increasing chain lengths of the organic acids used to hydrophobise BC. A novel method to compound BC with PLLA based on thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) to yield a dry form of pre-extrusion composite was also developed. The mechanical properties of the surface functionalised BC reinforced PLLA nanocomposites showed significant improvements when compared to neat PLLA and BC reinforced PLLA. The thermal degradation and viscoelastic behaviour of the nanocomposites were also improved over neat PLLA

Serial exposure to ethanol drinking and methamphetamine enhances glutamate excitotoxicity

A significant comorbidity exists between alcohol and methamphetamine (Meth) abuse but the neurochemical consequences of this co‐abuse are unknown. Alcohol and Meth independently and differentially affect glutamatergic transmission but the unique effects of their serial exposure on glutamate signaling in mediating damage to dopamine neurons are unknown. Sprague–Dawley rats had intermittent voluntary access to 10% ethanol (EtOH) every other day and water over 28 days and were then administered a binge injection regimen of Meth or saline. EtOH drinking decreased the glutamate aspartate transporter and increased basal extracellular concentrations of glutamate within the striatum when measured after the last day of drinking. Ceftriaxone is known to increase the expression and/or activity of glutamate transporters in the brain and prevented both the decreases in glutamate aspartate transporter and the increases in basal extracellular glutamate when administered during EtOH drinking. EtOH drinking also exacerbated the acute increases in extracellular glutamate observed upon Meth exposure, the subsequent increases in spectrin proteolysis, and the long‐term decreases in dopamine content in the striatum, all of which were attenuated by ceftriaxone administration during EtOH drinking only. These results implicate EtOH‐induced increases in extracellular glutamate and corresponding decreases in glutamate uptake as mechanisms that contribute to the vulnerability produced by EtOH drinking and the unique neurotoxicity observed after serial exposure to Meth that is not observed with either drug alone

Efficacy of Cognitive and Metacognitive Interventions on Executive Functioning Post Traumatic Brain Injury to Enhance Occupational Performance

Cognitive rehabilitation (CR) is proposed as an effective intervention for individuals post Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), by addressing cognitive function through remediating skills and practicing new compensatory skills. While there is considerable research, including systematic reviews that explore cognitive interventions post TBI, more research is needed in which occupational performance is the primary outcome of cognitive intervention. This current systematic review aims to synthesize the current body of evidence available on how using CR techniques to address executive functioning impact occupational performance in individuals who sustained a mild or moderate TBI

Full-depth temperature trends in the Northeastern Atlantic through the early 21st century

The vertical structure of temperature trends in the northeastern Atlantic (NEA) is investigated from a blend of Argo and hydrography data. The representativeness of sparse hydrography sampling in the basin-mean is assessed using a numerical model. Between 2003 and 2013, the NEA underwent a strong surface cooling (0-450?m) and a significant warming at intermediate and deep levels (1000?m-3000?m) that followed a strong cooling trend observed between 1988 and 2003. During 2003-2013, gyre-specific changes are found in the upper 1000?m (warming and cooling of the subtropical and subpolar gyres, respectively) whilst the intermediate and deep warming primarily occurred in the subpolar gyre, with important contributions from isopycnal heave and water mass property changes. The full-depth temperature change requires a local downward heat flux of 0.53?±?0.06?W?m?2 through the sea-surface, and its vertical distribution highlights the likely important role of the NEA in the recent global warming hiatus

Morphological factors of the central whorl leaf associated with leaf surface wetness and resistance in sorghum to shoot fly, Atherigona soccata

Earlier studies showed that leaf surface water on the central whorl leaf of sorghum seedlings is associated with resistance to shoot fly. In this study, the results of an experiment to determine if leaf surface wetness (LSW) originates from atmospheric condensation or from the plant are described. Morphological structures: trichomes, stomata, leaf cuticle and quantity of surface wax of the central whorl leaf were also examined for their role in LSW production. The results suggest that LSW of the central whorl leaf originates from the plant and is not due to condensation of atmospheric moisture. The presence of trichomes was indirectly associated with LSW and resistance to shoot fly but stomatal density was not associated with LSW production. The amount of wax extracted per 100 mg of fresh weight varied significantly between genotypes and seedling age. It was more in susceptible than in resistant genotypes; however, cuticular thickness was not associated with resistance. It is suggested that LSW could be the result of some form of cuticular movement of water to the leaf surface

Inclusion at Scale: Deploying a Community-Driven Moderation Intervention on Twitch

Harassment, especially of marginalized individuals, on networked gaming and social media platforms has been identified as a significant issue, yet few HCI practitioners have attempted to create interventions tackling toxicity online. Aligning ourselves with the growing cohort of design activists, we present a case study of the GLHF pledge, an interactive public awareness campaign promoting positivity in video game live streaming. We discuss the design and deployment of a community-driven moderation intervention for GLHF, intended to empower the inclusive communities emerging on Twitch. After offering a preliminary report on the effects we have observed based on the more than 370,000 gamers who have participated to date, the paper concludes with a reflection on the challenges and opportunities of using design activism to positively intervene in large-scale media platforms

Maximum Likelihood Estimation of the Negative Binomial Dispersion Parameter for Highly Overdispersed Data, with Applications to Infectious Diseases

BACKGROUND: The negative binomial distribution is used commonly throughout biology as a model for overdispersed count data, with attention focused on the negative binomial dispersion parameter, k. A substantial literature exists on the estimation of k, but most attention has focused on datasets that are not highly overdispersed (i.e., those with k≥1), and the accuracy of confidence intervals estimated for k is typically not explored. METHODOLOGY: This article presents a simulation study exploring the bias, precision, and confidence interval coverage of maximum-likelihood estimates of k from highly overdispersed distributions. In addition to exploring small-sample bias on negative binomial estimates, the study addresses estimation from datasets influenced by two types of event under-counting, and from disease transmission data subject to selection bias for successful outbreaks. CONCLUSIONS: Results show that maximum likelihood estimates of k can be biased upward by small sample size or under-reporting of zero-class events, but are not biased downward by any of the factors considered. Confidence intervals estimated from the asymptotic sampling variance tend to exhibit coverage below the nominal level, with overestimates of k comprising the great majority of coverage errors. Estimation from outbreak datasets does not increase the bias of k estimates, but can add significant upward bias to estimates of the mean. Because k varies inversely with the degree of overdispersion, these findings show that overestimation of the degree of overdispersion is very rare for these datasets