“The real pandemic’s been there forever”: qualitative perspectives of domestic and family violence workforce in Australia during COVID-19

Background: In 2020, Australia, like most countries, introduced restrictions related to the global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Frontline services in the domestic and family violence (DFV) sector had to adapt and innovate to continue supporting clients who were experiencing and/or at risk of DFV. There is a need to understand from the perspective of those on the frontline how DFV service responses in different contexts impacted their working conditions and subsequent wellbeing, and what they want to see continued in ‘the new normal’ to inform future effective practices. We address this by reporting on findings from in-depth interviews conducted with practitioners and managers from the DFV sector in Australia. Methods: Between July and September 2020 semi-structured interviews were conducted with 51 DFV practitioners and managers from a range of services and specialisations across legal, housing, health and social care services. The data was analysed using iterative thematic analysis. Results: The most common service adaptations reported were shifting to outreach models of care, introducing infection control procedures and adopting telehealth/digital service delivery. Adjacent to these changes, participants described how these adaptations created implementation challenges including increased workload, maintaining quality and safety, and rising costs. Impacts on practitioners were largely attributed to the shift towards remote working with a collision in their work and home life and increased risk of vicarious trauma. Despite these challenges, most expressed a sense of achievement in how their service was responding to COVID-19, with several adaptations that practitioners and managers wanted to see continued in ‘the new normal’, including flexible working and wellbeing initiatives. Conclusions: The pandemic has amplified existing challenges for those experiencing DFV as well as those working on the frontline of DFV. Our findings point to the diversity in workforce experiences and has elucidated valuable lessons to shape future service delivery. Given the continuing impacts of the pandemic on DFV, this study provides timely insight and impetus to strengthen the implementation of remote working and telehealth/digital support across the DFV sector and to inform better supports for DFV workforce wellbeing in Australia and other contexts. Trial registration: Not a clinical intervention

Fast imaging of live organisms with sculpted light sheets.

Light-sheet microscopy is an increasingly popular technique in the life sciences due to its fast 3D imaging capability of fluorescent samples with low photo toxicity compared to confocal methods. In this work we present a new, fast, flexible and simple to implement method to optimize the illumination light-sheet to the requirement at hand. A telescope composed of two electrically tuneable lenses enables us to define thickness and position of the light-sheet independently but accurately within milliseconds, and therefore optimize image quality of the features of interest interactively. We demonstrated the practical benefit of this technique by 1) assembling large field of views from tiled single exposure each with individually optimized illumination settings; 2) sculpting the light-sheet to trace complex sample shapes within single exposures. This technique proved compatible with confocal line scanning detection, further improving image contrast and resolution. Finally, we determined the effect of light-sheet optimization in the context of scattering tissue, devising procedures for balancing image quality, field of view and acquisition speed.This work was funded by grants from the Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Council, the CamBridgeSense network, Carlsberg Foundation, the Alzheimer Research UK Trust and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Wolfson Foundation.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared at http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep09385

Fears, Reassurance, and Milestones: A Twitter Analysis around World Prematurity Day during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Preterm birth (birth &lt;37 completed weeks’ gestation) is common, affecting 10.6% of live births globally (nearly 15 million babies per year). Having a new baby admitted to a neonatal unit often triggers stress and anxiety for parents. This paper seeks to explore experiences of preterm birth via Twitter. The intermingling of COVID-19 restrictions and World Prematurity Day allows for an understanding of both the additional stresses incurred as a consequence of the pandemic and the more “everyday” experiences in the NICU and beyond. The content analysis of the data included 3161 tweets. Three themes were identified: 1. COVID-19 was not the only trauma; 2. Raising awareness, especially World Prematurity Day; and, 3. Baby milestones. These themes highlight the multi-level challenges faced by parents of premature babies and the healthcare professionals involved in their care. The COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent restrictions imposed on parents’ contact with their babies have resulted in immense emotional strain for families. The reported COVID-19 pandemic “baby blind spot” appears to particularly impact this group of babies. Improved understanding of the lived experiences of preterm babies and their families should inform greater awareness and improved support.</jats:p

The Cylinder and Semicylinder in Subsonic Flow

In studying the diffraction of shock waves around various two-dimensional obstacles we have observed that flow separation and the formation of vortices contributes in an important way to transient loading of the obstacle. The cases of a cylinder and semicylinder are especially interesting because the breakaway point is not clearly defined as it is for objects having sharp corners. Accordingly a number of experiments have been made in the shock tube to observe the influence of Reynolds number and Mach number on the transient flow patterns about a cylinder and about a semicylinder mounted on a smooth plane. Some differences might be anticipated since the plane would impose a symmetry on the flow and produce a viscous boundary layer for which there is no counterpart with the cylinder. In the course of these experiments it was noted that a condition of steady subsonic flow about both the cylinder and semicylinder was approached. Thus a comparison with von Karrnan's theoretical calculation of the drag on a cylinder, from certain characteristics of its wake or "vortex street", was undertaken

Polyunsaturated fatty acids inhibit a pentameric ligand-gated ion channel through one of two binding sites

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) inhibit pentameric ligand-gated ion channels (pLGICs) but the mechanism of inhibition is not well understood. The PUFA, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), inhibits agonist responses of the pLGIC, ELIC, more effectively than palmitic acid, similar to the effects observed in the GAB

Lipid nanodisc scaffold and size alter the structure of a pentameric ligand-gated ion channel

Lipid nanodiscs have become a standard tool for studying membrane proteins, including using single particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). We find that reconstituting the pentameric ligand-gated ion channel (pLGIC), Erwinia ligand-gated ion channel (ELIC), in different nanodiscs produces distinct structures by cryo-EM. The effect of the nanodisc on ELIC structure extends to the extracellular domain and agonist binding site. Additionally, molecular dynamic simulations indicate that nanodiscs of different size impact ELIC structure and that the nanodisc scaffold directly interacts with ELIC. These findings suggest that the nanodisc plays a crucial role in determining the structure of pLGICs, and that reconstitution of ion channels in larger nanodiscs may better approximate a lipid membrane environment

Open-channel structure of a pentameric ligand-gated ion channel reveals a mechanism of leaflet-specific phospholipid modulation

Pentameric ligand-gated ion channels (pLGICs) mediate synaptic transmission and are sensitive to their lipid environment. The mechanism of phospholipid modulation of any pLGIC is not well understood. We demonstrate that the model pLGIC, ELIC (Erwinia ligand-gated ion channel), is positively modulated by the anionic phospholipid, phosphatidylglycerol, from the outer leaflet of the membrane. To explore the mechanism of phosphatidylglycerol modulation, we determine a structure of ELIC in an open-channel conformation. The structure shows a bound phospholipid in an outer leaflet site, and structural changes in the phospholipid binding site unique to the open-channel. In combination with streamlined alchemical free energy perturbation calculations and functional measurements in asymmetric liposomes, the data support a mechanism by which an anionic phospholipid stabilizes the activated, open-channel state of a pLGIC by specific, state-dependent binding to this site

Improved grading and survival prediction of human astrocytic brain tumors by artificial neural network analysis of gene expression microarray data

Histopathological grading of astrocytic tumours based on current WHO criteria offers a valuable but simplified representation of oncological reality and is often insufficient to predict clinical outcome. In this study we report a new astrocytic tumour microarray gene expression dataset (n=65). We have used a simple Artificial Neural Network (ANN) algorithm to address grading of human astrocytic tumours, derive specific transcriptional signatures from histopathological subtypes of astrocytic tumours and asses whether these molecular signatures define survival prognostic subclasses. 59 classifier genes were identified and found to fall within three distinct functional classes namely angiogenesis, cell differentiation and lower grade astrocytic tumour discrimination. These gene classes were found to characterize three molecular tumour subtypes denoted ANGIO, INTER and LOWER. Grading of samples using these subtypes agreed with prior histopathological grading both for our dataset (96.15%) as well as an independent dataset. Six tumours were particularly challenging to diagnose histopathologically. We present an ANN grading for these samples, and offer an evidence-based interpretation of grading results using clinical metadata to substantiate findings. The prognostic value of the three identified tumour subtypes was found to outperform histopathological grading as well as tumour subtypes reported in other studies, indicating a high survival prognostic potential for the 59 gene classifiers. Finally, 11 gene classifiers that differentiate between primary and secondary glioblastomas were also identified

Impact of the California Lead Ammunition Ban on Reducing Lead Exposure in Golden Eagles and Turkey Vultures

Predatory and scavenging birds may be exposed to high levels of lead when they ingest shot or bullet fragments embedded in the tissues of animals injured or killed with lead ammunition. Lead poisoning was a contributing factor in the decline of the endangered California condor population in the 1980s, and remains one of the primary factors threatening species recovery. In response to this threat, a ban on the use of lead ammunition for most hunting activities in the range of the condor in California was implemented in 2008. Monitoring of lead exposure in predatory and scavenging birds is essential for assessing the effectiveness of the lead ammunition ban in reducing lead exposure in these species. In this study, we assessed the effectiveness of the regulation in decreasing blood lead concentration in two avian sentinels, golden eagles and turkey vultures, within the condor range in California. We compared blood lead concentration in golden eagles and turkey vultures prior to the lead ammunition ban and one year following implementation of the ban. Lead exposure in both golden eagles and turkey vultures declined significantly post-ban. Our findings provide evidence that hunter compliance with lead ammunition regulations was sufficient to reduce lead exposure in predatory and scavenging birds at our study sites

Controlling spins in adsorbed molecules by a chemical switch

The development of chemical systems with switchable molecular spins could lead to the architecture of materials with controllable magnetic or spintronic properties. Here, we present conclusive evidence that the spin of an organometallic molecule coupled to a ferromagnetic substrate can be switched between magnetic off and on states by a chemical stimulus. This is achieved by nitric oxide (NO) functioning as an axial ligand of cobalt(II)tetraphenylporphyrin (CoTPP) ferromagnetically coupled to nickel thin-film (Ni(001)). On NO addition, the coordination sphere of Co2+ is modified and a NO–CoTPP nitrosyl complex is formed, which corresponds to an off state of the Co spin. Thermal dissociation of NO from the nitrosyl complex restores the on state of the Co spin. The NO-induced reversible off–on switching of surface-adsorbed molecular spins observed here is attributed to a spin trans effect