Landmine Survivor’s Network Provides Victim Assistance in Jordan

According to military figures, most mine incidents occurred during the latter part of the 1960s and early 1970s, when the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict spilled into Jordan. Incidents rose again during the early part of the 1990s due to heavy rains and floods that shifted landmines from their originally marked and mapped fields into unrecorded areas

How European identities shape support for EU security cooperation

There have been calls to strengthen the EU’s common foreign and security policy as a response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But what determines public support for these measures? Drawing on a new book, Kathleen E. Powers illustrates how European identities shape the views of citizens about EU security cooperation

How should you further evaluate an adult with a testicular mass?

Perform a scrotal ultrasonography immediately to determine whether emergency surgery is necessary for patients with an exam or history that suggests testicular torsion or rupture (strength of recommendation [SOR]: B, based on cohort trials of patient oriented outcomes). In less urgent cases, ultrasound is also useful for verifying diagnoses made by physical exam, and to exclude conditions such as neoplasm, for which further workup is indicated (SOR: C, based on expert opinion). In those cases in which ultrasound and clinical exam are inconclusive or confl- icting, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can provide additional information to improve management and decrease unnecessary surgery (SOR: B, based on cohort trials of patient-oriented outcomes)

Development of the Infant Gut Microbiome: An Empirical Survey of Prenatal Practitioners

The critical window of infant gut microbiome development (IGMD) is preconception through three years of age. The improper development of the infant gut microbiome contributes to the rise of chronic illness. The literature provides no evidence that prenatal care practitioners educate patients about the critical window of IGMD. The purpose of this empirical study is to investigate knowledge of prenatal care practitioners (obstetrical and gynecological physicians, nurse practitioners, midwives, and doulas) about IGMD and how they use this knowledge in their practices. Seventy-eight registered prenatal care practitioners from Minnesota participated in an online survey consisting of 18 qualitative and quantitative questions. The researchers used descriptive statistics and summative content analysis to answer two aims: to describe prenatal care practitioners’ breadth of knowledge about IGMD and to describe how prenatal care practitioners apply information about IGMD with their patients. Some participants (32%) report having knowledge about the critical window of IGMD. Forty-one percent of participants do not educate their patients about the critical window of IGMD. These findings suggest most prenatal care practitioners are not knowledgeable about the critical window; therefore, they do not educate their patients. Replicating and improving upon this pilot study will increase understanding of how practitioners’ knowledge and how patient education can influence optimal development of the infant gut microbiome to reduce the rise of chronic illness

Legal Hurdles Faced by Deep Green Buildings: Case Studies and Recommendations

The recent emphasis on building design, construction, and performance has revealed legal challenges and risks an owner or project team may face when attempting to construct a “deep green” building. The intent of this article is to encourage and facilitate the development of deep green and high performing buildings by reducing perceived and actual risks as well as challenges associated with their development, construction, and operation. This article explores these risks and challenges through a discussion of specific examples from two case study projects located in Seattle, Washington. These examples are arranged in two broad categories: (1) the process of achieving a deep green, high performing project, and (2) specific aspects of the technology employed to achieve deep green goals. As most technical challenges that the case study projects faced could be resolved through process improvements, the reader will note that solutions identified through the case studies are heavily weighted toward process. The authors’ recommendations, based on input from policy planners, construction lawyers, and leasing and operations professionals, are also heavily process-oriented. These recommendations include aligning code with municipal goals, integrating green codes, leading by example, leveraging existing regulations, developing demonstration ordinances (for policy planners), assigning risk reasonably, understanding appropriate responsibilities, encouraging an integrated process (for construction lawyers), and encouraging the use of green leases and collection of building performance data (for leasing professionals)

Fine roots, arbuscular mycorrhizal hyphae and soil nutrients in four neotropical rain forests: patterns across large geographic distances.

* It is commonly hypothesized that stand-level fine root biomass increases as soil fertility decreases both within and among tropical forests, but few data exist to test this prediction across broad geographic scales. This study investigated the relationships among fine roots, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and soil nutrients in four lowland, neotropical rainforests. * Within each forest, samples were collected from plots that differed in fertility and above-ground biomass, and fine roots, AM hyphae and total soil nutrients were measured. * Among sites, total fine root mass varied by a factor of three, from 237+/-19 g m-2 in Costa Rica to 800+/-116 g m-2 in Brazil (0-40 cm depth). Both root mass and length were negatively correlated to soil nitrogen and phosphorus, but AM hyphae were not related to nutrients, root properties or above-ground biomass. * These results suggest that understanding how soil fertility affects fine roots is an additional factor that may improve the representation of root functions in global biogeochemical models or biome-wide averages of root properties in tropical forests

Tropism and toxicity of adeno-associated viral vector serotypes 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 in rat neurons and glia in vitro

AbstractRecombinant adeno-associated viral (rAAV) vectors are frequently used for gene delivery to the central nervous system and are capable of transducing neurons and glia in vitro. In this study, seven serotypes of a rAAV vector expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) were characterized for tropism and toxicity in primary cortical cells derived from embryonic rat brain. At 2 days after transduction, serotypes 1 and 5 through 8 expressed GFP predominately in glia, but by 6 days post-transduction expression was neuronal except for AAV5. AAV2 and 9 produced minimal GFP expression. Using cell viability assays, toxicity was observed at higher multiplicities of infection (MOI) for all serotypes except AAV2 and 9. The toxicity of AAV1 and 5–8 affected mostly glia as indicated by a loss of glial-marker immunoreactivity. A frameshift mutation in the GFP gene reduced overall toxicity for serotypes 1, 5 and 6, but not 7 and 8 suggesting that the toxicity was not solely due to the overexpression of GFP. Collectively, a differential tropism and toxicity was observed among the AAV serotypes on primary cortical cultures with an overall preferential glial transduction and toxicity

Observational longitudinal study of symptom burden and time for recovery from community-acquired pneumonia reported by older adults surveyed nationwide using the CAP Burden of Illness Questionnaire.

BACKGROUND: Millions of older adults who develop community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) each year survive, but there is a large knowledge gap on the burden of CAP and the recovery process in survivors from the patient perspective. METHODS: The newly developed CAP Burden of Illness Questionnaire was administered through a Web survey to a nationwide sample of US adults aged ≥50 years who were recently diagnosed with CAP. Survey respondents with unresolved symptoms or other CAP-related health problems completed a second survey 30 days later; a third survey was completed another 30 days later by respondents with unresolved symptoms or problems. Nationally representative results describing the average time to recovery of symptoms and other CAP-related problems were achieved using post-stratification weights. RESULTS: Five hundred participants completed the initial survey. The time to resolution for the CAP symptoms of weakness, shortness of breath, and tiredness exceeded 3 weeks on average. There was an average of 13 days of absenteeism, and 3 weeks (mean =21 days) before achieving full work/activity productivity after CAP. For participants with health conditions that worsened from pneumonia, chronic emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease took the longest to return to baseline (mean =60 and 52.4 days, respectively). CONCLUSION: The results from this study demonstrate that older adults surviving a CAP episode experience a significant multi-symptom illness with long recovery periods to achieve pre-CAP health and productivity. These findings highlight the need for further research on effective clinician-patient communication, the need for patient-centered outcomes in clinical trials for CAP therapeutics, adequate home care during the recovery process, and the pursuit of CAP prevention strategies

National Athletic Trainers\u27 Association Position Statement: Evaluation of Dietary Supplements for Performance Nutrition

Objectives: To help athletic trainers promote a food-first\u27 philosophy to support health and performance, understand federal and sport governing body rules and regulations regarding dietary supplements and banned substances, and become familiar with reliable resources for evaluating the safety, purity, and efficacy of dietary supplements. Background: The dietary supplement industry is poorly regulated and takes in billions of dollars per year. Uneducated athletes need to gain a better understanding of the safety, eligibility, and efficacy concerns associated with choosing to take dietary supplements. The athletic trainer is a valuable athletic team member who can help in the educational process. In many cases, athletic trainers are asked to help evaluate the legality, safety, and efficacy of dietary supplements. For this position statement, our mission is to provide the athletic trainer with the necessary resources for these tasks. Recommendations: Proper nutrition and changes in the athlete\u27s habitual diet should be considered first when improved performance is the goal. Athletes need to understand the level of regulation (or lack thereof) governing the dietary supplement industry at the international, federal, state, and individual sport-participation levels. Athletes should not assume a product is safe simply because it is marketed over the counter. All products athletes are considering using should be evaluated for purity (ie, truth in labeling), safety, and efficacy