Numerical simulation and statistical analysis of a cascaded flexure hinge for use in a cryogenic working environment

Due to their many advantages, flexible structures are increasingly being used as guide and transmission elements in handling systems. Prismatic solid-state joints with a concentrated cross-sectional reduction are predominantly used as flexure pivots for both microscopic and macroscopic designs. A transfer of these geometries to applications in cryogenic working environments is not easily possible at temperatures below -130 °C due to the changed material properties. In this paper, the further development of swivel joints as cascaded solid state joints for such a cryogenic environment is illustrated by the targeted adaptation of certain joint parameters and dimensions. By means of a comprehensive FEM simulation, it can be shown how the influence of specific parameters affects movement accuracy, process forces and shape stability and to what extent these geometric parameters influence each other in their effect

Clinical Research: Evaluation of Healing Touch\u27s Effect on Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) Recovery, a Randomized Study

This study is assessing the efficacy of Healing Touch on patients receiving Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting at St. Cloud Hospital. A single previous research study determined Healing Touch, when added to standard nursing care, can significantly reduce anxiety and length of stay in patients undergoing CABG procedures.https://digitalcommons.centracare.com/nursing_posters/1087/thumbnail.jp

Combined Structural and Dimensional Synthesis of a Parallel Robot for Cryogenic Handling Tasks

The combined structural and dimensional synthesis is a tool for finding the robot structure that is suited best for a given task by means of global optimization. The handling task in cryogenic environments gives strong constraints on the robot synthesis, which are translated by an engineering design step into the combined synthesis algorithm. This allows to reduce the effort of the combined synthesis, which provides concepts for alternative robot designs and indications on how to modify the existing design prototype, a linear Delta robot with flexure hinges. Promising design candidates are the 3PRRU and 3PRUR, which outperform the linear Delta (3PUU) regarding necessary actuator force

Beacon Journey: Improving Patient Outcomes: Reducing Adverse Drug Events Using an Inter-Professional Team Approach

Literature states that the use of sedation regimens that include routine reversal of benzodiazepines or narcotic agents are not recommded. An inter-professional team concurred that planned reversals would no longer be the standard of practice for patients post post-procedural sedation. An inter-professional team analyzed the use of reversal agents, reviewed literature related to sedation and analgesia by non-anesthesiologists, and proposed recommendations for practice changes.https://digitalcommons.centracare.com/nursing_posters/1056/thumbnail.jp

Molecular cloning and functional expression of the Equine K+ channel KV11.1 (Ether à Go-Go-related/KCNH2 gene) and the regulatory subunit KCNE2 from equine myocardium

The KCNH2 and KCNE2 genes encode the cardiac voltage-gated K+ channel KV11.1 and its auxiliary β subunit KCNE2. KV11.1 is critical for repolarization of the cardiac action potential. In humans, mutations or drug therapy affecting the KV11.1 channel are associated with prolongation of the QT intervals on the ECG and increased risk of ventricular tachyarrhythmia and sudden cardiac death--conditions known as congenital or acquired Long QT syndrome (LQTS), respectively. In horses, sudden, unexplained deaths are a well-known problem. We sequenced the cDNA of the KCNH2 and KCNE2 genes using RACE and conventional PCR on mRNA purified from equine myocardial tissue. Equine KV11.1 and KCNE2 cDNA had a high homology to human genes (93 and 88%, respectively). Equine and human KV11.1 and KV11.1/KCNE2 were expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes and investigated by two-electrode voltage-clamp. Equine KV11.1 currents were larger compared to human KV11.1, and the voltage dependence of activation was shifted to more negative values with V1/2 = -14.2±1.1 mV and -17.3±0.7, respectively. The onset of inactivation was slower for equine KV11.1 compared to the human homolog. These differences in kinetics may account for the larger amplitude of the equine current. Furthermore, the equine KV11.1 channel was susceptible to pharmacological block with terfenadine. The physiological importance of KV11.1 was investigated in equine right ventricular wedge preparations. Terfenadine prolonged action potential duration and the effect was most pronounced at slow pacing. In conclusion, these findings indicate that horses could be disposed to both congenital and acquired LQTS

Association of Leptin Gene DNA Methylation With Diagnosis and Treatment Outcome of Anorexia Nervosa

Epigenetic alterations are increasingly implicated in the pathophysiology of anorexia nervosa (AN) but are as yet poorly understood. We investigated possible associations between the leptin gene (LEP) and the leptin receptor gene (LEPR) DNA promoter methylation and (1) a diagnosis of AN and (2) outcome after a 10 months psychotherapeutic outpatient treatment. 129 (LEPR: n = 135) patients with AN were investigated during the large scale psychotherapeutic Anorexia Nervosa Treatment Outpatient Study (ANTOP) trial, compared to 117 (LEPR: n = 119) age and height matched, normal-weight healthy controls. Blood samples were taken at baseline, the end of therapy (40 weeks) and the 12-months follow-up and compared to controls. Methylation was measured in whole blood via bisulfite sequencing. Within the promoter region 32 (LEP) and 39 CpG sites (LEPR) were analyzed. Two key findings were observed. First, LEP and LEPR methylation at baseline were lower in patients compared to controls (LEP: [%] AN: 30.94 ± 13.2 vs. controls: 34.53 ± 14.6); LEPR ([%] AN: 3.73 ± 5.4 vs. controls: 5.22 ± 8.3, mixed linear models: both P < 0.001). Second, lower DNA methylation of the LEP promoter, with a dynamic upregulation during treatment, was associated with a full recovery in AN patients (% change from baseline to follow-up in full recovery patients: +35.13% (SD: 47.56); mixed linear model: P < 0.0001). To test for potential predictive properties of mean LEP DNA methylation a LEP DNA methylation cut-off (31.25% DNA methylation) was calculated, which significantly discriminated full recovery vs. full syndrome AN patients. This cut-off was then tested in a group of previously unclassified patients (missing follow-up data of the Structured Interview for Anorexic and Bulimic disorders; n = 33). Patients below the cut-off (31.25% LEP DNA methylation) showed an increase in BMI over time, while those above the cut-off had a decrease in BMI (ANOVA at the 12-months follow-up: P = 0.0142). To our knowledge, this is the first study investigating epigenetic alterations in AN over time. Our findings indicate that LEP DNA methylation might be involved in the disease course of AN

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

The TLRR II – Providing Digital Infrastructure to Research Roman Republican Trials

The project Trials in the Late Roman Republic II (TLRR II) aims at collecting, organizing, and analyzing information about Roman legal cases in an XML database. M. Alexander published the book “Trials in the Late Roman Republic, 149 BC to 50 BC” (TLRR I) in 1990, and initiated the current project that will make Roman republican trials easily accessible with modern technology. For each case a short description is provided, a clear distinction between assumptions and facts is made, and an updated bibliography can be found at the end of each entry. The open access database can serve both as a reference work and as a starting point for further research in Roman Republican history. It could be a connecting link within the developing digital infrastructure for that era

A targeted long-read sequencing approach questions the association of OXTR methylation with high-functioning autism

Abstract Background DNA sequence variation and altered epigenetic regulation of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) have been implicated in autism and autistic-like behaviors. While previous studies have examined subsegments of OXTR, nanopore Cas9-targeted sequencing (nCATS) allows deep characterization of entire genes with simultaneous assessment of epigenetic 5-methylcytosine (5mC) modification and without the need for prior DNA amplification or bisulfite conversion. This pilot study uses an nCATS approach to sequence the entire OXTR gene and its regulatory construct and screen for 5mC modification to compare results between individuals with high-functioning autism (HFA) and neurotypical controls (NC). Methods Using DNA extracted from peripheral blood, OXTR (Hg38, chr3: 8750381–8770434, 20,054 base pairs) was analyzed by nCATS. 5mC modification probabilities were calculated and visualized across the gene and differential methylation analysis was performed. Results Twenty adults with HFA (10 males, 10 females) and 20 age- and sex-matched NC (± 5 years) were included. There were no apparent group differences in the entire OXTR gene sequence, except for the intron variant rs918316, which was clustered in the HFA group. However, differential methylation analysis did not reveal a single significant group-dependent differentially methylated site among the 412 CpG sites captured. Limitations Limitations of this study include the small number of samples due to the pilot nature of the study, which particularly limits the relevance of the sequence variants found. It should also be noted that the use of peripheral blood material limits the ability to draw conclusions about central processes. Conclusions Previous findings of autism-associated OXTR epigenetic alterations were not reproducible with our method. In our opinion, this may lead to a reconsideration of the relevance of altered methylation at individual OXTR CpG positions in autism research. However, given the pilot nature of the study, these results need to be replicated in independent cohorts and with larger sample sizes

Messung der Einstellung zum interprofessionellen Lernen. Testung zweier deutscher Versionen der "Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale" bei interprofessionell Studierenden der Gesundheits- und Pflegewissenschaften und der Humanmedizin

Objective: In order to verify the methodological quality of two versions of a tool for measuring attitudes towards interprofessional learning, we adapted - in terms of translation and scale form - the Heidelberg Version of Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale - RIPLS , a methodologically controversial tool that had been translated into German, and compared both the original and new versions.Method: Three items were reworded and the scale form altered (from five to four levels), leading to the Halle Version that was validated by means of a cognitive pretest (n =6). Both questionnaires were completed by students taking the interprofessional degree program in Health and Nursing Sciences (HNS) and by students of Human Medicine. The test quality of both tools was examined by analyzing the main components and reliability using the scales allocation of the items as according to Parsell and Bligh .Results: The questionnaires were randomly assembled and distributed to 331 students. The response was n =320 (HNS n =109; Medicine n =211). The Halle Version "RIPLS-HAL" of the questionnaire was completed by n =166 and the Heidelberg Version "RIPLS-HDB" by n =154. In the main component analysis the data could not depict the scale patterns of the original Australian tool. The reliability values of both the Heidelberg and Halle versions were only satisfactory for the "Teamwork and Collaboration" and "Professional Identity" scales.Conclusions: The German version of the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale has only limited suitability for recording the attitude towards interprofessional learning. The present versions can be regarded as an approach towards developing a more suitable tool.Ziel: Um die methodische Qualität eines Instrumentes zur Messung der Einstellung zum interprofessionellen Lernen in zwei Versionen zu überprüfen, wurde die Heidelberger Version der ins Deutsche übersetzten und methodisch umstrittenen Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale - RIPLS in Bezug auf Übersetzung und Skalenform angepasst und beide Versionen wurden verglichen.Methode: Umformulierungen in drei Items und die Veränderung des Skalenformats (von fünf- zu vierstufig) führten zur Hallenser Version, die mittels kognitivem Pretest (n =6) validiert wurde. Die beiden Fragebögen wurden von Studierenden des interprofessionellen Studiengangs Gesundheits- und Pflegewissenschaften (GPW) und von Studierenden der Humanmedizin ausgefüllt. Die Testqualität der Instrumente wurde mittels Hauptkomponenten- und Reliabilitätsanalysen anhand der Skalenzuweisung der Items nach Parsell und Bligh untersucht.Ergebnisse: Die Fragebögen wurden randomisiert gestapelt und an 331 Studierende ausgegeben. Der Rücklauf lag bei n =320 (GPW n =109; Medizin n =211). Davon füllten n =166 den Bogen der Hallenser Version "RIPLS-HAL" und n =154 den Bogen der Heidelberger Version "RIPLS-HDB" aus. Die Daten konnten in Hauptkomponentenanalysen die Skalenbildung des australischen Originals nicht abbilden. Die Reliabilitätswerte sowohl der Heidelberger als auch Hallenser Version sind nur für die Skalen "Teamwork and Collaboration" und "Professional Identity" akzeptabel.Schlussfolgerungen: Die Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale in der deutschen Version ist aufgrund methodischer Limitationen bedingt für die Erfassung der Einstellung zum interprofessionellen Lernen geeignet. Die derzeitigen Versionen können als Ansatz zur Entwicklung eines geeigneteren Instrumentes betrachtet werden