Psychometric evaluation of the German version of a social support scale of FAFHES (family functioning, family health and social support)

This is the peer reviewed version which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/scs.12700. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.BACKGROUND: Family members often need to be supported in informal care of the elderly and desire to be involved into care planning and decision-making. Valid and reliable instruments are needed to measure how family members perceive the care and support they receive from nurses for older family members living at home. AIM: The purpose of this study was to translate the 20-item social support scale of the Family Functioning, Family Health and Social Support (FAFHES) questionnaire from English to German and test the validity and reliability of the scale among Swiss-German-speaking family caregivers of home-dwelling elderly people who receive home healthcare services. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted to test the empirical and psychometric properties of the translated and culturally adapted version of the social support questionnaire. A factor analysis with the principal component analysis PCA was used to test construct validity. The internal consistency of items was measured with the Cronbach`s alpha coefficient. RESULTS: After a rigorous translation process the original 20-item questionnaire was adapted into a 19-item version and tested with family caregivers (n = 207) of home-dwelling elderly. Psychometric testing of the German version of the social support questionnaire revealed that the three factors - affirmation, affect and concrete aid - were congruent with the original questionnaire. The accounted variance was 79.5% and the internal consistency determined by the Cronbach's alpha was 0.973. CONCLUSION: The German version of the social support scale of the FAFHES questionnaire is a valid and reliable instrument to assess family perceived support on three dimensions - affirmation, affect and concrete aid - received from nursing professionals. The questionnaire should be tested further in other German-speaking population

Oakleaf: an S locus-linked mutation of Primula vulgaris that affects leaf and flower development

•In Primula vulgaris outcrossing is promoted through reciprocal herkogamy with insect-mediated cross-pollination between pin and thrum form flowers. Development of heteromorphic flowers is coordinated by genes at the S locus. To underpin construction of a genetic map facilitating isolation of these S locus genes, we have characterised Oakleaf, a novel S locus-linked mutant phenotype. •We combine phenotypic observation of flower and leaf development, with classical genetic analysis and next-generation sequencing to address the molecular basis of Oakleaf. •Oakleaf is a dominant mutation that affects both leaf and flower development; plants produce distinctive lobed leaves, with occasional ectopic meristems on the veins. This phenotype is reminiscent of overexpression of Class I KNOX-homeodomain transcription factors. We describe the structure and expression of all eight P. vulgaris PvKNOX genes in both wild-type and Oakleaf plants, and present comparative transcriptome analysis of leaves and flowers from Oakleaf and wild-type plants. •Oakleaf provides a new phenotypic marker for genetic analysis of the Primula S locus. We show that none of the Class I PvKNOX genes are strongly upregulated in Oakleaf leaves and flowers, and identify cohorts of 507 upregulated and 314 downregulated genes in the Oakleaf mutant

Microbial dynamics in a High Arctic glacier forefield: A combined field, laboratory, and modelling approach

Modelling the development of soils in glacier forefields is necessary in order to assess how microbial and geochemical processes interact and shape soil development in response to glacier retreat. Furthermore, such models can help us predict microbial growth and the fate of Arctic soils in an increasingly ice-free future. Here, for the first time, we combined field sampling with laboratory analyses and numerical modelling to investigate microbial community dynamics in oligotrophic proglacial soils in Svalbard. We measured low bacterial growth rates and growth efficiencies (relative to estimates from Alpine glacier forefields) and high sensitivity of bacterial growth rates to soil temperature (relative to temperate soils). We used these laboratory measurements to inform parameter values in a new numerical model and significantly refined predictions of microbial and biogeochemical dynamics of soil development over a period of roughly 120 years. The model predicted the observed accumulation of autotrophic and heterotrophic biomass. Genomic data indicated that initial microbial communities were dominated by bacteria derived from the glacial environment, whereas older soils hosted a mixed community of autotrophic and heterotrophic bacteria. This finding was simulated by the numerical model, which showed that active microbial communities play key roles in fixing and recycling carbon and nutrients. We also demonstrated the role of allochthonous carbon and microbial necromass in sustaining a pool of organic material, despite high heterotrophic activity in older soils. This combined field, laboratory, and modelling approach demonstrates the value of integrated model-data studies to understand and quantify the functioning of the microbial community in an emerging High Arctic soil ecosystem

Fast mode decomposition in few-mode fibers

Retrieval of the optical phase information from measurement of intensity is of a high interest because this would facilitate simple and cost-efficient techniques and devices. In scientific and industrial applications that exploit multi-mode fibers, a prior knowledge of spatial mode structure of the fiber, in principle, makes it possible to recover phases using measured intensity distribution. However, current mode decomposition algorithms based on the analysis of the intensity distribution at the output of a few-mode fiber, such as optimization methods or neural networks, still have high computational costs and high latency that is a serious impediment for applications, such as telecommunications. Speed of signal processing is one of the key challenges in this approach. We present a high-performance mode decomposition algorithm with a processing time of tens of microseconds. The proposed mathematical algorithm that does not use any machine learning techniques, is several orders of magnitude faster than the state-of-the-art deep-learning-based methods. We anticipate that our results can stimulate further research on algorithms beyond popular machine learning methods and they can lead to the development of low-cost phase retrieval receivers for various applications of few-mode fibers ranging from imaging to telecommunications

Nonlinear optics: Nonlinear virtues of multimode fibre

Supercontinuum generation — the extreme spectral broadening of laser light (a span from the ultraviolet to the mid-infrared is possible) — is a fascinating process that takes place in a dispersive and strongly nonlinear optical medium

Severe akathisia as a side effect of metoclopramide

Case description A case of severe metoclopramide-induced akathisia in a breast cancer patient being treated with chemotherapy is presented, eventually culminating in hospital admission. In retrospect, this adverse effect was not recognized for several weeks because the prescription had not been properly recorded in the chart, the patient initially denied using the drug, and extensive psychological adjustment difficulties were also present. Conclusion Movement disorders as an adverse effect of metoclopramide have been described on a regular basis over the past decades. Case reports such as this confirm there is under-recognition of adverse effects and emphasize the need to take a comprehensive medication history and recognize well known side effects of medications such as metoclopramide

In vivo clearance of surfactant lipids during acute pulmonary inflammation.

BACKGROUND: A decrease in pulmonary surfactant has been suggested to contribute to the lung dysfunction associated with pulmonary inflammation. A number of studies have implicated surfactant clearance as a possible mechanism for altered pool sizes. The objective of the current study was to specifically investigate the mechanisms of surfactant clearance in a rodent model of acute pulmonary inflammation. METHODS: Inflammation was induced by intrapulmonary instillation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS: 100 μg/kg). Lipid clearance was assessed at 18 and 72 hours post-LPS instillation by intratracheal administration of radiolabel surfactant-like liposomes 2 hours prior to isolation and analysis of inflammatory cells and type II cells. RESULTS: At both 18 and 72 hours after LPS instillation there was significantly less radioactivity recovered in the lavage fluid compared to respective control groups (p < 0.05). At both time points, the number of cells recovered by lavage and their associated radioactivity was greater compared to control groups (p < 0.01). There was no difference in recovery of radioactivity by isolated type II cells or other cells obtained from enzymatic digestion of lung tissue. CONCLUSION: These results show that increased clearance of surfactant lipids in our model of acute pulmonary inflammation is primarily due to the inflammatory cells recruited to the airspace and not increased uptake by alveolar type II cells

Identification of a novel zinc metalloprotease through a global analysis of clostridium difficile extracellular proteins

Clostridium difficile is a major cause of infectious diarrhea worldwide. Although the cell surface proteins are recognized to be important in clostridial pathogenesis, biological functions of only a few are known. Also, apart from the toxins, proteins exported by C. difficile into the extracellular milieu have been poorly studied. In order to identify novel extracellular factors of C. difficile, we analyzed bacterial culture supernatants prepared from clinical isolates, 630 and R20291, using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The majority of the proteins identified were non-canonical extracellular proteins. These could be largely classified into proteins associated to the cell wall (including CWPs and extracellular hydrolases), transporters and flagellar proteins. Seven unknown hypothetical proteins were also identified. One of these proteins, CD630_28300, shared sequence similarity with the anthrax lethal factor, a known zinc metallopeptidase. We demonstrated that CD630_28300 (named Zmp1) binds zinc and is able to cleave fibronectin and fibrinogen in vitro in a zinc-dependent manner. Using site-directed mutagenesis, we identified residues important in zinc binding and enzymatic activity. Furthermore, we demonstrated that Zmp1 destabilizes the fibronectin network produced by human fibroblasts. Thus, by analyzing the exoproteome of C. difficile, we identified a novel extracellular metalloprotease that may be important in key steps of clostridial pathogenesis

Persistent Hepatitis B Viral Replication in a FVB/N Mouse Model: Impact of Host and Viral Factors

The mechanism underlying the chronicity of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection has long been an interesting question. However, this mechanism remains unclear largely due to the lack of an animal model that can support persistent HBV replication and allow for the investigation of the relevant immune responses. In this study, we used hydrodynamic injection to introduce HBV replicon DNA into the livers of three different mouse strains: BALB/c, C57BL/6, and FVB/N. Interestingly, we found that an HBV clone persistently replicated in the livers of FVB/N mice for up to 50 weeks but was rapidly cleared from the livers of BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. Flow cytometric analysis and quantitative reverse transcription PCR analysis of the mouse livers indicated that after DNA injection, FVB/N mice had few intrahepatic activated cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) and produced low levels of alanine aminotransferase, interferon (IFN)-γ, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and the CXCL9 and CXCL10 chemokines. These findings were in sharp contrast with those observed in BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice, reflecting a strong correlation between the degree of liver inflammation and viral clearance. Mutational analysis further demonstrated that a change of Asn-214 to Ser-214 in the HBV surface antigen rendered the persistent HBV clone clearable in FVB/N mice, which was accompanied by increased levels of activated CTL and upregulated expression of IFN-γ, CXCL9, and CXCL10 in the livers. These results indicate that the heterogeneity of the host factors and viral sequences may influence the immune responses against HBV. An inadequate activation of immune or inflammatory responses can lead to persistent HBV replication in vivo