Young people’s experiences using electric powered indoor-outdoor wheelchairs (EPIOCs): Potential for enhancing users’ development?

Purpose: To examine the experiences of severely physically disabled young people using electric powered indoor/outdoor chairs (EPIOCs). Methods: A priori interview questions examined young people’s functioning with EPIOCs, pain and discomfort with EPIOC use and accidents or injuries resulting from EPIOC use. Eighteen young people (13 males and 5 females) aged 10 -18 (mean 15) years were interviewed by telephone using a qualitative framework approach. Participants were interviewed 10 -19 (mean 14.5) months after delivery of the chair. Diagnoses included muscular dystrophy (n = 10), cerebral palsy (n = 5), and ‘other’ (n =3). Results: Many children reported positive functioning following EPIOC use, including increased independence and social activities like wheelchair football. However, EPIOC use was also associated with pain and discomfort, as well as perceived lack of safety, and minor accidents. Most young people and their families were fairly satisfied with the service and provision of their wheelchairs. Conclusions: The findings suggest that disabled children’s development may benefit from the use of electric powered indoor/outdoor wheelchairs, although the advantages may come at certain costs to young people’s perceived and real safety. Recommendations to powered wheelchair providers include the demonstrated need for additional driving training as these young people mature

Pulmonary vasoconstrictor action of KCNQ potassium channel blockers

KCNQ channels have been widely studied in the nervous system, heart and inner ear, where they have important physiological functions. Recent reports indicate that KCNQ channels may also be expressed in portal vein where they are suggested to influence spontaneous contractile activity. The biophysical properties of K+ currents mediated by KCNQ channels resemble a current underlying the resting K+ conductance and resting potential of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells. We therefore investigated a possible role of KCNQ channels in regulating the function of pulmonary arteries by determining the ability of the selective KCNQ channel blockers, linopirdine and XE991, to promote pulmonary vasoconstriction. Linopirdine and XE991 both contracted rat and mouse pulmonary arteries but had little effect on mesenteric arteries. In each case the maximum contraction was almost as large as the response to 50 mM K+. Linopirdine had an EC50 of around 1 μM and XE991 was almost 10-fold more potent. Neither removal of the endothelium nor exposure to phentolamine or α,β-methylene ATP, to block α1-adrenoceptors or P2X receptors, respectively, affected the contraction. Contraction was abolished in Ca2+-free solution and in the presence of 1 μM nifedipine or 10 μM levcromakalim

Issues in the Pharmacokinetics of Trichloroethylene and Its Metabolites

Much progress has been made in understanding the complex pharmacokinetics of trichloroethylene (TCE). Qualitatively, it is clear that TCE is metabolized to multiple metabolites either locally or into systemic circulation. Many of these metabolites are thought to have toxicologic importance. In addition, efforts to develop physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models have led to a better quantitative assessment of the dosimetry of TCE and several of its metabolites. As part of a mini-monograph on key issues in the health risk assessment of TCE, this article is a review of a number of the current scientific issues in TCE pharmacokinetics and recent PBPK modeling efforts with a focus on literature published since 2000. Particular attention is paid to factors affecting PBPK modeling for application to risk assessment. Recent TCE PBPK modeling efforts, coupled with methodologic advances in characterizing uncertainty and variability, suggest that rigorous application of PBPK modeling to TCE risk assessment appears feasible at least for TCE and its major oxidative metabolites trichloroacetic acid and trichloroethanol. However, a number of basic structural hypotheses such as enterohepatic recirculation, plasma binding, and flow- or diffusion-limited treatment of tissue distribution require additional evaluation and analysis. Moreover, there are a number of metabolites of potential toxicologic interest, such as chloral, dichloroacetic acid, and those derived from glutathione conjugation, for which reliable pharmacokinetic data is sparse because of analytical difficulties or low concentrations in systemic circulation. It will be a challenge to develop reliable dosimetry for such cases

Ectopic cardiovascular fat in middle-aged men: effects of race/ethnicity, overall and central adiposity. The ERA JUMP study.

Background/objectivesHigher volumes of ectopic cardiovascular fat (ECF) are associated with greater risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Identifying factors that are associated with ECF volumes may lead to new preventive efforts to reduce risk of CHD. Significant racial/ethnic differences exist for overall and central adiposity measures, which are known to be associated with ECF volumes. Whether racial/ethnic differences also exist for ECF volumes and their associations with these adiposity measures remain unclear.Subjects/methodsBody mass index (BMI), computerized tomography-measured ECF volumes (epicardial, pericardial and their summation) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) were examined in a community-based sample of 1199 middle-aged men (24.2% Caucasians, 7.0% African-Americans, 23.6% Japanese-Americans, 22.0% Japanese, 23.2% Koreans).ResultsSignificant racial/ethnic differences existed in ECF volumes and their relationships with BMI and VAT. ECF volumes were the highest among Japanese-Americans and the lowest among African-Americans. The associations of BMI and VAT with ECF differed by racial/ethnic groups. Compared with Caucasians, for each 1-unit increase in BMI, African-Americans had lower, whereas Koreans had higher increases in ECF volumes (P-values<0.05 for both). Meanwhile, compared with Caucasians, for each 1-unit increase in log-transformed VAT, African-Americans, Japanese-Americans and Japanese had similar increases, whereas Koreans had a lower increase in ECF volumes (P-value<0.05).ConclusionsRacial/ethnic groups differed in their propensity to accumulate ECF at increasing level of overall and central adiposity. Future studies should evaluate whether reducing central adiposity or overall weight will decrease ECF volumes more in certain racial/ethnic groups. Evaluating these questions might help in designing race-specific prevention strategy of CHD risk associated with higher ECF

In vitro culture of Plasmodium berghei-ANKA maintains infectivity of mouse erythrocytes inducing cerebral malaria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Infection with <it>Plasmodium berghei </it>is a widely used model of murine malaria and a powerful tool for reverse genetic and pathogenesis studies. However, the efficacy of <it>in vitro </it>reinvasion of erythrocytes is generally low, limiting <it>in vitro </it>studies.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p><it>Plasmodium berghei </it>ANKA-infected blood obtained from a susceptible infected mouse was cultured in various conditions and <it>in vitro </it>parasitaemia was measured every day to evaluate the rate of reinvasion.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>High quality culture media were used and reinvasion rates were improved by vigorous orbital shaking of the flask and increasing density of the medium with gelatin.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Using these settings, reinvasion of normal mouse erythrocytes by the parasite was obtained <it>in vitro </it>over two weeks with preservation of the infectivity <it>in vivo</it>.</p

The logic-bias effect: The role of effortful processing in the resolution of belief-logic conflict.

According to the default interventionist dual-process account of reasoning, belief-based responses to reasoning tasks are based on Type 1 processes generated by default, which must be inhibited in order to produce an effortful, Type 2 output based on the validity of an argument. However, recent research has indicated that reasoning on the basis of beliefs may not be as fast and automatic as this account claims. In three experiments, we presented participants with a reasoning task that was to be completed while they were generating random numbers (RNG). We used the novel methodology introduced by Handley, Newstead & Trippas (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 37, 28-43, 2011), which required participants to make judgments based upon either the validity of a conditional argument or the believability of its conclusion. The results showed that belief-based judgments produced lower rates of accuracy overall and were influenced to a greater extent than validity judgments by the presence of a conflict between belief and logic for both simple and complex arguments. These findings were replicated in Experiment 3, in which we controlled for switching demands in a blocked design. Across all three experiments, we found a main effect of RNG, implying that both instructional sets require some effortful processing. However, in the blocked design RNG had its greatest impact on logic judgments, suggesting that distinct executive resources may be required for each type of judgment. We discuss the implications of our findings for the default interventionist account and offer a parallel competitive model as an alternative interpretation for our findings

A probabilistic analysis of argument cogency

This paper offers a probabilistic treatment of the conditions for argument cogency as endorsed in informal logic: acceptability, relevance, and sufficiency. Treating a natural language argument as a reason-claim-complex, our analysis identifies content features of defeasible argument on which the RSA conditions depend, namely: change in the commitment to the reason, the reason’s sensitivity and selectivity to the claim, one’s prior commitment to the claim, and the contextually determined thresholds of acceptability for reasons and for claims. Results contrast with, and may indeed serve to correct, the informal understanding and applications of the RSA criteria concerning their conceptual dependence, their function as update-thresholds, and their status as obligatory rather than permissive norms, but also show how these formal and informal normative approachs can in fact align

Solitary waves in the Nonlinear Dirac Equation

In the present work, we consider the existence, stability, and dynamics of solitary waves in the nonlinear Dirac equation. We start by introducing the Soler model of self-interacting spinors, and discuss its localized waveforms in one, two, and three spatial dimensions and the equations they satisfy. We present the associated explicit solutions in one dimension and numerically obtain their analogues in higher dimensions. The stability is subsequently discussed from a theoretical perspective and then complemented with numerical computations. Finally, the dynamics of the solutions is explored and compared to its non-relativistic analogue, which is the nonlinear Schr{\"o}dinger equation. A few special topics are also explored, including the discrete variant of the nonlinear Dirac equation and its solitary wave properties, as well as the PT-symmetric variant of the model

A failed RCT to determine if antibiotics prevent mastitis: Cracked nipples colonized with Staphylococcus aureus: A randomized treatment trial [ISRCTN65289389]

BACKGROUND: A small, non-blinded, RCT (randomised controlled trial) had reported that oral antibiotics reduced the incidence of mastitis in lactating women with Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus)- colonized cracked nipples. We aimed to replicate the study with a more rigorous design and adequate sample size. METHODS: Our intention was to conduct a double-blind placebo-controlled trial to determine if an antibiotic (flucloxacillin) could prevent mastitis in lactating women with S. aureus-colonized cracked nipples. We planned to recruit two groups of 133 women with S. aureus-colonized cracked nipples. RESULTS: We spent over twelve months submitting applications to five hospital ethics committees and seven funding bodies, before commencing the trial. Recruitment to the trial was very slow and only ten women were randomized to the trial after twelve months, and therefore the trial was stopped early. CONCLUSIONS: In retrospect we should have conducted a feasibility study, which would have revealed the low number of women in these Melbourne hospitals (maternity wards and breastfeeding clinics) with damaged nipples. The appropriate use of antibiotics for breastfeeding women with cracked nipples still needs to be tested