Healing of Osteochondral Defects via Endochondral Ossification in an Ovine Model.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to describe the mechanism of healing of osteochondral defects of the distal femur in the sheep, a commonly used translational model. Information on the healing mechanism be useful to inform the design of tissue engineering devices for joint surface defect repair. DESIGN: A retrospective study was conducted examining 7-mm diameter osteochondral defects made in the distal medial femoral condyle of 40 adult female sheep, comprising control animals from 3 separate structures. The healing of the defects was studied at post mortem at up to 26 weeks. RESULTS: Osteochondral defects of the distal femur of the sheep heal through endochondral ossification as evidenced by chondrocyte hypertrophy and type X collagen expression. Neocartilage is first formed adjacent to damaged cartilage and then streams over the damaged underlying bone before filling the defect from the base upward. No intramembranous ossification or isolated mesenchymal stem cell aggregates were detected in the healing tissue. No osseous hypertrophy was detected in the defects. CONCLUSIONS: Osteochondral defects of the medial femoral condyle of the sheep heal via endochondral ossification, with neocartilage first appearing adjacent to damaged cartilage. Unlike the mechanism of healing in fracture repair, neocartilage is eventually formed directly onto damaged bone. There was most variability between animals between 8 and 12 weeks postsurgery. These results should be considered when designing devices to promote defect healing

Green-Water Rearing and Delayed Weaning Improve Growth and Survival of Summer Flounder

The advent of an aquaculture industry for summer flounder Paralichthys dentatus requires that optimal methods be identified for hatchery production. Two experiments were conducted to test strategies for larval rearing and for weaning newly metamorphosed juveniles from live to artificial diets. Rearing of larvae in ‘‘green water’’ (with algae added) resulted in better survival (76.1 6 6.5%) from days 5–42 after hatching than did rearing in ‘‘clear water’’ (no algae added; 27.8 6 13.6%), although no differences in growth were apparent. When fish were weaned from live feed beginning at day 45 versus day 57 by either a ‘‘gradual’’ method (7-d weaning period) or an ‘‘immediate’’ method (no weaning period), better survival and growth were obtained with fish weaned at the later age. For both agegroups, fish weaned by the gradual method exhibited better growth, but not better survival, than those weaned by the immediate method. With these data as examples, commercial hatcheries can conduct cost : benefit analyses of the different rearing methods

Grief and loss associated with divorce : a counseling perspective

Based on grief and loss literature, as well as literature on divorce, this paper examines divorce as a loss that evokes grief in various individuals. A brief definition of grief and loss is first articulated. An emphasis is,placed on the classifications of loss, such as major, physical, psychological, primary, and secondary loss. Divorce is discussed as a major and primary loss with multiple secondary losses associated with it. The perspectives of various professionals as they relate to divorce as a loss are examined. This paper also considers implications to counselors when divorce is viewed as a grief and loss issue

Do households with debt cut back their consumption more? New evidence from the UK

© 2021 The Authors. We investigate whether the debt position of UK households affects the response of consumer spending to income and wealth changes. We construct a novel esti- mate of spending on non-durables to track the same households over time for an ex- tended period ranging from 1993 to 2017. Using this series, we explore how house- hold indebtedness propagates negative and positive income and wealth changes to consumption responses. We assess whether negative and positive shocks imply the same consumption adjustments and whether such mechanism is crisis-specific. Our results indicate that falls in income trigger substantially larger adjustments in con- sumption than income rises for households with debt, while the findings for wealth are less conclusive. The effects are strongest for households with larger debt-service burdens. These effects are not specific to the financial crisis period

NEW RECORDS FOR \u3ci\u3eACERIA ANTHOCOPTES\u3c/i\u3e (ACARI: ERIOPHYIDAE) OCCURRING ON CANADA THISTLE IN COLORADO, NEBRASKA, AND WYOMING, U.S.A.

Canada thistle [Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop.] growing in eastern Colorado, Wyoming and western Nebraska were surveyed for the presence and distribution of Aceria anthocoptes (Nal.). Of the 34 sites surveyed in 2004, mites were abundant at 42%, present in lesser numbers at 52%, and not present at 6% of the sites. In 2005, two new sites were added and ten sites sampled in 2004 were revisited. Of these 12 sites, mites were abundant at 17%, present to a lesser extent at 58%, and not present at 25% of the sites. The results demonstrate that Canada thistle growing in this region commonly harbor A. anthocoptes. How long A. anthocoptes has been present in this region is unknown, however, anecdotal evidence demonstrating a dramatic decline in the population of Canada thistle at one Colorado site from 2000 to 2007 suggests that the mite may have been present since 2002

Can a stress management programme reduce stress and improve quality of life in people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis?

Background Despite evidence of perceived stress as a risk factor for multiple sclerosis activity, the evidence for managing stress is limited. Objective To evaluate a stress management programme on perceived stress and quality of life, over 6 months. Methods One hundred people with multiple sclerosis were randomly assigned to either a stress management programme of mindfulness, meditation and progressive muscle relaxation, or wait list. Perceived stress and quality of life were assessed at three intervals across 6 months. Salivary cortisol levels were assessed at two intervals: baseline and first follow-up. Results The stress management programme did not significantly reduce perceived stress, when comparing mean scores. Secondary analysis using median scores found a significant improvement for quality of life, favouring the intervention group. Conclusion Stress management had no significant effect on the primary outcome of perceived stress but did improve quality of life in a secondary analysis of median scores

Using Social Media to Promote STEM Education: Matching College Students with Role Models

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields have become increasingly central to U.S. economic competitiveness and growth. The shortage in the STEM workforce has brought promoting STEM education upfront. The rapid growth of social media usage provides a unique opportunity to predict users' real-life identities and interests from online texts and photos. In this paper, we propose an innovative approach by leveraging social media to promote STEM education: matching Twitter college student users with diverse LinkedIn STEM professionals using a ranking algorithm based on the similarities of their demographics and interests. We share the belief that increasing STEM presence in the form of introducing career role models who share similar interests and demographics will inspire students to develop interests in STEM related fields and emulate their models. Our evaluation on 2,000 real college students demonstrated the accuracy of our ranking algorithm. We also design a novel implementation that recommends matched role models to the students.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, accepted by ECML/PKDD 2016, Industrial Trac

The effect of maternal position on placental blood flow and fetoplacental oxygenation in late gestation fetal growth restriction: a magnetic resonance imaging study

Fetal growth restriction (FGR) and maternal supine going-to-sleep position are both risk factors for late stillbirth. This study aimed to use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to quantify the effect of maternal supine position on maternal-placental and fetoplacental blood flow, placental oxygen transfer and fetal oxygenation in FGR and healthy pregnancies. Twelve women with FGR and 27 women with healthy pregnancies at 34–38 weeks’ gestation underwent MRI in both left lateral and supine positions. Phase-contrast MRI and a functional MRI technique (DECIDE) were used to measure blood flow in the maternal internal iliac arteries (IIAs) and umbilical vein (UV), placental oxygen transfer (placental flux), fetal oxygen saturation (FO2), and fetal oxygen delivery (delivery flux). The presence of FGR, compared to healthy pregnancies, was associated with a 7.8% lower FO2 (P = 0.02), reduced placental flux, and reduced delivery flux. Maternal supine positioning caused a 3.8% reduction in FO2 (P = 0.001), and significant reductions in total IIA flow, placental flux, UV flow and delivery flux compared to maternal left lateral position. The effect of maternal supine position on fetal oxygen delivery was independent of FGR pregnancy, meaning that supine positioning has an additive effect of reducing fetal oxygenation further in women with FGR, compared to women with appropriately grown for age pregnancies. Meanwhile, the effect of maternal supine positioning on placental oxygen transfer was not independent of the effect of FGR. Therefore, growth-restricted fetuses, which are chronically hypoxaemic, experience a relatively greater decline in oxygen transfer when mothers lie supine in late gestation compared to appropriately growing fetuses. (Figure presented.). Key points: Fetal growth restriction (FGR) is the most common risk factor associated with stillbirth, and early recognition and timely delivery is vital to reduce this risk. Maternal supine going-to-sleep position is found to increase the risk of late stillbirth but when combined with having a FGR pregnancy, maternal supine position leads to 15 times greater odds of stillbirth compared to supine sleeping with appropriately grown for age (AGA) pregnancies. Using MRI, this study quantifies the chronic hypoxaemia experienced by growth-restricted fetuses due to 13.5% lower placental oxygen transfer and 26% lower fetal oxygen delivery compared to AGA fetuses. With maternal supine positioning, there is a 23% reduction in maternal-placental blood flow and a further 14% reduction in fetal oxygen delivery for both FGR and AGA pregnancies, but this effect is proportionally greater for growth-restricted fetuses. This knowledge emphasises the importance of avoiding supine positioning in late pregnancy, particularly for vulnerable FGR pregnancies

Research Evaluating Staff Training Online for Resilience (RESTORE): Protocol for a single-arm feasibility study of an online acceptance and commitment therapy intervention to improve staff wellbeing in palliative care settings

Background Palliative care workers commonly experience workplace stress and distress. General stressors include unmanageable workloads and staff shortages. Stressors specific to palliative care include regular exposure to death, loss and grief. The COVID pandemic exacerbated exhaustion and burnout across the healthcare system, including for those providing palliative care. Evidence based psychological support interventions, tailored to the needs and context of palliative care workers, are needed. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an established form of cognitive behavioural therapy which uses behavioural psychology, values, acceptance, and mindfulness techniques to improve mental health and wellbeing. ACT is effective in improving workplace wellbeing in many occupational settings. Our study examines the acceptability and feasibility of an online ACT-based intervention to improve mental health and wellbeing in staff caring for people with an advanced progressive illness. Methods A single-arm feasibility trial. We will seek to recruit 30 participants to take part in an 8- week online ACT-based intervention, consisting of three synchronous facilitated group sessions and five asynchronous self-directed learning modules. We will use convergent mixed methods to evaluate the feasibility of the intervention. Quantitative feasibility outcomes will include participant recruitment and retention rates, alongside completion rates of measures assessing stress, quality of life, wellbeing, and psychological flexibility. Focus groups and interviews will explore participant perspectives on the intervention. We will run a stakeholder workshop to further refine the intervention and identify outcomes for use in a future evaluation. We will describe participant perspectives on intervention acceptability, format, content, and perceived impact alongside rates of intervention recruitment, retention, and outcome measure completion. Conclusion We will show whether a brief, online ACT intervention is acceptable to, and feasible for palliative care workers. Findings will be used to further refine the intervention and provide essential information on outcome assessment prior to a full-scale evaluation