Justification for a Nuclear Global Health Workforce: multidisciplinary analysis of risk, survivability & preparedness, with emphasis on the triage management of thermal burns

An assessment of the risks of nuclear conflict and the global preparedness to deal with such a catastrophe. Includes a proposal for triage and management of burn injuries based on a model of what would happen if there was a nuclear attack on Washington DC. Summarises the need for a global nuclear workforce to establish guidelines and strategies to address a nuclear event, the risk of which would appear to be increasingly likely given current world geopolitics

On the need for cultural sensitivity in digital wellbeing tools and messages: A UK-China comparison

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020. The excessive and obsessive use of the internet and digital technologies, known as Digital Addiction (DA), is becoming a social issue. Given that it inherently involves the use of technological devices this provides the opportunity to deliver interactive, intelligent prevention and intervention strategies in real-time. However, for any large-scale, multi-national prevention campaign to be optimised cultural differences within the target population must be considered. This study aimed to contribute towards this literature by exploring cultural differences in the acceptance of DA prevention messages in the UK vs China. An initial series of exploratory interviews were conducted with a sample within the UK to determine what strategies may be used to address the overuse of digital devices. These interviews were subjected to content analysis, which was then used as the basis for an online survey that was disseminated throughout the UK and China. A total of 373 useable surveys were returned. There were several statistically significant differences in preferences over how an intervention system should operate. UK participants wished for the system to be easily under their control, whilst behaving largely autonomously when needed, and to also be transparent as to why a message had been triggered. Chinese participants, on the other hand, were less likely to state a preference for such a high degree of control over any such system. Overall, the preferred implementation of such systems does appear to vary between the UK and China, suggesting that any future prevention and intervention strategies take cultural dimensions into consideration

Recording advances for neural prosthetics

An important challenge for neural prosthetics research is to record from populations of neurons over long periods of time, ideally for the lifetime of the patient. Two new advances toward this goal are described, the use of local field potentials (LFPs) and autonomously positioned recording electrodes. LFPs are the composite extracellular potential field from several hundreds of neurons around the electrode tip. LFP recordings can be maintained for longer periods of time than single cell recordings. We find that similar information can be decoded from LFP and spike recordings, with better performance for state decodes with LFPs and, depending on the area, equivalent or slightly less than equivalent performance for signaling the direction of planned movements. Movable electrodes in microdrives can be adjusted in the tissue to optimize recordings, but their movements must be automated to be a practical benefit to patients. We have developed automation algorithms and a meso-scale autonomous electrode testbed, and demonstrated that this system can autonomously isolate and maintain the recorded signal quality of single cells in the cortex of awake, behaving monkeys. These two advances show promise for developing very long term recording for neural prosthetic applications

The Development of the Protocol for Advancing Inclusive Teaching Efforts (PAITE)

Inclusive teaching is instruction that fosters a sense of belonging, is equitable for a diverse student body, and shows students that they matter. Inclusivity is associated with positive student outcomes and is critical at institutions of higher education given the diversity of student populations. While there are a number of recommended practices for inclusive teaching, valid and reliable classroom observation tools that provide instructors with formative feedback on their instructional efforts are lacking. This article describes the development of the Protocol for Advancing Inclusive Teaching Efforts (PAITE). The PAITE was developed for formative purposes to provide higher education instructors with formative feedback on observable inclusive teaching practices. The protocol can be used by peer observers, educational developers, student pedagogical partners, and educational researchers in higher education classrooms. We describe the creation of the protocol, how to prepare observers to use it within classrooms, and how instructors can use the feedback to monitor and improve their inclusive teaching approaches

Possible Metal/Insulator Transition at B=0 in Two Dimensions

We have studied the zero magnetic field resistivity of unique high- mobility two-dimensional electron system in silicon. At very low electron density (but higher than some sample-dependent critical value, $n_{cr}\sim 10^{11}$ cm$^{-2}$), CONVENTIONAL WEAK LOCALIZATION IS OVERPOWERED BY A SHARP DROP OF RESISTIVITY BY AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE with decreasing temperature below 1--2 K. No further evidence for electron localization is seen down to at least 20 mK. For $n_s<N_{cr}$, the sample is insulating. The resistivity is empirically found to SCALE WITH TEMPERATURE BOTH BELOW AND ABOVE $n_{cr}$ WITH A SINGLE PARAMETER which approaches zero at $n_s=n_{cr}$ suggesting a metal/ insulator phase transition.Comment: 10 pages; REVTeX v3.0; 3 POSTSCRIPT figures available upon request; to be published in PRB, Rapid Commu

Association of proinflammatory cytokines and chemotherapy-associated cognitive impairment in breast cancer patients: a multi-centered, prospective, cohort study.

BackgroundExisting evidence suggests that proinflammatory cytokines play an intermediary role in postchemotherapy cognitive impairment. This is one of the largest multicentered, cohort studies conducted in Singapore to evaluate the prevalence and proinflammatory biomarkers associated with cognitive impairment in breast cancer patients.Patients and methodsChemotherapy-receiving breast cancer patients (stages I-III) were recruited. Proinflammatory plasma cytokines concentrations [interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, interferon-γ and tumor necrosis factor-α] were evaluated at 3 time points (before chemotherapy, 6 and 12 weeks after chemotherapy initiation). The FACT-Cog (version 3) was utilized to evaluate patients' self-perceived cognitive disturbances and a computerized neuropsychological assessment (Headminder) was administered to evaluate patients' memory, attention, response speed and processing speed. Changes of cognition throughout chemotherapy treatment were compared against the baseline. Linear mixed-effects models were applied to test the relationships of clinical variables and cytokine concentrations on self-perceived cognitive disturbances and each objective cognitive domain.ResultsNinety-nine patients were included (age 50.5 ± 8.4 years; 81.8% Chinese; mean duration of education = 10.8 ± 3.3 years). Higher plasma IL-1β was associated with poorer response speed performance (estimate: -0.78; 95% confidence interval (CI) -1.34 to -0.03; P = 0.023), and a higher concentration of IL-4 was associated with better response speed performance (P = 0.022). Higher concentrations of IL-1β and IL-6 were associated with more severe self-perceived cognitive disturbances (P = 0.018 and 0.001, respectively). Patients with higher concentrations of IL-4 also reported less severe cognitive disturbances (P = 0.022).ConclusionsWhile elevated concentrations of IL-6 and IL-1β were observed in patients with poorer response speed performance and perceived cognitive disturbances, IL-4 may be protective against chemotherapy-associated cognitive impairment. This study is important because cytokines would potentially be mechanistic mediators of chemotherapy-associated cognitive changes

Magnetoresistance of a two-dimensional electron gas in a parallel magnetic field

The conductivity of a two-dimensional electron gas in a parallel magnetic field is calculated. We take into account the magnetic field induced spin-splitting, which changes the density of states, the Fermi momentum and the screening behavior of the electron gas. For impurity scattering we predict a positive magnetoresistance for low electron density and a negative magnetoresistance for high electron density. The theory is in qualitative agreement with recent experimental results found for Si inversion layers and Si quantum wells.Comment: 4 pages, figures included, PDF onl

DNA metabarcoding unveils multiscale trophic variation in a widespread coastal opportunist

A thorough understanding of ecological networks relies on comprehensive information on trophic relationships among species. Since unpicking the diet of many organisms is unattainable using traditional morphology‐based approaches, the application of high‐throughput sequencing methods represents a rapid and powerful way forward. Here, we assessed the application of DNA metabarcoding with nearly universal primers for the mitochondrial marker cytochrome c oxidase I in defining the trophic ecology of adult brown shrimp, Crangon crangon, in six European estuaries. The exact trophic role of this abundant and widespread coastal benthic species is somewhat controversial, while information on geographical variation remains scant. Results revealed a highly opportunistic behaviour. Shrimp stomach contents contained hundreds of taxa (>1,000 molecular operational taxonomic units), of which 291 were identified as distinct species, belonging to 35 phyla. Only twenty ascertained species had a mean relative abundance of more than 0.5%. Predominant species included other abundant coastal and estuarine taxa, including the shore crab Carcinus maenas and the amphipod Corophium volutator. Jacobs’ selectivity index estimates based on DNA extracted from both shrimp stomachs and sediment samples were used to assess the shrimp's trophic niche indicating a generalist diet, dominated by crustaceans, polychaetes and fish. Spatial variation in diet composition, at regional and local scales, confirmed the highly flexible nature of this trophic opportunist. Furthermore, the detection of a prevalent, possibly endoparasitic fungus (Purpureocillium lilacinum) in the shrimp's stomach demonstrates the wide range of questions that can be addressed using metabarcoding, towards a more robust reconstruction of ecological networks