Xenogeneic, extracorporeal liver perfusion in primates improves the ratio of branched-chain amino acids to aromatic amino acids (Fischer's ratio)

In fulminant hepatic failure (FHF), the development of hepatic encephalopathy is associated with grossly abnormal concentrations of plasma amino acids (PAA). Normalization of the ratio of branched-chain amino acids to aromatic amino acids (Fischer's ratio) correlates with clinical improvement. This study evaluated changes in PAA metabolism during 4 h of isolated, normothermic extracorporeal liver perfusion using a newly designed system containing human blood and a rhesus monkey liver. Bile and urea production were within the physiological range. Release of the transaminases AST, ALT and LDH were minimal. The ratio of branched (valine, leucine, isoleucine) to aromatic (tyrosine, phenylalanine) amino acids increased significantly. These results indicate that a xenogeneic extracorporeal liver perfusion system is capable of significantly increasing Fischer's ratio and may play a role in treating and bridging patients in FHF in the future

Missing the target: including perspectives of women with overweight and obesity to inform stigma-reduction strategies

OBJECTIVE: Pervasive weight stigma and discrimination have led to ongoing calls for efforts to reduce this bias. Despite increasing research on stigma-reduction strategies, perspectives of individuals who have experienced weight stigma have rarely been included to inform this research. The present study conducted a systematic examination of women with high body weight to assess their perspectives about a broad range of strategies to reduce weight-based stigma. METHODS: Women with overweight or obesity (N = 461) completed an online survey in which they evaluated the importance, feasibility and potential impact of 35 stigma-reduction strategies in diverse settings. Participants (91.5% who reported experiencing weight stigma) also completed self-report measures assessing experienced and internalized weight stigma. RESULTS: Most participants assigned high importance to all stigma-reduction strategies, with school-based and healthcare approaches accruing the highest ratings. Adding weight stigma to existing anti-harassment workplace training was rated as the most impactful and feasible strategy. The family environment was viewed as an important intervention target, regardless of participants\u27 experienced or internalized stigma. CONCLUSION: These findings underscore the importance of including people with stigmatized identities in stigma-reduction research; their insights provide a necessary and valuable contribution that can inform ways to reduce weight-based inequities and prioritize such efforts

Setting policy priorities to address eating disorders and weight stigma: views from the field of eating disorders and the US general public

Background: The prevalence and health consequences of eating disorders and weight stigmatization have prompted increasing discussion of potential policy actions to address these public health issues. The present study aimed to assess support for policy strategies to address eating disorders and weight stigmatization among the general public and relevant health professionals. Methods: An Internet survey was fielded to a national sample of 944 US adults and 1,420 members of professional organizations specializing in eating disorders to examine their support for 23 potential policy strategies to address eating disorders and weight stigma. Participants also rated policy actions according to their potential for positive impact and feasible implementation. Results: Support for the majority of health and social policies was high in both samples. For example, strategies to 1) improve school-based health curriculum to include content aimed at preventing eating disorders, 2) require training for educators and health providers on the prevention and early identification of eating disorders, and 3) implement school-based anti-bullying policies that that protect students from being bullied about their weight, were supported by over two-thirds of participants. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that both health and social policy actions will be important in broader policy initiatives to address eating disorders and weight stigma

Free Thermal Convection Driven by Nonlocal Effects

We report and explain a convective phenomenon observed in molecular dynamics simulations that cannot be classified either as a hydrodynamics instability nor as a macroscopically forced convection. Two complementary arguments show that the velocity field by a thermalizing wall is proportional to the ratio between the heat flux and the pressure. This prediction is quantitatively corroborated by our simulations.Comment: RevTex, figures is eps, submited for publicatio

Weight Bias Internalization Among Adolescents Seeking Weight Loss: Implications for Eating Behaviors and Parental Communication

Background: Emerging evidence has demonstrated a high prevalence of weight bias internalization (WBI) among adults, as well as consistent links between internalization and adverse psychological and physical health. However, research examining WBI in youth and its impact on their health is scarce, especially among youth seeking weight loss treatment who may be particularly vulnerable to weight stigma from peers and parents. To address this research gap, the present study assessed WBI in a weight loss treatment-seeking sample of adolescents, examining associations between internalization and adolescents’ eating behaviors and parental weight-related communication.Methods: Adolescents (N = 148, Mage = 15.97 years), completed online self-report measures to assess WBI (using the modified version of the WBI Scale), body weight, binge eating, eating as a coping strategy, and weight teasing from peers and family members. Adolescents also reported on the frequency of parental comments about body weight, parental dieting, and parental encouragement of adolescent dieting.Results: Adolescents expressed a high mean level of internalized weight bias (M = 5.45, SD = 0.88). Higher levels of internalization were observed across increasing body weight categories; no differences were observed for gender or history of weight teasing. WBI was significantly higher among adolescents who reported binge eating and eating to cope with distress. Regression analyses showed that weight-related comments from mothers (but not fathers) significantly predicted adolescents’ WBI (including frequency of mothers’ comments about adolescents’ body weight, comments about their own body weight, and encouragement of their adolescent to diet), as did increased dieting frequency among mothers.Conclusion: The present study provides novel insights to the scant literature on WBI in youth. Findings indicate that WBI is high in both girls and boys engaged in weight loss, and is associated with maladaptive eating behaviors, higher frequency of maternal dieting, and mothers’ comments about body weight. These findings have important clinical implications for youth and families engaged in weight loss treatment, and underscore the need for research to clarify adverse effects of internalization on weight-related health in youth and to better understand the role that parental weight communication may have on adolescents’ internalization

Alfvén waves in the near-PSBL lobe: Cluster observations

Electromagnetic low-frequency waves in the magnetotail lobe close to the PSBL (Plasma Sheet Boundary Layer) are studied using the Cluster spacecraft. The lobe waves show Alfvénic properties and transport their wave energy (Poynting flux) on average toward the Earth along magnetic field lines. Most of the wave events are rich with oxygen (O+) ion plasma. The rich O+ plasma can serve to enhance the magnetic field fluctuations, resulting in a greater likelihood of observation, but it does not appear to be necessary for the generation of the waves. Taking into account the fact that all events are associated with auroral electrojet enhancements, the source of the lobe waves might be a substorm-associated instability, i.e. some instability near the reconnection site, or an ion beam-related instability in the PSBL

Thermal convection in fluidized granular systems

Thermal convection is observed in molecular dynamic simulation of a fluidized granular system of nearly elastic hard disks moving under gravity, inside a rectangular box. Boundaries introduce no shearing or time dependence, but the energy injection comes from a slip (shear-free) thermalizing base. The top wall is perfectly elastic and lateral boundaries are either elastic or periodic. The observed convection comes from the effect of gravity and the spontaneous granular temperature gradient that the system dynamically develops.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Plasma convection in the magnetotail lobes: statistical results from Cluster EDI measurements

A major part of the plasma in the Earth's magnetotail is populated through transport of plasma from the solar wind via the magnetotail lobes. In this paper, we present a statistical study of plasma convection in the lobes for different directions of the interplanetary magnetic field and for different geomagnetic disturbance levels. The data set used in this study consists of roughly 340 000 one-minute vector measurements of the plasma convection from the Cluster Electron Drift Instrument (EDI) obtained during the period February 2001 to June 2007. The results show that both convection magnitude and direction are largely controlled by the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). For a southward IMF, there is a strong convection towards the central plasma sheet with convection velocities around 10 km s<sup>−1</sup>. During periods of northward IMF, the lobe convection is almost stagnant. A <I>B<sub>y</sub></I> dominated IMF causes a rotation of the convection patterns in the tail with an oppositely directed dawn-dusk component of the convection for the northern and southern lobe. Our results also show that there is an overall persistent duskward component, which is most likely a result of conductivity gradients in the footpoints of the magnetic field lines in the ionosphere

Causal trajectories description of atom diffraction by surfaces

9 pages, 7 figures -- PACS numbers: 79.20.Rf, 03.65.Sq, 03.65.BzThe method of quantum trajectories proposed by de Broglie and Bohm is applied to the study of atom diffraction by surfaces. As an example, a realistic model for the scattering of He off corrugated Cu is considered. In this way, the final angular distribution of trajectories is obtained by box-counting, which is in excellent agreement with the results calculated by standard S-matrix methods of scattering theory. More interestingly, the accumulation of quantum trajectories at the different diffraction peaks is explained in terms of the corresponding quantum potential. This non-local potential "guides" the trajectories causing a transition from a distribution near the surface, which reproduces its shape, to the final diffraction pattern observed in the asymptotic region, far from the diffracting object. These two regimes are homologous to the Fresnel and Fraunhofer regions described in undulatory optics. Finally, the turning points of the quantum trajectories provide a better description of the surface electronic density than the corresponding classical ones, usually employed for this task.This work was supported by DGES (Spain) under contracts No PB95-71, PB95-425 and PB96-76. A.S. Sanz also acknowledges the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid for a doctoral grant.Peer reviewe

Pit picking vs. Limberg flap vs. primary open method to treat pilonidal sinus disease - A cohort of 327 consecutive patients.

Background Minimally invasive methods in pilonidal sinus disease (PSD) surgery are becoming standard. Although long-term results are available for some techniques, long-term outcome data of patients after pit picking is lacking. We aimed at investigating perioperative and long-term outcomes of patients undergoing pit picking, Limberg flap or primary open surgery to treat PSD. Methods In a single-centre observational study, we evaluated the outcomes of 327 consecutive patients undergoing PSD surgery between 2011 and 2020. Results PSD had recurred in 22% of Limberg flap patients and 62% of pit picking patients at 5 years (p=0.0078; log rank test). Previous pilonidal surgeries, smoking, body mass index, immunodeficiency, and diabetes did not significantly influence the long-term recurrence rate. Primary open treatment was performed for 72% of female patients presenting with primary disease. Conclusions Due to its especially dismal long-term results, pit picking should be abandoned, and Limberg flap should be promoted instead, even for primary disease and in females