Study and modification of the reactivity of carbon fibers

The reactivity to air of polyactylonitrile-based carbon fiber cloth was enhanced by the addition of metals to the cloth. The cloth was oxidized in 54 wt% nitric acid in order to increase the surface area of the cloth and to add carbonyl groups to the surface. Metal addition was then achieved by soaking the cloth in metal acetate solution to effect exchange between the metal carbon and hydrogen on the carbonyl groups. The addition of potassium, sodium, calcium and barium enhanced fiber cloth reactivity to air at 573 K. Extended studies using potassium addition showed that success in enhancing fiber cloth reactivity to air depends on: extent of cloth oxidation in nitric acid, time of exchange in potassium acetate solution and the thoroughness of removing metal acetate from the fiber pore structure following exchange. Cloth reactivity increases essentially linearly with increase in potassium addition via exchange

Initiative to Improve the Health Out-comes of Those at Risk of Perinatal Depression: Referral Characteristics and Psychosocial Determinants

Abstract In Australia, perinatal depression affects 15% -20% of pregnant women. Depression does not go away on its own, getting help at early stages shown to be effective in treating antenatal depression. Aim of this study is to assess and describe the screening of women through the antenatal clinic and measure the outcome of services provided (such as counselling, social assistance) for those at risk of depression, in a general hospital setting in an ethnically diverse part of Sydney, Australia. Data from 193 women were obtained through accessing the psychosocial and screening assessments completed at the antenatal clinic between 2007 and 2008. Data regarding patients' psychosocial characteristics, referrals and interventions were also gathered from hospital records. Data revealed that 60.4% of women screened scored ≥10 on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EDPS) which is indicative of significant depressive symptomatology. Of these women, 39.4% went on to receive a formal diagnosis. Women who indicated that they had planned their pregnancies (47.2%) were significantly less likely to report having major worries and stressors over the last 12 months (p < 0.05) in comparison to those who indicated that their pregnancies were unplanned. Data showed while screening methods are effective, regrettably a high proportion of women, despite presenting with "at risk" symptomatology levels, do not engage in intervention programs. Further research is required to explore the barriers in accessing both screening and intervention services (particularly in a culturally diverse area such as this), and how services can improve processes and patient participation. M

Quality of Life in Hungarian Parents of Autistic Individuals

Purpose: Parents of autistic individuals have been known to have a lower overall quality of life (QQL) than those of typically developing children. We present the first Hungarian large-sample study whose objective was to explore the differences in QOL between parents of autistic individuals (AS) and those of neurotypical (NT) persons. Methods: Based on the ABCX model we developed a questionnaire comprising standardized scales to characterize the life of parents involved. Our data came from parents of 842 individuals (ASD = 521, NT = 321) between 0 and 49 years. Battery deployed standardized instruments to examine quality of life (WHO-QQL BREF and Quality of Life in Autism questionnaire, QOLA). We assessed the families’ socio-economic/demographic characteristics, parents’ psychological well-being, the autistic/neurotypical individuals’ characteristics, and the interventions. Results: Our data showed significantly lower QOL in parents of autistic individuals in all domains of questionnaires. We analyzed 20 relevant factors to uncover the predictors of parental QOL. We confirmed the existence of most but not all predictors present in earlier literature and identified intervention-related predictors. Conclusion: Our study confirms the importance of supporting parents in their role, and of providing health and social supports that focus on quality of life, in addition to child care

Hydrotropism: analysis of the root response to a moisture gradient

Hydrotropism is a genuine response of roots to a moisture gradient to avoid drought. An experimental system for the induction of hydrotropic root response in petri dishes was designed by pioneering groups in the field. This system uses split agar plates containing an osmolyte only in a region of the plate in order to generate a water potential gradient. Arabidopsis seedlings are placed on the MS agar plate so that their root tips are near the junction between plain MS medium and the region supplemented with the osmolyte. This elicits a hydrotropic response in Arabidopsis roots that can be measured as the root curvature angle

Machine Learning Approaches to Identify Patient Comorbidities and Symptoms That Increased Risk of Mortality in COVID-19

Providing appropriate care for people suffering from COVID-19, the disease caused by the pandemic SARS-CoV-2 virus, is a significant global challenge. Many individuals who become infected may have pre-existing conditions that may interact with COVID-19 to increase symptom severity and mortality risk. COVID-19 patient comorbidities are likely to be informative regarding the individual risk of severe illness and mortality. Determining the degree to which comorbidities are associated with severe symptoms and mortality would thus greatly assist in COVID-19 care planning and provision. To assess this we performed a meta-analysis of published global literature, and machine learning predictive analysis using an aggregated COVID-19 global dataset. Our meta-analysis suggested that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cerebrovascular disease (CEVD), cardiovascular disease (CVD), type 2 diabetes, malignancy, and hypertension as most significantly associated with COVID-19 severity in the current published literature. Machine learning classification using novel aggregated cohort data similarly found COPD, CVD, CKD, type 2 diabetes, malignancy, and hypertension, as well as asthma, as the most significant features for classifying those deceased versus those who survived COVID-19. While age and gender were the most significant predictors of mortality, in terms of symptom–comorbidity combinations, it was observed that Pneumonia–Hypertension, Pneumonia–Diabetes, and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)–Hypertension showed the most significant associations with COVID-19 mortality. These results highlight the patient cohorts most likely to be at risk of COVID-19-related severe morbidity and mortality, which have implications for prioritization of hospital resource

Levels and patterns of physical activity and sedentary time among superdiverse adolescents in East London: a cross-sectional study

Objectives: Little is known about the physical activity (PA) and sedentary time (ST) habits of adolescents from superdiverse communities in the UK. The objectives of this study are to examine and report the patterns of PA/ST among adolescents in East London living in superdiverse communities, to identify opportunities/barriers to PA and inform policy/practice. Design: 1,260 young people (aged 11-13) young people from 7 secondary schools in East London completed a questionnaire on PA/ST over the past 7 days as part of the Newham's Every Child a Sports Person (NECaSP) intervention. Socio-demographic and anthropometric data were obtained. Significance tests were conducted to determine differences between socio-demographic and anthropometric predictors and PA/ST. Multinomial logit regression was used to explore the effects of ethnicity, sex and BMI on PA levels. Results: Males were significantly more likely to engage in PA at least 5 times during school in the past week (U=5.07, z= -11.76, p< .05). Obese participants were less likely to report engaging in PA 5 times in the past week (U=4.11, z= -1.17, p< .05). Black Caribbean girls (U=5.08, z= -1.92, p< .05) were significantly more likely to report engaging in no activity. Multinomial logit regression analyses revealed that girls with higher BMI were less likely to engage in PA at least 4 times after school in the last week than boys (b=.11, Wald X2(1)=9.81, p< .01). Walking (36.4%), jogging/running (29.9%), and football (28%) were the most frequently reported activities. Conclusion: Engaging girls in PA during and after school is important and making sports clubs and activities available and attractive to this target group may help increase engagement in PA and reduce ST. Findings support the need for more sex-specific and culturally responsive pedagogy in schools with curricula that respects diversity and individuality and has meaning and value amongst superdiverse young people. Finally, we need to extend current work presented and provide substantial evidence of the ways young people from minority ethnic groups process and act on the public health policy and the ways they understand and enact physical activity

Killer cell Immunoglobulin-like receptor-ligand matching and outcomes after unrelated cord blood transplantation in acute myeloid leukemia

The effect of killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR)-ligand matching on outcomes after unrelated cord blood (CB) transplantation was studied in 461 patients with acute myeloid leukemia, categorizing KIR ligand for HLA-C groups C1 and C2 and Bw4. Donor-recipient HLA matching considered allele-level matching at HLA-A, -B, -C, and -DRB1. Separate analyses were conducted for 6-7/8 HLA-matched and 3-5/8 HLA-matched transplants because HLA matching confounded KIR-ligand matching (ie, KIR-ligand mismatching was less likely with better HLA matching). All patients received single CB unit and myeloablative conditioning. There were no significant differences in nonrelapse mortality (NRM), relapse, and overall mortality by KIR-ligand match status. However, among recipients of 3-5/8 HLA-matched transplants, NRM (HR, 2.26; P = .008) and overall mortality (HR, 1.78; P = .008) but not relapse were higher with KIR-ligand mismatched (host-versus-graft direction) compared with KIR-ligand matched transplants. These data do not support selecting CB units based on KIR-ligand match status for transplants mismatched at 1 or 2 HLA loci. Although transplants mismatched at 3 or more HLA loci are not recommended, avoiding KIR-ligand mismatching in this setting lowers mortality risks

Diarylethene moiety as an enthalpy-entropy switch: photoisomerizable stapled peptides for modulating p53/MDM2 interaction

Analogs of the known inhibitor (peptide pDI) of the p53/MDM2 protein–protein interaction are reported, which are stapled by linkers bearing a photoisomerizable diarylethene moiety. The corresponding photoisomers possess significantly different affinities to the p53-interacting domain of the human MDM2. Apparent dissociation constants are in the picomolar-to-low nanomolar range for those isomers with diarylethene in the “open” configuration, but up to eight times larger for the corresponding “closed” isomers. Spectroscopic, structural, and computational studies showed that the stapling linkers of the peptides contribute to their binding. Calorimetry revealed that the binding of the “closed” isomers is mostly enthalpy-driven, whereas the “open” photoforms bind to the protein stronger due to their increased binding entropy. The results suggest that conformational dynamics of the protein-peptide complexes may explain the differences in the thermodynamic profiles of the binding

Study protocol for a real-world evaluation of an integrated child and family health hub for migrant and refugee women

Introduction Continuity of child and family healthcare is vital for optimal child health and development for developmentally vulnerable children. Migrant and refugee communities are often at-risk of poor health outcomes, facing barriers to health service attendance including cultural, language, limited health literacy, discrimination and unmet psychosocial needs. 'Integrated health-social care hubs' are physical hubs where health and social services are co-located, with shared referral pathways and care navigation. Aim Our study will evaluate the impact, implementation and cost-benefit of the First 2000 Days Care Connect (FDCC) integrated hub model for pregnant migrant and refugee women and their infants. Materials and methods This study has three components. Component 1 is a non-randomised controlled trial to compare the FDCC model of care with usual care. This trial will allocate eligible women to intervention and control groups based on their proximity to the Hub sites. Outcome measures include: the proportion of children attending child and family health (CFH) nurse services and completing their CFH checks to 12 months of age; improved surveillance of growth and development in children up to 12 months, post partum; improved breastfeeding rates; reduced emergency department presentations; and improved maternal well-being. These will be measured using linked medical record data and surveys. Component 2 will involve a mixed-method implementation evaluation to clarify how and why FDCC was implemented within the sites to inform future roll-out. Component 3 is a within-trial economic evaluation from a healthcare perspective to assess the cost-effectiveness of the Hubs relative to usual care and the implementation costs if Hubs were scaled and replicated. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval was granted by the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District Human Research Ethics Committee in July 2021 (Project ID: 020/ETH03295). Results will be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals and presented at relevant conferences. Trial registration number ACTRN12621001088831