Continuing Education During Times of War: Experiences of Children in Northern Sri Lanka

The primary objective of the study was to explore the experiences of children during and after 30 years of civil war with particular attention on its impact on their academic learning. The research intended to answer two research questions, namely 1) How did the war impact on children’s education? and 2) What support networks were available for children affected by war to remain in school and/or to continuously engage in academic learning? The research was carried out in the Jaffna District of Northern Sri Lanka and depended entirely on qualitative data generated through in-depth interviews, key informant interviews, focus groups discussions and observations. Multiple displacements caused by war, the impact of war on livelihoods and the trauma caused by war has resulted in some students losing interest in school and eventually dropping out. In spite of various financial and other support provided by local and international NGOs only some children have remained in school with a sustained interest in education. A characteristic common to these children was that they came from more ‘secure’ family backgrounds. The security offered by intimate relationships within the family seems crucial for educational success even during times of war. The findings suggest the need for strengthening family well-being and stronger emotional support to ensure sustained interest in education during times of war

Scalable Photocatalyst Panels for Photoreforming of Plastic, Biomass and Mixed Waste in Flow.

Solar-driven reforming uses sunlight and a photocatalyst to generate H2 fuel from waste at ambient temperature and pressure. However, it faces practical scaling challenges such as photocatalyst dispersion and recyclability, competing light absorption by the waste solution, slow reaction rates and low conversion yields. Here, the immobilisation of a noble-metal-free carbon nitride/nickel phosphide (CNx |Ni2 P) photocatalyst on textured glass is shown to overcome several of these limitations. The 1 cm2 CNx |Ni2 P panels photoreform plastic, biomass, food and mixed waste into H2 and organic molecules with rates comparable to those of photocatalyst slurries. Furthermore, the panels enable facile photocatalyst recycling and novel photoreactor configurations that prevent parasitic light absorption, thereby promoting H2 production from turbid waste solutions. Scalability is further verified by preparing 25 cm2 CNx |Ni2 P panels for use in a custom-designed flow reactor to generate up to 21 μmolH 2  m-2  h-1 under "real-world" (seawater, low sunlight) conditions. The application of inexpensive and readily scalable CNx |Ni2 P panels to photoreforming of a variety of real waste streams provides a crucial step towards the practical deployment of this technology

Systematic Review of Laser and Other Light Therapy for the Management of Oral Mucositis in Cancer Patients

Background The aim of this study was to review the available literature and define clinical practice guidelines for the use of laser and other light therapies for the prevention and treatment of oral mucositis. Methods A systematic review was conducted by the Mucositis Study Group of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer/International Society of Oral Oncology. The body of evidence for each intervention, in each cancer treatment setting, was assigned an evidence level. Based onthe evidence level, one of the following three guideline determinations was possible: recommendation, suggestion, and no guideline possible. Results A new recommendation was made for low-level laser (wavelength at 650 nm, power of 40 mW, and each square centimeter treated with the required time to a tissue energy dose of 2 J/cm2 (2 s/point)) for the prevention of oral mucositis in adult patients receiving hematopoietic stem cell transplantation conditioned with high-dose chemotherapy, with or without total body irradiation. A new suggestion was made for low-level laser (wavelength around 632.8 nm) for the prevention of oral mucositis in patients undergoing radiotherapy, without concomitant chemotherapy, for head and neck cancer. No guideline was possible in other populations and for other light sources due to insufficient evidence. Conclusions The increasing evidence in favor of low-level laser therapy allowed for the development of two new guidelines supporting this modality in the populations listed above. Evidence for other populations was also generally encouraging over a range of wavelengths and intensities. However, additional well-designed research is needed to evaluate the efficacy of laser and other light therapies in various cancer treatment settings

Oral mucosal injury caused by mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors: emerging perspectives on pathobiology and impact on clinical practice.

In recent years oral mucosal injury has been increasingly recognized as an important toxicity associated with mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors, including in patients with breast cancer who are receiving everolimus. This review addresses the state-of-the-science regarding mTOR inhibitor-associated stomatitis (mIAS), and delineates its clinical characteristics and management. Given the clinically impactful pain associated with mIAS, this review also specifically highlights new research focusing on the study of the molecular basis of pain. The incidence of mIAS varies widely (2-78%). As reported across multiple mTOR inhibitor clinical trials, grade 3/4 toxicity occurs in up to 9% of patients. Managing mTOR-associated oral lesions with topical oral, intralesional, and/or systemic steroids can be beneficial, in contrast to the lack of evidence supporting steroid treatment of oral mucositis caused by high-dose chemotherapy or radiation. However, steroid management is not uniformly efficacious in all patients receiving mTOR inhibitors. Furthermore, technology does not presently exist to permit clinicians to predict a priori which of their patients will develop these lesions. There thus remains a strategic need to define the pathobiology of mIAS, the molecular basis of pain, and risk prediction relative to development of the clinical lesion. This knowledge could lead to novel future interventions designed to more effectively prevent mIAS and improve pain management if clinically significant mIAS lesions develop

Oxygen adsorption on Au clusters and a rough Au(111) surface: The role of surface flatness, electron confinement, excess electrons, and band gap

It has been shown recently that while bulk gold is chemically inert, small Au clusters are catalytically active. The reasons for this activity and its dramatic dependence on cluster size are not understood. We use density functional theory to study O2 binding to Au clusters and to a Au(111) surface modified by adsorption of Au clusters on it. We find that O2 does not bind to a flat face of a planar Au cluster, even though it binds well to its edge. Moreover, O2 binds to Au clusters deposited on a Au(111) surface, even though it does not bind to Au(111). This indicates that a band gap is not an essential factor in binding O2, but surface roughness is. Adding electrons to the surface of a Au(111) slab, on which one has deposited a Au cluster, increases the binding energy of O2. However, adding electrons to a flat Ausurface has no effect on O2binding energy. These observations have a simple explanation: in clusters and in the rough surface, the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) is localized and its charge density sticks out in the vacuum. This facilitates charge transfer into the π* orbital of O2, which induces the molecule to bind to gold. A flat face of a cluster or a flat bulk surface tends to delocalize the HOMO, diminishing the ability of the surface to bind O2. The same statements are true for the LUMO orbital, which is occupied by the additional electron given to the system to charge the system negatively

Proteomic Analysis of Saliva from Patients with Oral Chronic Graft-Versus-Host Disease

AbstractChronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) is an immune-mediated disorder and is the major long-term complication of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). The oral mucosa, including the salivary glands, is affected in the majority of patients with cGVHD; however, at present there is only a limited understanding of disease pathobiology. In this study, we performed a quantitative proteomic analysis of saliva pooled from patients with and without oral cGVHD—cGVHD(+) and cGVHD(−), respectively—using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification labeling, followed by tandem mass spectrometry. Among 249 salivary proteins identified by tandem mass spectrometry, 82 exhibited altered expression in the oral cGVHD(+) group compared with the cGVHD(−) group. Many of the identified proteins function in innate or acquired immunity, or are associated with tissue maintenance functions, such as proteolysis or the cytoskeleton. Using ELISA immunoassays, we further confirmed that 2 of these proteins, IL-1 receptor antagonist and cystatin B, showed decreased expression in patients with active oral cGVHD (P < .003). Receiver operating curve characteristic analysis revealed that these 2 markers were able to distinguish oral cGVHD with a sensitivity of 85% and specificity of 60%, and showed slightly better discrimination in newly diagnosed patients evaluated within 12 months of allo-HSCT (sensitivity, 92%; specificity 73%). In addition to identifying novel potential salivary cGVHD biomarkers, our study demonstrates that there is coordinated regulation of protein families involved in inflammation, antimicrobial defense, and tissue protection in oral cGVHD that also may reflect changes in salivary gland function and damage to the oral mucosa

Carbohydrate compositional trends throughout Holocene sediments of an alpine lake (Lake Cadagno)

Carbohydrates are a ubiquitous constituent of organisms and contribute significantly to sedimentary organic carbon pools. Yet, the factors that control the degradation and long-term preservation of sedimentary carbohydrates are not well understood. Here, we investigate carbohydrate pool sizes and chemical compositions in high-altitude, meromictic Lake Cadagno (Switzerland) over a 13,500-year-old sedimentary succession that has recorded past changes from oxic to anoxic conditions and consists mostly of intercalations of lacustrine sediments and terrestrial-derived sediments. Analyses of the organic matter chemical composition by pyrolysis gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) show that carbohydrates are selectively preserved over other organic matter constituents over time. The carbohydrate pyrolysis products levosugars (potentially cellulose-derived) and (alkyl)furans and furanones (potentially pectin-derived) dominate both lacustrine and terrestrially derived sediment layers, suggesting aquatic and terrestrial-derived sources of these compounds. Carbohydrate monomer analyses indicate galactose and glucose as dominant monomers and show no clear differences between aquatic and terrestrial organic matter. No clear impacts of past changes in redox conditions on carbohydrate compositions were observed. Our study shows that carbohydrates are a major contributor to sedimentary organic carbon burial in Lake Cadagno and indicates the effective preservation of both aquatic and terrestrial derived carbohydrates over millennia in lake sediments

Transcatheter valve implantation for right atrium‐to‐right ventricle conduit obstruction or regurgitation after modified Björk–fontan procedure

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136276/1/ccd26648_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136276/2/ccd26648.pd

Pan-viral serology implicates enteroviruses in acute flaccid myelitis.

Since 2012, the United States of America has experienced a biennial spike in pediatric acute flaccid myelitis (AFM)1-6. Epidemiologic evidence suggests non-polio enteroviruses (EVs) are a potential etiology, yet EV RNA is rarely detected in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)2. CSF from children with AFM (n = 42) and other pediatric neurologic disease controls (n = 58) were investigated for intrathecal antiviral antibodies, using a phage display library expressing 481,966 overlapping peptides derived from all known vertebrate and arboviruses (VirScan). Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) of AFM CSF RNA (n = 20 cases) was also performed, both unbiased sequencing and with targeted enrichment for EVs. Using VirScan, the viral family significantly enriched by the CSF of AFM cases relative to controls was Picornaviridae, with the most enriched Picornaviridae peptides belonging to the genus Enterovirus (n = 29/42 cases versus 4/58 controls). EV VP1 ELISA confirmed this finding (n = 22/26 cases versus 7/50 controls). mNGS did not detect additional EV RNA. Despite rare detection of EV RNA, pan-viral serology frequently identified high levels of CSF EV-specific antibodies in AFM compared with controls, providing further evidence for a causal role of non-polio EVs in AFM

Acoustic Intensity Causes Perceived Changes in Arousal Levels in Music: An Experimental Investigation

Listener perceptions of changes in the arousal expressed by classical music have been found to correlate with changes in sound intensity/loudness over time. This study manipulated the intensity profiles of different pieces of music in order to test the causal nature of this relationship. Listeners (N = 38) continuously rated their perceptions of the arousal expressed by each piece. An extract from Dvorak's Slavonic Dance Opus 46 No 1 was used to create a variant in which the direction of change in intensity was inverted, while other features were retained. Even though it was only intensity that was inverted, perceived arousal was also inverted. The original intensity profile was also superimposed on three new pieces of music. The time variation in the perceived arousal of all pieces was similar to their intensity profile. Time series analyses revealed that intensity variation was a major influence on the arousal perception in all pieces, in spite of their stylistic diversity