Accurate Pulse Assessment by Radial Artery Palpation: A Pilot Study

Pulse assessment is an essential component of an individual’s health state. Assessment of a pulse by palpation is the most commonly used technique. A patient’s pulse rate informs healthcare workers of the status of a variety of body systems, including cardiac, neurologic, and endocrine functions. Despite the widespread and frequent use of pulse assessment, current methods for counting a pulse lack strong supporting evidence. Additionally, published research on accuracy of pulse palpation used only young, healthy participants without arrhythmias or cardiac problems, limiting generalizability to the broader population who contain those variables. The purpose of this study is to determine if the pulse assessment count should begin with “zero” or “one,” and to examine the length of time the pulse should be counted for (i.e., 15, 30, or 60 seconds), to ensure accuracy. The researchers found that beginning the pulse count with “zero” and counting for 15 seconds or 30 seconds and multiplying as necessary to achieve beats per minute was the most accurate. The researchers also support Stankute’s (2022) finding that counting for a full 60 seconds is not the most accurate. These findings can be used to inform healthcare providers of the most accurate and reliable methods to assess pulse rate and serve as a building block for additional studies on pulse counting

Transposon Mutagenesis Identification of Polymicrobial Interaction Mechanisms Between Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Microorganisms

Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria change in response to selective pressures induced by antibiotics, which has become a major concern worldwide and one of the biggest threats to global health. Antibiotic resistance can occur naturally, but the misuse and overuse of antibiotics is accelerating the process. One way to combat this process is to understand the different relationships between microbes, also known as polymicrobial interactions. Bacteria can interact with one another synergistically or antagonistically and understanding the mechanisms behind these interactions can lead to the discovery of new therapeutics or targets to fight and kill pathogenic microbes. The rarely pathogenic Gram-negative bacterium, Alcaligenes faecalis, has previously been shown in our lab as playing an important role in potentially fighting antibiotic and antifungal resistance due to its competitiveness during polymicrobial interaction. Our research has found that A. faecalis kills Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans. This is a unique characteristic as these targets encompass both prokaryotic (bacteria) and eukaryotic (fungi) microbes. These three species are known to cause numerous infections in humans and have increased cases of antibiotic and antifungal resistance. In the present study, we investigated the genetic elements A. faecalis utilizes to inhibit growth when interacting with B. cereus, S. aureus, and C. albicans. Transposon mutagenesis was performed to create a genetic library of A. faecalis loss-of-function mutants. These strains were then screened against all three microorganisms to determine which mutants no longer inhibited growth. The mutants that lacked zones-of-inhibition were sequenced to determine the gene that had been interrupted. BLAST analysis of these sequences identified a MFS transporter, a 2FE-2S iron sulfur binding protein, a mechanosensitive ion channel, and a glucose-6-phosphate isomerase as instrumental in this inhibitory mechanism. Results from this research study can be used to further study polymicrobial interactions and potentially discover new therapeutics to combat antimicrobial resistance

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder