Change in environmental barriers experienced over a 5-year period by people living with spinal cord injury in Switzerland:a prospective cohort study

STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study with two measurement occasions. OBJECTIVES: To investigate change in environmental barriers experienced by people living with spinal cord injury (SCI) over a 5-year period. SETTING: Community, Switzerland. METHODS: Data were from the Swiss spinal cord injury (SwiSCI) survey. Main outcome measure was the Nottwil Environmental Factors Inventory-Short Form. Random-effects Poisson regression featuring between-within estimation was used to examine predictors of the number of environmental barriers and of its change over time. RESULTS: One thousand five hundred and forty-nine persons participated in Survey 2012 and 1530 participated in Survey 2017; 761 participated in both surveys. In both surveys most participants reported at least three barriers. Leading issues were unfavorable climate, inaccessibility of buildings and public spaces, and lack of or insufficiently adapted means of transportation. Reporting of barriers related to climate, finances, and state services declined over time. Between subjects, having more health problems, lesser physical independence, poorer mental health, and a lower household income were related to a higher number of barriers experienced. Within subjects, improvements in income, physical independence, and mental health over time were related to a reduction in barriers. CONCLUSIONS: Inaccessibility of buildings and places and problems with transportation remained major barriers over a 5-year period and should be priorities of Swiss disability policy. People with reduced mental and physical health, and those with lower income are vulnerable groups deserving specific attention. Policies targeting income and life-long rehabilitation targeting health promotion and maintenance may be suitable means to reduce the experience of environmental barriers

Benchmarking conventional and machine learning segmentation techniques for digital rock physics analysis of fractured rocks

Image segmentation remains the most critical step in Digital Rock Physics (DRP) workflows, affecting the analysis of physical rock properties. Conventional segmentation techniques struggle with numerous image artifacts and user bias, which lead to considerable uncertainty. This study evaluates the advantages of using the random forest (RF) algorithm for the segmentation of fractured rocks. The segmentation quality is discussed and compared with two conventional image processing methods (thresholding-based and watershed algorithm) and an encoder–decoder network in the form of convolutional neural networks (CNNs). The segmented images of the RF method were used as the ground truth for CNN training. The images of two fractured rock samples are acquired by X-ray computed tomography scanning (XCT). The skeletonized 3D images are calculated, providing information about the mean mechanical aperture and roughness. The porosity, permeability, flow fields, and preferred flow paths of segmented images are analyzed by the DRP approach. Moreover, the breakthrough curves obtained from tracer injection experiments are used as ground truth to evaluate the segmentation quality of each method. The results show that the conventional methods overestimate the fracture aperture. Both machine learning approaches show promising segmentation results and handle all artifacts and complexities without any prior CT-image filtering. However, the RF implementation has superior inherent advantages over CNN. This method is resource-saving (e.g., quickly trained), does not need an extensive training dataset, and can provide the segmentation uncertainty as a measure for evaluating the segmentation quality. The considerable variation in computed rock properties highlights the importance of choosing an appropriate segmentation method

Upscaling calcite dissolution rates in a tight reservoir sandstone

Calcite is a highly abundant mineral in the Earth’s crust and occurs as a cement phase in numerous siliciclastic sediments, where it often represents the most reactive component when a fluid percolates through the rock. Hence, the objective of this study is to derive calcite dissolution rates on different scales in a reservoir sandstone using mineral surface experiments combined with vertical scanning interferometry (VSI) and two types of core plug experiments. The 3D geometry of the calcite cement phase inside the rock cores was characterized by X-ray micro-computed tomography (µXCT) and was used to attempt dissolution rate upscaling from the mineral surface to the core scale. Initially (without upscaling), our comparison of the far-from-equilibrium dissolution rates at the mineral surface (µm-mm-scale, low fluid residence time) and the surface normalized dissolution rates obtained from the core experiments (cm-scale, high fluid residence time) revealed differences of 0.5–2 orders of magnitude. The µXCT geometric surface area connected to the open pore space (GSA$_{Cc,open}$) considers the fluid accessibility of the heterogeneously distributed calcite cement that can largely vary between individual samples, but greatly affects the effective dissolution rates. Using this parameter to upscale the rates from the µm- to the cm-scale, the deviation of the upscaled total dissolution rates from the measured total dissolution rates was less than one order of magnitude for all investigated rock cores. Thus, GSA$_{Cc,open}$ showed to be reasonably suitable for upscaling the mineral surface rates to the core scale

A Drosophila melanogaster model for TMEM43-related arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy type 5

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is a severe cardiac disease that leads to heart failure or sudden cardiac death (SCD). For the pathogenesis of ARVC, various mutations in at least eight different genes have been identified. A rare form of ARVC is associated with the mutation TMEM43 p.S358L, which is a fully penetrant variant in male carriers. TMEM43 p.S358 is homologous to CG8111 p.S333 in Drosophila melanogaster. We established CRISPR/Cas9-mediated CG8111 knock-out mutants in Drosophila, as well as transgenic fly lines carrying an overexpression construct of the CG8111 p.S333L substitution. Knock-out flies developed normally, whereas the overexpression of CG8111 p.S333L caused growth defects, loss of body weight, cardiac arrhythmias, and premature death. An evaluation of a series of model mutants that replaced S333 by selected amino acids proved that the conserved serine is critical for the physiological function of CG8111. Metabolomic and proteomic analyses revealed that the S333 in CG8111 is essential to proper energy homeostasis and lipid metabolism in the fly. Of note, metabolic impairments were also found in the murine Tmem43 disease model, and fibrofatty replacement is a hallmark of human ARVC5. These findings contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the molecular functions of CG8111 in Drosophila, and can represent a valuable basis to assess the aetiology of the human TMEM43 p.S358L variant in more detail. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00018-022-04458-0

Про один підхід до ідентифікації особи за контуром профілю носа

У статті розглядається підхід для ідентифікації особи за контуром профілю носа. Для знаходження простору ознак пропонується використовувати апроксимацію за допомогою B-сплайнів. Алгоритмічна реалізація підходу використовує моделювання структури бази даних у вигляді n- вимірного куба.В статье рассматривается подход для идентификации личности по контуру носа. Для нахождения пространства признаков предлагается использовать аппроксимацию с помощью B-сплайнов. Алгоритмическая реализация подхода использует моделирование структуры базы данных в виде n-мерного куба.An approach of human identification by the nose contour profile is researched in the paper. B-splines approximation is suggested for determining the feature space. Algorithmic implementation of the approach uses database structure in the form of n-dimensional cube

Employment Among People With Spinal Cord Injury in 22 Countries Across the World:Results From the International Spinal Cord Injury Community Survey

Objectives: To describe the employment situation of individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) in 22 countries participating in the International Spinal Cord Injury community survey, to compare observed and predicted employment rates, to estimate gaps in employment rates among people with SCI compared with the general population, and to study differences in employment between men and women. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Setting: Community. Participants: People of employable age (N=9875; 18-64 y) with traumatic or non-traumatic SCI (including cauda equina syndrome) who were at least 18 years of age at the time of the survey, living in the community, and able to respond to one of the available language versions of the questionnaire. Interventions: Not applicable Main Outcome Measures: The observed employment rate was defined as performing paid work for at least 1 hour a week, and predicted employment rate was adjusted for sample composition from mixed logistic regression analysis. Results: A total of 9875 participants were included (165-1174 per country). Considerable differences in sample composition were found. The observed worldwide employment rate was 38%. A wide variation was found across countries, ranging from 10.3% to 61.4%. Some countries showed substantially higher or lower employment rates than predicted based on the composition of their sample. Gaps between the observed employment rates among participants with SCI and the general population ranged from 14.8% to 54.8%. On average, employment rates were slightly higher among men compared with women, but with large variation across countries. Employment gaps, however, were smaller among women for most countries. Conclusions: This first worldwide survey among people with SCI shows an average employment rate of 38%. Differences between observed and predicted employment rates across countries point at country-specific factors that warrant further investigation. Gaps with employment rates in the general population were considerable and call for actions for more inclusive labor market policies in most of the countries investigated. (C) 2020 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicin

Novel method for high-throughput colony PCR screening in nanoliter-reactors

We introduce a technology for the rapid identification and sequencing of conserved DNA elements employing a novel suspension array based on nanoliter (nl)-reactors made from alginate. The reactors have a volume of 35 nl and serve as reaction compartments during monoseptic growth of microbial library clones, colony lysis, thermocycling and screening for sequence motifs via semi-quantitative fluorescence analyses. nl-Reactors were kept in suspension during all high-throughput steps which allowed performing the protocol in a highly space-effective fashion and at negligible expenses of consumables and reagents. As a first application, 11 high-quality microsatellites for polymorphism studies in cassava were isolated and sequenced out of a library of 20 000 clones in 2 days. The technology is widely scalable and we envision that throughputs for nl-reactor based screenings can be increased up to 100 000 and more samples per day thereby efficiently complementing protocols based on established deep-sequencing technologie

Work stress and quality of life in persons with disabilities from four European countries: the case of spinal cord injury

Background: Evidence on the adverse effects of work stress on quality of life (QoL) is largely derived from general populations, while respective information is lacking for people with disabilities. We investigated associations between work stress and QoL and the potentially moderating role of socioeconomic circumstances in employed persons with spinal cord injury (SCI). Methods: Cross-sectional data from 386 employed men and women with SCI (≥18 work h/week) from the Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway were analyzed. Work stress was assessed with the ‘effort-reward imbalance' (ERI) model and the control component of the ‘demand/control' model. QoL was operationalized with five WHOQoL BREF items. Socioeconomic circumstances were measured by years of formal education and perception of financial hardship. We applied ordinal and linear regressions to predict QoL and introduced interaction terms to assess a potential moderation of socioeconomic circumstances. Results: Multivariate analyses showed consistent associations between increased ERI and decreased overall QoL (coefficient −1.55, p<0.001), domain-specific life satisfaction (health −1.32, p<0.001; activities of daily living −1.28, p<0.001; relationships −0.84, p=0.004; living conditions −1.05, p<0.001), and the QoL sum score (−2.40, p<0.001). Low job control was linked to decreased general QoL (0.13, p=0.015), satisfaction with relationships (0.15, p=0.004), and QoL sum score (0.15, p=0.029). None of the tested interaction terms were significant. Conclusion: ERI was consistently related to all indicators of QoL, while associations with job control were less consistent. Our results do not support the notion that unfavorable socioeconomic circumstances moderate the association between work stress and QoL among persons with SCI

Participation and integration from the perspective of persons with spinal cord injury from five European countries

Objective: To examine the subjective understanding of participation and integration of persons with spinal cord injuries from 5 European countries and to compare these findings with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)'s conceptualization of participation. Methods: Semi-structured interviews with 54 persons with acquired spinal cord injuries and 3 with spina bifida from 5 countries were examined using qualitative content analysis. Results: Integration was most often associated with social acceptance and, furthermore, with ordinary performance, equality and freedom of choice. Participation was most often described as ordinary performance, with less emphasis on social acceptance and equality. However, participation and integration overlapped in people's narratives and were difficult to separate. The perception of participation and integration was largely similar across countries. In contrast to others, however, Finnish interviewees were more likely to associate participation with contributing to society. A variety of life domains was identified, of which recreation and leisure, work life, sports and going out were the most prevalent. Conclusion: While participation domains are well covered by the ICF, as is the notion of ordinary performance, interviewees also referred to a rights (e.g. acceptance) and duties (e.g. contribution) perspective

Perceived impact of environmental barriers on participation among people living with spinal cord injury in Switzerland

Objective: To describe the impact of environmental barriers perceived by people living with spinal cord injury in the Swiss community and to compare this across subpopulations. Design: Cross-sectional study. Subjects: A total of 1,549 participants in the community survey of the Swiss spinal cord injury Cohort study. Methods: The perceived impact of environmental barriers on participation was measured with the Nottwil Environmental Factors Inventory Short Form (NEFI-SF). Physical independence was measured with the Spinal Cord Independence Measure Self Report (SCIM-SR). Perceived barriers were compared across people with different demographic and lesion characteristics. Multivariable regression modelling applying fractional polynomials was used to evaluate the overall perceived impact of barriers in relation to demographics, spinal cord injury characteristics, and physical independence. Results: Most perceived barriers were climatic conditions and inaccessibility of public and private infrastructure. Older participants, those with longer time since injury and participants with complete lesions indicated more problems with access. Females reported more attitudinal barriers. Approximately one-third of participants with complete tetraplegia reported obstacles related to assistance with personal care. A higher level of physical independence was associated with fewer perceived barriers. Conclusion: Despite living in a rich country with a well-developed social security system, many people with spinal cord injury in Switzerland experience participation restrictions due to environmental barriers; in particular women, people with non-traumatic spinal cord injury and limited physical independence