Bias-free photoelectrochemical water splitting with photosystem II on a dye-sensitized photoanode wired to hydrogenase

Natural photosynthesis stores sunlight in chemical energy carriers, but it has not evolved for the efficient synthesis of fuels, such as H2. Semi-artificial photosynthesis combines the strengths of natural photosynthesis with synthetic chemistry and materials science to develop model systems that overcome Nature’s limitations, such as low-yielding metabolic pathways and non-complementary light absorption by Photosystem (PS) I and II. Here, we report a bias-free semi-artificial tandem platform that wires PSII to hydrogenase for overall water splitting. This photoelectrochemical cell integrated the red and blue light-absorber PSII with a green light-absorbing diketopyrrolopyrrole dye-sensitised TiO2 photoanode enabling complementary panchromatic solar light absorption. Effective electronic communication at the enzyme-material interface was engineered using an Os complex-modified redox polymer on a hierarchically-structured TiO2. This system provides a design protocol for bias-free semi-artificial Z-schemes in vitro and provides an extended toolbox of biotic and abiotic components to re-engineer photosynthetic pathways.ERC Consolidator Grant, EPSRC (nanoDTC, DTA studentship), Christian Doppler Research Association, OMV Group, Royal Society Newton International Fellowship, Cluster of Excellence RESOLV (DFG) and European Unions' Horizon 202

Economics versus Politics: Pitfalls of Policy Advice

The standard approach to policy-making and advice in economics implicitly or explicitly ignores politics and political economy, and maintains that if possible, any market failure should be rapidly removed. This essay explains why this conclusion may be incorrect; because it ignores politics, this approach is oblivious to the impact of the removal of market failures on future political equilibria and economic efficiency, which can be deleterious. We first outline a simple framework for the study of the impact of current economic policies on future political equilibria and indirectly on future economic outcomes. We then illustrate the mechanisms through which such impacts might operate using a series of examples. The main message is that sound economic policy should be based on a careful analysis of political economy and should factor in its influence on future political equilibria

Clinical Outcomes Associated with Changes in a Chronic Disease Treatment Program in an Australian Aboriginal Community

In late 1995, a treatment program for renal disease and hypertension was introduced into a remote Aboriginal community. Over the next 3.5 years, mean blood pressure levels were markedly reduced, renal function stabilised, and rates of both renal and non-renal deaths declined significantly. In 1999-2000, responsibility for the program was passed to the community's local Health Board, which subsequently faced deficiencies in clinical information systems and a shortfall in funding. After the handover, the intensity of the program declined, and compliance with medicines fell. Blood pressures in the treatment cohort increased, renal function deteriorated, and rates of deaths from natural causes subsequently rose. From 2002 to mid-2003, the adjusted risks of renal and non-renal deaths in the treatment cohort were three and 9.5 times the respective risks of people during the first 18 months of treatment in the systematic phase of the program. Sustained vigorous activity, both in treatment of people already identified and in community screening for treatment eligibility, is required to maintain good results in any chronic disease program. Adequate resources and well supported staff are essential, and constant evaluation is needed to follow outcomes and modify strategies as necessary

British Society of Echocardiography guideline for the transthoracic echocardiographic assessment of cardiac amyloidosis

These guidelines form an update of the BSE guideline protocol for the assessment of restrictive cardiomyopathy (Knight et al. in Echo Res Prac, 2013). Since the original recommendations were conceived in 2013, there has been an exponential rise in the diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis fuelled by increased clinician awareness, improvements in cardiovascular imaging as well as the availability of new and effective disease modifying therapies. The initial diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis can be challenging and is often not clear-cut on the basis of echocardiography, which for most patients presenting with heart failure symptoms remains the first-line imaging test. The role of a specialist echocardiographer will be to raise the suspicion of cardiac amyloidosis when appropriate, but the formal diagnosis of amyloid sub-type invariably requires further downstream testing. This document seeks to provide a focused review of the literature on echocardiography in cardiac amyloidosis highlighting its important role in the diagnosis, prognosis and screening of at risk individuals, before concluding with a suggested minimum data set, for use as an aide memoire when reporting

Deep generative modeling for single-cell transcriptomics.

Single-cell transcriptome measurements can reveal unexplored biological diversity, but they suffer from technical noise and bias that must be modeled to account for the resulting uncertainty in downstream analyses. Here we introduce single-cell variational inference (scVI), a ready-to-use scalable framework for the probabilistic representation and analysis of gene expression in single cells ( https://github.com/YosefLab/scVI ). scVI uses stochastic optimization and deep neural networks to aggregate information across similar cells and genes and to approximate the distributions that underlie observed expression values, while accounting for batch effects and limited sensitivity. We used scVI for a range of fundamental analysis tasks including batch correction, visualization, clustering, and differential expression, and achieved high accuracy for each task

Mindfulness for irritable bowel syndrome: protocol development for a controlled clinical trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a functional bowel disorder with symptoms of abdominal pain and disturbed defecation experienced by 10% of U.S. adults, results in significant disability, impaired quality of life, and health-care burden. Conventional medical care focusing on pharmacological approaches, diet, and lifestyle management has been partially effective in controlling symptoms. Behavioral treatments, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy and hypnosis, are promising. This paper describes an on-going feasibility study to assess the efficacy of mindfulness training, a behavioral treatment involving directing and sustaining attention to present-moment experience, for the treatment of IBS.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>The study design involves randomization of adult women with IBS according to Rome II criteria, to either an eight-week mindfulness training group (based on a Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction [MBSR] format) or a previously validated IBS social-support group as an attention-control condition. The primary hypothesis is that, compared to Support Group participants, those in the Mindfulness Program will demonstrate significant improvement in IBS symptoms as measured by the IBS Symptom Severity Scale <abbrgrp><abbr bid="B1">1</abbr></abbrgrp>.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>214 individuals have been screened for eligibility, of whom 148 were eligible for the study. Of those, 87 were enrolled, with 21 withdrawing after having given consent. 66 have completed or are in the process of completing the interventions. It is feasible to undertake a rigorous randomized clinical trial of mindfulness training for people with IBS, using a standardized MBSR protocol adapted for those experiencing IBS, compared to a control social-support group previously utilized in IBS studies.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>Clinical Trials.gov Identifier: NCT00680693</p

Beneficial effects of physical activity in an HIV-infected woman with lipodystrophy: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Lipodystrophy is common in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy, and presents with morphologic changes and metabolic alterations that are associated with depressive behavior and reduced quality of life. We examined the effects of exercise training on morphological changes, lipid profile and quality of life in a woman with human immunodeficiency virus presenting with lipodystrophy.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 31-year-old Latin-American Caucasian woman infected with human immunodeficiency virus participated in a 12-week progressive resistance exercise training program with an aerobic component. Her weight, height, skinfold thickness, body circumferences, femur and humerus diameter, blood lipid profile, maximal oxygen uptake volume, exercise duration, strength and quality of life were assessed pre-exercise and post-exercise training. After 12 weeks, she exhibited reductions in her total subcutaneous fat (18.5%), central subcutaneous fat (21.0%), peripheral subcutaneous fat (10.7%), waist circumference (WC) (4.5%), triglycerides (9.9%), total cholesterol (12.0%) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (8.6%). She had increased body mass (4.6%), body mass index (4.37%), humerus and femur diameter (3.0% and 2.3%, respectively), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (16.7%), maximal oxygen uptake volume (33.3%), exercise duration (37.5%) and strength (65.5%). Quality of life measures improved mainly for psychological and physical measures, independence and social relationships.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These findings suggest that supervised progressive resistance exercise training is a safe and effective treatment for evolving morphologic and metabolic disorders in adults infected with HIV receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy, and improves their quality of life.</p

Radiative Transfer for Exoplanet Atmospheres

Remote sensing of the atmospheres of distant worlds motivates a firm understanding of radiative transfer. In this review, we provide a pedagogical cookbook that describes the principal ingredients needed to perform a radiative transfer calculation and predict the spectrum of an exoplanet atmosphere, including solving the radiative transfer equation, calculating opacities (and chemistry), iterating for radiative equilibrium (or not), and adapting the output of the calculations to the astronomical observations. A review of the state of the art is performed, focusing on selected milestone papers. Outstanding issues, including the need to understand aerosols or clouds and elucidating the assumptions and caveats behind inversion methods, are discussed. A checklist is provided to assist referees/reviewers in their scrutiny of works involving radiative transfer. A table summarizing the methodology employed by past studies is provided.Comment: 7 pages, no figures, 1 table. Filled in missing information in references, main text unchange

Radiographers supporting radiologists in the interpretation of screening mammography: a viable strategy to meet the shortage in the number of radiologists.

BackgroundAn alternative approach to the traditional model of radiologists interpreting screening mammography is necessary due to the shortage of radiologists to interpret screening mammograms in many countries.MethodsWe evaluated the performance of 15 Mexican radiographers, also known as radiologic technologists, in the interpretation of screening mammography after a 6 months training period in a screening setting. Fifteen radiographers received 6 months standardized training with radiologists in the interpretation of screening mammography using the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) system. A challenging test set of 110 cases developed by the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium was used to evaluate their performance. We estimated sensitivity, specificity, false positive rates, likelihood ratio of a positive test (LR+) and the area under the subject-specific Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) for diagnostic accuracy. A mathematical model simulating the consequences in costs and performance of two hypothetical scenarios compared to the status quo in which a radiologist reads all screening mammograms was also performed.ResultsRadiographer's sensitivity was comparable to the sensitivity scores achieved by U.S. radiologists who took the test but their false-positive rate was higher. Median sensitivity was 73.3 % (Interquartile range, IQR: 46.7-86.7 %) and the median false positive rate was 49.5 % (IQR: 34.7-57.9 %). The median LR+ was 1.4 (IQR: 1.3-1.7 %) and the median AUC was 0.6 (IQR: 0.6-0.7). A scenario in which a radiographer reads all mammograms first, and a radiologist reads only those that were difficult for the radiographer, was more cost-effective than a scenario in which either the radiographer or radiologist reads all mammograms.ConclusionsGiven the comparable sensitivity achieved by Mexican radiographers and U.S. radiologists on a test set, screening mammography interpretation by radiographers appears to be a possible adjunct to radiologists in countries with shortages of radiologists. Further studies are required to assess the effectiveness of different training programs in order to obtain acceptable screening accuracy, as well as the best approaches for the use of non-physician readers to interpret screening mammography

Duration and compliance with antidepressant treatment in immigrant and native-born populations in Spain: a four year follow-up descriptive study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Non-compliance with antidepressant treatment continues to be a complex problem in mental health care. In immigrant populations non-compliance is one of several barriers to adequate management of mental illness; some data suggest greater difficulties in adhering to pharmacological treatment in these groups and an increased risk of therapeutic failure.</p> <p>The aim of this study is to assess differences in the duration and compliance with antidepressant treatment among immigrants and natives in a Spanish health region.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Population-based (n=206,603), retrospective cohort study including all subjects prescribed ADT between 2007 and 2009 and recorded in the national pharmacy claims database. Compliance was considered adequate when the duration was longer than 4months and when patients withdrew more than 80% of the packs required.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>5334 subjects (8.5% of them being immigrants) initiated ADT. Half of the immigrants abandoned treatment during the second month (median for natives=3months). Of the immigrants who continued, only 29.5% presented good compliance (compared with 38.8% in natives). The estimated risk of abandoning/ending treatment in the immigrant group compared with the native group, adjusted for age and sex, was 1.28 (95%CI 1.16-1.42).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In the region under study, immigrants of all origins present higher percentages of early discontinuation of ADT and lower median treatment durations than the native population. Although this is a complex, multifactor situation, the finding of differences between natives and immigrants in the same region suggests the need to investigate the causes in greater depth and to introduce new strategies and interventions in this population group.</p