Acoustic neuroma surgery and delayed facial palsy

Delayed onset of facial palsy is possibly an underestimated but distressing complication of acoustic neuroma surgery. The incidence of this complication reported in the literature has varied from 11.7 to 41%. This study reviewed retrospectively 60 primary acoustic neuroma surgeries performed by a single neurotologist. The dee-layed onset of facial dysfunction was defined according to the guidelines described by of Lalwani Butt, Jackler, Pitts and Jingling in 1995. They considered either a deterioration of facial function from normal to abnormal or an increased severity of the degree of facial paralysis, which was grouped using the House-Brackmann scale system. Fifteen of the 60 patients (25%) were found to have a deterioration of facial function. The incidence of delayed facial palsy was not influenced by age, sex or tumor size. The majority of the patients had a favorable prognosis. Only three patients had a grade III-IV facial function at 1 year. It is possible that these latter cases might have benefited from intraoperative meatal facial nerve decompression, as advocated by Sargent, Kartush and Graham

Towards a More Sustainable Photocatalyzed α-Arylation of Amines: Green Solvents, Catalyst Recycling and Low Loading

A more sustainable and efficient protocol for the photocatalytic α-amino arylation promoted by fac-Ir(ppy)3 was developed. Three noteworthy results were achieved: i) the replacement of toxic medium DMA with the greener solvents NBP and NHP, and the concurrent improvement of the process efficiency by lowering both the amine and the base amount; ii) the development of a recycling protocol for both the sustainable solvent NHP and the commercially available costly photocatalyst fac-Ir(ppy)3, achieving environmental and economic benefits. This approach to the photocatalyst recovery avoids very demanding catalyst structural modifications; iii) the protocol in green solvents proved to be scalable up to 10 mmol of limiting reagent, maintaining excellent performance also lowering the photocatalyst loading down to 0.05 mol%. This is the first example of photocatalytic α-arylation of amines promoted by such a low amount of catalyst. Lastly, the versatility of this approach was demonstrated by extending the use of the green solvent NBP to another photoredox process

Participation in One Health Networks and Involvement in the COVID-19 Pandemic Response: A Global Study

The COVID-19 pandemic exemplifies a One Health issue at the intersection of human, animal, and environmental health that requires collaboration across sectors to manage it successfully. The global One Health community includes professionals working in many different fields including human medicine, veterinary medicine, public health, ecosystem health, and, increasingly, social sciences. The aims of this cross-sectional study were to describe the involvement of the global One Health community in COVID-19 pandemic response activities. One Health networks (OHNs) have formed globally to serve professionals with common interests in collaborative approaches. We assessed the potential association between being part of an OHN and involvement in COVID-19 response activities. Data were collected in July-August 2020 using an online questionnaire that addressed work characteristics, perceived connection to OHNs, involvement in COVID-19 pandemic response activities, and barriers and facilitators to the involvement. The sample included 1,050 respondents from 94 countries across a range of organizations and work sectors including, but not restricted to, those typically associated with a One Health approach. Sixty-four percent of survey respondents indicated involvement in pandemic response activities. Being part of an OHN was positively associated with being involved in the COVID-19 response (odds ratio: 1.8, 95% confidence interval: 1.3–2.4). Lack of opportunities was a commonly reported barrier to involvement globally, with lack of funding the largest barrier in the WHO African region. This insight into diverse workforce involvement in the pandemic helps fill a gap in the global health workforce and public health education literature. An expanded understanding of the perceived roles and value of OHNs can inform targeted interventions to improve public health education and workforce capacity to prepare for and respond to public health emergencies

Global Study: Participation in One Health Networks and Involvement in COVID-19 Response Activities

PURPOSE: This global study examined whether being part of a One Health Network (OHN) was associated with being involved in COVID-19 response activities at the early stages of the pandemic. Barriers to workforce involvement in the pandemic response and the perceived value of OHN activities were studied to inform future targeted evidence-based strategies for workforce capacity-building. METHODS & MATERIALS: We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study, using an online questionnaire that was globally distributed in July-August 2020. With a snowball sampling approach via OHN listservs, social media, and further sharing, we aimed to reach individuals in the global health workforce across locations, organizations, and sectors to survey their participation in OHN activities and involvement in COVID-19 response. RESULTS: The sample included 1050 respondents from various types of organizations and work sectors, from 94 countries across all WHO regions. Being part of an OHN was positively associated with involvement in the COVID-19 response (odds ratio: 1.8, 95% confidence interval: 1.3 - 2.4). The OHN activities most indicated as useful during COVID-19 pandemic by the survey respondents included 'increased public awareness of One Health' and 'networking with professionals across sectors with common interests'. Overall, 44% of survey respondents who were part of an OHN found OHN activities very or extremely helpful to their COVID-19 response. Lack of opportunities was a commonly reported barrier to involvement in COVID-19 response globally, and lack of funding was a barrier particularly in the WHO Africa region. CONCLUSION: This study provides a snapshot of the multisectoral response to COVID-19 and an assessment of the contribution of OHNs. The lessons learned during this pandemic can be used to identify measures to improve global health capacity, including OHN activities to build and strengthen workforce response to future global health challenges

Vitamin e-loaded membrane dialyzers reduce hemodialysis inflammaging

Background Inflammaging is a persistent, low-grade, sterile, nonresolving inflammatory state, associated with the senescence of the immune system. Such condition downregulates both innate and adaptive immune responses during chronic disorders as type II diabetes, cancer and hemodialysis, accounting for their susceptibility to infections, malignancy and resistance to vaccination. Aim of this study was to investigate hemodialysis inflammaging, by evaluating changes of several hemodialysis treatments on indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-1 activity and nitric oxide formation. Methods We conducted a randomized controlled observational crossover trial. Eighteen hemodialysis patients were treated with 3 different hemodialysis procedures respectively: 1) Low-flux bicarbonate hemodialysis, 2) Low-flux bicarbonate hemodialysis with vitamin E - loaded dialyzers, and 3) Hemodialfitration. The control group consisted of 14 hospital staff healthy volunteers. Blood samples were collected from all 18 hemodialysis patients just after the long interdialytic interval, at the end of each hemodialysis treatment period. Results Hemodialysis kynurenine and kynurenine/L - tryptophan blood ratio levels were significantly higher, when compared to the control group, indicating an increased indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-1 activity in hemodialysis patients. At the end of the low-flux bicarbonate hemodialysis with vitamin E - loaded dialyzers period, L - tryptophan serum levels remained unchanged vs both low-flux bicarbonate hemodialysis and hemodialfitration. Kynurenine levels instead decreased, resulting in a significant reduction of kynurenine/L - tryptophan blood ratio and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-1 activity, when matched to both low-flux bicarbonate hemodialysis and HDF respectively. Serum nitric oxide control group levels, were significantly lower when compared to all hemodialysis patient groups. Interestingly, low-flux bicarbonate hemodialysis with vitamin E - loaded dialyzers nitric oxide serum levels from venous line blood samples taken 60 min after starting the hemodialysis session were significantly lower vs serum taken simultaneously from the arterial blood line. Conclusions The treatment with more biocompatible hemodialysis procedure as low-flux bicarbonate hemodialysis with vitamin E - loaded dialyzers, reduced indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-1 activity and nitric oxide formation when compared to both low-flux bicarbonate hemodialysis and hemodialfitration. These data suggest that low-flux bicarbonate hemodialysis with vitamin E - loaded dialyzers lowering hemodialysis inflammaging, could be associated to changes of proinflammatory signalling a regulated molecular level

Capillary barriers during rainfall events in pyroclastic deposits of the vesuvian area

In the present paper, the capillary barrier formation at the interface between soil layers, which is characterized by textural discontinuities, has been analyzed. This mechanism has been investigated by means of a finite element model of a two-layer soil stratification. The two considered formations, belonging to the pyroclastic succession of the “Pomici di Base” Plinian eruption (22 ka, Santacroce et al., 2008) of the Somma–Vesuvius volcano, are affected by shallow instability phenomena likely caused by progressive saturation during the rainfall events. This mechanism could be compatible with the formation of capillary barriers at the interface between layers of different grain size distributions during infiltration. One-dimensional infiltration into the stratified soil was parametrically simulated considering rainfall events of increasing intensity and duration. The variations in the suction and degree of saturation over time allowed for the evaluation of stability variations in the layers, which were assumed as part of stratified unsaturated infinite slopes

Quantitative determination of free D-Asp, L-Asp and N-methyl-D-aspartate in mouse brain tissues by chiral separation and Multiple Reaction Monitoring tandem mass spectrometry

Several studies have suggested that free D-Asp has a crucial role in N-methyl D-Asp receptor-mediated neurotransmission playing very important functions in physiological and pathological processes. This paper describes the development of an analytical procedure for the direct and simultaneous determination of free D-Asp, L-Asp and N-methyl D-Asp in specimens of different mouse brain tissues using chiral LC-MS/MS in Multiple Reaction Monitoring scan mode. After comparing three procedures and different buffers and extraction solvents, a simple preparation procedure was selected the analytes of extraction. The method was validated by analyzing L-Asp, D-Asp and N-methyl D-Asp recovery at different spiked concentrations (50, 100 and 200 pg/μl) yielding satisfactory recoveries (75-110%), and good repeatability. Limits of detection (LOD) resulted to be 0.52 pg/μl for D-Asp, 0.46 pg/μl for L-Asp and 0.54 pg/μl for NMDA, respectively. Limits of quantification (LOQ) were 1.57 pg/μl for D-Asp, 1.41 pg/μl for L-Asp and 1.64 pg/μl for NMDA, respectively. Different concentration levels were used for constructing the calibration curves which showed good linearity. The validated method was then successfully applied to the simultaneous detection of D-Asp, L-Asp and NMDA in mouse brain tissues. The concurrent, sensitive, fast, and reproducible measurement of these metabolites in brain tissues will be useful to correlate the amount of free D-Asp with relevant neurological processes, making the LC-MS/MS MRM method well suited, not only for research work but also for clinical analyses

Lo studio delle deformazioni del suolo nell'area di Bojano nel periodo 2004-2006

In questa nota sono riportati i risultati ottenuti da indagini geodetiche effettuate nell’area del Sannio-Matese nell’ambito di una Convenzione triennale perfezionata tra l’Assessorato ai Lavori Pubblici della Regione Molise e l’INGV-OV, rivolta all’individuazione di eventuali fenomeni deformativi del suolo in atto nel comune di Bojano (CB). Lo studio, condotto nel periodo 2004-2006, ha visto la progettazione di una rete geodetica nell’area del Comune di Bojano, avente come riferimento il Cs 104 della Linea 80 IGMI corrispondente al Cs LBO/AIGM in Carta, e la materializzazione di vertici GPS, caposaldi di livellazione e l’installazione di Dry Tilt. Le misure di livellazione sull’intera rete, relative al caposaldo di riferimento, hanno evidenziato un generale trend in subsidenza nel bacino di Bojano connesso, con buona probabilità, alle oscillazioni stagionali della falda. I risultati dellemisure sui vertici della rete GPS sono in buon accordo con quelli ottenuti dalle misure di livellazione, evidenziando un trend in subsidenza nella piana di Bojano e nell’area delle sorgenti del Biferno. Le stime dell’inclinazione del suolo ottenute attraverso l’applicazione della tecnica dei dry-tilt hanno delineato un quadro deformativo relativo alla zona cittadina di Bojano consistente in una inclinazione del suolo nel quadrante ENE

Describing selected populations of the rice black bugs in the Philippines using Correlation Analysis Based on Distances (CORIANDIS)

Morphological shape variations of biological structures have been considered an important factor that affects the survival pattern of an organism. This study focuses to gain information on intraspecific variation among different populations of the rice black bugs (RBBs) using Correlation Analysis Based on Distances (CORIANDIS) from the generated relative warp scores of landmark-based geometric morphometrics. Results revealed that the shapes of genital plates have largely contributed a high observable disparity in all morphological characters. The shapes of the head and forewings also contributed noticeable variations while minimal variances were observed in the shapes of the scutellum and pronotum, respectively. The species/group projected plot among populations are clustered together except Bohol and Leyte populations which show a departure from other populations based from the centroid in the compromise space. The quality of the compromise is 52.99% for males and 51.40% for females. It was noticeable that the trait variance is unproportioned to the area occupied by datasets indicating population differentiation from other populations. These results indicate that geographic variations among populations of RBBs were contributed by high species’ divergence of the combined characters. This study suggests that CORIANDIS is a useful tool in describing population variability as this has the capacity to integrate all available morphological characters of populations to be able to visualize the underlying relationships among populations

Geminate and nongeminate recombination of triplet excitons formed by singlet fission.

We report the simultaneous observation of geminate and nongeminate triplet-triplet annihilation in a solution-processable small molecule TIPS-tetracene undergoing singlet exciton fission. Using optically detected magnetic resonance, we identify recombination of triplet pairs directly following singlet fission, as well as recombination of triplet excitons undergoing bimolecular triplet-triplet annihilation. We show that the two processes give rise to distinct magnetic resonance spectra, and estimate the interaction between geminate triplet excitons to be 60 neV.EPSRC [grant no. EP/J017361/1 and EP/G060738/1]. E. Oppenheimer Foundation and St. Catherine's College, Cambridge. NSF [CMMI- 1255494].This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available at http://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.238701