Transvenous right ventricular pacing in a patient with tricuspid mechanical prosthesis

We report a patient in whom permanent endocardial pacing was accomplished by passage of the electrode through a mechanical tricuspid valve. Echocardiography study showed a minimal tricuspid regurgitation

Anxiety Mediates Perceived Discrimination and Health in African-American Women

We examined the mediational role of symptoms of anxiety in accounting for the association of discrimination and chronic health conditions among African-American women. Methods: Participants were 646 African-American women who completed self-report measures of perceived racial discrimination, symptoms of anxiety, and diagnosed chronic health problems. Results: We examined the mediation hypothesis using a path analytic procedure. Mediational analyses indicated that, above and beyond symptoms of depression, age, and education status, anxiety symptoms were associated with both racial discrimination (β = .03, SE = .01, p \u3c .001) and chronic health problems (β = .33, SE = .09, p \u3c .001) and significantly mediated the discrimination-health association (β = -.01, SE = .01, p = .16). Conclusions: These findings highlight the potentially vital role of symptoms of anxiety in the process that occurs from an individual\u27s perception of discrimination to reported chronic health outcomes. Future research expanding our understanding of the interconnection of psychosocial stressors, discrimination, and their biological sequelae is needed

MHCII-mediated dialog between group 2 innate lymphoid cells and CD4+ T cells potentiates type 2 immunity and promotes parasitic helminth expulsion

Group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) release interleukin-13 (IL-13) during protective immunity to helminth infection and detrimentally during allergy and asthma. Using two mouse models to deplete ILC2s in vivo, we demonstrate that T helper 2 (Th2) cell responses are impaired in the absence of ILC2s. We show that MHCII-expressing ILC2s interact with antigen-specific T cells to instigate a dialog in which IL-2 production from T cells promotes ILC2 proliferation and IL-13 production. Deletion of MHCII renders IL-13-expressing ILC2s incapable of efficiently inducing Nippostrongylus brasiliensis expulsion. Thus, during transition to adaptive T cell-mediated immunity, the ILC2 and T cell crosstalk contributes to their mutual maintenance, expansion and cytokine production. This interaction appears to augment dendritic-cell-induced T cell activation and identifies a previously unappreciated pathway in the regulation of type-2 immunity

Controls on the composition and lability of dissolved organic matter in Siberia's Kolyma River basin

High-latitude northern rivers export globally significant quantities of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to the Arctic Ocean. Climate change, and its associated impacts on hydrology and potential mobilization of ancient organic matter from permafrost, is likely to modify the flux, composition, and thus biogeochemical cycling and fate of exported DOC in the Arctic. This study examined DOC concentration and the composition of dissolved organic matter (DOM) across the hydrograph in Siberia's Kolyma River, with a particular focus on the spring freshet period when the majority of the annual DOC load is exported. The composition of DOM within the Kolyma basin was characterized using absorbance-derived measurements (absorbance coefficienta330, specific UV absorbance (SUVA254), and spectral slope ratio SR) and fluorescence spectroscopy (fluorescence index and excitation-emission matrices (EEMs)), including parallel factor analyses of EEMs. Increased surface runoff during the spring freshet led to DOM optical properties indicative of terrestrial soil inputs with high humic-like fluorescence, SUVA254, and low SRand fluorescence index (FI). Under-ice waters, in contrast, displayed opposing trends in optical properties representing less aromatic, lower molecular weight DOM. We demonstrate that substantial losses of DOC can occur via biological (∼30% over 28 days) and photochemical pathways (>29% over 14 days), particularly in samples collected during the spring freshet. The emerging view is therefore that of a more dynamic and labile carbon pool than previously thought, where DOM composition plays a fundamental role in controlling the fate and removal of DOC at a pan-Arctic scale

Jet Substructure at the Tevatron and LHC: New results, new tools, new benchmarks

In this report we review recent theoretical progress and the latest experimental results in jet substructure from the Tevatron and the LHC. We review the status of and outlook for calculation and simulation tools for studying jet substructure. Following up on the report of the Boost 2010 workshop, we present a new set of benchmark comparisons of substructure techniques, focusing on the set of variables and grooming methods that are collectively known as "top taggers". To facilitate further exploration, we have attempted to collect, harmonise, and publish software implementations of these techniques.Comment: 53 pages, 17 figures. L. Asquith, S. Rappoccio, C. K. Vermilion, editors; v2: minor edits from journal revision

Inactivation of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex Interferes with the Expression But Not the Acquisition of Differential Fear Conditioning in Rats

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has been implicated in the processing of emotionally significant stimuli, particularly the inhibition of inappropriate responses. We examined the role of the mPFC in regulation of fear responses using a differential fear conditioning procedure in which the excitatory conditioned stimulus (CS+) was paired with an aversive footshock and intermixed with the inhibitory conditioned stimulus (CS-). In the first experiment, using rats as subjects, muscimol, a gamma-amino-butyric acid type A (GABAA) receptor agonist, or artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF) was infused intracranially into the mPFC across three conditioning sessions. Twenty-four hours after the last conditioning session, freezing response of the rats was tested in a drug-free state. Neither the muscimol nor the aCSF infusion had any effect on differential responding. In the second experiment, the same experimental procedure was used except that the infusion was made before the testing session rather than the conditioning sessions. The results showed that muscimol infusion impaired differential responding: the level of freezing to CS- was indiscriminable from that to CS+. Taken together, these results suggest that the mPFC is responsible for the regulation of fear response by inhibiting inappropriate fear expressions

Individual Tree Data Standard

It is estimated that 40 million trees in the UK have been surveyed and the data stored in local authority databases. Data for just 1.1 million of these trees are included in the UK’s and world’s largest open-access tree database, Treezilla (https://treezilla.org/). Tree surveys are carried out for different purposes and often to different specifications. Many tree data collection protocols and methods overlap in their recommendations but differences between them make it difficult or impossible to compare, combine, or reuse data. To address these problems in 2019 the COMMUNITREE project partners drafted a new data standard for surveys of individual trees. The steps taken to develop the data standard are described in detail here: https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/research/quantification-and-valuation-of-benefits-provided-by-urban-trees/individual-tree-data-standard/ . Standardised tree data collection and recording will enable people to easily share their data so that a single dataset can be recycled for many purposes. The Individual Tree Data Standard is a partnership between Forest Research, The Open University, Treework Environmental Practice, Natural Apptitude and was funded by Innovate UK and the Geospatial Commission

Predictors of patient satisfaction with hospital health care

BACKGROUND: We used a validated inpatient satisfaction questionnaire to evaluate the health care received by patients admitted to several hospitals. This questionnaire was factored into distinct domains, creating a score for each to assist in the analysis. We evaluated possible predictors of patient satisfaction in relation to socio-demographic variables, history of admission, and survey logistics. METHODS: Cross-sectional study of patients discharged from four acute care general hospitals. Random sample of 650 discharged patients from the medical and surgical wards of each hospital during February and March 2002. A total of 1,910 patients responded to the questionnaire (73.5%). Patient satisfaction was measured by a validated questionnaire with six domains: information, human care, comfort, visiting, intimacy, and cleanliness. Each domain was scored from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating higher levels of patient satisfaction. RESULTS: In the univariate analysis, age was related to all domains except visiting; gender to comfort, visiting, and intimacy; level of education to comfort and cleanliness; marital status to information, human care, intimacy, and cleanliness; length of hospital stay to visiting and cleanliness, and previous admissions to human care, comfort, and cleanliness. The timing of the response to the mailing and who completed the questionnaire were related to all variables except visiting and cleanliness. Multivariate analysis confirmed in most cases the previous findings and added additional correlations for level of education (visiting and intimacy) and marital status (comfort and visiting). CONCLUSION: These results confirm the varying importance of some socio-demographic variables and length of stay, previous admission, the timing of response to the questionnaire, and who completed the questionnaire on some aspects of patient satisfaction after hospitalization. All these variables should be considered when evaluating patient satisfaction

TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives