War on the Wards: The collapse of health care infrastructure resulting from violent conflict

Introduction: While utilizing satellite images to verify reports of hospital damage resulting from armed conflict allows for remote assessment, the use of private satellites to gain access to images prohibits widespread use. The questions this study sought to answer were: Is it possible to replicate the findings of previous reports of hospital damage that used the services of private satellite imagery using open source software, such as Google Earth? What variations exist among the different sites where damage to hospitals is visible, and what gradation is possible? Is this methodology applicable to other examples of armed conflict? Methods: Using the map of bombed Syrian hospitals published and maintained by Physicians for Human Rights, hospitals were selected according to their location and the time period of the attack. These coordinates were entered into Google maps and once the attack was verified, a grade of damage was assigned. This methodology was then applied to reports of similar attacks in Iraq. Results: While much information can be gleaned from open source data such as Google Earth, the level of detail in satellite images is lower and coordinates data is less specific. [Further results pending.] Conclusion: There is room for the use of open source satellite technology to track and grade the damage done to health care infrastructure during armed conflict. [More conclusions pending.

Improving maternal and infant health: a quality improvement initiative to recognize postpartum depression in the neonatal intensive care unit.

BACKGROUND: While postpartum depression (PPD) is a significant problem in the postpartum population, emerging literature suggests that PPD is disproportionately concentrated and underdiagnosed among mothers of infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). PURPOSE: The purpose of this project was to institute a PPD screening protocol within a Level III NICU to identify mothers exhibiting signs of distress and initiate social work referrals. METHODS: A quality improvement project implemented utilizing the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) framework and a pre-and-posttest design. INTERVENTION: Staff education regarding PPD symptoms and the project’s protocol occurred via electronic means. Mothers of NICU infants who remained admitted at day of life 14 were screened with the Edinburg Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Mothers scoring greater than or equal to 10 on the EPDS received a social work consult. RESULTS: Compliance with the completion of the pre-and-posttest assessment was 64%. The increased scores of the staff knowledge and perception of PPD assessment reached statistical significance (pr=.093). A weak negative correlation was found between the maximum EPDS score and length of stay (LOS) (r=-.213). Neither correlation reached statistical significance (p=.705, p=.382, respectively). DISCUSSION: High compliance rates within the three arms of the screening protocol demonstrate the feasibility of PPD screening in the NICU. Keywords: postpartum depression, neonatal intensive care unit, NICU, mother, screening, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, referra

Getting the message: The adaptive potential of interpersonal judgments

According to the Social Message Model, interpersonal judgments are transactions in which judges convey important social messages to the individuals they evaluate (the targets); targets can then respond to the judgments in more or less adaptive ways. We argue that judges’ opinions emerge from their current concerns, be it to promote their own well-being, or to foster group cohesion. Targets of judgments can best interpret the meaning of a judgment they receive by understanding the judge’s concerns, competence of the judge, and other qualities of the transaction. We suggest that judges and targets who are better able to reason about the judgment process are likely to change their behaviors more adaptively than people less able to reason in this area

Networked Families

Presents survey results on the use of the Internet and ownership of cell phones and computers, by household type. Examines how technology ownership affects the frequency, form, purpose, and quality of communications among family members and friends

Motorcycle Safety Research Project: Interim Summary Report Research Deliverable 1: Investigate and Develop a Pre-Learner Motorcycle Licensing Package

Motorcycle trauma is a serious road safety issue in Queensland and throughout Australia. In 2009, Queensland Transport (later Transport and Main Roads or TMR) appointed CARRS-Q to provide a three-year program of Road Safety Research Services for Motorcycle Rider Safety. Funding for this research originated from the Motor Accident Insurance Commission. This program of research was undertaken to produce knowledge to assist TMR to improve motorcycle safety by further strengthening the licensing and training system to make learner riders safer by developing a pre-learner package (Deliverable 1 which is the focus of this report), and by evaluating the Q-Ride CAP program to ensure that it is maximally effective and contributes to the best possible training for new riders (Deliverable 2), which is the focus of this report. Deliverable 3 of the program identified potential new licensing components that will reduce the incidence of risky riding and improve higher-order cognitive skills in new riders. While fatality and injury rates for learner car drivers are typically lower than for those with intermediate licences, this pattern is not found for learner motorcycle riders. Learner riders cannot be supervised as effectively as learner car drivers and errors are more likely to result in injury for learner riders than learner drivers. It is therefore imperative to improve safety for learner riders. Deliverable 1 examines the potential for improving the motorcycle learner and licence scheme by introducing a pre-learner motorcycle licensing and training scheme within Queensland. The tasks undertaken for Deliverable 1 were a literature review, analysis of learner motorcyclist crash and licensing data, and the development of a potential pre-learner motorcycle rider program

A Novel Retrieval-Dependent Memory Process Revealed by the Arrest of ERK1/2 Activation in the Basolateral Amygdala.

Fully consolidated fear memories can be maintained or inhibited by retrieval-dependent mechanisms depending on the degree of re-exposure to fear cues. Short exposures promote memory maintenance through reconsolidation, and long exposures promote inhibition through extinction. Little is known about the neural mechanisms by which increasing cue exposure overrides reconsolidation and instead triggers extinction. Using auditory fear conditioning in male rats, we analyzed the role of a molecular mechanism common to reconsolidation and extinction of fear, ERK1/2 activation within the basolateral amygdala (BLA), after intermediate conditioned stimulus (CS) exposure events. We show that an intermediate re-exposure (four CS presentations) failed to activate ERK1/2 in the BLA, suggesting the absence of reconsolidation or extinction mechanisms. Supporting this hypothesis, pharmacologically inhibiting the BLA ERK1/2-dependent signaling pathway in conjunction with four CS presentations had no effect on fear expression, and the NMDA receptor partial agonist d-cycloserine, which enhanced extinction and ERK1/2 activation in partial extinction protocols (seven CSs), had no behavioral or molecular effect when given in association with four CS presentations. These molecular and behavioral data reveal a novel retrieval-dependent memory phase occurring along the transition between conditioned fear maintenance and inhibition. CS-dependent molecular events in the BLA may arrest reconsolidation intracellular signaling mechanism in an extinction-independent manner. These findings are critical for understanding the molecular underpinnings of fear memory persistence after retrieval both in health and disease.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Consolidated fear memories can be altered by retrieval-dependent mechanisms. Whereas a brief conditioned stimulus (CS) exposure promotes fear memory maintenance through reconsolidation, a prolonged exposure engages extinction and fear inhibition. The nature of this transition and whether an intermediate degree of CS exposure engages reconsolidation or extinction is unknown. We show that an intermediate cue exposure session (four CSs) produces the arrest of ERK1/2 activation in the basolateral amygdala, a common mechanism for reconsolidation and extinction. Amnestic or hypermnestic treatments given in association with four CSs had no behavioral or molecular effects, respectively. This evidence reveals a novel retrieval-dependent memory phase. Intermediate degrees of CS exposure fail to trigger reconsolidation or extinction, leaving the original memory in an insensitive state

The synthesis and unexpected solution chemistry of thermochromic carborane-containing osmium half-sandwich complexes

YesThe functionalisation of the 16-electron complex [Os(η6-p-cymene)(1,2-dicarba-closo-dodecarborane- 1,2-dithiolato)] (1) with a series of Lewis bases to give the 18-electron complexes of general formula [Os(η6-p-cymene)(1,2-dicarba-closo-dodecarborane-1,2-dithiolato)(L)] (L = pyridine (2), 4-dimethylaminopyridine (3), 4-cyanopyridine (4), 4-methoxypyridine (5), pyrazine (6), pyridazine (7), 4,4’-bipyridine (8) and triphenylphosphine (9)) is reported. All 18-electron complexes are in equilibrium in solution with the 16-electron precursor, and thermochromic properties are observed in some cases (2, 3, 5, 8, and 9). The binding constants and Gibbs free energies of the equilibria are determined using UV-visible titrations and their stabilities investigated. Synthetic routes for forcing the formation of the 18-electron species are proposed, and analytical methods to characterise the equilibria are described.We thank the Leverhulme Trust (Early Career Fellowship No. ECF-2013-414 to NPEB), and the University of Warwick (Grant No. RD14102 to NPEB)

Changes in Energy Expenditure with Ingestion of High Protein, High Fat versus High Protein, Low Fat Meals among Underweight, Normal Weight, and Overweight Females.

Background: Metabolic rate is known to rise above basal levels after eating, especially following protein consumption. Yet, this postprandial rise in metabolism appears to vary among individuals. This study examined changes in energy expenditure in response to ingestion of a high protein, high fat (HPHF) meal versus an isocaloric high protein, low fat (HPLF) meal in underweight, normal weight, or overweight females (n = 21) aged 19–28 years. Methods: Energy expenditure, measured using indirect calorimetry, was assessed before and every 30 minutes for 3.5 hours following consumption of the meals on two separate occasions. Height and weight were measured using standard techniques. Body composition was measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis. Results: Significant positive correlations were found between body mass index (BMI) and baseline metabolic rate (MR) (r = 0.539; p = 0.017), between body weight and baseline MR (r = 0.567; p = 0.011), between BMI and average total change in MR (r = 0.591; p = 0.008), and between body weight and average total change in MR (r = 0.464; p = 0.045). Metabolic rate (kcal/min) was significantly higher in the overweight group than the normal weight group, which was significantly higher than the underweight group across all times and treatments. However, when metabolic rate was expressed per kg fat free mass (ffm), no significant difference was found in postprandial energy expenditure between the overweight and normal groups. Changes in MR (kcal/min and kcal/min/kg ffm) from the baseline rate did not significantly differ in the underweight (n = 3) or in the overweight subjects (n = 5) following consumption of either meal at any time. Changes in MR (kcal/min and kcal/min/kg ffm) from baseline were significantly higher in normal weight subjects (n = 11) across all times following consumption of the HPHF meal versus the HPLF meal. Conclusion: There is no diet-induced thermogenic advantage between the HPHF and HPLF meals in overweight and underweight subjects. In contrast, in normal weight subjects, ingestion of a HPHF meal significantly increases MR (69.3 kcal/3.5 hr) versus consumption of a HPLF meal and provides a short-term metabolic advantage