439 research outputs found
Le point sur la pratique infirmiÚre avancée [Update on advanced practice nursing].
We report outcomes of a clinical audit examining criteria used in clinical practice to rationalize endotracheal tube (ETT) suction, and the extent these matched criteria in the Endotracheal Suction Assessment Tool(ESAT)©. A retrospective audit of patient notes (N = 292) and analyses of criteria documented by pediatric intensive care nurses to rationalize ETT suction were undertaken. The median number of documented respiratory and ventilation status criteria per ETT suction event that matched the ESAT© criteria was 2 [Interquartile Range (IQR) 1-6]. All criteria listed within the ESAT© were documented within the reviewed notes. A direct link was established between criteria used for current clinical practice of ETT suction and the ESAT©. The ESAT©, therefore, reflects documented clinical decision making and could be used as both a clinical and educational guide for inexperienced pediatric critical care nurses. Modification to the ESAT© requires "preparation for extubation" to be added
Mechano-chemical kinetics of DNA replication: Identification of the translocation step of a replicative DNA polymerase
Octupolar ordering of Gamma8 ions in magnetic field
We study f-electron lattice models which are capable of supporting octupolar,
as well dipolar and quadrupolar, order. Analyzing the properties of the Gamma8
ground state quartet, we find that (111)-type combinations of the Gamma5
octupoles Tbeta(111)=Tbeta(x)+Tbeta(y)+Tbeta(z) are the best candidates for
octupolar order parameters. Octupolar ordering induces Gamma5-type quadrupoles
as secondary order parameter. Octupolar order is to some extent assisted, but
in its basic nature unchanged, by allowing for the presence of quadrupolar
interactions. In the absence of an external magnetic field, equivalent results
hold antiferro-octupolar ordering on the fcc lattice. In this sense, the choice
of our model is motivated by the recent suggestion of octupolar ordering in
NpO2.
The bulk of our paper is devoted to a study of the effect of an external
magnetic field on ferro-octupolar ordering. We found that octupolar order
survives up to a critical magnetic field if the field is lying in specific
directions, while for general field directions, the underlying symmetry of the
model is destroyed and therefore the phase transition suppressed even in weak
fields. Field-induced multipoles and field-induced couplings between various
order parameters are discussed on the basis of a group theoretical analysis of
the Helmholtz potential. We also studied the effect of octupolar ordering on
the non-linear magnetic susceptibility which satisfies Ehrenfest-type relations
at continuous octupolar transitions.Comment: 29 pages, 10 figures LaTeX In its contents, the present version
agrees with the published one (see Journal Reference below). Essential
additions to the text in Sec. III, otherwise some change of wording, and
minor correction
Quadrupolar and magnetic ordering in CeB6
The quadrupolar ordering in CeB_6 is explained in terms of the electrostatic
interaction of quadrupolar moments arranged into a simple cubic lattice. The
representation of magnetic and quadrupolar moments by means of quasispins of
two kinds is employed. A linear increase of the quadrupolar transition
temperature T_Q(H) with applied magnetic field and its further re-entrance are
described using a generalized spherical model which is well adjusted to a
particular problem of the quadrupolar ordering in CeB_6. The theory naturally
explains the growing specific heat jump at T_Q(H) with increasing magnetic
field. The role of the quadrupolar ordering in the formation of the magnetic
ordering, as well as the possible critical experiments and applications to
other rare-earth compounds, are discussed.Comment: 40 pages, 9 Postscript figures, to appear in Phys.Rev.
Genome-Wide Discovery of Somatic Regulatory Variants in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma
Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is an aggressive cancer originating from mature B-cells. Prognosis is strongly associated with molecular subgroup, although the driver mutations that distinguish the two main subgroups remain poorly defined. Through an integrative analysis of whole genomes, exomes, and transcriptomes, we have uncovered genes and non-coding loci that are commonly mutated in DLBCL. Our analysis has identified novel cis-regulatory sites, and implicates recurrent mutations in the 3âČ UTR of NFKBIZ as a novel mechanism of oncogene deregulation and NF-ÎșB pathway activation in the activated B-cell (ABC) subgroup. Small amplifications associated with over-expression of FCGR2B (the FcÎł receptor protein IIB), primarily in the germinal centre B-cell (GCB) subgroup, correlate with poor patient outcomes suggestive of a novel oncogene. These results expand the list of subgroup driver mutations that may facilitate implementation of improved diagnostic assays and could offer new avenues for the development of targeted therapeutics. 
Highly optimized tolerance in epidemic models incorporating local optimization and regrowth
Evolution of CRISPR-associated endonucleases as inferred from resurrected proteins
Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-associated Cas9 is an effector protein that targets invading DNA and plays a major role in the prokaryotic adaptive immune system. Although Streptococcus pyogenes CRISPRâCas9 has been widely studied and repurposed for applications including genome editing, its origin and evolution are poorly understood. Here, we investigate the evolution of Cas9 from resurrected ancient nucleases (anCas) in extinct firmicutes species that last lived 2.6âbillion years before the present. We demonstrate that these ancient forms were much more flexible in their guide RNA and protospacer-adjacent motif requirements compared with modern-day Cas9 enzymes. Furthermore, anCas portrays a gradual palaeoenzymatic adaptation from nickase to double-strand break activity, exhibits high levels of activity with both single-stranded DNA and single-stranded RNA targets and is capable of editing activity in human cells. Prediction and characterization of anCas with a resurrected protein approach uncovers an evolutionary trajectory leading to functionally flexible ancient enzymes.This work has been supported by grant nos. PID2019-109087RB-I00 (to R.P.-J.) and RTI2018-101223-B-I00 and PID2021-127644OB-I00 (to L.M.) from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. This project has received funding from the European Unionâs Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 964764 (to R.P.-J.). The content presented in this document represents the views of the authors, and the European Commission has no liability in respect to the content. We acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Foundation for the Promotion of Research of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. A.F. acknowledges Spanish Center for Biomedical Network Research on Rare Diseases (CIBERE) intramural funds (no. ER19P5AC756/2021). F.J.M.M. acknowledges research support by Conselleria dâEducaciĂł, InvestigaciĂł, Cultura i Esport from Generalitat Valenciana, research project nos. PROMETEO/2017/129 and PROMETEO/2021/057. M.M. acknowledges funding from CIBERER (grant no. ER19P5AC728/2021). The work has received funding from the Regional Government of Madrid (grant no. B2017/BMD3721 to M.A.M.-P.) and from Instituto de Salud Carlos III, cofounded with the European Regional Development Fund âA way to make Europeâ within the National Plans for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation 2017â2020 and 2021â2024 (nos. PI17/1659, PI20/0429 and IMP/00009; to M.A.M.-P. B.P.K. was supported by an MGH ECOR Howard M. Goodman Award and NIH P01 HL142494
Temporal, spatial, and structural patterns of adult trembling aspen and white spruce mortality in Quebec's boreal forest
Temporal, spatial, and structural patterns of adult trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) and white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) mortality were studied in intact 150-year-old stands in the southwestern boreal forest of Quebec. For both species, mortality decreases (number of dead trees/total number of trees) with distance from the lake edge until 100-150 m, from which point it slightly increases. Strong peaks in mortality were found for 40- to 60-year-old aspen mainly between 1974 and 1992. Such mortality in relatively young aspen is likely related to competition for light from the dominant canopy trees. Also, the recruitment of this young aspen cohort is presumably the result of a stand breakup that occurred when the initial aspen-dominated stand was between 90 and 110 years old. For spruce, strong peaks in mortality were found in 110- to 150-year-old trees and they occurred mainly after 1980. No clear explanation could be found for these peaks, but we suggest that they may be related to senescence or weakening of the trees following the last spruce budworm outbreak. Suppressed and codominant aspen had a much higher mortality ratio than spruce in the same height class, while more surprisingly, no difference in mortality rate was found between dominant trees of the two species. Most spruce trees were found as standing dead, which leads us to reject the hypothesis that windthrow is an important cause of mortality for spruce in our forests
Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment
This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and
W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with
the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated
luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and
the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto
the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions
f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV
and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw
> 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour,
are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017
+/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second
include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables,
revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio
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