X-Ray Microanalysis of Cartilage and Chondrocytes

The elemental content of differentiating chondrocytes in situ and in vitro was studied by X-ray microanalysis. The in situ studies were carried out on semi-thick cryosections and on thin sections of freeze-dried low-temperature vacuum-embedded rat rib growth plate. Resting, proliferative, and hypertrophic cells were analyzed separately. The in vitro studies were carried out on cultured cell fractions isolated from rat rib growth plate. The cell fractions were relatively homogeneous and contained resting - early proliferative, proliferative or hypertrophic cells, respectively. Data from cells in vitro are generally not comparable to data obtained from cells in situ. Chondrocytes in situ contain relatively high levels of Na, which is probably due to: (1) high Na levels in the cartilage matrix formed intracellularly, and (2) low supply of oxygen and nutrients. High Na levels in (some of) the proliferative cells may also be related to mitotic activity. The chondrocyte matrix contains relatively high levels of K. The data in the present study are compared to those of previous studies on the elemental content of chondrocytes

Case Study of Patients Participating in a Randomised Controlled Trial of Upper-Limb Robotic Rehabilitation in Acute Stroke Services

This paper presents some findings from a randomised controlled trial in patients with upper-limb weakness in acute stroke services within the UK's National Health Service. Three patients were selected from the robot arm of the trial; one who exhibited a large increase in Fugl-Meyer score (change > 30); one who exhibited a moderate change (10 <; change <; 20) and a subject who demonstrated no change between baseline and follow-up. The results from robot assistance level and target achievement over the course of the treatment are presented for the three patients, demonstrating the system's ability to automatically alter the assistance level as patients progress

Lessons Learned from Developing a New Distance-Learning Masters Course in the Green Economy

It is widely recognised that for the green economy to develop successfully, new educational curricula will be required to help professionals develop appropriate knowledge and skills. Relatively few university courses have been developed to date that explicitly focus on the green economy, reflecting its recent origins. Here we present the lessons learned from developing and implementing a new Masters course in the green economy, at Bournemouth University in the UK. The most significant challenges were institutional barriers, such as different departmental policies and procedures and decentralised budget strategies, which inhibited the cross-departmental collaboration desired for interdisciplinarity. Uncertainty about the future development of the green economy and its value as a concept, among both teaching staff and prospective students, presented a further challenge. In addition, the development of an appropriate curriculum for green economy courses has received little attention previously. Here, we present an overview of the curriculum developed for this Masters-level course, and, based on our experience, we demonstrate how the challenges in developing such a course can successfully be overcome

Outer Surface Protein C Typing of Borrelia burgdorferi in the Tick Populations of the Upper Susquehanna River Basin, New York

Lyme disease, the most common zoonotic disease in the United States, is caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. In order to manage and confront the notable rise in Lyme disease cases, it is crucial to cultivate a deeper understanding of B. burgdorferi and its genes. The outer surface protein C (ospC) gene is highly polymorphic and commonly used as a genetic marker due to its crucial role in establishing mammalian infection. We report novel data on the prevalence of B. burgdorferi ospC genotypes in the infected tick populations of the Upper Susquehanna River Basin of New York State. DNA extracted from 266 Ixodes scapularis, the blacklegged ticks, were tested for the presence of ospC gene and the positive samples were subjected to sequencing. The specific ospC genotype was identified for 56 positive samples which were infected with B. burgdorferi representing a single ospC genotype. A total of 12 ospC genotypes were identified in the 56 ticks, with genotypes I, K, and A being the most prevalent across the Upper Susquehanna River Basin with little variation among the six counties. The frequency distribution of ospC variants in this region is significantly different from the few previously studied regions in the Northeast. This research will have implications in the public health sector by providing assessment for Lyme disease risk in the Upper Susquehanna River Basin and insight into strain specific vaccines based on OspC. Further research can be done into the dispersion pattern of B. burgdorferi within the Upper Susquehanna River Basin, while also replicating this study for other regions

In situ observation of compressive deformation of an interconnected network of zinc oxide tetrapods

Zinc oxide tetrapods have remarkable functional and mechanical properties with potential applications in different fields including nanoelectronic and optoelectronic sensing, functional composites and coatings, as well as energy harvesting and storage. Based on the 3D shape of these microparticles, they can be assembled into highly porous (up to 98%) macroscopic ceramic framework structures that can be utilized as a versatile template for the fabrication of other multi-scaled foam-like materials. Here we investigated the three-dimensional structure of low density interconnected zinc oxide tetrapod networks by high resolution X-ray computed tomography. In situ observations during mechanical loading show inhomogeneous development of anelastic strain (damage) during compression, and homogeneous elastic recovery on unloading. Individual tetrapods are observed to deform by arm rotation to accommodate strain

Post-COVID syndrome symptoms, functional disability, and clinical severity phenotypes in hospitalized and nonhospitalized individuals: A cross-sectional evaluation from a community COVID rehabilitation service

There is currently limited information on clinical severity phenotypes of symptoms and functional disability in post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID) Syndrome (PCS). A purposive sample of 370 PCS patients from a dedicated community COVID-19 rehabilitation service was assessed using the COVID-19 Yorkshire Rehabilitation Scale where each symptom or functional difficulty was scored on a 0–10 Likert scale and also compared with before infection. Phenotypes based on symptom severity were extracted to identify any noticeable patterns. The correlation between symptom severity, functional disability, and overall health was explored. The mean age was 47 years, with 237 (64%) females. The median duration of symptoms was 211 days (interquartile range 143–353). Symptoms and functional difficulties increased substantially when compared to before infection. Three distinct severity phenotypes of mild (n = 90), moderate (n = 186), and severe (n = 94) were identified where the severity of individual symptoms was of similar severity within each phenotype. Symptom scores were strongly positively correlated with functional difficulty scores (0.7, 0.6–0.7) and moderately negatively correlated with overall health (−0.4, −0.3, to −0.5). This is the first study reporting on severity phenotypes in a largely nonhospitalized PCS cohort. Severity phenotypes might help stratify patients for targeted interventions and planning of care pathways

The limits of relational governance: Sales force strategies in the U.S. medical device industry

Research Summary: We explore how inter-organizational relationships shape firm boundary decisions. Using data on 545 U.S. medical device manufacturers’ product portfolios and sales governance choices (i.e., internal or external sales forces) from 1983 to 1996, we find relational capital between manufacturers and external sales forces influences future firm boundary decisions. Relational capital lowers the likelihood of integrating the sales function, but only when firms remain focused on the same product market. Further, launching an innovative product has a nuanced effect. For firms lacking relational capital, innovation increases the likelihood of sales integration. This pattern reverses as relational capital accumulates, but only when innovations are in the firm’s existing focal product market. Our findings suggest important limits on the effect of relational governance on firm strategy. Managerial Abstract: Choosing between in-house or external sales is a key strategic decision. In the medical device industry, this decision is particularly important because sales people are conduits between R&D and customers. For firms who initially choose external sales, the tradeoff between maintaining existing links (via external sales) and developing new, direct relationships (by bringing sales in-house) can change significantly as product portfolios change. Analyzing 545 U.S. medical device manufacturers from 1983 to 1996, we find that existing relationships with external sales forces reduce the likelihood of bringing sales in-house, but only when firms remain in the same product market, such as orthopedic implants. When firms launch products in new markets, especially innovations, they are more likely to bring sales in-house

Trainee psychotherapists’ emotion recognition accuracy improves after training: emotion recognition training as a tool for psychotherapy education

IntroductionPsychotherapists’ emotional and empathic competencies have a positive influence on psychotherapy outcome and alliance. However, it is doubtful whether psychotherapy education in itself leads to improvements in trainee psychotherapists’ emotion recognition accuracy (ERA), which is an essential part of these competencies.MethodsIn a randomized, controlled, double-blind study (N = 68), we trained trainee psychotherapists (57% psychodynamic therapy and 43% cognitive behavioral therapy) to detect non-verbal emotional expressions in others using standardized computerized trainings – one for multimodal emotion recognition accuracy and one for micro expression recognition accuracy – and compared their results to an active control group one week after the training (n = 60) and at the one-year follow up (n = 55). The participants trained once weekly during a three-week period. As outcome measures, we used a multimodal emotion recognition accuracy task, a micro expression recognition accuracy task and an emotion recognition accuracy task for verbal and non-verbal (combined) emotional expressions in medical settings.ResultsThe results of mixed multilevel analyses suggest that the multimodal emotion recognition accuracy training led to significantly steeper increases than the other two conditions from pretest to the posttest one week after the last training session. When comparing the pretest to follow-up differences in slopes, the superiority of the multimodal training group was still detectable in the unimodal audio modality and the unimodal video modality (in comparison to the control training group), but not when considering the multimodal audio-video modality or the total score of the multimodal emotion recognition accuracy measure. The micro expression training group showed a significantly steeper change trajectory from pretest to posttest compared to the control training group, but not compared to the multimodal training group. However, the effect vanished again until the one-year follow-up. There were no differences in change trajectories for the outcome measure about emotion recognition accuracy in medical settings.DiscussionWe conclude that trainee psychotherapists’ emotion recognition accuracy can be effectively trained, especially multimodal emotion recognition accuracy, and suggest that the changes in unimodal emotion recognition accuracy (audio-only and video-only) are long-lasting. Implications of these findings for the psychotherapy education are discussed

Determination of phenolic compounds using recombinant tyrosinase from Streptomyces antibioticus

Metals in Catalysis, Biomimetics & Inorganic Material

The self-report version and digital format of the COVID-19 Yorkshire Rehabilitation Scale (C19-YRS) for Long Covid or Post-COVID syndrome assessment and monitoring

The C19-YRS was the first scale reported in the literature for patient assessment and monitoring in Long Covid or Post-COVID syndrome. The scale has demonstrated content validity in a previous COVID-19 follow-up study. The growing number of patients with Post-COVID syndrome required the development of a self-report version (and a digital format) so that the scale can be completed by patients themselves. Individuals with Long Covid and clinicians providing care were involved in iterative changes to the scale. The self-report version of the scale captures symptom severity, functional disability and global health status. The C19-YRS digital format comprises a smartphone application for the patient and a web portal for the clinician to assess, triage and monitor patients remotely. The items have been shown to span all the components of the WHO ICF Framework for health condition