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The article highlights the 13th annual meeting "Object Perception, Attention, and Memory 2005," held at Toronto, Canada. The meeting was organized by Kate Arrington, Andrew Leber, Stephen Mitroff, and Aude Oliva. During the meeting, professors Anthony Cate and Marlene Behrmann discusses the unlikely perception of figural shape from 3-D concavities. The research about emotional processes was also presented during the meeting.

Study Objective: To determine sociodemographic, surgical, and psychologic risk factors, including pain sensitivity, for persistent postsurgical pain (PPSP) after hysterectomy., Design: A prospective cohort study., Setting: Canadian academic medical center., Patients: Patients (N = 200) who underwent hysterectomy (vaginal, laparoscopic, robotic, or open) between 2013 and 2014., Interventions: Participants completed preoperative questionnaires assessing baseline pain scores and psychologic factors, including the Pain Sensitivity Questionnaire, Brief Pain Inventory Interference Items, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), and the Pain Catastrophizing Scale. Pain was recorded 1 and 24 hours postoperatively using the NRS. Patients were reassessed at 6 weeks postoperatively and completed the Brief Pain Inventory Interference Items, Patient Global Impression of Change, and the NRS. Patients who reported pain at 6 weeks were reassessed at 12 weeks using the above-mentioned questionnaires., Measurements and Main Results: Of 200 study participants, 58 (32%) met the definition for PPSP (NRS ≥ 1 at 12 weeks), and 11 (6.1%) met the definition for moderate to severe postsurgical pain (NRS ≥ 4 at 12 weeks). Risk factors for PPSP included baseline pain scores, depression, pain catastrophizing, uterine mass, open surgical approach, acute postoperative pain, history of chronic pain, and having a hysterectomy due to pain. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that depression, pain catastrophizing, open surgical approach, and acute postoperative pain at 1 hour represent independent predictors of PPSP. Pain sensitivity was not associated with PPSP but was associated with acute and severe acute (NRS≥4) pain at 24 hours., Conclusion: Patients at risk for PPSP after hysterectomy can be identified preoperatively using validated questionnaires. This information can be used to guide targeted perioperative interventions to mitigate their risk., (Copyright © 2021 AAGL. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Obstetric anal sphincter injuries (OASI) are severe complications that can cause considerable short- and long-term morbidity. Austria, Canada, Norway, and Sweden have similar socio-economic characteristics, and all four countries have access to national birth registers. In this study, we hypothesized that the incidence of OASI should be very similar for different obstetric scenarios in these four countries. Therefore, the aim was to compare the incidence of OASI in these four countries in primiparous women, with spontaneous or instrumental delivery (vacuum or forceps), and in women with a first vaginal birth after cesarean section (VBAC)., Material and Methods: Aggregated data on 1 933 930 vaginally delivered primiparous women and women with VBAC were retrieved from the birth registers gathered in Austria, Canada, Norway, and Sweden. The annual rate of OASI (ICD-10 codes O70.2-O70.3) was presented as the percentage of women with a spontaneous delivery, vacuum or forceps delivery, and a VBAC during the period 2004-2016., Results: The incidence of OASI varied considerably between countries and over time. Canada and Sweden had the highest rates, and Austria and Norway the lowest. In Norway, the rate of OASI decreased consistently for all types of deliveries after introducing a perineal protection program in 2004 (p < 0.001). During vacuum delivery, the incidence of OASI varied between countries from 4.1% to 15.5% across the study period. In Canada and Norway, the rate of OASI after a forceps delivery was similar in 2004 at ~20% and with differing trajectories to 24.3% (β 0.49) and 6.2% (β -1.15) (trend, all p < 0.001) in 2016., Conclusions: This comparative register study suggests that there may be considerable potential for lowering the incidence of OASI. The perineal protection program implemented by Norway has been successful. Each country should critically, without prejudice, analyze their current clinical practices and rate of OASI and consider the best preventive strategy., (© 2021 The Authors. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology (NFOG).)

Cauliform bacteria are prosthecate bacteria often specialized for oligotrophic environments. A polyphasic approach, comprising 16S rRNA gene sequencing, lipid analysis and salt tolerance characterizations, was used to clarify the taxonomy of one isolate, strain MCS 33(T), obtained from above the hot water plume of a deep-sea hydrothermal vent near Vancouver island, Canada. Cells contained no detectable phospholipids or sulpholipids, but did contain 1,2-di-O-acyl-3-O-α-D-glucopyranosylglycerol, 1,2-di-O-acyl-3-O-α-D-glucopyranuronosylglycerol and the novel lipid 1,2-di-O-acyl-3-[O-α-D-glucopyranuronosyl]glycerol-6'-N-glycine. It is assumed that the various glucoronosyl lipids are replacing, at least partially, the phospholipids in their various tasks in the cell cycle. The G+C content of the genomic DNA of strain MCS 33(T) was 62.8 mol%, and Q10 was the predominant respiratory ubiquinone. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of this chemoheterotrophic, aerobic, moderately halophilic strain showed only a low similarity of 94.4% to that of Oceanicaulis alexandrii C116-18(T), and both strains also differed based on their lipids. Although the novel strain was isolated from seawater sampled near a hydrothermal vent, its optimum temperature for growth was 30 °C. The main cellular fatty acids were C18:1ω7c, C18:0 and the unknown fatty acid ECL 11.798, and the main hydroxy fatty acid was C12:0 3-OH. The strain is proposed to represent a novel species of a new genus, Glycocaulis abyssi gen. nov., sp. nov. The type strain of the type species is MCS 33(T) (=LMG 27140(T)=CCUG 62981(T)).

Strain F8, a bacterial isolate from 'river snow', was found to produce extracellular fibres in the form of a filamentous network. These extracellular filaments, which were previously shown to be composed of DNA, have been studied for the first time by ultrastructural and electron energy-loss spectroscopy in the present work. 'Whole mount' preparations of strain F8 indicate these polymers are ultrastructurally homogeneous and form a network of elemental filaments, which have a width of 1.8-2.0 nm. When incubated at pH 3.5 with colloidal cationic ThO(2) tracers they become intensely stained (electron dense), affording direct evidence that the fibres are negatively charged and thus acidic chemically. Elemental analysis of the extracellular filaments by Energy-filtered Transmission Electron Microscopy revealed phosphorus to be the main element present and, because pretreatment of F8 cells with DNase prevented thorium labelling, the fibres must be composed of extracellular DNA (eDNA). Neither ultrathin sections nor 'whole mount negative stain' caused DNA release by general cell lysis. Additionally, cells infected with phages were never observed in ultrathin sections and phage particles were never detected in whole mount samples, which rules out the possibility of phages being directly involved in eDNA release.

Background: The Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) and Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) scores are important predictors for survival after liver transplantation (LT). The objective of this study was to compare the utility of MELD and CTP scores with Canadian waitlisting algorithm in transplantation (CanWAIT) status for predicting 90-day survival after LT., Methods: Retrospectively, we analyzed all 228 liver transplants performed in adults by the Atlantic Liver Transplant Program since 1985. These cases included combined transplants, retransplants and those after fulminant liver failure. MELD and CTP scores were calculated, and CanWAIT status and waiting time on the day of LT determined. We used c-statistic for 90-day outcome as the endpoint (survival), comparing areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for MELD and CTP scores and CanWAIT status., Results: Mean (and standard deviation [SD]) MELD score was 18 (SD 12); CTP score, 10 (SD 3); and waiting time, 97 (SD 132) days. At the time of LT, 54% were in CanWAIT status 1; 4% in 1T; 14% in 2; 11% in 3; 6% in 3F; 4% in 4; and 7% in status 4F. Overall 90-day survival was 80% (95% confidence interval [CI] 75%-85%), exceeding the predicted survival by MELD scale with transplant of only 51% (CI 47%-55%). By c-statistic, CanWAIT is a clinically relevant predictor of 90-day outcomes in LT. By multivariate regression analysis, only CanWAIT status and age were found to have independent associations for short-term outcomes after LT., Interpretation: CanWAIT status stratifies LT patients better and predicts short-term outcome more accurately than MELD or CTP scores, and so should not be replaced by MELD or CTP scores. This observation should be confirmed by a prospective and multicentre study in Canada.