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In this study, to investigate the effects of heat treatment and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) coating on durability to laundering, the changes in the porosity, electrical resistance, and surface property of the heat-treated silver nanowire (AgNW)/PDMS/polyurethane (PU) nanofiber-web before and after laundering were examined. To prepare the conductive specimens, PU nanofiber-web, 1 wt% of AgNW dispersion in ethanol, and two types of PDMS precursors were used. A total of four specimens were prepared: Specimen A (The AgNW/PU nanofiber-web), Specimen AH (The heat-treated AgNW/PU nanofiber-web), Specimen AP (The PDMS-coated AgNW/PU nanofiber-web), and Specimen AHP (The heat-treated AgNW/PDMS/PU nanofiber-web). The specimen was rinsed and dehydrated after laundering under the conditions according to ISO 6330. To investigate the changes of porosity after a single washing cycle, mean pore diameter and pore size distribution were measured. Linear electrical resistance and microscopic surface view of the specimen were evaluated. As a result, many micro-pores were distributed in Specimen AH because of the heat treatment. After laundering, Specimen AH still had the micro-pores, and thus, the heat treatment improved the durability to laundering. Also, the electrical resistance of Specimen AH was only changed slightly even after laundering, which was because the heat treatment strengthened the bonding between the nanofibers and the silver nanowires, thus the silver nanowires sufficiently remained on the specimen surface even after laundering. And, Specimen AH showed that the silver nanowires formed a network even after laundering and were evenly covered with silver nanowires onto the specimen surface. This result affected the aforementioned electrical performance, and in fact, the electrical resistance of Specimen AH was the lowest regardless of laundering. However, it was impossible to measure the porosity of Specimen AP and Specimen AHP due to the PDMS coating. Therefore, the heat treatment affected the durability to laundering as well as the electrical conductivity to increase, but PDMS coating blocked the micro-pores of the nanofiber-web and enabled higher initial resistance.

In podocytes, PA rapidly induced immunoproteasome expression but ultimately decreased it, while OA and EPA restored the decreased immunoproteasome levels. In the renal cortex of type 2 diabetic mice, immunoproteasome expression was significantly decreased, whereas feeding of OA-rich olive oil or EPA-rich fish oil diets protected them against the reduced immunoproteasome expression and progression of diabetic nephropathy. Thus, lipotoxicity-induced podocyte injury with impaired immunoproteasome expression may be related to the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy.

Highly conductive nylon 6 nanofiber web was fabricated with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) for electronic textiles. To improve electrical conductivity, repeated coating with PEDOT:PSS and multi-step treatment of DMSO was performed. The effects of these treatments on electrical conductivity, surface properties, and chemical structures were investigated. For repetitive coating cycles, pristine PEDOT:PSS dispersion was dropped onto a nylon 6 nanofiber web for between one and four times of coating. For DMSO multi-step treatment, in the one-step treatment, the nanofiber web was repeatedly treated using PEDOT:PSS doped with DMSO. In the two-step treatment, the nanofiber web was repeatedly treated with doped PEDOT:PSS at first and, then, it was immersed in a DMSO bath. As a result, the sheet resistance decreased dramatically as the number of coating cycles increased. When the two-step treatment was applied, the sheet resistance was much lower compared to that of the one-step treatment, and thereby sample PD4-D with the lowest resistance showed 6.56 Ω/sq. As a result, the surface of the nanofiber web was covered with more PEDOT:PSS as the coating cycle was repeated. The PEDOT particles became large and long shapes after the two-step treatment of DMSO. This inferred that the contact area among conducting PEDOT particles increased because insulating PSS was removed by DMSO. In addition, the presence of PEDOT:PSS and nylon 6 was confirmed. This study proved that the simultaneous treatments of repeated coating with PEDOT:PSS and multi-step treatment of DMSO can improve electrical conductivity, and it developed the highly conductive PEDOT:PSS/nylon 6 nanofiber web.

Background/Aims: Sacroiliitis is a frequent extraintestinal manifestation of in flammatory bowel diseases (IBDs). This study aimed to assess the prevalence of sacroiliitis using a validated screening tool based on abdominopelvic computed tomography (APCT) in Korean patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) and examine potential associations between clinical characteristics and sacroiliitis. Methods: One hundred five patients with CD undergoing APCT for any indica tion at an IBD clinic were matched 1:1 for age and sex with 105 controls without underlying chronic illnesses. Using a validated APCT screening tool that defines sacroiliitis as either ankylosis or a total erosion score (TES) ≥ 3, all computed to mography scans were assessed by two independent, blinded radiologists. We com pared the prevalence of sacroiliitis between CD patients and controls and clinical characteristics between CD patients with and without sacroiliitis. Results: The prevalence of sacroiliitis was significantly higher in CD patients than in controls (13.3% vs. 4.8%, p = 0.030). All subjects with sacroiliitis had a TES ≥ 3, but no ankylosis. The assessment of sacroiliitis in APCT showed excellent in terreader reliability (Cohen’s kappa = 0.933 for presence of sacroiliitis). Sacroiliitis in CD patients was bilateral and asymptomatic. There were no significant associ ations between sacroiliitis and any demographic data or clinical characteristics in these patients. Conclusions: The prevalence of APCT-detected sacroiliitis in CD patients was higher than that in controls, but the condition was asymptomatic. The clinical significance of asymptomatic sacroiliitis in Korean CD patients remains unclear.

Nations across the world are currently suffering from various mutations of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The ability to infect via respiratory routes such as coughs and sneezes and high mutation rate due to its single strand positive-sense RNA nature makes it very challenging to effectively contain, diagnose, and vaccinate. Moreover, current diagnostic guidelines insist PCR detection for SARS-CoV-2 be done as individual trials for sorting out one mutated variant at a time. To improve the overall diagnosis process and further enhance the efficiency of PCR tests, 4 distinct color emitting probes were used to simultaneously match Delta variant, Omicron variant, positive and negative controls. Amplified signals of individual and merged primers sets were able to successfully detect both Delta and Omicron variants. Additional validation of PCR trials and RNA extracts of SARS-CoV-2 patients further showed the effectiveness of the implemented method. The improved method will further compress the current detection protocol and further benefit diagnosing the ongoing pandemic.

There is a large assessment and treatment gap in child and adolescent mental health services, prominently so in low- and middle-income countries, where 90% of the world’s children live. There is an urgent need to find evidence-based interventions that can be implemented successfully in these low-resource contexts. This pre-pilot study aimed to explore the barriers and facilitators to implementation as well as overall feasibility of Parent–Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) in South Africa. A reflective and consensus building workshop was used to gather South African PCIT therapist (N = 4) perspectives on barriers, facilitators, and next steps to implementation in that country. Caregiver participants (N = 7) receiving the intervention in South Africa for the first time were also recruited to gather information on overall feasibility. Facilitators for implementation, including its strong evidence base, manualisation, and training model were described. Barriers relating to sustainability and scalability were highlighted. Largely positive views on acceptability from caregiver participants also indicated the promise of PCIT as an intervention in South Africa. Pilot data on the efficacy of the treatment for participating families are a next step. These initial results are positive, though research on how implementation factors contribute to the longer-term successful dissemination of PCIT in complex, heterogeneous low-resource settings is required.

There is a large assessment and treatment gap in child and adolescent mental health services, prominently so in low- and middle-income countries, where 90% of the world’s children live. There is an urgent need to find evidence-based interventions that can be implemented successfully in these low-resource contexts. This pre-pilot study aimed to explore the barriers and facilitators to implementation as well as overall feasibility of Parent–Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) in South Africa. A reflective and consensus building workshop was used to gather South African PCIT therapist (N = 4) perspectives on barriers, facilitators, and next steps to implementation in that country. Caregiver participants (N = 7) receiving the intervention in South Africa for the first time were also recruited to gather information on overall feasibility. Facilitators for implementation, including its strong evidence base, manualisation, and training model were described. Barriers relating to sustainability and scalability were highlighted. Largely positive views on acceptability from caregiver participants also indicated the promise of PCIT as an intervention in South Africa. Pilot data on the efficacy of the treatment for participating families are a next step. These initial results are positive, though research on how implementation factors contribute to the longer-term successful dissemination of PCIT in complex, heterogeneous low-resource settings is required.

In this study, wearable polyurethane (PU) nanofiber-based silver nanowires (AgNWs)/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composites were fabricated and demonstrated as strain sensors to monitor human arm joint movements, investigating electrical resistance change with deformation. With varying content of AgNWs (0.5 wt%, 0.75 wt%, and 1 wt%) in ethanol, PU nanofiber nonwovens were coated with the AgNWs followed by packaging and encapsulation process with commercial snap buttons and PDMS coating. Each sample’s surface morphology was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). After the curing process at 50 °C for 2 hours, the fabricated sensors were integrated to textile-arm sleeves for the wear-trials with a dummy and three human subjects. Given that the resistance of the sensors were the lowest when treated with 1 wt% of AgNWs, the sensors initially showed increase in resistance according to bending motion while the excessive bending resulted in decreasing trend in resistance. Regarding the varying joint flexion speed (0.125–0.5 Hz), sensors with 1 wt% of AgNWs showed the best performance as wearable strain sensors with more accurate signals and stability even under higher frequency.

By treating militarism and personalism as institutional constraints on foreign policy, this article examines the role and influence of these constraints on the foreign policies of Russia and China. By looking at empirical evidence the authors argue that domestic institutional constraints in each country have exhibited distinctly different patterns throughout the last twenty years, and this can to some extent explain the difference in their respective foreign policies. However, institutional personalism in China has recently become more similar to that of Russia. The authors argue that current Russian foreign policy bears some elements of similarity suggesting future developments in Chinese foreign policy.

This study found out a heat treatment condition to improve the electrical conductivity of polyurethane (PU) nanoweb treated with non-oxidized graphene (nOG) ink. Electrical conductivity was imparted to the PU nanoweb (Pardam, s.r.o., Czech Republic) by a dip-coating process utilizing 1 wt% of nOG ink. To enhance the electrical conductivity, post heat treatment was conducted. The first specimen was completely dried at room temperature (20 °C) for 24 hours (Specimen GU), and the rest of the specimens were treated at 40 °C, 60 °C, 80 °C, and 100 °C for 1 hour (Specimen G40, G60, G80, and G100). To confirm the microstructure of the specimens, a FE-SEM (Field emission scanning electron microscopy) was utilized. The linear electrical resistance was evaluated using a Digital multimeter. Also, the thickness and weight of the specimens were measured by Cross section polisher and Analytical balance respectively. After that, the chemical structures were inspected using a FT-IR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy). As a result, when the heat treatment temperature was higher, the specimens were well immersed and more nOG ink was covered onto the surface of the treated specimens. Also, the electrical resistance of the specimens decreased in accordance with increased heat treatment temperature. The thickness and add-on of the specimens increased as the heat treatment temperature increased. The changes of band position of C=O, C-O-C, -NH- bending were observed by FT-IR analysis. Therefore, this study demonstrated that the heat treatment temperature played a significant role in the improvement of electrical conductivity, and the nOG/PU nanoweb had the most enhanced electrical conductivity when treated at 100 °C.

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness and long-term outcome predictors of percutaneous sacroplasty (PSP). Methods This single-center study assessed 40 patients with sacral insufficiency fractures using the short-axis technique under C-arm flat-panel detector computed tomography (CT). Two radiologists reviewed the patients' magnetic resonance and CT images to obtain imaging findings before PSP and determine technical success, respectively. The short-term outcomes were visual analog scale score changes and opioid usage reductions. Long-term outcomes were determined using telephone interviews and the North American Spine Society (NASS) patient-satisfaction index at least one year after PSP. Results Technical success was achieved without any significant complications in 39 patients (97.5%). Telephone interviews were possible with 12 patients and failed in 10 patients; death was confirmed in 18 patients. Fifteen patients (50%) re-visited the hospital and received conservative treatment, including spinal injections. Nine patients reported positive satisfaction (NASS patient-satisfaction index 1 or 2), while the negative satisfaction group (NASS patient-satisfaction index 3 or 4, n=3) showed a higher incidence of compression fractures at the thoracolumbar spine level (66.7% vs. 22.2%) and previous spinal injection history (66.7% vs. 33.3%). The poor response group also showed higher incidences of facet joint arthrosis (100% vs. 55.6%), central canal stenosis (100% vs. 22.2%), neural foraminal stenosis (33.3% vs. 22.2%), scoliosis (100% vs. 33.3%), and sagittal malalignment (100% vs. 44.4%). Conclusion PSP was effective for sacral insufficiency fractures and showed good long-term outcomes. Combined compression fractures in the thoracolumbar spine and degenerative lumbar pathologies could be possible poor outcome predictors.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the applicability of polyurethane nanofiber webs as smart textiles by evaluating electrical properties, surface properties, chemical properties, and thermal properties after imparting electrical conductivity by treating non-oxidized graphene/silver nanowire. For this purpose, three specimens were prepared by mixing non-oxidized graphene and silver nanowire at ratios of 3:1, 2:1, and 3:2, in order to impart conductivity to the polyurethane nanofiber web. The prepared specimens were named G/Ag31, G/Ag21 and G/Ag32 according to the ratio. The linear resistance and the surface resistance of each specimen was measured to estimate electrical properties of each specimen. The surface characteristics of the specimens were observed by FE-SEM photographs. HR-XRD analysis and Raman analysis were performed in order to determine whether the non-oxidized graphene and silver nanowires were properly processed in the fabricated specimens respectively. DSC and TGA analysis were also performed to investigate the thermal properties. As the results, the higher ratio of silver nanowires coated on the specimen, the lower the electrical resistance value. In the surface characteristics analysis, it was confirmed that the density of the silver nanowire was higher than that of the specimen having the higher silver nanowire ratio. In HR-XRD analysis, it was confirmed that non-oxidized graphene and silver nanowire existed in all specimens. In Raman analysis, it was confirmed that the intensity of 2D-peak was lower in specimens with high silver nanowire ratio. However, the difference in intensity between G/Ag21 and G/Ag32 was relatively small. In thermal analysis, it was found that the thermal stability of the specimen was higher than that of the untreated polyurethane nanofiber web because the thermogravimetric after 600 oC of all the specimens was larger than the untreated specimen. Therefore, in this study, it was confirmed that G/Ag32 specimen is best suited as a smart textile and it is confirmed that it can be applied as a textile sensor in the future.

To determine the association of meniscal flounce with the pattern and location of the meniscal tear, concomitant ligamentous injury, amount of knee joint effusion, and flexion and rotation angles. A total of 283 knees of 280 patients were retrospectively reviewed over a 9-month period. Thirty-one magnetic resonance images of patients with meniscal flounce were compared with those of age- and sex-matched control group (n = 62) without meniscal flounce. The presence of meniscal tear was evaluated and, if present, its location and pattern were recorded. The amount of joint effusion was graded, and the joint angle was measured. The Fisher’s exact, Cochran-Armitage trend, and t tests were performed to compare the findings between the two groups. The decision tree analysis was employed to determine the most significant factor of meniscal flounce. Meniscal flounce was present in 11.0% (31/283) of the adult population. Approximately 80.6% of meniscal flounce occurred in the torn medial menisci. The presence of meniscal flounce was significantly associated with tears at the body (p = 0.007), posterior horn (p = 0.001), and meniscocapsular junction (p = 0.002) of the medial meniscus. The decision tree analysis revealed that the posterior horn tear of the medial meniscus was the most significant predictor of meniscal flounce. The most significant factor associated with meniscal flounce is tear at the posterior horn of the medial meniscus, followed by tear at the meniscocapsular junction.

The Trump Administration’s travel ban and separation of families at the U.S.- Mexico border drew newfound attention to the constitutional due process right to family unity. But even before then, the right to family unity has had a substantial history. Rooted in the Supreme Court’s line of privacy rights cases, the right to family unity is amorphous. This ambiguity has given rise to disagreement regarding not only legal doctrine surrounding the right but also whether the right even exists. This Note clarifies this disagreement by offering a historical account of the right to family unity and an overview of three categories of immigration cases in which litigants assert this right. Acknowledging that a substantive resolution of the problem of family separation in immigration will require legislative and executive intervention, this Note argues instead that courts should adopt two recommendations that would, as a matter of judicial process, more fully recognize the right. These measures would validate the dignitary interests of immigrant families and signal to the legislative and executive branches the constitutional implications of their longstanding inaction.

Background: Critical illness with COVID-19 is associated with increased delirium duration and severity, and delirium is associated with poor health outcomes. The pathophysiology of delirium in this population is not well understood but neuroinflammation is hypothesized to play a key role. Objective: To evaluate the relationship between biomarkers of systemic inflammation and delirium in critically ill patients with COVID-19. Design: Observational retrospective data extraction study from March 1, 2020 – June 7, 2020. Biomarker levels and delirium occurrence were assessed up to the first 14 days in the intensive care unit (ICU). Setting: Two large, urban, academic referral hospitals in Indianapolis, IN Patients: Two hundred thirty-five patients admitted to the ICU with a positive SARS-Co-V2 PCR test Methods and Main Results: A total of 235 consecutive patients admitted to the ICU were included in the analysis. The cohort had a mean age of 58.6 years (SD: 15.4), 43.4% were female, 45.9% were African American, with median Acute Physiology and Chronic Evaluation-II score of 18.0 (IQR: 13.0 -15.0). Delirium occurred in 176 (79.1%). Increased levels of C-Reactive Protein (CRP) were associated with increased odds of delirium and coma (OR: 1.27, 95% CI: 1.08, 1.49, p=0.004). Increased levels of D-dimer were not associated with increased odds of delirium/coma (OR: 0.94, 95% CI 0.76, 1.16, p=0.574). Increased levels of ferritin (OR: 1.04, 95% CI 0.84, 1.29, p=0.717) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were also not associated with increased odds of delirium/coma (OR: 0.86, 95% CI 0.70, 1.06, p=0.149). Elevated levels of creatine kinase (CK) levels were associated with lower odds of delirium/coma (OR: 0.71 95% CI 0.52, 0.97, p=0.033). Conclusion: Increased levels of biomarkers of inflammation and thrombosis were associated with greater odds of delirium and coma. Further studies are needed to validate these results in a larger population. “This project was funded, in part, with support from the NIH NHLBI Short-Term Training Program in Biomedical Sciences Grantfunded, in part by T35HL110854 from the National Institutes of Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.”

To develop and validate prediction models to differentiate acute and chronic vertebral compression fractures based on radiologic and radiomic features on CT.This study included acute and chronic compression fractures in patients who underwent both spine CT and MRI examinations. For each fractured vertebra, three CT findings ([1] cortical disruption, [2] hypoattenuating cleft or sclerotic line, and [3] relative bone marrow attenuation) were assessed by two radiologists. A radiomic score was built from 280 radiomic features extracted from non-contrast-enhanced CT images. Weighted multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to build a radiologic model based on CT findings and an integrated model combining the radiomic score and CT findings. Model performance was evaluated and compared. Models were externally validated using an independent test cohort.A total to 238 fractures (159 acute and 79 chronic) in 122 patients and 58 fractures (39 acute and 19 chronic) in 32 patients were included in the training and test cohorts, respectively. The AUC of the radiomic score was 0.95 in the training and 0.93 in the test cohorts. The AUC of the radiologic model was 0.89 in the training and 0.83 in the test cohorts. The discriminatory performance of the integrated model was significantly higher than the radiologic model in both the training (AUC, 0.97; p0.01) and the test (AUC, 0.95; p=0.01) cohorts.Combining radiomics with radiologic findings significantly improved the performance of CT in determining the acuity of vertebral compression fractures.

Motivated by the study of greedy algorithms for graph coloring, we introduce a new graph parameter, which we call weak degeneracy. By definition, every $d$-degenerate graph is also weakly $d$-degenerate. On the other hand, if $G$ is weakly $d$-degenerate, then $\chi(G) \leq d + 1$ (and, moreover, the same bound holds for the list-chromatic and even the DP-chromatic number of $G$). It turns out that several upper bounds in graph coloring theory can be phrased in terms of weak degeneracy. For example, we show that planar graphs are weakly $4$-degenerate, which implies Thomassen's famous theorem that planar graphs are $5$-list-colorable. We also prove a version of Brooks's theorem for weak degeneracy: a connected graph $G$ of maximum degree $d \geq 3$ is weakly $(d-1)$-degenerate unless $G \cong K_{d + 1}$. (By contrast, all $d$-regular graphs have degeneracy $d$.) We actually prove an even stronger result, namely that for every $d \geq 3$, there is $\epsilon > 0$ such that if $G$ is a graph of weak degeneracy at least $d$, then either $G$ contains a $(d+1)$-clique or the maximum average degree of $G$ is at least $d + \epsilon$. Finally, we show that graphs of maximum degree $d$ and either of girth at least $5$ or of bounded chromatic number are weakly $(d - \Omega(\sqrt{d}))$-degenerate, which is best possible up to the value of the implied constant., Comment: 21 pp

There is an increased need for research on flexible transparent electrodes (FTEs) because they are critical to next-generation electronic devices, such as wearable computers. In this study, highly conductive transparent conducting electrodes, based on polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanofiber webs treated with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and silver nanowires (AgNWs), were successfully fabricated. Transparent conducting electrodes (TCEs) were obtained by a brush-painting process using different weight ratios of a AgNWs to PEDOT:PSS solution, and the surface, electrical, optical, and chemical properties, as well as the tensile strength of the samples, were determined. It was found that the electrical conductivity of the samples improved as the AgNW content increased, but the light transmittance decreased. In this work, there was a slight decrease in the optical properties and a considerable increase in the electrical properties due to the hybridization of AgNWs and PEDOT:PSS, compared to using only PEDOT:PSS. When considering both transparency and electrical conductivity, which are essential parameters of TCEs, sample PA2, which was treated by mixing AgNWs and PEDOT:PSS/dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) in a ratio of 1:5 (16.67 wt% of AgNWs), was found to be the best sample, with a sheet resistance of 905 Ω/cm2 and light transmittance of 79%.

Sagittal parameters of the spine are closely related to the evaluation and treatment of spine disease. However, there has been little research on variations in preoperative sagittal spinal alignment. This study was conducted to assess the variation in sagittal spinal alignment on serial antero-posterior and latero-lateral projections (EOS imaging) in adult patients before spine surgery. The sagittal parameters of 66 patients were collected from two serial images. Comparison between the first and second sagittal parameters was evaluated using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Subgroup analysis was performed based on the time interval between radiographs, patient’s age, and type of surgery. The sagittal vertical axis (SVA) exhibited statistically significant changes (p = 0.023), with the mean SVA increasing statistically (61.7 mm vs. 73.6 mm) and standard deviation increasing (51.5 mm vs. 61.6 mm) in the second image. Subgroup analysis showed significant differences in SVA (p = 0.034) in patients with an interval of &gt, 3 months, statistical differences in borderline levels in the SVA (p = 0.049) were observed in patients aged &gt, 65 years. Other parameters did not show statistically significant differences, except for SVA. Furthermore, SVA differences were statistically significant with increases in the EOS interval (&gt, 3 months) and patient age (&gt, 65 years).

Background Despite transforaminal epidural steroid injection (ESI) being the first choice in patient with recurrent herniated intervertebral disc (HIVD), efficacy of ESI in those patients are not well established. Herein, we evaluate the effectiveness and outcome predictors of fluoroscopic transforaminal ESI for recurrent HIVD. Methods Seventy-seven patients (48 male; mean age, 51.3 years) with recurrent lumbar HIVD were included and divided into three groups according to initial treatment: conservative treatment, transforaminal ESI, and immediate surgery. ESI effectiveness was evaluated by operation rates, injection numbers in 6 months, and pain reduction (visual analog scale (VAS) scores). Clinical and MRI variables were analyzed as possible outcome predictors. Each subject in the transforaminal ESI group was individually matched to two patients with initial HIVD (control group). Results In the transforaminal ESI group (n = 37), 20 patients (54.1%) did not undergo reoperation. The initial and follow-up VAS scores were significantly higher in the reoperation group (p = 0.014, p = 0.019, respectively). Patients with either paresthesia or motor weakness (12/19, 63.2%) had a significantly higher reoperation rate than patients with only pain (5/18, 27.8%; p = 0.031). Extruded disc ratios ≥2.0 were significantly higher in the reoperation group (10/17, 58.8%; p = 0.048). The reoperation rate in the transforaminal ESI group (17/37, 45.9%) was higher than the operation rate in the control group (6/73, 8.2%; p.001). Conclusion Transforaminal ESI was effective in reducing radicular pain in patients with recurrent HIVD. Approximately 54% of patients did not undergo reoperation. An extruded disc ratio ≥2.0 and paresthesia or motor weakness were poor outcome predictors.

This chapter provides insight into the mother–adolescent relationship in a South African context, focusing on the relationship between identity styles and the mother’s parenting. The findings revealed that maternal involvement predicted adolescent identity style in a sample of non-White South African adolescents. Identity development is an important process in the lives of adolescents, and many changes and much decision-making occur during this phase. Maternal influence, it would seem, is vital in identity development of adolescents. As an understudied area of research in South Africa, this study offers tentative insights into the potential of harnessing the mother–adolescent relationship to enhance positive development of identity style and commitment.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE:Our objective was to assess the impact of a dedicated clinical research team and a formal residency research curriculum implementation on the number of publications, jour...

This study aims to identify effective predictors that influence publics’ emotional reactions to COVID-19 vaccine misinformation as well as corrective messages. We collected a large sample of COVID-19 vaccine related misinformation and corrective messages on Facebook as well as the users’ emotional reactions (i.e., emojis) to these messages. Focusing on three clusters of features such as messages’ linguistic features, source characteristics, and messages’ network positions, we examined whether users’ reactions to misinformation and corrective information would differ. We used random forest models to identify the most salient predictors among over 70 predictors for both types of messages. Our analysis found that for misinformation, political ideology of the message source was the most salient feature that predicted anxious and enthusiastic reactions, followed by message features that highlight personal concerns and messages’ network positions. For corrective messages, while the sources’ ideology was still key to raising anxiety, the most important feature for triggering enthusiasm was the messages’ network positions and message quality.

Food waste by end-consumers is a topic that is under-studied although this is an issue that has direct and indirect consequences on greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and health. One reason for food waste in homes in the United States is the perception that food is no longer safe after the stamped date on the product. Targeted outreach to correct these misconceptions could therefore reduce food waste. As large numbers of people publish their daily activities on social media networks, these messages can be automatically analyzed in real-time to identify situations involving specific foods and then respond to these cases with relevant information about food preparation and safety. This work describes a method to recognize mentions of food items on the Twitter social network. Since food items are not a standard entity class in existing entity recognition systems, a dataset of known food items is used to train an entity recognition framework to recognize these items in context. The training data is obtained from tweets that match a known database of keywords describing different foods. The accuracy of the proposed food entity recognition approach is evaluated on a hand-labeled dataset of randomly selected tweets. The method has a precision of 0.96 and a recall of 0.52 (f-score of 0.68) which is comparable to f-score of 0.75 for named-entity-recognition of drug-related terms on Reddit text data. After a specific food is recognized in a tweet, the corresponding information about its preparation and storage can be looked up in the FoodKeeper database of the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service. This message could then be tweeted as a reply to the original tweet.

Our study examines Facebook posts containing nine prominent COVID-19 vaccine misinformation topics that circulated on the platform between March 1st, 2020 and March 1st, 2021. We first identify misinformation spreaders and fact checkers, further dividing the latter group into those who repeat misinformation to debunk the false claim and those who share correct information without repeating the misinformation. Our analysis shows that, on Facebook, there are almost as many fact checkers as misinformation spreaders. In particular, fact checkers’ posts that repeat the original misinformation received significantly more comments than posts from misinformation spreaders. However, we found that misinformation spreaders were far more likely to take on central positions in the misinformation URL co-sharing network than fact checkers. This demonstrates the remarkable ability of misinformation spreaders to coordinate communication strategies across topics.

Background: Low- and middle-income countries like South Africa carry the greatest suicide burden, with local general population suicide attempt rates of 2.9–22.7%, in comparison to 0.7–9% in international literature. Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) commonly co-occurs with suicidal behaviours and estimates range from 5.5% internationally to 19.4% in South Africa. As a subgroup of the general population, university students are at higher risk for both suicidal behaviours and NSSI (S/NSSI). Risk factors for S/NSSI include parenting style; however, very little is known about the relationship between parenting styles and S/NSSI in university students in the South African context. This study aimed to describe the rates of S/NSSI behaviours and to explore the relationship between the Baumrind parenting style typography and S/NSSI in university students. The study hypothesised that authoritative parenting would negatively correlate with S/NSSI. No a priori hypotheses were made about the other parenting styles investigated. Methods: Students from all faculties at the University of Cape Town were invited to complete an anonymous, online electronic survey. Data collection included a socio-demographic questionnaire, Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire and Self-Harming Behaviours Questionnaire. Descriptive statistics quantified parenting styles, suicidal behaviours and NSSI. Spearman’s correlation coefficients examined the association between parenting style and S/NSSI. Results: In 1136 students, the rate of suicidal attempts was 6.3% and of NSSI was 22.7%. Suicide threats, suicidal thoughts, and thoughts of dying were reported by 5.9%, 35.7% and 50.7% respectively. No significant differences were seen between male and female students. We observed no significant association between authoritative parenting and suicidal behaviours, but authoritative mothers and fathers were significantly associated with a history of NSSI. Both permissive mothers and fathers were associated with suicide attempts, threats, and thoughts, whereas only permissive mothers were associated with NSSI. Conclusions: This study replicates previously reported high rates of S/NSSI in South African university students in comparison to general population and international data. Contrary to our hypothesis, authoritative parenting style was positively correlated with NSSI, but not with suicidal behaviours. Further studies are warranted to examine parenting style, and permissive parenting, in particular, in relation to S/NSSI.

Background Optimal intervals between repeat colonoscopies could improve patient outcomes and reduce costs. We evaluated: (a) concordance between clinician and guideline recommended colonoscopy screening intervals in Winnipeg, Manitoba, (b) clinician opinions about the utility of an electronic decision-making tool to aid in recommending screening intervals, and (c) the initial use of a decision-making smartphone/web-based application. Methods Clinician endoscopists and primary care providers participated in four focus groups (N = 22). We asked participating clinicians to evaluate up to 12 hypothetical scenarios and compared their recommended screening interval to those of North American guidelines. Fisher’s exact tests were used to assess differences in agreement with guidelines. We developed a decision-making tool and evaluated it via a pilot study with 6 endoscopists. Result 53% of clinicians made recommendations that agreed with guidelines in ≤ 50% of the hypothetical scenarios. Themes from focus groups included barriers to using a decision-making tool: extra time to use it, less confidence in the results of the tool over their own judgement, and having access to the information required by the tool (e.g., family history). Most were willing to try a tool if it was quick and easy to use. Endoscopists participating in the tool pilot study recommended screening intervals discordant with guidelines 35% of the time. When their recommendation differed from that of the tool, they usually endorsed their own over the guideline. Conclusions Endoscopists are overconfident and inconsistent with applying guidelines in their polyp surveillance interval recommendations. Use of a decision tool may improve knowledge and application of guidelines. A change in practice may require that the tool be coupled with continuing education about evidence for improved outcomes if guidelines are followed.

Class probability is a fundamental target in classification that contains complete classification information. In this article, we propose a class probability estimation method when the predictor is functional. Motivated by Wang et al. (Biometrika, 95, 149-167, 2007), our estimator is obtained by training a sequence of functional weighted support vector machines (FWSVM) with different weights, which can be justified by the Fisher consistency of the hinge loss. The proposed method can be extended to multiclass classification via pairwise coupling proposed by Wu et al. (Journal of Machine Learning Research, 5, 975-1005, 2004). The use of FWSVM makes our method model-free as well as computationally efficient due to the piecewise linearity of the FWSVM solutions as functions of the weight. Numerical investigation to both synthetic and real data show the advantageous performance of the proposed method.

To analyze the incidence and characteristics of intra-articular facet joint injection (FJI)–related adverse events requiring hospitalization and emergency room visits. From January 2007 to December 2017, a total of 11,980 FJI procedures in 6066 patients (mean age 66.8 years, range 15–97 years, M:F = 2004:4062) were performed in our department. Of these, we retrospectively reviewed 489 cases in 432 patients who were hospitalized or visited the emergency room within a month of FJI. FJI-related adverse events were classified as procedure-related complications, drug-related systemic events, or uncertain etiology events, on the basis of consensus of two spine radiologists. This is a descriptive study without statistical analysis. There were 101 FJI-related adverse event cases in 99 patients (mean age 71.8 years, range 39–97 years, M:F = 39:60). The overall incidence of FJI-related adverse events was 0.84% (101/11,980) per case and 1.63% (99/6066) per patient. The incidence of procedure-related complications and drug-related systemic adverse events was 0.07% (8/11,980) and 0.15% (18/11,980), respectively; the rate of uncertain etiology events was 0.63% (75/11,980). All eight procedure-related complication cases involved major complications. There are seven cases of infectious spondylitis and one was progression of systemic aspergillosis to the spine. One patient died of an uncontrolled infection with infective endocarditis, and two patients experienced partial recovery with neurological sequelae. The overall incidence of FJI-related adverse events is low, and procedure-related major complications are rare without dural puncture or epidural hematoma. Nevertheless, infection can occur, resulting in serious outcomes. • The incidence of FJI-related adverse events requiring hospitalization or ER visit was 0.84%. • The incidence of major procedure-related complications was 0.07%. • All major complications were associated with infection and there were no cases of epidural hematoma.

We propose to use cRFP (common Repository of FBS Proteins) in the MS (mass spectrometry) raw data search of cell secretomes. cRFP is a small supplementary sequence list of highly abundant fetal bovine serum proteins added to the reference database in use. The aim behind using cRFP is to prevent the contaminant FBS proteins from being misidentified as other proteins in the reference database, just as we would use cRAP (common Repository of Adventitious Proteins) to prevent contaminant proteins present either by accident or through unavoidable contacts from being misidentified as other proteins. We expect it to be widely used in experiments where the proteins are obtained from serum-free media after thorough washing of the cells, or from a complex media such as SILAC, or from extracellular vesicles directly.

Ependymin-related proteins fold into a dimer using a subunit formed by stacking antiparallel β-sheets and contain a hydrophobic pocket that is found in the similar folds of bacterial VioE and LolA/LolB. As in VioE and LolA/LolB, this hydrophobic pocket may be used to bind hydrophobic molecules., Ependymin was first discovered as a predominant protein in brain extracellular fluid in fish and was suggested to be involved in functions mostly related to learning and memory. Orthologous proteins to ependymin called ependymin-related proteins (EPDRs) have been found to exist in various tissues from sea urchins to humans, yet their functional role remains to be revealed. In this study, the structures of EPDR1 from frog, mouse and human were determined and analyzed. All of the EPDR1s fold into a dimer using a monomeric subunit that is mostly made up of two stacking antiparallel β-sheets with a curvature on one side, resulting in the formation of a deep hydrophobic pocket. All six of the cysteine residues in the monomeric subunit participate in the formation of three intramolecular disulfide bonds. Other interesting features of EPDR1 include two asparagine residues with glycosylation and a Ca2+-binding site. The EPDR1 fold is very similar to the folds of bacterial VioE and LolA/LolB, which also use a similar hydrophobic pocket for their respective functions as a hydrophobic substrate-binding enzyme and a lipoprotein carrier, respectively. A further fatty-acid binding assay using EPDR1 suggests that it indeed binds to fatty acids, presumably via this pocket. Additional interactome analysis of EPDR1 showed that EPDR1 interacts with insulin-like growth factor 2 receptor and flotillin proteins, which are known to be involved in protein and vesicle translocation.

OBJECTIVE. The objective of our study was to compare the sensitivity of a deep learning (DL) algorithm with the assessments by radiologists in diagnosing osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) using digital radiography. MATERIALS AND METHODS. We performed a two-center, retrospective, noninferiority study of consecutive patients (≥ 16 years old) with a diagnosis of ONFH based on MR images. We investigated the following four datasets of unilaterally cropped hip anteroposterior radiographs: training (n = 1346), internal validation (n = 148), temporal external test (n = 148), and geographic external test (n = 250). Diagnostic performance was measured for a DL algorithm, a less experienced radiologist, and an experienced radiologist. Noninferiority analyses for sensitivity were performed for the DL algorithm and both radiologists. Subgroup analysis for precollapse and postcollapse ONFH was done. RESULTS. Overall, 1892 hips (1037 diseased and 855 normal) were included. Sensitivity and specificity for the temporal external test set were 84.8% and 91.3% for the DL algorithm, 77.6% and 100.0% for the less experienced radiologist, and 82.4% and 100.0% for the experienced radiologist. Sensitivity and specificity for the geographic external test set were 75.2% and 97.2% for the DL algorithm, 77.6% and 75.0% for the less experienced radiologist, and 78.0% and 86.1% for the experienced radiologist. The sensitivity of the DL algorithm was noninferior to that of the assessments by both radiologists. The DL algorithm was more sensitive for precollapse ONFH than the assessment by the less experienced radiologist in the temporal external test set (75.9% vs 57.4%; 95% CI of the difference, 4.5-32.8%). CONCLUSION. The sensitivity of the DL algorithm for diagnosing ONFH using digital radiography was noninferior to that of both less experienced and experienced radiologist assessments.

To analyze the causes of pain, imaging characteristics, and therapeutic effect of spinal injection in patients with extreme low back pain or sciatica. We analyzed 381 consecutive patients with extreme low back pain or sciatica visiting our spinal intervention center between January and December 2017. Clinical and imaging characteristics were analyzed. The treatment response, defined as a numerical pain rating scale decrease of ≥ 30%, was measured. Fisher’s exact test was performed to identify the association between the injection response and subsequent lumbar surgery rate. The most frequent cause of pain was spinal stenosis, followed by herniated intervertebral disc, facet osteoarthritis, and osteoporotic compression fracture. A herniated intervertebral disc was the most common disorder in patients

Empowering families of children with autism spectrum disorder through education and training is best practice. A wide range of Parent Education and Training programmes are delivered around the globe, but there is limited knowledge about the characteristics of these programmes, or about the research methods and outcomes used to evaluate them, particularly in countries outside the United States. We, therefore, performed a scoping review of all peer-reviewed Parent Education and Training publications outside the United States. A search was conducted between March and May 2017. Four reviewers extracted data and performed a mixed-methods quality appraisal of publications. Thirty-seven publications representing 32 unique programmes were identified. Publications described a highly diverse range of Parent Education and Training programmes across 20 countries and all continents except South America. The majority were group-based, but varied significantly in goals, modalities and duration. The majority of studies (86.4%) reported positive outcomes in relation to the core study objectives and only two studies reported some negative findings. Quality appraisal rated only 27% of studies to have met all the methodological quality criteria. Implementation factors such as manualisation, fidelity and cost were commented on infrequently. In spite of the clear need for Parent Education and Training programmes, our findings show that the research evidence-base in autism spectrum disorder outside the United States is relatively small, non-representative and in need of methodological quality improvements.

Objective To determine the usefulness of adding contrast-enhanced (CE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to conventional MRI for evaluation of spinal metastases. Materials and methods One-hundred-and-two whole spine MR examinations, obtained for metastasis work-up within a 2-month period, from 65 men and 37 women (mean age, 64 years) with extra-spinal tumor, who also underwent CE-MRI, were retrospectively evaluated by three radiologists. The number of spine segments with bone marrow involvement was interpreted using a 3-point confidence scale (probable metastasis, equivocal, probably benign) during session 1 (conventional imaging) and session 2 (addition of CE-MRI to conventional imaging). The patients were assigned to 14 categories based on the changes in confidence rating between sessions 1 and 2; these were aggregated to four groups indicating the degree of usefulness of CE-MRI: definitely useful, equivocal, not useful, and presumed non-metastatic groups. Clinical information, metastatic bone type, the number of probably metastatic segments, and anatomical level and position were compared among the former three groups. Results The readers assigned 39–53% of cases to the definitely useful group. The number of probably metastatic segments differed significantly among the three groups for all readers (p ≤ 0.046). Age, sex, primary cancer, metastatic bone type, and anatomical level and position were similar. Conclusion Adding CE-MRI to conventional MRI was useful for objectively detecting and characterizing spinal segments with metastases in 39–53% of cases. However, there were no clinical or radiological factors that could predict the usefulness of CE-MRI in evaluating spinal metastases, except for the number of metastatic segments.

To evaluate the usefulness of whole-tumor ADC histogram analysis based on entire tumor volume in determining the histologic grade of STS (soft tissue sarcoma)s.From January 2015 to December 2020, 53 patients with STS who underwent preoperative magnetic resonance imaging, including diffusion weighted imaging and ADC maps (b = 0 and 1400 s/mmEight patients with low-grade STS (15.1%) and 45 with high-grade STS (26.4% [14/53] for grade II; 58.5% [31/53] for grade III) were included. High-grade STS showed positive skewness and low-grade STS showed negative skewness (0.503 vs -0.726, p=.001). High-grade STS showed lower mean ADC (p =.03) and 5th to 50th percentile values (p ≤. 03) than those of low-grade STS. Positive skewness was an independent predictor of high-grade STS (odds ratio: 6.704, p=.002) with 84.4% sensitivity and 87.5% specificity (cut-off values -0.1757, AUC = 0.842).Skewness is the most promising histogram parameter for discriminating high-grade from low-grade STS. The mean ADC values and lower half of percentile values are helpful for differentiating high from low-grade STSs.

The objective of our study was to evaluate the association between anterior tibial translation and injuries on the posterior horn medial meniscus (PHMM) and the integrity of the brake stop mechanism of the PHMM in the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)-deficient knee.This retrospective study included 85 consecutive patients with an arthroscopically confirmed complete ACL tear. Anterior tibial translation was quantitatively measured using sagittal MRI at the midpoint of the lateral femoral condyle. The "uncovered medial meniscus" sign was considered positive if a vertical line tangent to the posteriormost margin of the medial tibial plateau intersected the PHMM at the midpoint of the medial femoral condyle on sagittal MRI. Concomitant injuries on the structures of the posteromedial and posterolateral corners of the knee, including PHMM tear and meniscal ramp lesion, were recorded. Stratified subgroup analysis and multivariable regression analysis were performed to identify factors associated with anterior tibial translation.The uncovered medial meniscus sign was positive in 21.2% (18/85) of patients and was significantly associated with anterior tibial translation. In the stratified subgroup analysis and multivariable regression analysis, positive uncovered medial meniscus sign consistently showed a significant association with anterior tibial translation and generated an additional 2.8 mm of anterior tibial translation. Other injuries, including PHMM tear and meniscal ramp lesion, were not associated with anterior tibial translation.The uncovered medial meniscus sign showed a statistically significant correlation with anterior tibial translation and could be a useful marker for the lost brake stop mechanism of PHMM in the ACL-deficient knee.

COVID-19 has put the in-vitro-diagnostic community under an unprecedented spotlight, with a global requirement for accurate SARS-CoV-2 tests. This review will outline technological responses to this need and the analytical considerations required for their translation to routine use.SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic solutions directly detect the virus or measure host-derived surrogate markers of infection. With pressure upon supply chains for the 'traditional' molecular approaches, a wide variety of analytical tools spanning the molecular, serology, imaging and chemistry space are being developed, including high throughput solutions and simplified near-patient formats.The unique genetic nature of SARS-CoV-2 means high analytical specificity is achievable by most diagnostic formats. However, clinical sensitivity assessment is complicated by wide discrepancies in analytical range and challenges associated with standardising these differences. When coupled with the acute nature of SARS-CoV-2 infection, reported precise metrics of test performance must be questioned. The response to SARS-CoV-2 has delivered considerable diagnostic innovation, but for a technology to be maximised, it must be demonstrably reproducible and fit for purpose. If novel diagnostic solutions for SARS-CoV-2 are to succeed, equally innovative mechanisms are needed to ensure widespread clinical and surveillance application, enabling agreed standards and metrics to ensure comparability.