Critically

Context • People are increasingly exposed to low frequency (LF) electromagnetic fields (EMFs), mainly from electricity distribution networks and electronic devices. Critics of this widespread exposure believe that it can have detrimental effects on the human body. On the other hand, many in vivo and in vitro studies have claimed that low frequency electromagnetic therapy can function as a form of alternative medicine and that therapists can treat disease by applying electromagnetic radiation or pulsed EMFs to the body or cells...

Coastal utilities exploiting mildly saline groundwater (<150 mg/L chloride) may be challenged by disinfection byproduct (DBP) formation, a concern likely to increase with sea-level rise. Groundwater from North Carolina coastal aquifers is characterized by large variations in concentrations of halides (bromide up to 10,600 μg/L) and dissolved organic carbon (up to 5.7 mg-C/L). Formation of 33 regulated and unregulated halogenated DBPs, including trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetic acids (HAAs), haloacetonitriles, haloacetamides, and haloacetaldehydes, was measured after simulated chlorination of 24 coastal North Carolina groundwater samples under typical chlorination conditions...

Across much of the northern hemisphere, lakes are at risk of re-acidification due to incomplete recovery from historical acidification and pressures associated with more intensive forest biomass harvesting. Critical load (CL) calculations aimed at estimating the amount of pollutants an ecosystem can receive without suffering adverse consequences are dependent on these factors. Here, we present a modelling study of the potential effects of intensified forest harvesting on re-acidification of a set of 3239 Swedish lakes based on scenarios with varying intensities of forest biomass harvest and acid deposition...

The contamination of aquatic environments with microplastics (MPs) has spurred an unprecedented interest among scientific communities to investigate their impacts on biota. Despite the rapid growth in the number of studies on the aquatic toxicology of MPs, controversy over the fate and biological impacts of MPs is increasingly growing mainly due to the absence of standardized laboratory bioassays. Given the complex features of MPs, such as the diversity of constituent polymers, additives, shapes and sizes, as well as continuous changes in the particle buoyancy as a result of fouling and defouling processes, it is necessary to modify conventional bioassay protocols before employing them for MP toxicity testings...

In this paper, an identifier-critic structure is introduced to find an online near-optimal controller for continuous-time nonaffine nonlinear systems having saturated control signal. By employing two Neural Networks (NNs), the solution of Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation associated with the cost function is derived without requiring a priori knowledge about system dynamics. Weights of the identifier and critic NNs are tuned online and simultaneously such that unknown terms are approximated accurately and the control signal is kept between the saturation bounds...

To develop effective therapeutics for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), 2-benzylidene-2,3-dihydro-1H-inden-1-one and benzofuran-3(2H)-one derivatives, were designed and synthesized and their structure-activity relationships (SAR) were investigated. Compounds 7, 25, 26, 32, 39, 41, 52, 54, and 55 showed potent inhibitory effect (>70%) on the TNF-α-induced adhesion of monocytes to colon epithelial cells, which is one of the hallmark events leading to IBD. Such inhibitory activity of the compounds correlated with their suppressive activities against the TNF-α-induced production of ROS; ICAM-1 and MCP-1 expression, critical molecules involved in monocyte-epithelial adhesion; and NF-κB transcriptional activity...

BACKGROUND: Health care personnel are expected to be familiar with evidence-based practice (EBP). Asking clinical questions, conducting systematic literature searches and conducting critical appraisal of research findings have been some of the barriers to EBP. To improve undergraduate nurses' research skills, a collaborative library-faculty teaching intervention was established in 2012. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate how the collaborative library-faculty teaching intervention affected the nursing students' research skills when writing their final theses...

Blindsight patients with damage to the visual cortex can discriminate objects but report no conscious visual experience. This provides an intriguing opportunity to allow the study of subjective awareness in isolation from objective performance capacity. However, blindsight is rare, so one promising way to induce the effect in neurologically intact observers is to apply transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to the visual cortex. Here, we used a recently-developed criterion-free method to conclusively rule out an important alternative interpretation of TMS-induced performance without awareness: that TMS-induced blindsight may be just due to conservative reporting biases for conscious perception...

The base pairs of cosN, the site where the 12 base-long cohesive ends are generated in λ-like phages, show partial-two fold rotational symmetry. In a bioinformatic survey, we found that the cosN changes in 12 natural cosN variants are restricted to bp 6-to-12 of the cohesive end sequence. In contrast, bp 1-5 of the cohesive end sequence are strictly conserved (13/13), as are the two bp flanking the left nicking site (bp -2 and -1). The bp flanking the right nick site (bp 13 and 14) are conserved in 12 of 13 variants...

OBJECTIVE: To describe the implementation of a nurse-led project to screen parents for depression and traumatic stress in the postpartum period after visiting their newborns in the NICU. DESIGN: A standardized universal mental health postpartum screening and referral protocol was developed for parents of high-risk neonates. SETTING/LOCAL PROBLEM: The project occurred at the Garbose Family Special Delivery Unit, the first high-risk obstetrics unit serving healthy women who give birth to newborns with prenatally diagnosed fetal anomalies...

Neuraminidase, which plays a critical role in the influenza virus life cycle, is a target for new therapeutic agents. The study of structure-activity relationships revealed that the C-5 position amino group of oseltamivir was pointed to 150-cavity of the neuraminidase in group-1. This cavity is important for selectivity of inhibitors against N1 versus N2 NA. A serial of influenza neuraminidase inhibitors with the oseltavimir scaffold containing lipophilic side chains at the C-5 position have been synthesized and evaluated for their influenza neuraminidase inhibitory activity and selectivity...

While marine protected areas (MPAs) can simultaneously contribute to biodiversity conservation and fisheries management, the global network is biased towards particular ecosystem types, as it was largely established in an ad hoc fashion. The optimization of trade-offs between biodiversity benefits and socio-economic values increases implementation success and minimizes enforcement costs in the long run, but is often neglected in marine spatial planning (MSP). Although the acquisition of spatially explicit socioeconomic data is often perceived as a costly/secondary step in MSP, it is critical to account for lost opportunities by people whose activities will be restricted, especially fishers...

CD11c+ dendritic cells (DCs) exert a critical role as antigen-presenting cells in regulating pathogenic T cells in multiple sclerosis (MS). To determine whether the therapeutic benefit of interferon (IFN)-β treatment for MS is in part influenced by IFN regulation of DC function, we examined the immunophenotype of DCs derived from IFN-β(+/+) and IFN-β(-/-) mice using a myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) peptide-induced mouse model of MS, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Our earlier work identified that IFN-β(-/-) mice exhibit earlier onset and more rapid progression of neurologic impairment compared with IFN-β(+/+) mice...

BACKGROUND: We sought to determine the specificity of compound muscle action potential (CMAP) durations and amplitudes in a large critical illness neuromyopathy (CINM) cohort relative to controls with other neuromuscular conditions. METHODS: Fifty-eight patients with CINM seen over a 17-year period were retrospectively studied. Electrodiagnostic findings of the CINM cohort were compared with patients with axonal peripheral neuropathy and myopathy due to other causes...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Retrograde tibiopedal access and interventions have contributed to advance of endovascular techniques to treat critical limb ischemia (CLI) patients. This review encompasses the spectrum from advanced diagnostic imaging and technical therapeutic approaches for infrapopliteal occlusions, to a discussion of current standards and future directions. RECENT FINDINGS: Contemporary studies of infrapopliteal angioplasty show suboptimal short-term and 1-year clinical outcomes...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Bone is a structurally unique microenvironment that presents many challenges for the development of 3D models for studying bone physiology and diseases, including cancer. As researchers continue to investigate the interactions within the bone microenvironment, the development of 3D models of bone has become critical. RECENT FINDINGS: 3D models have been developed that replicate some properties of bone, but have not fully reproduced the complex structural and cellular composition of the bone microenvironment...

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate, by means of finite element analysis, the effect of a drill hole at the end of a horizontal osteotomy to reduce the risk of lateral cortex fracture while performing an opening wedge high tibial osteotomy (OWHTO). The question was whether drilling a hole relieves stress and increases the maximum correction angle without fracture of the lateral cortex depending on the ductility of the cortical bone. METHODS: Two different types of osteotomy cuts were considered; one with a drill hole (diameter 5 mm) and the other without the hole...

In this review, I describe a 30-year journey in the quest for precision medicines for patients with kidney diseases. In 1987, when I started my reseach career, most scientists studying glomerular disease biology were focused on mesangial cells. The crucial role of the podocyte in many kidney diseases characterized by proteinuria, including focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) and diabetic nephropathy, had not yet been recognized. We were not aware of genetic causes or drivers of kidney diseases nor of molecular markers and cell culture systems for mechanistic studies of podocyte biology...

The use of immersive virtual reality as a research tool is rapidly increasing in numerous scientific disciplines. By combining ecological validity with strict experimental control, immersive virtual reality provides the potential to develop and test scientific theories in rich environments that closely resemble everyday settings. This article introduces the first standardized database of colored three-dimensional (3-D) objects that can be used in virtual reality and augmented reality research and applications...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Hyperglycemia in the emergency department (ED) is being recognized as a public health problem and presents a clinical challenge. This review critically summarizes available evidence on the burden, etiology, diagnosis, and practical management strategies for hyperglycemia in the ED. RECENT FINDINGS: Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and hyperglycemic hyperosmolar state (HHS) are hyperglycemic emergencies that commonly present to the ED. However, the most common form of hyperglycemia in ED is associated with non-hyperglycemic medical emergencies...