Give heart cells a beat: An interactive museum exhibit that synchronizes stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes to visitors' heartbeat.

Science museums play an important role in science education, engaging the public with science concepts and building support for scientific research. Here, we describe Give Heart Cells a Beat, an interactive exhibit that lets museum visitors synchronize the beating of live stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes to their own heart rate in real time. The beat rate of cells accurately matched the beat rate of visitors and responded dynamically to changes such as exercise. Visitor evaluation revealed that engagement with the specimen prompted curiosity in heart biology and stem cells. Give Heart Cells a Beat is the product of a close collaboration between a museum and an academic research laboratory, and to our knowledge, it is the first interactive exhibit to use live human heart cells. We hope this exhibit serves as an example for the implementation of stem cell technology in informal science education and inspires future relationships between academia and public science venues.

Acute cardiovascular effects of 4th generation electronic cigarettes and combusted cigarettes: implications for harm reduction.

The health consequences associated with using electronic cigarettes (ECs) are of great public interest because of their potential role in smoking cessation. In 110 participants, including 41 nonusers, 34 people who exclusively use ECs (EC group), and 35 people who smoke tobacco cigarettes (TCs) including 12 dual users (collectively called the TC-D group), the heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP), and heart rate variability (HRV) were compared at baseline. People in the EC or the TC-D groups were also compared after using a 4th generation EC with or without nicotine, a TC with or without nicotine (TC-D group only), and a straw-control. Baseline HR, BP, and HRV parameters were not different among the EC, the TC-D, and nonuser groups. In people who exclusively use ECs, acute nicotine-EC use increased HR and BP, and produced changes in HRV patterns suggestive of increased cardiac sympathetic influence. In people in the TC-D group, BP increased similarly after acutely smoking a nicotine-TC or a nicotine-EC. However, the increase in HR was significantly greater after smoking a TC compared with the nicotine-EC despite similar acute increases in plasma nicotine. Overall, all exposures containing nicotine significantly increased HR and BP in both cohorts when compared with non-nicotine exposures. Since acute EC use 1) produces an abnormal HRV pattern associated with increased cardiac sympathetic tone in people who chronically use ECs, and 2) similar hemodynamic increases compared with acute TC smoking in people who chronically smoke TCs including dual users, the role of ECs as part of a harm reduction strategy is questioned.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We found that nicotine, not the non-nicotine constituents in tobacco cigarette (TC) or electronic cigarette (EC) emissions, may be the instigator of the acute, potentially adverse, changes in hemodynamics and heart rate variability (HRV) that were recorded several minutes after tobacco product use. Furthermore, acute EC use produced an abnormal HRV pattern associated with increased cardiac risk in people who chronically smoke ECs and produced similar hemodynamic increases compared with acute TC use in people who chronically smoke TCs, including people who are dual users.

Generating mutual support in multifamily therapy to promote father involvement and family communication quality of Chinese families of adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A qualitative study.

Previous studies have suggested the negative impacts of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on parent-adolescent interactions. Yet engaging parents, particularly the fathers, to participate in family-based interventions has been challenging in Chinese contexts given the traditional concerns about keeping the family's "face" and the influence of affiliate stigma. Empirical evidence supports multifamily therapy as an effective modality for parental engagement. This study explores the role of mutual support in promoting parental engagement and family communication quality of Chinese families of adolescents with ADHD. Inclusion criteria of the study were (a) Chinese family of at least one adolescent child having an ADHD diagnosis, (b) the adolescent child was aged between 11 and 15 years, and (c) the family participated in a multifamily therapy program. Families who had not completed a multifamily therapy program were excluded. Fourteen Chinese families of adolescents with ADHD who participated in a pilot multifamily therapy program from June 2017 to September 2018 were recruited for this qualitative study. Photo-elicited parent focus groups and photo-elicited individual interviews with adolescents were conducted. The thematic analysis revealed that a low level of hierarchy in the therapist-client relationship contributed to the building of mutual support among the families in the therapy process. The mutual support was found to play a key role in promoting acceptance, father involvement, and open communication within families of adolescents with ADHD. Discussion was conducted on the importance of the nonexpert stance of the therapist for promoting mutual support among Chinese families in a multifamily therapy process.

Virtual care during the pandemic: Multi-family group sessions for Hong Kong Chinese families of adolescents with intellectual disabilities.

The suspension of social services in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic increased the caregiver strain for families of adolescent children with intellectual disabilities, possibly aggravating their family relationships. This article reports on an online Multi-Family Group (MFG) conducted during the pandemic for Hong Kong Chinese families of adolescents affected by mild-to-moderate intellectual disabilities. A thematic analysis of the experiences of the participating service users revealed three positive effects of the intervention model: improved family relationships, mutual helpful influences occurring among families, and a new understanding of family members with intellectual disabilities. The therapeutic group process used to promote family development is illustrated by a group vignette. The challenges and the practical considerations for conducting an MFG online are discussed.

Two cases of granulomatous mycosis fungoides mimicking interstitial granulomatous dermatosis.

Two patients presented with erythematous papules within larger patches and thin plaques. Following biopsies, each case was initially thought to represent interstitial granulomatous dermatitis (IGD); however, clinicopathological correlation led to a diagnosis of granulomatous mycosis fungoides (GMF). Drawing upon the similarities between these cases, this report explores the clinical and histological manifestations of GMF, features distinguishing GMF from other granulomatous diseases like IGD and the prognostic significance of distinguishing GMF from classic mycosis fungoides. This report also shows that despite the potential for histological overlap between GMF and IGD, the existing literature does not reveal an epidemiological or pathophysiological link between these two conditions.

Optimizing ECG lead selection for detection of prolongation of ventricular repolarization as measured by the Tpeak-end interval.

BACKGROUND: The Tpeak-end(Tp-e) has not been compared in all 12 ECG leads in healthy adults to determine if the Tp-e varies across leads. If there is variation, it remains uncertain, which lead(s) are preferred for recording in order to capture the maximal Tp-e value. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the current study was to determine the optimal leads, if any, to capture the maximal Tp-e interval in healthy young adults. METHODS: In 88 healthy adults (ages 21-38 years), including derivation (n = 21), validation (n = 20), and smoker/vaper (n = 47) cohorts, the Tp-e was measured using commercial computer software (LabChart Pro 8 with ECG module, ADInstruments) in all 12 leads at rest and following a provocative maneuver, abrupt standing. Tp-e was compared to determine which lead(s) most frequently captured the maximal Tp-e interval. RESULTS: In the rest and abrupt standing positions, the Tp-e was not uniform among the 12 leads; the maximal Tp-e was most frequently captured in the precordial leads. At rest, grouping leads V2-V4 resulted in detection of the maximum Tp-e in 85.7% of participants (CI 70.7, 99.9%) versus all other leads (p < .001). Upon abrupt standing, grouping leads V2-V6 together, resulted in detection of the maximum Tp-e 85.0% of participants (CI 69.4, 99.9% versus all other leads; p < .001). These findings were confirmed in the validation cohort, and extended to the smoking/vaping cohort. CONCLUSION: If only a subset of ECG leads will be recorded or analyzed for the Tp-e interval, selection of the precordial leads is preferred since these leads are most likely to capture the maximal Tp-e value.

The impact of COVID-19 on emergency cholecystectomy.

BACKGROUNDS: The impact of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) upon the delivery of surgical services in Australia has not been well characterized, other than restrictions to elective surgery due to government directive-related cancellations. Using emergency cholecystectomy as a representative operation, this study aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on emergency general surgery in Australia in relation to in-hours versus after-hours operating. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted of medical records for patients admitted with cholecystitis or biliary colic between 1 March 2019 and 28 February 2021 at Frankston Hospital, Australia. Patient demographics, admission data, imaging findings, operative and post-operative data were compared between pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 periods. Variables were compared using the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney, Chi Squared or Fishers exact test. RESULTS: During the COVID-19 period, emergency cholecystectomy was performed for a greater proportion of patients presenting with cholecystitis or biliary colic (93.5% versus 77.7%, p < 0.01). Despite this, there was concomitant reduction in after-hours cholecystectomy from 14.4% to 7.5% (p = 0.04). Patients requiring after-hours surgery during the COVID-19 period had more features of sepsis (23% more tachypnoeic, 18% more hypotensive), and were more likely to have certain features of cholecystitis on imaging (45% more likely to have pericholecystic fluid). CONCLUSION: Following elective surgery cancellations during the COVID-19 period, an increase was seen in the proportion of patients presenting with gallstone disease who were managed with emergency cholecystectomy due to improved theatre access. Concurrently, there was a decrease in the requirement for surgery to be performed after-hours.

Treatment efficacy of multiple family therapy in helping Chinese children of depressed parents in Hong Kong, China.

This article reports results of a study that assessed the efficacy of multiple family therapy (MFT) for helping children of depressed parent(s), using a quasi-randomized controlled trial design. In total, 76 children participated in the study, with 51 children were assigned to the experimental group (EG) and 25 to the comparison group (CG). The EG children and their parents completed the three-month MFT program, while the CG children and their parents attended two psychoeducational talks scheduled at the same time as the MFT. A group × Time repeated measure ANCOVA did not discern the intervention types having any effect on children's lives in the post-treatment phase or at the three-month follow-up. However, the MFT brought some promising positive changes in the EG children's perceived social support, both overall and that from the father and other family members at three-month follow-up; compared to the CG children, the EG children also attached more importance to the support from their mothers in the post-treatment phase and that from other family members at the three-month follow-up. The results implied the potential efficacy of the MFT in facilitating an increase in the overall social support of children of depressed parents and their positive interactions with both the healthy and the depressed parent and other family members. Owing to multiple statistical limitations, caution is required while interpreting the results. A larger sample and a more sophisticated research design were suggested for future studies examining the efficacy and therapeutic mechanism of the MFT.

En este artículo se informan los resultados de un estudio que evaluó la eficacia de la terapia familiar múltiple (TFM) para ayudar a hijos de padres deprimidos usando un diseño de ensayo controlado cuasialeatorizado. En total, participaron 76 niños en el estudio, con 51 niños asignados al grupo experimental y 25 al grupo comparativo. Los niños del grupo experimental y sus padres completaron el programa de TFM de tres meses, mientras que los niños del grupo comparativo y sus padres asistieron a dos charlas psicoeducativas programadas al mismo tiempo que la TFM. Un ANCOVA de medidas estandarizadas de grupo × tiempo no percibió que los tipos de intervención tuvieran ningún efecto en las vidas de los niños en la fase posterior al tratamiento ni tres meses después. Sin embargo, la TFM trajo algunos cambios positivos prometedores en el apoyo social percibido por los niños del grupo experimental, tanto en general como en el padre y otros familiares en el seguimiento de los tres meses. En comparación con los niños del grupo comparativo, los niños del grupo experimental también dieron más importancia al apoyo de sus madres en la fase posterior al tratamiento y al de otros familiares en el seguimiento de los tres meses. Los resultados indicaron la posible eficacia de la TFM a la hora de facilitar un aumento en el apoyo social general de los niños de padres deprimidos y sus interacciones positivas con el padre sano y el padre deprimido y otros familiares. Debido a las múltiples limitaciones estadísticas, es necesario interpretar los resultados con cuidado. Se sugirió una muestra más grande y un diseño de investigación más sofisticado para futuros estudios que analicen la eficacia y el mecanismo terapéutico de la TFM.

Multifamily Therapy for Children With ADHD in Hong Kong: The Different Impacts on Fathers and Mothers.

Objective: Medication combined with psychosocial intervention is the recommended treatment for ADHD. What is not clear is which of the parents participate in psychosocial interventions, and whether the impacts are different for fathers and mothers. This is important because of the different roles fathers and mothers have in shaping their child's development. This article examines the impact of multifamily therapy on a sample of fathers and mothers from Hong Kong whose children suffer from ADHD. Method: Fathers and mothers ratings on ADHD severity, parent-child relationship, parenthood stress, and parental self-esteem were compared between those who attended multifamily therapy and those who attended psychoeducation talks. Results: Fathers and mothers of the multifamily group, but not the psychoeducational group, reported reduction of child ADHD symptom severity. When the reduction was clinically significant, mothers reported an increased sense of competence while fathers reported improved father-child relationship. Conclusion: Fathers and mothers experienced different gains from attending MFT. Fathers' involvement in their child's treatment should be encouraged and facilitated.

Sea of Genes: A Reflection on Visualising Metagenomic Data for Museums.

We examine the process of designing an exhibit to communicate scientific findings from a complex dataset and unfamiliar domain to the public in a science museum. Our exhibit sought to communicate new lessons based on scientific findings from the domain of metagenomics. This multi-user exhibit had three goals: (1) to inform the public about microbial communities and their daily cycles; (2) to link microbes' activity to the concept of gene expression; (3) and to highlight scientists' use of gene expression data to understand the role of microbes. To address these three goals, we derived visualization designs with three corresponding stories, each corresponding to a goal. We present three successive rounds of design and evaluation of our attempts to convey these goals. We could successfully present one story but had limited success with our second and third goals. This work presents a detailed account of an attempt to explain tightly coupled relationships through storytelling and animation in a multi-user, informal learning environment to a public with varying prior knowledge on the domain and identify lessons for future design.

Sitting In: The Experience of Learning and Practicing Family Therapy through Being a Co-Therapist in Hong Kong.

This article explores family therapy trainees' subjective experiences of working as cotherapists with a supervisory-level therapist in a Chinese context, regarding their perceptions of and positioning in it and also their opinions on the benefits and/or pitfalls of cotherapy. Individual interviews with a total of six cotherapists revealed three themes: (1) Cotherapy was perceived as an experiential learning journey that evolved from anxiety and excitement to empowerment and nurturing; (2) a collaborative master-apprentice relationship of openness, trust, and mutual respect was developed with both sides' interactive effort, which included common commitment and concern for the client, the supervisor's awareness and explicit address of the role hierarchy, principle setting prior to the cooperation, and honest pre- and-postsession sharing and discussion; (3) the dual-purpose supervisor-trainee cotherapy brought direct benefits for all involved parties and for others. The findings have useful implications for integrating treatment and training for optimal training/learning outcomes and for advancing knowledge transfer from senior to junior and from academia to the field, with reference to local cultural characteristics.

Este artículo analiza las experiencias subjetivas de los practicantes de terapia familiar en su trabajo como coterapeutas con un terapeuta supervisor en un contexto chino, con respecto a sus percepciones de la coterapia y a su posicionamiento en ella, y también sus opiniones sobre los beneficios o los inconvenientes de la coterapia. Las entrevistas individuales con un total de seis coterapeutas revelaron tres temas: (1) la coterapia se percibió como un viaje de aprendizaje empírico que pasó de la ansiedad y el entusiasmo al empoderamiento y el estímulo; (2) se desarrolló una relación colaborativa de sinceridad, confianza y respeto mutuo entre el maestro y el aprendiz con el esfuerzo interactivo de ambas partes, que incluyó el compromiso común y la preocupación por el paciente, la comprensión del supervisor y el abordaje explícito de la jerarquía de roles, la fijación de principios antes de la cooperación, y el intercambio y el debate sinceros antes y después de la sesión; (3) la coterapia con doble finalidad entre el supervisor y el practicante tuvo beneficios directos para todas las partes implicadas y para los demás. Los hallazgos tienen consecuencias útiles para la integración del tratamiento y la capacitación a fin de obtener resultados óptimos a nivel de capacitación y aprendizaje, y de fomentar el traspaso de conocimiento desde los profesionales experimentados a los profesionales noveles, y desde el mundo académico al ejercicio de la profesión, con referencia a características culturales locales.

Decoding a Complex Visualization in a Science Museum - An Empirical Study.

This study describes a detailed analysis of museum visitors' decoding process as they used a visualization designed to support exploration of a large, complex dataset. Quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed that it took, on average, 43 seconds for visitors to decode enough of the visualization to see patterns and relationships in the underlying data represented, and 54 seconds to arrive at their first correct data interpretation. Furthermore, visitors decoded throughout and not only upon initial use of the visualization. The study analyzed think-aloud data to identify issues visitors had mapping the visual representations to their intended referents, examine why they occurred, and consider if and how these decoding issues were resolved. The paper also describes how multiple visual encodings both helped and hindered decoding and concludes with implications on the design and adaptation of visualizations for informal science learning venues.

Author Correction: First-hand, immersive full-body experiences with living cells through interactive museum exhibits.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Drivers and patterns of microbial community assembly in a Lyme disease vector.

Vector-borne diseases constitute a major global health burden and are increasing in geographic range and prevalence. Mounting evidence has demonstrated that the vector microbiome can impact pathogen dynamics, making the microbiome a focal point in vector-borne disease ecology. However, efforts to generalize preliminary findings across studies and systems and translate these findings into disease control strategies are hindered by a lack of fundamental understanding of the processes shaping the vector microbiome and the interactions therein. Here, we use 16S rRNA sequencing and apply a community ecology framework to analyze microbiome community assembly and interactions in Ixodes pacificus, the Lyme disease vector in the western United States. We find that vertical transmission routes drive population-level patterns in I. pacificus microbial diversity and composition, but that microbial function and overall abundance do not vary over time or between clutches. Further, we find that the I. pacificus microbiome is not strongly structured based on competition but assembles nonrandomly, potentially due to vector-specific filtering processes which largely eliminate all but the dominant endosymbiont, Rickettsia. At the scale of the individual I. pacificus, we find support for a highly limited internal microbial community, and hypothesize that the tick endosymbiont may be the most important component of the vector microbiome in influencing pathogen dynamics.