Phase diagram and thermal expansion measurements on the system URu2-xFexSi2.

Thermal expansion, electrical resistivity, magnetization, and specific heat measurements were performed on URu2-xFexSi2 single crystals for various values of Fe concentration x in both the hidden-order (HO) and large-moment antiferromagnetic (LMAFM) regions of the phase diagram. Our results show that the paramagnetic (PM) to HO and LMAFM phase transitions are manifested differently in the thermal expansion coefficient. The uniaxial pressure derivatives of the HO/LMAFM transition temperature T0 change dramatically when crossing from the HO to the LMAFM phase. The energy gap also changes consistently when crossing the phase boundary. In addition, for Fe concentrations at xc ≈ 0.1, we observe two features in the thermal expansion upon cooling, one that appears to be associated with the transition from the PM to the HO phase and another one at lower temperature that may be due to the transition from the HO to the LMAFM phase.

Assessment of bacterial diversity in Hyalomma aegyptium, H. marginatum and H. excavatum ticks through tag-encoded pyrosequencing.

Ticks are among the most significant human-biting ectoparasites and they play a major role in transmission of many pathogenic agents to humans. In the present study, three species of Hyalomma ticks, Hyalomma aegyptium, H. marginatum and H. excavatum, were examined for the presence of zoonotic bacteria, both male and female ticks alike. Examination of microbial diversity with tag-encoded pyrosequencing indicates that H. marginatum and H. excavatum were more diversity rich than H. aegyptium. Although numerous pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacterial genera were detected, including Acidovorax, Bacillus, Bacteroides, Bdellovibrio, Clostridium, Curvibacter, Escherichia, Flavobacterium, Limnohabitans, Paenibacillus, Ralstonia, Sarcina, Sediminibacterium, Segetibacter Stenotrophomonas and Variovorax, the predominant zoonotic bacteria represented in these ticks were genera Borrelia, Francisella, and Rickettsia. To the authors' knowledge, this work represents the first detection of Yersinia enterocolitica in the tick H. excavatum, raising questions regarding the vector competency of this tick, as well as associations of different disease representations perhaps through previously unforeseen routes of pathogen introduction. Likewise, similar questions are related to the presence of Legionella pneumophila in one H. excavatum sample.

Gesture and intonation are "sister systems" of infant communication: Evidence from regression patterns of language development.

This study investigates infants' transition from nonverbal to verbal communication using evidence from regression patterns. As an example of regressions, prelinguistic infants learning American Sign Language (ASL) use pointing gestures to communicate. At the onset of single signs, however, these gestures disappear. Petitto (1987) attributed the regression to the children's discovery that pointing has two functions, namely, deixis and linguistic pronouns. The 1:2 relation (1 form, 2 functions) violates the simple 1:1 pattern that infants are believed to expect. This kind of conflict, Petitto argued, explains the regression. Based on the additional observation that the regression coincided with the boundary between prelinguistic and linguistic communication, Petitto concluded that the prelinguistic and linguistic periods are autonomous. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the 1:1 model and to determine whether it explains a previously reported regression of intonation in English. Background research showed that gestures and intonation have different forms but the same pragmatic meanings, a 2:1 form-function pattern that plausibly precipitates the regression. The hypothesis of the study was that gestures and intonation are closely related. Moreover, because gestures and intonation change in the opposite direction, the negative correlation between them indicates a robust inverse relationship. To test this prediction, speech samples of 29 infants (8 to 16 months) were analyzed acoustically and compared to parent-report data on several verbal and gestural scales. In support of the hypothesis, gestures alone were inversely correlated with intonation. In addition, the regression model explains nonlinearities stemming from different form-function configurations. However, the results failed to support the claim that regressions linked to early words or signs reflect autonomy. The discussion ends with a focus on the special role of intonation in children's transition from "prelinguistic" communication to language.

List intonation in pre-schoolers with normal and disordered language development.

The principal aim of this study was to evaluate pre-schoolers' expressive intonation in light of current debates about the underlying nature of language impairment (LI). Children with LI typically have deficits in grammar, a component of language that is phonologically represented on the segmental level. The hypothesis is that children with LI do not have deficits of this type when grammar is conveyed by intonation, a pitch-based component of language that is phonologically represented on the suprasegmental level. This study focused on the richly diversified suprasegmental patterns of sentences in which the speaker produces a series of items in a list. To address the hypothesis, list intonation in the speech of 4-year-olds with and without LI was acoustically analysed. Lists produced by children with LI were comparable to those produced by children with normal language development (NL). The results do not support the claim that LI stems from a poor understanding of grammatical principles. Rather, LI reflects an underlying impairment of segmental information processing. The discussion focuses on two characteristics of pitch contours which may account for the resilience of intonation in children with LI. Namely, steady state versus transient signals and universal symbol meanings versus arbitrary relationships between form and function.

Cranialization in a cohort of 154 consecutive patients with frontal sinus fractures (1987-2007): review and update of a compelling procedure in the selected patient.

Retrospective review of charts of 180 consecutive patients with frontal sinus fractures managed by plastic surgeons at the University of Kentucky between 1987 and 2007 was performed with institutional review board approval. Twenty-six charts did not meet the criteria. The remaining 154 records provided 1-to-20-year follow-up. The study included 34 patients who underwent cranialization and 120 patients who did not. A low-complication rate of 6% after cranialization is ascribed by the authors to meticulous sinus mucosal debridement; thorough obliteration of the frontal sinus outflow tract (with sterile gelatin sponge pledgets and bone chips from the outer cortex of the temporoparietal skull); and avoidance of avascular barriers, such as abdominal fat. As high-resolution computerized tomography with parasaggital views was introduced, an increasing ability to preoperatively define the extent of injury of the medial and lateral sinus floor was observed. The authors conclude selective use of cranialization is indicated.

The development of falling intonation in young children with cochlear implants: a 2-year longitudinal study.

This article describes the development of intonation in 12 cochlear implant (CI) recipients. In a previously reported study of the first year of CI use, children who were implanted late (after 24 months) acquired intonation more rapidly than the younger participants. The older children's advantage is plausibly owing to their greater maturity. However, children who were implanted early (before 25 months) did not have an advantage over the still younger control group of infants with normal hearing (NH), suggesting that the advantage requires a critical age of about 30 months. The younger CI-users reached this age in the second year of CI use. The results confirmed our expectation that even the younger CI recipients would acquire intonation more rapidly than infants with NH who had the same amount of robust hearing experience. Clinical implications are discussed in relation to the question of early versus late implantation.

Gaps in pediatric emergency medicine education of emergency medicine residents: A needs assessment of recent graduates.

Background: More than 90% of pediatric patients presenting to emergency departments (EDs) in the United States are evaluated and treated in community-based EDs. Recent evidence suggests that mortality outcomes may be worse for critically ill pediatric patients treated at community EDs. The disparate mortality outcomes may be due to inconsistency in pediatric-specific education provided to emergency medicine (EM) trainees during residency training. There are few studies surveying recently graduated EM physicians assessing perceived gaps in the pediatric emergency medicine (PEM) education they received during residency. Methods: This was a prospective, survey-based, descriptive cohort study of EM residency graduates from 10 institutions across the United States who were <5 years out from residency training. Deidentified surveys were distributed via email. Results: A total of 222 responses were obtained from 570 eligible participants (39.1%). Non-ED pediatric rotations during residency training included pediatric intensive care (60%), pediatric anesthesia (32.4%), neonatal intensive care unit (26.1%), and pediatric wards (17.1%). A large percentage (42.8%) of respondents felt uncomfortable managing neonates and performing tube thoracostomy on pediatric patients (56.3%). The EM graduate's satisfaction with pediatric simulation-based training during residency was positively associated with comfort caring for neonates and infants (p < 0.0070 and p < 0.0002) and performing endotracheal intubation (p < 0.0027), lumbar puncture (p < 0.0004), and Pediatric Advanced Life Support resuscitation (p < 0.0001). Conclusions/discussion: This survey-based cohort study found considerable variation in pediatric-specific experiences during EM residency training and in perceived comfort managing pediatric patients. In general, participants were more comfortable managing older children. This study suggests that the greatest perceived knowledge gaps in PEM were neonatal medicine/resuscitation and pediatric cardiac arrest. Future research will continue to address larger cohorts, representative of the PEM education provided to EM physicians in the United States to promote future educational initiatives.

Children's development of intonation during the first year of cochlear implant experience.

This article describes the longitudinal development of intonation in 18 deaf children who received cochlear implants (CIs) before the age of 3 years and 12 infants with typical development (TD) who served as controls. At the time their implants were activated, the children with CIs ranged in age from 9 to 36 months. Cross-group comparisons were made when the children had equivalent amounts of robust hearing experience but different chronological ages. This article reports the results for the 6-month period ending 9 months after activation of the child's device for children with CIs, and the 6-month period ending at 12 months of age for TD infants. The findings were compared with a model of early intonation development in children with normal hearing. The results indicated that all groups progressed through one or more of the stages predicted by the normative model. At the end of the study period, however, children who had received a CI later than 24 months reached a more mature stage of intonation development than younger CI recipients. Moreover, the older CI group reached the same stage of development as the TD infants who had 3 additional months of language listening experience. The findings suggest that the developmental advantage which older children had previously demonstrated shortly after activation of their CIs is maintained throughout most or all of the first year of CI use.

SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections among vaccinated individuals with rheumatic disease: results from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance provider registry.

OBJECTIVE: While COVID-19 vaccination prevents severe infections, poor immunogenicity in immunocompromised people threatens vaccine effectiveness. We analysed the clinical characteristics of patients with rheumatic disease who developed breakthrough COVID-19 after vaccination against SARS-CoV-2. METHODS: We included people partially or fully vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 who developed COVID-19 between 5 January and 30 September 2021 and were reported to the Global Rheumatology Alliance registry. Breakthrough infections were defined as occurring ≥14 days after completion of the vaccination series, specifically 14 days after the second dose in a two-dose series or 14 days after a single-dose vaccine. We analysed patients' demographic and clinical characteristics and COVID-19 symptoms and outcomes. RESULTS: SARS-CoV-2 infection was reported in 197 partially or fully vaccinated people with rheumatic disease (mean age 54 years, 77% female, 56% white). The majority (n=140/197, 71%) received messenger RNA vaccines. Among the fully vaccinated (n=87), infection occurred a mean of 112 (±60) days after the second vaccine dose. Among those fully vaccinated and hospitalised (n=22, age range 36-83 years), nine had used B cell-depleting therapy (BCDT), with six as monotherapy, at the time of vaccination. Three were on mycophenolate. The majority (n=14/22, 64%) were not taking systemic glucocorticoids. Eight patients had pre-existing lung disease and five patients died. CONCLUSION: More than half of fully vaccinated individuals with breakthrough infections requiring hospitalisation were on BCDT or mycophenolate. Further risk mitigation strategies are likely needed to protect this selected high-risk population.

Avoiding Misdiagnosis of Abdominal Vascular Catastrophes.

Abdominal vascular emergencies are an uncommon entity in emergency medicine, but when they present, they are often catastrophic. These time-sensitive and life-threatening diagnoses are often hidden in nonspecific complaints such as nausea, vomiting, or flank pain, so the emergency physician must remain diligent and consider these in the differential diagnoses. The following is an overview of the more common of these abdominal vascular emergencies, in the hope that they help the Emergency Physician avoid the misdiagnosis and subsequent vascular catastrophe that would follow.

Evaluation of two portable meters for determination of blood triglyceride concentration in dogs.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate agreement between 2 portable triglyceride meters and a veterinary laboratory for measurement of blood triglyceride concentrations in dogs and evaluate effects of Hct and blood volume analyzed. SAMPLE POPULATION: 97 blood samples collected from 60 dogs. PROCEDURES: Triglyceride concentrations were measured in blood by use of 2 meters and compared with serum triglyceride concentrations determined by a veterinary laboratory. Within- and between-day precision, accuracy, and effects of blood volume and Hct were analyzed. RESULTS: Accuracy of both meters varied with triglyceride concentration, although both accurately delineated dogs with triglyceride concentrations < 180 mg/dL versus > or = 180 mg/dL. One meter had results with excellent overall correlation with results of the standard laboratory method, with a concordance correlation coefficient of 0.94 and mean difference of 20.3 mg/dL. The other meter had a good overall concordance correlation coefficient of 0.86 with a higher absolute mean difference of -27.7 mg/dL. Results were only affected by blood volume; triglyceride concentrations determined via both meters were significantly lower when 7 microL of EDTA-anticoagulated blood was used, compared with larger volumes. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: 1 meter had greater accuracy in the range of 140 to 400 mg/dL and was therefore well suited to detect hypertriglyceridemia. The other meter was accurate with triglyceride values < 140 mg/dL and yielded results similar to those of the veterinary laboratory in the range of 140 to 400 mg/dL, therefore being suitable for determination of triglyceride concentrations in nonfed dogs and dogs with mildly high concentrations.

Triglyceride response following an oral fat tolerance test in Burmese cats, other pedigree cats and domestic crossbred cats.

Primary lipid disorders causing fasting triglyceridaemia have been documented infrequently in Burmese cats. Due to the known increased risk of diabetes mellitus and sporadic reports of lipid aqueous in this breed, the aim of this study was to determine whether healthy Burmese cats displayed a more pronounced pre- or post-prandial triglyceridaemia compared to other cats. Serum triglyceride (TG) concentrations were determined at baseline and variably at 2, 4 and 6h after ingestion of a high-fat meal (ie, an oral fat tolerance test) in a representative sample of Burmese and non-Burmese cats. The median 4 and 6h serum TG concentrations were significantly higher in Burmese cats (4h - 2.8mmol/l; 6h - 8.2mmol/l) than in other pedigree and domestic crossbred cats (4h - 1.5mmol/l; 6h - 1.0mmol/l). The non-Burmese group had post-prandial TG concentrations ranging from 0.6 to 3.9mmol/l. Seven Burmese cats had post-prandial TG concentrations between 6.6 and 19.0mmol/l, five had concentrations between 4.2 and 4.7mmol/l, while the remaining 15 had post-prandial concentrations between 0.5 and 2.8mmol/l. None of these Burmese cats had fasting triglyceridaemia. Most Burmese cats with a 4 h TG > 6.0 mmol/l had elevated fasting very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) concentrations. This study demonstrates that a proportion of Burmese cats in Australia have delayed TG clearance compared to other cats. The potential repercussions of this observation with reference to lipid aqueous, pancreatitis and diabetes mellitus in Burmese cats are discussed.

Maternal Control and Sensitivity, Child Gender, and Maternal Education in Relation to Children's Behavioral Outcomes in African American Families.

This study examined relationships between mother-child interactions and children's behaviors in 119 urban African American mothers and their 6 - 7 year old children. Interactions during a cooking task and a follow-up child clean-up task were videotaped. Principal components analyses of behaviors during the cooking task yielded two factors in mothers (Sensitivity and Control), and three in children (Task Involvement, Responsiveness, and Communicative). Children's negativity during a clean up task was coded and mothers were interviewed about their children's problem behaviors. Parenting sensitivity was associated with positive child behaviors and parenting control was associated with negative child behaviors. Maternal education was associated with greater maternal sensitivity and less control. Child gender predicted their task involvement, responsiveness, communicativeness, negativity during clean-up, and behavior problems; maternal control and sensitivity mediated some of these relations. Findings underscore heterogeneity of African American parenting and factors that promote positive parenting and children's behavioral adjustment in early childhood.

The development of intonation in young children with cochlear implants: A preliminary study of the influence of age at implantation and length of implant experience.

This study describes the development of emerging intonation in six children who had received a cochlear implant (CI) before the age of three years. At the time their implant was activated, the children ranged in age from 11 to 37 months. Spontaneous longitudinal speech samples were recorded from 30-minute sessions in which the child interacted with his or her mother. Data were collected 2 months before activation of each child's CI and at monthly intervals after activation for 6 months. The findings were compared to the typical pattern of early intonation development in children with normal hearing (NH). The results suggested that young CI recipients progress through stages similar to those observed in children with NH. However, the intonation development of children with a CI reflects a marked interaction between chronological age at implantation and amount of CI experience. That is, after 2 months of CI-assisted hearing experience, the older children demonstrated a later stage of intonation development than younger children. These preliminary results support the idea that children acquire some foundations or prerequisites of intonation production through maturation, as measured by chronological age, even without robust auditory experience.

A simple method for the removal of thiols on gold surfaces using an NH4OH-H2O2-H2O solution.

The removal behavior of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of thiol molecules on a gold substrate by an NH(4)OH-H(2)O(2)-H(2)O solution was studied using attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Furthermore, the impact of the concentration of NH(4)OH and H(2)O(2) in the solution and reaction temperature on the SAM removal rate and efficiency was explored. The SAM removal rate and efficiency were significantly influenced by the concentration of NH(4)OH rather than H(2)O(2). The solution containing the 2 : 1 molar ratio of NH(4)OH : H(2)O(2) among three different solutions showed the highest removal rate and efficiency in the removal of 11-mercapto-1-undecanol. The increase in the reaction temperature resulted in the enhancement on the SAM removal rate, but it led to the fast delamination of the gold layer. These results may be useful in the regeneration of sensor surfaces relying on gold/thiol chemistry.

Decoupling functionalization from sensor array assembly using detachable cantilevers.

Cantilevers are useful as sensor devices with high sensitivity and have shown great promise for dense, multianalyte arrays. One of the difficulties has been the fabrication of multianalyte arrays that are capable of the simultaneous detection of a wide range of chemical and biological species. Functionalization procedures for one class of analytes are often incompatible with other classes and cross contamination is a significant concern when ink-jet deposition processes are used. In this study, we used surface micromachined cantilevers designed and fabricated using Sandia National Laboratories SUMMiT V MEMS process. The cantilevers are fabricated with a base that can be detached from the parent substrate after functionalization and mounted into a daughter array. We have utilized an IBM-fabricated 8-cantilever array chip as our daughter substrate due to its compatibility with a Scentris 8-cantilever readout system. Our initial work demonstrates that this is a feasible procedure for decoupling functionalization from array assembly.

Serum triglyceride concentration in dogs with epilepsy treated with phenobarbital or with phenobarbital and bromide.

OBJECTIVE: To compare serum triglyceride concentrations obtained after food had been withheld (i.e., fasting concentrations) in dogs with epilepsy that had been treated long term (> or = 3 months) with phenobarbital or with phenobarbital and potassium bromide with concentrations in healthy control dogs. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. ANIMALS: 57 epileptic dogs that had been treated with phenobarbital (n=28) or with phenobarbital and bromide (29) and 57 healthy, untreated control dogs matched on the basis of age, breed, sex, neuter status, and body condition score. PROCEDURES: Blood samples were collected after food had been withheld for at least 12 hours, and serum biochemical and lipid concentrations were determined. Oral fat tolerance tests were performed in 15 control dogs and 9 dogs with epilepsy treated with phenobarbital alone. RESULTS: 19 of the 57 (33%) epileptic dogs had fasting serum triglyceride concentrations greater than the upper reference limit. Nine (16%) dogs had a history of pancreatitis, and 5 of the 9 had high fasting serum triglyceride concentrations at the time of the study. A significant relationship was found between body condition score and fasting serum triglyceride concentration in all dogs, but serum triglyceride concentration was not significantly associated with phenobarbital dosage or serum phenobarbital concentration. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results suggested that dogs treated long term with phenobarbital or with phenobarbital and bromide may develop hypertriglyceridemia. Fasting serum triglyceride concentration should be periodically monitored in dogs treated with phenobarbital because hypertriglyceridemia is a risk factor for pancreatitis.

A review of research on women's use of violence with male intimate partners.

This article provides a review of research literature on women who use violence with intimate partners. The central purpose is to inform service providers in the military and civilian communities who work with domestically violent women. The major points of this review are as follows: (a) women's violence usually occurs in the context of violence against them by their male partners; (b) in general, women and men perpetrate equivalent levels of physical and psychological aggression, but evidence suggests that men perpetrate sexual abuse, coercive control, and stalking more frequently than women and that women also are much more frequently injured during domestic violence incidents; (c) women and men are equally likely to initiate physical violence in relationships involving less serious "situational couple violence," and in relationships in which serious and very violent "intimate terrorism" occurs, men are much more likely to be perpetrators and women victims; (d) women's physical violence is more likely than men's violence to be motivated by self-defense and fear, whereas men's physical violence is more likely than women's to be driven by control motives; (e) studies of couples in mutually violent relationships find more negative effects for women than for men; and (f) because of the many differences in behaviors and motivations between women's and men's violence, interventions based on male models of partner violence are likely not effective for many women.

Static deflection measurements of cantilever arrays reveal polymer film expansion and contraction.

An optical static method of detection is used to interpret surface stress induced bending related to cantilevers coated on one side with poly(vinyl alcohol), poly(vinyl butyral-co-vinyl alcohol-co-vinyl acetate), and poly(vinyl chloride-co-vinyl acetate-co-2-hydroxypropyl acrylate), or respectively, PVA, PVB, and PVC, and exposed to various solvent vapors. Results indicate that the adsorption and surface interactions of the different solvent vapors that cause polymer swelling and shrinking lead to rearrangements, which have been shown to change the elastic properties of the polymer film, and subsequently, the spring constant of the polymer coated cantilever. Static deflection measurements allow the direction of cantilever bending to be determined, which adds a new dimension of usefulness for surface functionalized cantilevers as transducers in the development of novel microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).

Community-level HIV prevention for persons with severe mental illness living in supportive housing programs: a pilot intervention study.

Individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) are at risk for HIV/AIDS. Despite the availability of supportive community programs for those with SMI, there have been no published evaluations of community-level HIV prevention trials among this population. A pilot intervention trial was conducted to determine the feasibility of such an intervention in supportive housing programs (SHPs). A multi-component community-level trial was implemented in two SHPs with a total of 28 residents. Participants completed assessments at three time points: prior to the intervention (baseline), following skills training (post-assessment), and following the 4-month community intervention (follow- up). Results demonstrated significant improvements in psychosocial risk factors at both post- and follow-up assessments, with indications of sexual behavior change at follow-up. The community-level intervention appeared to reduce the risk of HIV among persons with SMI living in SHPs, and supports the importance of conducting larger scale intervention trials.