Multifunction fluorescence open source in vivo/in vitro imaging system (openIVIS).

The widespread availability and diversity of open-source microcontrollers paired with off-the-shelf electronics and 3D printed technology has led to the creation of a wide range of low-cost scientific instruments, including microscopes, spectrometers, sensors, data loggers, and other tools that can be used for research, education, and experimentation. These devices can be used to explore a wide range of scientific topics, from biology and chemistry to physics and engineering. In this study, we designed and built a multifunction fluorescent open source in vivo/in vitro imaging system (openIVIS) system that integrates a Raspberry Pi with commercial cameras and LEDs with 3D printed structures combined with an acrylic housing. Our openIVIS provides three excitation wavelengths of 460 nm, 520 nm, and 630 nm integrated with Python control software to enable fluorescent measurements across the full visible light spectrum. To demonstrate the potential applications of our system, we tested its performance against a diverse set of experiments including laboratory assays (measuring fluorescent dyes, using optical nanosensors, and DNA gel electrophoresis) to potentially fieldable applications (plant and mineral imaging). We also tested the potential use for a high school biology environment by imaging small animals and tracking their development over the course of ten days. Our system demonstrated its ability to measure a wide dynamic range fluorescent response from millimolar to picomolar concentrations in the same sample while measuring responses across visible wavelengths. These results demonstrate the power and flexibility of open-source hardware and software and how it can be integrated with customizable manufacturing to create low-cost scientific instruments with a wide range of applications. Our study provides a promising model for the development of low-cost instruments that can be used in both research and education.

Biased Competition Favoring Physical Over Emotional Pain: A Possible Explanation for the Link Between Early Adversity and Chronic Pain.

BACKGROUND: Early adversity predisposes to chronic pain, but a mechanistic explanation is lacking. Survivors of early adversity with chronic pain often seem impaired in their ability to be aware of, understand, and express distressing emotions such as anger and fear in social contexts. In this context, it has been proposed that pain may at times serve as a "psychic regulator" by preventing awareness of more intolerable emotions. METHOD: This narrative review builds on the premise that physical pain and emotional pain are conscious experiences that can compete for selective attention. We highlight mechanisms whereby the consequences of early adversity may put emotional pain at a competitive disadvantage. A case history, supportive research findings, and an evidence-based neurobiological model are presented. RESULTS: Arising from abuse or neglect in childhood, impairments in the adult capacity to attend to and/or conceptualize the emotional meaning of felt distress may be associated with impaired engagement of the default network and impaired top-down modulation of affective response generation processes. Persistent and poorly conceptualized affective distress may be associated with reduced emotion regulation ability, reduced vagal tone, increased inflammation, and amplified nociceptive signals. Attention to physical pain may be reinforced by the temporary reduction in negative emotions that it causes. CONCLUSIONS: These processes jointly promote biased competition favoring attention to physical pain and away from one's own emotions. They may constitute an unintentional analog of the phenomenon of self-injury in patients with borderline personality disorder in whom the intentional infliction of physical pain serves to downregulate intense emotional distress. Attending to, expressing, and understanding previously unacknowledged psychological distress unrelated to pain may facilitate recovery from chronic pain after early adversity. Mechanistic studies that can validate this clinically derived neurobiological hypothesis are urgently needed.

Biosurgicals and the Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery (MIGS) Surgeon.

Biosurgical materials (biosurgicals) have a wide array of uses for providing hemostasis, including decreasing the risk of postoperative bleeding and, intraoperatively, controling bleeding. These materials are especially useful in situations where electrocautery, sutures, or clips are not feasible. Biosurgicals have long been used in general surgery and surgical subspecialties to provide hemostasis; however, they still are not commonly used during obstetric and gynecologic procedures. Three commonly used classes of biosurgicals will be discussed in this article: oxidized regenerated cellulose, flowables, fibrin sealants, and fibrin sealant patches. Each of these agents has a different role to play during minimally invasive gynecologic surgery (MIGS), either singularly or in combination with each other. One unique fibrin product is a fibrin sealant patch, which is a combination of products used to treat bleeding of various intensities, including acute, severe hemorrhagic situations. It is important for the MIGS surgeon to understand the nature and use of each product to be able to use biosurgicals appropriately for hemostasis management. This article reviews biosurgical products, their composition, and application in minimally invasive gynecologic surgery. Included will be a few of the "on label" and "off-label" uses of biosurgicals-either singularly or in combination-and tips for introducing these materials during MIGS procedures.

An Update on the Use of Barbed Suture in Minimally Invasive Gynecological Surgery (MIGS).

The use of barbed suture has enabled general and minimally invasive gynecological surgery (MIGS) surgeons to close surgical wounds more efficiently with minimal complications. This article reviews developments in barbed (knotless) sutures and related devices.

Now You See It: Using Angled Laparoscopes in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery.

As minimally invasive gynecologic surgery (MIGS) becomes more complex, and cases more difficult, surgeons must adapt to the challenges not only by using innovative equipment but also using the lessons learned from other disciplines. Many years after general surgeons learned the "art of laparoscopy," it is clear that general surgeons in the United States-and those around the world-have surpassed the "masters of laparoscopy" (gynecologists) with their use of new techniques and new equipment. Surgeons are using less traumatic graspers and perform a higher percentage of surgeries laparoscopically than gynecologic surgeons. With the essential need for more integrated ergonomics and a suitable laparoscopic operating room environment, this article describes the benefits of using angled laparoscopes and includes basic techniques to enable gynecologic surgeons to master "driving" the angled laparoscope.

Phylogenetic placement, species delimitation, and cyanobiont identity of endangered aquatic Peltigera species (lichen-forming Ascomycota, Lecanoromycetes).

• Premise of this study: Aquatic cyanolichens from the genus Peltigera section Hydrothyriae are subject to anthropogenic threats and, therefore, are considered endangered. In this study we addressed the phylogenetic placement of section Hydrothyriae within Peltigera. We delimited species within the section and identified their symbiotic cyanobacteria.• Methods: Species delimitation and population structure were explored using monophyly as a grouping criterion (RAxML) and Structurama based on three protein-coding genes in combination with two nuclear ribosomal loci. The 16S and rbcLX sequences for the cyanobionts were analyzed in the broad phylogenetic context of free-living and symbiotic cyanobacteria.• Key results: We confirm with high confidence the placement of section Hydrothyriae within the monophyletic genus Peltigera; however, its phylogenetic position within the genus remains unsettled. We recovered three distinct monophyletic groups corresponding to three species: P. hydrothyria, P. gowardii s.s., and P. aquatica Miadl. & Lendemer, the latter being formally introduced here. Each species was associated with an exclusive set of Nostoc haplotypes.• Conclusions: The ITS region alone provides sufficient genetic information to distinguish the three morphologically cryptic species within section Hydrothyriae. Section Hydrothyriae seems to be associated with a monophyletic lineage of Nostoc, that has not been found in symbiotic association with other members of Peltigera. Capsosira lowei should be transferred to the genus Nostoc. Potential threats to P. aquatica should be re-examined based on the recognition of two aquatic species in western North America.

An integrated model of group psychotherapy for patients with fibromyalgia.

This study examined the effectiveness of an integrated model of brief group psychotherapy for treatment of fibromyalgia syndrome, using cognitive behavioral and supportive expressive techniques. In the context of an outpatient, multidisciplinary fibromyalgia treatment program, group psychotherapy was provided to 35 patients with 21 control patients. Pre-post treatment measures of depression, anxiety, fibromyalgia impact, pain, fatigue, and morning tiredness were obtained. Using a quasi-experimental design with validated psychometric instruments, the results showed a significant decrease in pre-versus post treatment measures of depression, fibromyalgia impact, fatigue, and pain for the treatment patients, suggesting that an integrated model of group psychotherapy may have beneficial psychological and functional effects for some patients with fibromyalgia.

Lessons learned when Magnet designation is not received.

Magnet designation is the highest level of acknowledgement accorded healthcare organizations in recognition of professional nursing care. After our nursing leadership team attended a Magnet conference in 1998, we were inspired, and so was our staff. In 2004, we submitted our documentation and were notified that it met the criteria, and our site visit was scheduled. We did not receive Magnet designation, but we viewed our experience as an opportunity to learn. The authors describe how a disappointing outcome was turned into an experience of great learning and transformation.

Finding HIPAA in your soup.

From the time when compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) "privacy rule" became mandatory in April 2003 through April 2005, 12,542 complaints of privacy violations were filed nationally. But what constitutes a violation? Widespread confusion about the rule unnecessarily complicates nurses' relationships with patients and sometimes affects their clinical performance. A nurse responsible for HIPAA compliance at one hospital untangles the many threads of HIPAA's privacy rule and details its implications for nurses' everyday work.