Expressed Emotion in Families of People With Dementia: A Review of Scale-Based Measures.

PURPOSE: Research on the concept of expressed emotion (EE) has expanded in recent years but its role in dementia still requires elucidation. Understanding the role of EE in the dementia context could help in the development of appropriate interventions. METHOD: The current review synthesized relevant literature to investigate the prevalence and correlates of EE status in families of people with dementia. A comprehensive search of four databases from inception to 2022 produced 2,683 papers; 18 studies met inclusion criteria. RESULTS: The use of EE criteria differed not only across cultural contexts, but even within the same cultural context. Overall, the prevalence of EE in families with dementia compared with other psychiatric conditions was not high. CONCLUSION: Specific changes in EE over time remain to be explored, and findings emphasize the need to carefully discriminate High EE status based on the cultural background of family members with dementia. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 50(2), 17-25.].

Appropriateness of Nursing Home to Emergency Department Transitional Care for Older Adults With Dementia: A Scoping Review.

PURPOSE: To systematically identify knowledge patterns and gaps in the appropriateness of nursing home (NH) to emergency department (ED) transitional care for older adults with dementia. METHOD: A systematic search of multiple information sources was performed from July to August 2023 using predesigned search strategies. RESULTS: From 13 articles, 54 identified pieces of specific care evidence were grouped into six major care domains: (1) Resource Support for Assessing Transfer Needs and Patient Status; (2) Resource Support, Shared Decision Making, and Early Advance Care Planning; (3) Standardized Multimodal Information Transfer; (4) Designated ED and NH Transition Coordinators; (5) Enhanced Interfacility Collaboration; and (6) Appropriate Transitional Care Education, Research, and Policy Beyond the Transfer Interface. CONCLUSION: A comprehensive, consensus-based body of evidence is lacking. Despite person-centered, standardized, and professional resources supporting transitional care, reorienting NH cultural models remains unclear. Gaps include evidence tailored to diverse participants and contexts. Thus, a focus on policies, education, and research is required. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 50(9), 37-45.].

Exploring expressed emotion and its influencing factors among family caregivers of dementia people: a 3-month study in Japan.

BACKGROUND: Family caregivers of dementia patients face significant challenges, including managing their own emotional responses. Understanding factors influencing expressed emotion (EE) is crucial for effective support interventions. The aim of this study was to explore and describe changes in EE among family caregivers of dementia and its associated factors at different time points over 3 months. METHODS: A 3-month observational study was conducted in Japan. We collected demographically detailed data on family caregivers currently providing care, including care burden, relationship closeness, and depression. We assessed EE using the validated Family Attitude Scale (FAS). After adjustment for multiple confounding factors, multivariate linear regression analysis was performed to assess factors affecting EE at various time points. Linear regression analysis with generalised estimating equations was used to assess associations between 3-month time-varying EE and burden, intimacy, and depression. RESULTS: Fifty-six family caregivers completed the study. Changes in FAS scores did not show statistical differences over 3 months. It is worth noting that the degree of relationship closeness and care burden are important influencing factors of EE in both cross-sectional analysis and longitudinal analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Early identification of risk factors can aid in developing interventions aimed at preventing high levels of EE in the dementia family, thereby mitigating their detrimental effects. Tailored interventions are essential to enhance caregiver well-being and cultivate positive caregiver-patient relationships.

Boosting Conductive Loss and Magnetic Coupling Based on "Size Modulation Engineering" toward Lower-Frequency Microwave Absorption.

The rational design of absorber size is a promising strategy for obtaining excellent electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption performance. However, achieving controllable tuning of the material size through simple methods is challenging and the associated EMW attenuation mechanisms are still unclear. In this study, the sizes of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are successfully tailored by changing the growth time and the molar ratio of iron (Fe)/organic ligands. The lateral and vertical lengths of MOFs vary in the range of 200 nm to 2 µm and 100 nm to 1 µm, respectively. Both experiments and simulations confirm that the decrease of MOF size favors the formation of more conductive networks, which is beneficial for improving the conductivity loss. Meanwhile, the micromagnetic simulation reveals that the magnetic coupling can be effectively enhanced by the decrease of MOF size, which is conducive to the improvement of magnetic loss, especially in low-frequency range. The reflection loss of Fe-based MOFs with optimized size reaches -46.4 dB at 6.2 GHz with an effective absorption bandwidth of 3.1 GHz. This work illustrates the important role of size effect in EMW dissipation and provides an effective strategy for enhancing the low-frequency EMW absorption performance.

Effect of sleep report feedback using information and communication technology combined with health guidance on improving sleep indicators in community-dwelling older people: a pilot trial.

BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the preliminary effect of an integrated novel intervention comprising visualised sleep report feedback using information and communication technology and periodic health guidance on improving sleep indicators among community-dwelling older people. METHODS: The intervention was implemented among 29 older people in Sakai City, Japan, in a 3 months pilot trial. Non-worn actigraph devices were placed under participants' bedding to continuously measure their sleep state, and they received monthly sleep reports in writing. Sleep efficiency, total sleep time, sleep latency, and the number of times away from bed were recorded. A trained nurse expertly interpreted participants' sleep data and provided telephone health guidance. The first month's data were used as the baseline (T1), the second month provided data for the first intervention (T2), and the third month provided data for the second intervention (T3). Friedman tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to examine differences in sleep outcomes between different time points. RESULTS: Participants' mean age was 78.97 ± 5.15 years, and 51.72% (15/29) were female. Comparison of T2 and T1 showed the intervention decreased participants' sleep latency at T2 (P = 0.038). Compared with T1, the intervention significantly decreased sleep latency (P = 0.004), increased total sleep time (P < 0.001), and improved sleep efficiency (P < 0.001) at T3. When T3 was compared with T2, only total sleep time was significantly increased (P < 0.001). There were no significant differences in the number of times away from bed across the three time points (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This visualised sleep report feedback and periodic health guidance intervention for community-dwelling older people showed promising, albeit small preliminary effects on sleep. A fully powered randomised controlled trial is required to verify the significance of this effect.

Microbial analysis of commercially available US Queso Fresco.

Queso Fresco (QF), a fresh Hispanic-style cheese, is often associated with Listeria monocytogenes outbreaks and recalls. Queso Fresco's susceptibility to bacterial contamination is partially due to its high pH and moisture content as well as Listeria's tolerance for the salt content typical for QF. Nine different brands of US QF, 2 packages from 4 different lots (to account for temporal variability), were sampled. The pH, salt content, and moisture content were analyzed in addition to microbial testing including yeasts and molds, coliforms, lactic acid bacteria enumeration, and L. monocytogenes counts. The cheeses were also inoculated with a cocktail of 5 food and human isolates of food-borne outbreak-associated Listeria monocytogenes strains to evaluate how the differences between brands influenced Listeria growth. Three of the cheeses underwent additional genus-level microbial analysis using extracted 16S rDNA, allowing for phylogenetic analysis between bacterial taxa including diversity and relative abundance. We found little variation between the sampled QF pH (range = 6.62-6.86), salt content (1.53-2.01%), and moisture content (43.90-54.50%). Yeasts and molds were below the detection limit of enumeration in all of the cheeses and coliforms were below the detection limit across the first 3 lots, but were detected at varying levels in the fourth lot (>3.0 most probable number/g) for 3 of the brands. Listeria monocytogenes was not isolated after enrichment in any of the samples. All cheeses tested positive for the presence of lactic acid bacteria, with only 1 of the cheeses being labeled as produced with added cultures having substantial counts. Fourteen days after inoculation with L. monocytogenes, at least 2.5 log10 cfu/g of growth was found for all QF brands stored at 4°C. Microbial genus analysis showed that, among the 3 brands, the microbial community was more similar within brand than when compared with the other 2 brands. Thermus, Anoxybacillus, and Streptococcus accounted for the dominant genera of brands A, B, and C, respectively. These variations within the microbial community may account for sensory differences and help manufacturers determine quality control consistency more readily than culture-based methods.

Development of a High-Efficiency Transformation Method and Implementation of Rational Metabolic Engineering for the Industrial Butanol Hyperproducer Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum Strain N1-4.

While a majority of academic studies concerning acetone, butanol, and ethanol (ABE) production by Clostridium have focused on Clostridium acetobutylicum, other members of this genus have proven to be effective industrial workhorses despite the inability to perform genetic manipulations on many of these strains. To further improve the industrial performance of these strains in areas such as substrate usage, solvent production, and end product versatility, transformation methods and genetic tools are needed to overcome the genetic intractability displayed by these species. In this study, we present the development of a high-efficiency transformation method for the industrial butanol hyperproducer Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum strain N1-4 (HMT) ATCC 27021. Following initial failures, we found that the key to creating a successful transformation method was the identification of three distinct colony morphologies (types S, R, and I), which displayed significant differences in transformability. Working with the readily transformable type I cells (transformation efficiency, 1.1 × 106 CFU/µg DNA), we performed targeted gene deletions in C. saccharoperbutylacetonicum N1-4 using a homologous recombination-mediated allelic exchange method. Using plasmid-based gene overexpression and targeted knockouts of key genes in the native acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) metabolic pathway, we successfully implemented rational metabolic engineering strategies, yielding in the best case an engineered strain (Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum strain N1-4/pWIS13) displaying an 18% increase in butanol titers and 30% increase in total ABE titer (0.35 g ABE/g sucrose) in batch fermentations. Additionally, two engineered strains overexpressing aldehyde/alcohol dehydrogenases (encoded by adh11 and adh5) displayed 8.5- and 11.8-fold increases (respectively) in batch ethanol production. IMPORTANCE: This paper presents the first steps toward advanced genetic engineering of the industrial butanol producer Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum strain N1-4 (HMT). In addition to providing an efficient method for introducing foreign DNA into this species, we demonstrate successful rational engineering for increasing solvent production. Examples of future applications of this work include metabolic engineering for improving desirable industrial traits of this species and heterologous gene expression for expanding the end product profile to include high-value fuels and chemicals.

Differential gene expression and filamentation of Listeria monocytogenes 08-5923 exposed to sodium lactate and sodium diacetate.

This study reports the gene expression and filamentation in Listeria monocytogenes 08-5923 following exposure to food preservatives sodium lactate (NaL) and sodium diacetate (SD). L. monocytogenes 08-5923 was challenged with a mixture of NaL/SD, NaL or sodium acetate at 37 °C in tryptic soy broth. In the initial study, L. monocytogenes 08-5923 was exposed to NaL/SD for 24 h. The transcriptome was investigated by RNA sequencing. A stress response network was discovered in L. monocytogenes 08-5923, which is mediated by genes encoding two-component systems (hisJ, lisK, OmpR family gene, resE) and RNA polymerase factors (sigC, sigH). NaL/SD resulted in the down-regulation of genes in glycolysis (pykA, eno, fbaA, pgm) and up-regulation of genes in DNA repair (radC), cell division (ftsE) and cell structure synthesis (flagella synthesis: flgK, fliF, fliD). Filamentation was monitored by flow cytometry. NaL/SD mixture resulted in filamentation in L. monocytogenes 08-5923. Longer exposure was required to induce filamentation in L. monocytogenes for SD (24 h) than for NaL (8 h) when cells were exposed to individual salt. The quantitative real time PCR analysis revealed the down-regulation of ftsE in filamented cells of Listeria exposed to NaL or sodium acetate.

Microbiota of regular sodium and sodium-reduced ready-to-eat meat products obtained from the retail market.

The aim of this study was to assess the influence of sodium content on the microbiota on the surface of ready-to-eat (RTE) meat products purchased from the retail market in Canada. Products, including sliced and sausage-type deli meats, were analysed with culture-dependent and culture-independent methods. Bacteria were identified from 23 brands of products from different meat processors with claims of sodium content ranging from 390 to 1200 mg per 100 g of product. Out of 150 bacterial isolates, the most common were identified as Leuconostoc gelidum, Carnobacterium maltaromaticum, Brochothrix thermosphacta, and Leuconostoc gasicomitatum. Vacuum-packaged RTE deli sliced meat products had the largest population of bacteria. Leuconostocci were the most common isolates in this group of products, while carnobacteria were prevalent on products with moderate loads of bacteria. A higher incidence of carnobacteria and lower incidence of B. thermosphacta were detected on sodium-reduced products. Simpson's and Shannon-Wiener indices showed that low sodium products (25%-50% less sodium) had an overall higher bacterial diversity. This was also observed when individual low sodium products were compared with their regular sodium counterpart.

Representations for the generalized Drazin inverse of the sum in a Banach algebra and its application for some operator matrices.

We investigate additive properties of the generalized Drazin inverse in a Banach algebra A. We find explicit expressions for the generalized Drazin inverse of the sum a + b, under new conditions on a, b ∈ A. As an application we give some new representations for the generalized Drazin inverse of an operator matrix.

Stress response and adaptation of Listeria monocytogenes 08-5923 exposed to a sublethal dose of carnocyclin A.

Carnocyclin A (CCLA) is an antimicrobial peptide produced by Carnobacterium maltaromaticum ATCC PTA-5313, which can be used to control the growth of Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat meat products. The aim of this research was to elucidate the cellular responses of L. monocytogenes 08-5923 exposed to a sublethal dose of CCLA. Microarray, quantitative reverse transcription-PCR, tandem mass spectrometry, and electron microscopy were used to investigate the alteration in gene expression, protein production, and morphological changes in cells of Listeria following treatment with CCLA. The genes involved in metabolism (baiE, trn, and pykA), cell wall synthesis (murZ and dacB2), and cell division (clpE and divIVA) were upregulated following a 15-min exposure to CCLA as a result of stress responses. Genes involved in cell division, cell wall synthesis, flagellar synthesis, and metabolism were downregulated after 4 h as a result of adaptation. Analysis of total soluble proteins confirmed the downregulation of pykA and gnd after 4 h of exposure to CCLA. The absence of flagella was observed in L. monocytogenes following 30 h of exposure to CCLA. A sublethal dose of CCLA induced adaptation in L. monocytogenes 08-5923 by inhibition of expression of genes and proteins critical for synthesis of cell wall structures and maintaining metabolic functions. Both the mannose- and cellobiose-specific phosphotransferase systems could be targets for CCLA.

Prevalence of sleep disturbances in people with mild cognitive impairment: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

This review was performed to determine sleep disturbance prevalence in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Web of Science databases were systematically searched from inception to January 20, 2024. Fifty-two studies fulfilling the eligibility criteria were included. However, six of these studies were excluded from data synthesis due to poor methodological quality. The subjective sleep disturbance prevalence among all individuals with MCI was 35.8 % (95 % CI: 31.9-39.7) across 44 studies, and the objective sleep disturbance prevalence was 46.3 % (95 % CI: 36.3-56.3) across 6 studies. Five studies examined TST and WASO, while three assessed SE. Among all potential objective assessments of sleep disturbance prevalence, only TST, WASO, and SE could be meta-analyzed in MCI because of the limited number of studies available. The estimated sleep disturbance prevalence differed significantly according to measurement method, geographical region, and research design. However, the data source did not significantly influence prevalence estimates. In meta-regression analysis, publication year, participant age, percentage of females, and study quality did not predict prevalence. As subjective and objective sleep disturbances are common in people with MCI, effective intervention strategies should be developed to alleviate them.

Anaerobic granular sludge performance in an expanded granular sludge bed reactor treating calcium-rich wastewater by adjusting CaCO3 crystallization: Effect of upflow velocity and Ca2+ concentration.

The role of upflow velocity and Ca2+ concentration in controlling the type and rate of CaCO3 crystallization and their impacts on the anaerobic granular sludge (AnGS) formation and performance in an expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactor were studied. The results showed that an improved upflow velocity could promote metastable CaCO3 crystals and achieve the optimized portion of vaterite with a value of 84 % at 10 m/h with a small amount of aragonite, thus limiting the scaling in the reactor. The removal efficiency of Ca2+ was to some extent positively correlated to the influent Ca2+ concentration, but declined when Ca2+ exceeded a specific threshold. Vaterite was dominant with the increase of Ca2+ concentrations of the influent. Compared with granules in R1 (Ca2+ 10 mg/L) and R2 (Ca2+ 100 mg/L), granules cultivated in R3 (Ca2+ 800 mg/L) revealed maximum amount of biomass with biggest particle size distribution and fastest average settling rate, with relative stable COD removal efficiency and the fast optimized reactor capacity at OLR of 16 kgCOD/m3d. A low upflow velocity and a higher Ca2+ concentration promoted nucleus formation and granules growth at the initial cultivation stage of the EGSB reactor. The Ca2+ concentration had a significant impact on the bacterial community and favoured the growth of Tolumonas and Anaeromousa Anaeroarcus. Archaea, rather than bacteria, was strengthened to contribute more to methane production at a relatively high Ca2+ concentration.

Production of acetic acid from wheat bran by catalysis of an acetoxylan esterase.

In this study, a gene encoding for acetylxylan esterase was cloned and expressed in E. coli. A single uniform band with molecular weight of 31.2 kDa was observed in SDS-PAGE electrophoresis. Served as the substrate, p-nitrophenol butyrate was employed to detect the recombinant enzyme activity. It exhibited activity at a wide temperature range (30-100 °C) and pH (5.0-9.0) with the optimal temperature of 70 °C and pH 8.0. Acetylxylan esterase showed two substrates' specificities with the highest Vmax of 177.2 U/mg and Km of 20.98 mM against p-nitrophenol butyrate. Meanwhile, the Vmax of p-nitrophenol acetate was 137.0 U/mg and Km 12.16 mM. The acetic acid yield of 0.39 g/g was obtained (70 °C and pH 8.0) from wheat bran pretreated using amylase and papain. This study showed the highest yield up to date and developed a promising strategy for acetic acid production using wheat bran.

Characterization of Aeromonas salmonicida mesophilic isolates from Alberta (Canada) allows the development of a more sensitive Dictyostelium discoideum predation test.

Aeromonas salmonicida is studied using Dictyostelium discoideum as a model host, with predation resistance measured as a key parameter. A. salmonicida mesophilic isolates exhibit inconclusive results with the amoebic model. This study focuses on new mesophilic isolates (S24-S38, S26-S10, S28-S20) from Alberta, Canada, and introduces an improved predation test method. Phylogenetic analysis reveals two subgroups, with S24-S38 and S26-S10 clustering with the subspecies pectinolytica from Argentina, and S28-S20 with strains from India (Y567) and Spain (AJ83), showcasing surprising mesophilic strain diversity across geographic locations. Predation tests were carried out with various mesophilic and psychrophilic strains of A. salmonicida including Alberta isolates. The amoeba cell lines used were DH1-10 and AX2. Although the mesophilic isolates were very resistant to predation by the amoeba DH1-10, some lost this resistance to the AX2 strain, which appeared more voracious in the conditions tested. In addition, when diluting the culture medium used in a predation test with AX2, a loss of the capacity to predation resistance was observed for all the mesophilic isolates, including the highly resistant S28-S20 isolate. This study provides insights into predation resistance of A. salmonicida isolates and offers avenues for better characterizing mesophilic isolates.

Prevalence of sleep disturbances in people with mild cognitive impairment: a systematic review protocol.

OBJECTIVE: This review will determine the prevalence of sleep disturbances in individuals with mild cognitive impairment. INTRODUCTION: Mild cognitive impairment is regarded as a transitional state between normal functioning and dementia, and has a high likelihood of conversion to dementia. Individuals with mild cognitive impairment may suffer more severe sleep disturbances compared with normal older people. In some studies, sleep disturbances were associated with significantly higher odds of mild cognitive impairment. There is a need for prevalence estimates of sleep disturbances in people with mild cognitive impairment based on the currently available literature to guide clinical health care professionals and public health policies. INCLUSION CRITERIA: The review will consider studies reporting on the prevalence of sleep disturbances in individuals with mild cognitive impairment, using validated instruments, including subjective and/or objective measures. Studies will be excluded if the participants report sleep-related breathing or movement disorders. Studies using only the Mini-Mental State Examination to diagnose mild cognitive impairment will also be excluded. METHODS: The review will follow the JBI methodology for systematic reviews of prevalence and incidence. The MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase, Cochrane Library (CDSR and CENTRAL), CINAHL (EBSCOhost), PsycINFO (EBSCOhost), Scopus, and Web of Science Core Collection databases will be systematically searched from inception to the present with no language limitations. Analytical observational studies, including prospective and retrospective cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies, will be considered. Two reviewers will independently conduct the study selection, critical appraisal, and data extraction. Methodological quality will be evaluated using the JBI critical appraisal checklist for studies reporting prevalence data. A meta-analysis will be conducted to synthesize the prevalence data, where possible. REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42022366108.

Multiple uptake of 99mTc-MDP in chest due to breast implant rupture in a patient with lung adenocarcinoma.

A 57-year-old woman was diagnosed as lung adenocarcinoma. 99mTc-MDP bone scan showed multiple radioactivity concentrated lesions on bilateral chest wall, which were confirmed as calcification foci after breast implant rupture by SPECT/CT. SPECT/CT could be used for differential diagnosis of breast implant rupture and malignant lesions.

Accelerating the granulation of anammox sludge in wastewater treatment with the drive of "micro-nuclei": A review.

Anammox granule sludge (AnGS) has great potential in the field of wastewater nitrogen removal, but its development and promotion have been limited by the slow granulation speed and fragile operating stability. Based on the reviews about the AnGS formation mechanism in this paper, "micro-nuclei" was found to play an important role in the granulation of AnGS, and adding "micro-nuclei" directly into the reactor may be an efficient way to accelerate the formation of AnGS. Then, accelerating AnGS granulation with inert particles, multivalent positive ions, and broken granule sludge as "micro-nuclei" was summarized and discussed. Among inert particles, iron-based particles may be a more advantageous candidate for "micro-nuclei" due to their ability to provide attachment sites and release ferric/ferrous ions. The precipitations of multivalent positive ions are also a potential option for "micro-nuclei" that can be generated in-situ, but a suitable dosing strategy is necessary. About broken granular sludge, the broken active AnGS may have advantages in terms of anaerobic ammonium oxidation bacteria-affinity and granulation speed, while using inactive granular sludge as "micro-nuclei" can avoid interfering bacterial invasion and has a higher cost performance than broken active AnGS. In addition, possible research directions for accelerating the formation of AnGS by dosing "micro-nuclei" were highlighted. This paper is intended to provide a possible pathway for the rapid start-up of AnGS systems, and references for the optimization and promotion of the AnGS process.

Delayed epiphyseal closure in an adult with panhypopituitarism detected by 99mTc-MDP bone SPECT/CT.

We reported a 23-year-old male patient with panhypopituitarism who underwent two resections for craniopharyngioma and received postoperative hormone replacement therapy. The 99mTc-MDP bone scan revealed focal high uptake of radioactive nuclide in multiple large joints. The SPECT/CT demonstrated the focal high uptake in their metaphysis. Thus, delayed epiphyseal closure was considered.

Concurrent production of ferulic acid and glucose from wheat bran by catalysis of a putative bifunctional enzyme.

The aim of this work is to study a bifunctional endoglucanase/carboxylesterase in Sphingobacterium soilsilvae Em02 and express it in soluble form in engineered Escherichia coli. The molecular weight of the recombinant protein of the bifunctional enzyme was 41 KDa. This research also determined the enzymatic activities of the bifunctional enzymes using microcrystalline cellulose and p-nitrophenyl butyrate as substrates and found 40 °C as the optimum temperature for their enzymatic activities. The optimal pH in dual function was 6.0 for endoglucanase and 7.0 for carboxylesterase. The bifunctional enzyme also exhibited enzymatic activities on the natural biomass by generating up to 3.94 mg of glucose and 49.4 µg of ferulic acid from 20 mg of destarched wheat bran. This indicates the broad application prospects of the bifunctional enzyme in agriculture and industry.