High-efficiency generation of narrowband soft x rays from carbon nanotube foams irradiated by relativistic femtosecond lasers.

A number of applications require x rays of both high flux and narrow bandwidth. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate the high-efficiency generation of narrowband soft x rays from carbon nanotube foams irradiated by a femtosecond laser pulse at an intensity of 1019W/cm2. The building blocks of the foam, single-walled carbon nanotube bundles with diameters smaller than the laser skin length can be volumetrically heated and fully ionized on a femtosecond time scale. The three-dimensional network structure of the foam permits deep penetration and drastic absorption of the laser pulse, and results in bright line emissions without prominent Stark broadening. A single-shot yield of 3×1014photons in the carbon Lyα line at 3.37 nm was measured with a bandwidth of 0.013 nm.

Influence of Hostility on 24-Hour Diastolic Blood Pressure Load in Hypertension Patients with Depressive Disorders.

BACKGROUND Hostility in hypertension patients combined with depressive disorders indicates a worse outcome for hypertension management. This study was designed to explore the influence of hostility on 24-h diastolic blood pressure in hypertension patients who also had depressive disorders. MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 130 people with primary hypertension and depressive disorders were collected through unstructured psychiatric interview by a professional psychiatrist and ambulatory blood pressure monitor in this cross-sectional study. During the study, dynamic blood pressure was examined for 24 h by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Patients were divided into 3 groups according to the hostility level. Hostility was defined by hostile factors of the Symptom Checklist 90. The association between hostility and 24-h dynamic blood pressure was analyzed by multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS 30.8% (40 of 130) patients had a high level of 24-h dynamic blood pressure load (>30%), in which 14.6% was for male and 16.2% for female respectively. In male, the proportion of high 24 h DBP load (>30%) in highest hostility group was greater than that of low hostility group and median hostility group significantly (p=0.03). No significant differences were revealed among 3 groups in female. The age-adjusted odds-ratio (OR) 95% confidence interval of diastolic blood pressure across the categories of hostility were: in males, 1.44 (0.60, 3.47) (1 for reference), and in females, 5.86 (0.58, 59.06) (P for trend=0.04). CONCLUSIONS Our results showed that hostility may be a risk factor for increased 24-h diastolic blood pressure in hypertension patients who also have depressive disorders, especially in males. The clinical meaning of the study is that hypertension management should contain psychological interventions for better effects.

Dynamic modeling and network approaches for omics time course data: overview of computational approaches and applications.

Inferring networks and dynamics of genes, proteins, cells and other biological entities from high-throughput biological omics data is a central and challenging issue in computational and systems biology. This is essential for understanding the complexity of human health, disease susceptibility and pathogenesis for Predictive, Preventive, Personalized and Participatory (P4) system and precision medicine. The delineation of the possible interactions of all genes/proteins in a genome/proteome is a task for which conventional experimental techniques are ill suited. Urgently needed are rapid and inexpensive computational and statistical methods that can identify interacting candidate disease genes or drug targets out of thousands that can be further investigated or validated by experimentations. Moreover, identifying biological dynamic systems, and simultaneously estimating the important kinetic structural and functional parameters, which may not be experimentally accessible could be important directions for drug-disease-gene network studies. In this article, we present an overview and comparison of recent developments of dynamic modeling and network approaches for time-course omics data, and their applications to various biological systems, health conditions and disease statuses. Moreover, various data reduction and analytical schemes ranging from mathematical to computational to statistical methods are compared including their merits, drawbacks and limitations. The most recent software, associated web resources and other potentials for the compared methods are also presented and discussed in detail.

Reproducibility of biomarker identifications from mass spectrometry proteomic data in cancer studies.

Reproducibility of disease signatures and clinical biomarkers in multi-omics disease analysis has been a key challenge due to a multitude of factors. The heterogeneity of the limited sample, various biological factors such as environmental confounders, and the inherent experimental and technical noises, compounded with the inadequacy of statistical tools, can lead to the misinterpretation of results, and subsequently very different biology. In this paper, we investigate the biomarker reproducibility issues, potentially caused by differences of statistical methods with varied distribution assumptions or marker selection criteria using Mass Spectrometry proteomic ovarian tumor data. We examine the relationship between effect sizes, p values, Cauchy p values, False Discovery Rate p values, and the rank fractions of identified proteins out of thousands in the limited heterogeneous sample. We compared the markers identified from statistical single features selection approaches with machine learning wrapper methods. The results reveal marked differences when selecting the protein markers from varied methods with potential selection biases and false discoveries, which may be due to the small effects, different distribution assumptions, and p value type criteria versus prediction accuracies. The alternative solutions and other related issues are discussed in supporting the reproducibility of findings for clinical actionable outcomes.

Type I Diabetes Self-management With Game-Based Interventions for Pediatric and Adolescent Patients.

Type 1 diabetes is a disease with a peak diagnosis between the ages of 10 and 14 and carries with it required intensive lifestyle changes. Disease self-management is essential for adequate metabolic control to prevent acute and long-term complications. Yet common methods of diabetes self-management education, such as lectures or pamphlets, lead to low knowledge, engagement, and clinical outcomes. Game-based learning has led to increased motivation, engagement, and productivity overall with substantial increases in self-management of chronic diseases in children. The purpose of this article is to review and synthesize literature on the impact on self-management knowledge, behavior, and engagement of the game-based interventions of serious games and gamification for children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Nine studies were reviewed. Results showed statistically significant differences in knowledge, behavior, and engagement in response to the game-based interventions. Knowledge outcomes were found most significant in serious game interventions, while behavioral outcomes were predominantly found in gamification/serious game combination interventions. Findings also reveal there was inconsistent use of theories for game development and moderate to low quality of evidence across studies. While the nine studies reviewed strongly demonstrate the potential of game-based tools to significantly improve type 1 diabetes self-management care, further studies with expanded and more rigorous study parameters are recommended before an outright change in practice may be applied. The potential impact of the clinical nurse leader in the use and research of game-based interventions is also discussed.

Effectiveness of a telephone-delivered psycho-behavioural intervention on depression in elderly with chronic heart failure: rationale and design of a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Depression is common among chronic heart failure (CHF) patients, and it is associated with significant re-hospitalization and mortality as well as lower quality of life. While psychotherapy is efficacious treatment for depression, the effect for depression among CHF is uncertain. And barriers preclude widely utility of psychotherapy among the elderly. Telephone-delivered psycho-behavioural intervention specifically focuses on depression among the elderly with CHF, and could be a promising alternative to conventional treatment. The present study was designed to prospectively investigate the effect of a telephone-delivered psycho-behavioural intervention on depression in the elderly with chronic heart failure (CHF). METHOD/DESIGN: In this prospective, multicentre, parallel, randomized, and controlled trial, 236 participants with depression associated with CHF (New York Heart Association classes II and III) will be enrolled. The study will consist of a 12-week intensive intervention and a 24-week maintenance intervention. Eligible participants will be randomized to either the intervention arm or the control arm. During the intensive phase, participants will receive either a guided telephone psycho-behavioural intervention or regular telephone contacts from the counsellors weekly. During the maintenance phase, participants will receive either psychological behavioural support or regular telephone contacts monthly from counsellors. Depressive symptoms, cardiac outcome and quality of life will be assessed at baseline and weeks 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 24 and 36. Participants will undergo echocardiography and the plasma concentrations of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) tested at baseline, weeks 12 and 36. The primary outcome is the response rate of depression, from baseline to week 12. The second outcomes include the change in cardiac function, quality of life and severity of depressive symptoms during the trial. DISCUSSION: To our knowledge, this study is the first prospective randomized trial to test the effective of the telephone-delivered psycho-behavioural intervention on depression in the elderly with CHF. The findings are expected to provide a new and evidence-based approach for depression among the elderly with CHF. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov (identification number: NCT03233451 ) on 28 July 2017 and updated on 18 August 2017.

High risk of near-crash driving events following night-shift work.

Night-shift workers are at high risk of drowsiness-related motor vehicle crashes as a result of circadian disruption and sleep restriction. However, the impact of actual night-shift work on measures of drowsiness and driving performance while operating a real motor vehicle remains unknown. Sixteen night-shift workers completed two 2-h daytime driving sessions on a closed driving track at the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety: (i) a postsleep baseline driving session after an average of 7.6 ± 2.4 h sleep the previous night with no night-shift work, and (ii) a postnight-shift driving session following night-shift work. Physiological measures of drowsiness were collected, including infrared reflectance oculography, electroencephalography, and electrooculography. Driving performance measures included lane excursions, near-crash events, and drives terminated because of failure to maintain control of the vehicle. Eleven near-crashes occurred in 6 of 16 postnight-shift drives (37.5%), and 7 of 16 postnight-shift drives (43.8%) were terminated early for safety reasons, compared with zero near-crashes or early drive terminations during 16 postsleep drives (Fishers exact: P = 0.0088 and P = 0.0034, respectively). Participants had a significantly higher rate of lane excursions, average Johns Drowsiness Scale, blink duration, and number of slow eye movements during postnight-shift drives compared with postsleep drives (3.09/min vs. 1.49/min; 1.71 vs. 0.97; 125 ms vs. 100 ms; 35.8 vs. 19.1; respectively, P < 0.05 for all). Night-shift work increases driver drowsiness, degrading driving performance and increasing the risk of near-crash drive events. With more than 9.5 million Americans working overnight or rotating shifts and one-third of United States commutes exceeding 30 min, these results have implications for traffic and occupational safety.

Computer- and Robot-Assisted Therapies to Aid Social and Intellectual Functioning of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience challenges with social interactions, a core feature of the disorder. Social skills therapy has been shown to be helpful. Over the past several years, computer-assisted and robot-assisted therapies have been infiltrating the social skills teaching environment. Rapid progress in the field of technology, especially in the robotics area, offers tremendous possibilities for innovation and treatment or even education for individuals with ASD. This paper's purpose is to drive awareness of these innovative interventions in order to support the social lives of children with ASD. The aims of the paper are identifying (1) the types of Information Technology platforms that are being evaluated in computer and robot-assisted therapies for children with ASD; (2) the various disciplines or professions studying and utilizing these computer and robot-assisted social skill therapies; (3) the outcomes being evaluated in each trial; and (4) if results demonstrate benefits to children with autism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PubMed, CINAHL, Science Direct, and Web of Science databases were searched for clinical trials published over the past five years. Search terms incorporated the subject intersection of autism, and computer or robot-assisted therapy. Results were mined for pediatric populations only and study designs establishing controlled comparisons. RESULTS: Eighteen unique international studies were identified that utilize robot interventions (11 studies) and serious computer game interventions (seven studies). Most demonstrated promising results in improving outcomes for children with ASD. Study implications reveal a rapidly evolving assistive technology for ASD social skills therapy. CONCLUSIONS: These interventions show considerable promise, but more effectiveness and cost effectiveness research of high quality should be carried out with larger numbers of children. Also, further studies are necessary to evaluate these technologies' effectiveness amongst adults with ASD and within unique subsets of the higher functioning autism population.

Creation and Evaluation of a Preoperative Education Website for Hip and Knee Replacement Patients-A Pilot Study.

The use of websites to provide patient education is becoming more common. The benefits of a properly executed and effective preoperative patient educational intervention have been shown to result in improved psychological and physical well-being for patients undergoing surgery. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the usability, utility, and feasibility of a website we created to increase engagement and improve the quality of the preoperative education patients receive in preparation for hip and knee arthroplasty. Eighty patients who met the inclusion criteria were recruited, aged between 40 to 65, among those 52.5% were female, 71.25% were placed for knee replacement, 28.75% for hip replacement. Forty patients were randomly assigned to paper education cohort, 40 to the paper and website education cohort. However, only 19 from each cohort participated in the survey questionnaire. The outcome of interest included qualitative data for patient knowledge, satisfaction, utilities, and usability, which were assessed based on the Perceived Health Website Usability Questionnaire online survey. The paper-based survey contains ten questions using a 7-point Likert scale while the web-based survey contains fourteen questions using the same 7-point Likert scale. Descriptive statistics and independent samples t-tests were used for comparative analysis of usual paper education and website education cohorts; whereby Microsoft Excel data analytics tool was used to compute the results. The Alpha level was set to 0.05 for the statistical results. The result of the study showed no statistically significant differences in both cohorts at the 0.05 level. We hypothesized that both information delivery methods were effective in increasing knowledge and engaging patients to their preoperative educations. According to the survey result for the nursing staff, they believed that the use of the website improved nursing workflow, efficiency, and patient education.

[Molecular imprinting technology and its application in terpenoids].

Molecular imprinting technology is widely used in the separation and analysis of compounds such as flavonoids, alkaloids and polyphenols, due to its high selectivity and specific recognition and so on. However, no much of attention has been paid to the terpenoids. This paper is aimed to not only review the effects of common synthetic elements such as functional monomers, cross-linking agents and porogens on the polymer properties, but also highlight the application of terpene molecular imprinting in solid phase extraction, sensor, membrane separation and chromatographic separation by means of statistical analysis of literature. Furthermore, the shortcomings and improvement directions are discussed.We believed that this paper could provide references for better applications of molecular imprinting techniques to the analysis of terpenoid compounds.