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Mobile air pollution measurements have the potential to provide a wide range of insights into emission sources and air pollution exposure. The analysis of mobile data is, however, highly challenging. In this work we develop a new regression-based framework for the analysis of mobile data with the aim of improving the potential to draw inferences from such measurements. A quantile regression approach is adopted to provide new insight into the distribution of NOx and CO emissions in Central and Outer London. We quantify the emissions intensity of NOx and CO (ΔNOx/ΔCO2 and ΔCO/ΔCO2) at different quantile levels (τ) to demonstrate how transient high-emission events can be examined in parallel to the average emission characteristics. We observed a clear difference in the emissions behaviour between both locations. On average, the median (τ = 0.5) ΔNOx/ΔCO2 in Central London was 2x higher than Outer London, despite the stringent emission standards imposed throughout the Ultra Low Emissions Zone. A comprehensive vehicle emission remote sensing data set (n ≈ 700,000) is used to put the results into context, providing evidence of vehicle behaviour which is indicative of poorly controlled emissions, equivalent to high-emitting classes of older vehicles. Our analysis suggests the coupling of a diesel-dominated fleet with persistently congested conditions, under which the operation of emissions after-treatment technology is non-optimal, leads to increased NOx emissions.

The use of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) technology has revolutionized the practice of prenatal screening. The assay’s validity and reliability have been demonstrated in both low- and high-risk pregnancies. Despite its excellent screening parameters, its reliability is often overestimated due to confusing and incorrect terminology that appears in private NIPT reports. Herein, we provide a brief explanation of the potential implications at two different levels: patient and provider. We conclude with a call to redesign the way information is presented on NIPT reports to avoid stressing patients, enhance transparency in clinical counselling, and perhaps most critically, to prevent medical decisions that may not be warranted solely based on the NIPT results.

The promotion and growth in the use of diesel fuel in passenger cars in the UK and Europe over the past two decades led to considerable adverse air quality impacts in urban areas and more widely. In this work, we construct a multi-decade analysis of passenger car emissions in the UK based on real driving emissions data. An important part of the study is the use of extensive vehicle emission remote sensing data covering multiple measurement locations, time periods, environmental conditions and consisting of over 600,000 measurements. These data are used to consider two scenarios: first, that diesel fuel use was not promoted in the early 2000s for climate mitigation reasons, and second, that there was not a dramatic decline in diesel fuel use following the Dieselgate scandal. The strong growth of diesel fuel use coincided with a time when diesel NOx emissions were high and, conversely, the strong decrease of diesel fuel use coincided with a time when diesel vehicle after-treatment systems for NOx control were effective. We estimate that the growth in diesel car use in the UK results in excess NOx emissions of 721 kt over a three decade period; equivalent to over 7 times total annual passenger car NOx emissions and greater than total UK NOx emissions of 681.8 kt in 2021 and with an associated damage cost of £5.875 billion. However, the sharp move away from diesel fuel post-Dieselgate only reduced NOx emissions by 41 kt owing to the effectiveness of modern diesel aftertreatment systems.

A review of the function of the Dystrophic Glycoprotein Complex (DGC) in mechanosignaling provides an overview of the various components of DGC and potential mechanopathogenic mechanisms, particularly as they relate to muscular dystrophy.

BackgroundActivity in neurons drives afferent competition that is critical for the refinement of nascent neural circuits. In ferrets, when an eye is lost in early development, surviving retinogeniculate afferents from the spared eye spread across the thalamus in a manner that is dependent on spontaneous retinal activity. However, how this spontaneous activity, also known as retinal waves, might dynamically regulate afferent terminal targeting remains unknown.MethodsWe recorded retinal waves from retinae ex vivo using multi-electrode arrays. Retinae came from ferrets who were binocular or who had one eye surgically removed at birth. Linear mixed effects models were used to investigate the effects of early monocular enucleation on retinal wave activity.ResultsWhen an eye is removed at birth, spontaneous bursts of action potentials by retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in the surviving eye are shorter in duration. The shortening of RGC burst duration results in decreased pairwise RGC correlations across the retina and is associated with the retinal wave-dependent spread of retinogeniculate afferents previously reported in enucleates.ConclusionOur findings show that removal of the competing eye modulates retinal waves and could underlie the dynamic regulation of competition-based refinement during retinogeniculate development.

Plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.) has been identified by the New Zealand dairy sector as an option for reducing nitrogen losses from grazed pastures. However, there is growing concern over its poor persistence. Reports have suggested that plantain does not tolerate waterlogged soils; however, there is little scientific evidence to support those claims. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the impact of waterlogging on plantain growth and survival. In a glasshouse, three water treatments were applied to plantain plants in pots: control (soil water below field capacity but not limited), wet (soil water marginally above field capacity), and waterlogged (water table 5 cm below the surface) for 39 days, followed by 27 days under the control watering treatment. Leaf elongation and photosynthesis were measured during the experiment. The mean leaf elongation rate of waterlogged plants was 37% lower than control plants during the stress period, but not significantly different than control plants during the recovery period. Waterlogging reduced the rate of photosynthesis in plantain leaves by 15% on average in comparison with control watering during the stress period; however, waterlogged and control plants had a similar mean photosynthesis rate during the recovery period. The results show that plantain growth and photosynthesis were significantly limited under waterlogging; however, the rapid recovery of both processes following the removal of stress suggests that important physiological functions remained intact under waterlogging, possibly due to tolerance mechanisms. These findings suggest that while waterlogging may cause limitations for plantain growth, there is no evidence to suggest that it alone could cause irreversible damage to plants and thus prevent their recovery. Rather, waterlogging stress could undermine the ability of plantain to compete with species that are tolerant of waterlogging within mixed pastures.

Abstract Background Despite having the highest prevalence of sickle cell disease (SCD) in the world, no country in Sub-Saharan Africa has a universal screening program for the disease. We sought to capture the diagnosis patterns of SCD (age at SCD diagnosis, method of SCD diagnosis, and age of first pain crisis) in Accra, Ghana. Methods We administered an in-person, voluntary survey to parents of offspring with SCD between 2009 and 2013 in Accra as a part of a larger study and conducted a secondary data analysis to determine diagnosis patterns. This was conducted at a single site: a large academic medical center in the region. Univariate analyses were performed on diagnosis patterns; bivariate analyses were conducted to determine whether patterns differed by participant’s age (children: those = 18 years old whose parents completed a survey about them), or their disease severity based on SCD genotype. Pearson’s chi-squared were calculated. Results Data was collected on 354 unique participants from parents. Few were diagnosed via SCD testing in the newborn period. Only 44% were diagnosed with SCD by age four; 46% had experienced a pain crisis by the same age. Most (66%) were diagnosed during pain crisis, either in acute (49%) or primary care (17%) settings. Children were diagnosed with SCD at an earlier age (74% by four years old); among the adults, parents reflected that 30% were diagnosed by four years old (p

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the task of preparing students for workplace-based clerkship and supporting learners’ ongoing professional identity formation became incrementally more challenging. The former design of clerkship rotations was re-challenged and revolutionized going forward, as COVID-19 accelerated the development and implementation of e-Health and technology-enhanced learning (TEL). However, the practical integration of learning and teaching activities, and the application of well-thought-out first principles in pedagogy in higher education, remain difficult to implement in today’s pandemic era. In this paper, using the transition-to-clerkship (T2C) course as an example, we outline the steps taken to implement our clerkship rotation, discussing various curricular challenges from the lenses of various stakeholders, and practical lessons learned.

The nanowire and nanorod morphology offers great advantages for application in a range of optoelectronic devices, but these high-quality nanorod arrays are typically based on high temperature growth techniques. Here, we demonstrate the successful room temperature growth of a hybrid perovskite (CH3NH3PbBr3) nanorod array, and we also introduce a new low temperature anion exchange technique to convert the CH3NH3PbBr3 nanorod array into a CH3NH3PbI3 nanorod array while preserving morphology. We demonstrate the application of both these hybrid perovskite nanorod arrays for LEDs. This work highlights the potential utility of postsynthetic interconversion of hybrid perovskites for nanostructured optoelectronic devices such as LEDs, which enables new strategies for the application of hybrid perovskites.

Abstract Introduction There is limited understanding concerning the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. Due to an overlap of symptoms, it can be difficult to separate disease versus treatment-related effects. Study objectives were to understand the impact of factors that might influence patients’ HRQoL, assess the degree of concordance in symptom reporting by patients and physicians, and assess the impact of any discordance on HRQoL in AML patients. Methods Physicians in the USA captured demographics, current AML treatment and symptoms for 82 AML patients who completed the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Leukemia (FACT-Leu), 5-Dimension EuroQol Questionnaire (EQ-5D-3L) and Cancer Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (CTSQ). Effect size (ES) and clinically meaningful differences between AML subgroups were assessed, as was the impact of disagreement between patients and physicians regarding symptom recognition. Results Clinically meaningful lower overall FACT-Leu scores were observed for: relapsed/refractory versus non-relapsed/refractory AML patients (92.5 vs. 103.7; P = 0.09; ES = 0.439), hypomethylating agent (HMA) monotherapy versus other therapies in patients with low treatment intensity (89.9 vs. 112.9; P = 0.0021; ES = 0.971) and presence/absence of FLT3-ITD mutation (85.5 vs. 100; P = 0.148; ES = 0.816). Differences in health state were also clinically meaningful between patients with/without FLT3-ITD; EQ-5D-Visual Analog Scale (VAS) (47.6 vs. 63.7; P = 0.0428; ES = 0.816). Patients were more likely than physicians to report bruising (κ = 0.1292), fatigue (κ = 0.0836), bleeding (κ = 0.0177), weight loss (κ = 0.0821) and appetite loss (κ = − 0.0246). FACT-Leu was associated with patient-physician discordance on bleeding (difference − 14.12; P = 0.046), weight loss (− 21.22; P = 0.001) and appetite loss (− 12.58; P = 0.027). Conclusions HRQoL is generally low for AML patients, especially for particular subgroups. Discordance in symptom reporting between patients and physicians was common and associated with further negative impacts on HRQoL. There may be many reasons for this but better communication between physicians and patients may lead to shared objectives and improvement in patients’ HRQoL. Funding Astellas Pharma, Inc.

Attentional focus strategies refer to the use of cues or other stimuli to enhance an individual’s concentration for the purpose of improving performance within a given task. PURPOSE: To examine the effects of an internal (INT), external proximal (EPr), and external distal (ED) method of attentional focus on motor unit excitation and repetitions-to-failure (RTF) during submaximal bench press performance. METHODS: Twenty-five recreationally-active males and females completed a one-repetition maximum (1RM) bench press test, followed by three days of submaximal testing at 85% 1RM to muscular failure. For each submaximal day, a specific attentional focus strategy was given by auditory cues (i.e., INT, EPr, ED) with the individual instructed to focus solely on the cue. Motor unit recruitment of the anterior deltoid, pectoralis major, and triceps brachii was measured, via electromyography (EMG), for each repetition for all interventions. RESULTS: Results indicated no differences for motor unit excitation (chest: p=0.59; triceps: p=0.50; deltoids: p=0.17) or RTF (p=0.89) among the three conditions. The INT cue, as compared to EPr and ED, elicited a ~7-10% average increase in pectoralis major motor unit excitation, despite an average of one less repetition. All effect sizes were deemed small or trivial, except for RTF between INT and ED which elicited a moderate effect size (ES=0.55). CONCLUSIONS: These findings support previous literature demonstrating increases in motor unit excitation with an internal attentional focus. However, this strategy may place a greater demand on the targeted musculature to complete a given task; thus, decreasing performance.

Background: Cold agglutinins are autoantibodies against RBC antigens, leading to hemolysis at less-than-physiological temperatures through complement fixation. Production can be triggered by infections, resulting in secondary cold agglutinin syndrome (CAS). This syndrome has been classically described in the setting of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection, as well as with several viral pathogens. Cases: Here, we present two cases of cold agglutinins identified in the context of Covid-19 in critically ill patients treated at our institution. Each case was characterized by little in-vivo hemolysis, but these antibodies complicated laboratory assessment and renal replacement therapy. Management included anticoagulation and warming of dialysis circuit. Conclusions: Despite minimal in-vivo hemolysis, these antibodies are of clinical significance given their implications for laboratory assessment and renal replacement therapy, particularly with the frequency of multi-organ system dysfunction associated with severe Covid-19.

Objectives Point of care ultrasound (POCUS) is increasingly used in rural settings where it’s portability,and imaging capabilities make it effective clinically. POCUS teaching has traditionally relied on faculty instruction, which is limited by the small number of certified faculty members. The UOttawa POCUS interest group deployed peer-teaching since 2018, which overcomes the instructor barrier by employing experienced medical students to train preclerkship students. This paper will evaluate the efficacy of the peer-led POCUS workshops as a learning format. Methods 3-hour POCUS workshops were held for Cardiac, MSK, Aorta, and eFAST scans from October 2018 to June 2019. Students with prior experience in POCUS were identified as peer-teachers, and were trained by an expert physician prior to the workshop. Peer-teachers taught a small group, with physician experts rotating through groups for technical support. Surveys were sent out to students who participated in the workshops assessing the following categories:utility, learning experience,workshop efficacy, tutor competence, and interest. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis was reported for the quantitative and qualitative data, respectively. Results 45 participants completed the survey. The surveys showed positive support for the aforementioned categories, with the average score being greater than 4. From the thematic analysis, the four main strengths of the peer-led format are: Trainer competence, learner comfort, situational teaching, and opportunity to practice. Conclusion Peer-led workshops are an effective format for POCUS training in instructor-constrained settings. These workshops can be translated to rural settings in lieu of a formal POCUS training program.

Abstract Background Activity in neurons drives afferent competition that is critical for the refinement of nascent neural circuits. In ferrets, when an eye is lost in early development, surviving retinogeniculate afferents from the spared eye spread across the thalamus in a manner that is dependent on spontaneous retinal activity. However, how this spontaneous activity, also known as retinal waves, might dynamically regulate afferent terminal targeting remains unknown. Methods We recorded retinal waves from retinae ex vivo using multi-electrode arrays. Retinae came from ferrets who were binocular or who had one eye surgically removed at birth. Linear mixed effects models were used to investigate the effects of early monocular enucleation on retinal wave activity. Results When an eye is removed at birth, spontaneous bursts of action potentials by retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in the surviving eye are shorter in duration. The shortening of RGC burst duration results in decreased pairwise RGC correlations across the retina and is associated with the retinal wave-dependent spread of retinogeniculate afferents previously reported in enucleates. Conclusion Our findings show that removal of the competing eye modulates retinal waves and could underlie the dynamic regulation of competition-based refinement during retinogeniculate development.

We introduce a set of input models for fusing information from ensembles of wearable sensors supporting human performance and telemedicine. Veracity is demonstrated in action classification related to sport, specifically strikes in boxing and taekwondo. Four input models, formulated to be compatible with a broad range of classifiers, are introduced and two diverse classifiers, dynamic time warping (DTW) and convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are implemented in conjunction with the input models. Seven classification models fusing information at the input-level, output-level, and a combination of both are formulated. Action classification for 18 boxing punches and 24 taekwondo kicks demonstrate our fusion classifiers outperform the best DTW and CNN uni-axial classifiers. Furthermore, although DTW is ostensibly an ideal choice for human movements experiencing non-linear variations, our results demonstrate deep learning fusion classifiers outperform DTW. This is a novel finding given that CNNs are normally designed for multi-dimensional data and do not specifically compensate for non-linear variations within signal classes. The generalized formulation enables subject-specific movement classification in a feature-blind fashion with trivial computational expense for trained CNNs. A commercial boxing system, ‘Corner’, has been produced for real-world mass-market use based on this investigation providing a basis for future telemedicine translation.

Neurorobotic augmentation (e.g., robotic assist) is now in regular use to support individuals suffering from impaired motor functions. A major unresolved challenge, however, is the excessive cognitive load necessary for the human–machine interface (HMI). Grasp control remains one of the most challenging HMI tasks, demanding simultaneous, agile, and precise control of multiple degrees-of-freedom (DoFs) while following a specific timing pattern in the joint and human–robot task spaces. Most commercially available systems use either an indirect mode-switching configuration or a limited sequential control strategy, limiting activation to one DoF at a time. To address this challenge, we introduce a shared autonomy framework centred around a low-cost multi-modal sensor suite fusing: (a) mechanomyography (MMG) to estimate the intended muscle activation, (b) camera-based visual information for integrated autonomous object recognition, and (c) inertial measurement to enhance intention prediction based on the grasping trajectory. The complete system predicts user intent for grasp based on measured dynamical features during natural motions. A total of 84 motion features were extracted from the sensor suite, and tests were conducted on 10 able-bodied and 1 amputee participants for grasping common household objects with a robotic hand. Real-time grasp classification accuracy using visual and motion features obtained 100%, 82.5%, and 88.9% across all participants for detecting and executing grasping actions for a bottle, lid, and box, respectively. The proposed multimodal sensor suite is a novel approach for predicting different grasp strategies and automating task performance using a commercial upper-limb prosthetic device. The system also shows potential to improve the usability of modern neurorobotic systems due to the intuitive control design.

We previously reported that oxidized nucleotide insertion by DNA polymerase β (pol β) can confound the DNA ligation step during base excision repair (BER) (Çağlayan et al., 2017). Here, we describe a method to investigate pol β nucleotide insertion coupled with DNA ligation, in the same reaction mixture including dGTP or 8-oxo-dGTP, pol β and DNA ligase I. This in vitro assay enables us to measure the products for correct vs. oxidized nucleotide insertion, DNA ligation, and ligation failure, i.e., abortive ligation products, as a function of reaction time. This protocol complements our previous publication and describes an efficient way to analyze activities of BER enzymes and the functional interaction between pol β and DNA ligase I in vitro.