Redox-controlled potassium intercalation into two polyaromatic hydrocarbon solids

Alkali metal intercalation into polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has been studied intensely after reports of superconductivity in a number of potassium- and rubidium-intercalated materials. There are, however, no reported crystal structures to inform our understanding of the chemistry and physics because of the complex reactivity of PAHs with strong reducing agents at high temperature. Here we present the synthesis of crystalline K2Pentacene and K2Picene by a solid–solid insertion protocol that uses potassium hydride as a redox-controlled reducing agent to access the PAH dianions, and so enables the determination of their crystal structures. In both cases, the inserted cations expand the parent herringbone packings by reorienting the molecular anions to create multiple potassium sites within initially dense molecular layers, and thus interact with the PAH anion π systems. The synthetic and crystal chemistry of alkali metal intercalation into PAHs differs from that into fullerenes and graphite, in which the cation sites are pre-defined by the host structure

Diagnostic and therapeutic treatment modalities for acute lower gastrointestinal bleeding: a systematic review.

 Investigations for lower gastrointestinal bleeding (LGIB) include flexible sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, computed tomographic angiography (CTA), and angiography. All may be used to direct endoscopic, radiological or surgical treatment, although their optimal use is unknown. The aims of this study were to determine the diagnostic and therapeutic yields of endoscopy, CTA, and angiography for managing LGIB, and their influence on rebleeding, transfusion, and hospital stay. A systematic search of MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE, and CENTRAL was undertaken to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and nonrandomized studies of intervention (NRSIs) published between 2000 and 12 November 2015 in patients hospitalized with LGIB. Separate meta-analyses were conducted, presented as pooled odds (ORs) or risk ratios (RR) with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs). Two RCTs and 13 NRSIs were included, none of which examined flexible sigmoidoscopy, or compared endotherapy with embolization, or investigated the timing of CTA or angiography. Two NRSIs (57 - 223 participants) comparing colonoscopy and CTA were of insufficient quality for synthesis but showed no difference in diagnostic yields between the two interventions. One RCT and 4 NRSIs (779 participants) compared early colonoscopy (< 24 hours) with colonoscopy performed later; meta-analysis of the NRSIs demonstrated higher diagnostic and therapeutic yields with early colonoscopy (OR 1.86, 95 %CI 1.12 to 2.86, P  = 0.004 and OR 3.08, 95 %CI 1.93 to 4.90, P  < 0.001, respectively) and reduced length of stay (mean difference 2.64 days, 95 %CI 1.54 to 3.73), but no difference in transfusion or rebleeding. In LGIB there is a paucity of high-quality evidence, although the limited studies on the timing of colonoscopy suggest increased rates of diagnosis and therapy with early colonoscopy

Interaction of hope and optimism with anxiety and depression in a specific group of cancer survivors: a preliminary study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Anxiety and depression have been identified as a common psychological distress faced by the majority of cancer patients. With the increasing number of cancer cases, increasing demands will be placed on health systems to address effective psychosocial care and therapy. The objective of this study was to assess the possible role of hope and optimism on anxiety and depression. We also wanted to investigate if there is a specific component of hope that could play a role in buffering anxiety and depression amongst cancer patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A retrospective cross sectional study was conducted in the outpatient station of the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, PR-China. Fifty patients successfully treated for OC cancer were recruited after their informed consents had been obtained during the review clinic. During their regular follow-up controls in the outpatient clinic the patients compiled the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS), hope scale (HS) and the life orientation scale-revised (LOT-R).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Hope was negatively correlated with depression (<it>r </it>= -.55, <it>p </it>< .001) and anxiety (r = -.38, <it>p </it>< .05). Similar pattern was found between optimism and the latter adjustment outcomes (depression: <it>r </it>= -.55, <it>p </it>< .001; anxiety: <it>r </it>= -.35, <it>p </it>< .05). Regression analyses indentified that both hope and optimism were significant predictors of depression. Hope and optimism had equal association with depression (hope: <it>β </it>= .40 versus optimism: <it>β </it>= .38). Hope and optimism together were significantly predictive of anxiety, whereas neither hope nor optimism alone was significant individual predictors of anxiety.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Hope and optimism both negatively correlated with patients' level of anxiety and depression. Besides theoretical implications, this study brings forward relevant findings related to developing specific clinical psychological care in the field of oncology that to date has not been researched specifically in the field of oncology. The results of this study will help guide the direction of future prospective studies in the field of oncology. This will contribute significantly to increasing patients quality of life as well enabling health care facilities to provide all cancer patients a more holistic cancer care.</p

Augmented instructions : analysis of performance and efficiency of assembly tasks

Augmented Reality (AR) technology makes it possible to present information in the user’s line of sight, right at the point of use. This brings the capability to visualise complex information for industrial maintenance applications in an effective manner, which typically rely on paper instructions and tacit knowledge developed over time. Existing research in AR instruction manuals has already shown its potential to reduce the time taken to complete assembly tasks, as well as improving accuracy [1–3]. In this study, the outcomes of several aspects of AR instructions are explored and their effects on the chosen Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of task completion time, error rate, cognitive effort and usability are assessed. A standardised AR assembly task is also described for performance comparison, and a novel AR experimental tool is presented, which takes advantage of the flexibility of internet connected peripherals, to explore various different aspects of AR app design to isolate their effects. Results of the experiments are given here, providing insight into the most effective way of delivering information and promoting interaction between user and computer, in terms of user performance and acceptance

Prevalence of Borderline Personality Disorder in University Samples: Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis and Meta-Regression.

OBJECTIVE: To determine pooled prevalence of clinically significant traits or features of Borderline Personality Disorder among college students, and explore the influence of methodological factors on reported prevalence figures, and temporal trends. DATA SOURCES: Electronic databases (1994-2014: AMED; Biological Abstracts; Embase; MEDLINE; PsycARTICLES; CINAHL Plus; Current Contents Connect; EBM Reviews; Google Scholar; Ovid Medline; Proquest central; PsychINFO; PubMed; Scopus; Taylor & Francis; Web of Science (1998-2014), and hand searches. STUDY SELECTION: Forty-three college-based studies reporting estimates of clinically significant BPD symptoms were identified (5.7% of original search). DATA EXTRACTION: One author (RM) extracted clinically relevant BPD prevalence estimates, year of publication, demographic variables, and method from each publication or through correspondence with the authors. RESULTS: The prevalence of BPD in college samples ranged from 0.5% to 32.1%, with lifetime prevalence of 9.7% (95% CI, 7.7-12.0; p &lt; .005). Methodological factors contributing considerable between-study heterogeneity in univariate meta-analyses were participant anonymity, incentive type, research focus and participant type. Study and sample characteristics related to between study heterogeneity were sample size, and self-identifying as Asian or "other" race. The prevalence of BPD varied over time: 7.8% (95% CI 4.2-13.9) between 1994 and 2000; 6.5% (95% CI 4.0-10.5) during 2001 to 2007; and 11.6% (95% CI 8.8-15.1) from 2008 to 2014, yet was not a source of heterogeneity (p = .09). CONCLUSIONS: BPD prevalence estimates are influenced by the methodological or study sample factors measured. There is a need for consistency in measurement across studies to increase reliability in establishing the scope and characteristics of those with BPD engaged in tertiary study

The expression of HSP27 is associated with poor clinical outcome in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The heat shock proteins (HSPs) 27-kDa (HSP27) and 72-kDa (HSP72), are ubiquitous chaperone molecules inducible in cells exposed to different stress conditions. Increased level of HSPs are reported in several human cancers, and found to be associated with the resistance to some anticancer treatments and poor prognosis. However, there is no study of the relationship between HSPs expression and patient's prognosis in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (IHCCA). In this exploratory retrospective study, we investigated the expressions of HSP27 and HSP72 as potential prognostic factors in IHCCA.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Thirty-one paraffin-embedded samples were analyzed by immunohistochemical methods using HSP27 and HSP72 monoclonal antibodies. Proliferation rate was assessed in the same specimens by using monoclonal antibody against phosphorylated histone H3 (pHH3). Fisher's exact test was used to assess the hypothesis of independence between categorical variables in 2 × 2 tables. The ANOVA procedure was used to evaluate the association between ordinal and categorical variables. Estimates of the survival probability were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and the log rank test was employed to test the null hypothesis of equality in overall survival among groups. The hazard ratio associated with HSP27 and HSP72 expression was estimated by Cox hazard-proportional regression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The expression of HSP27 was related to mitotic index, tumor greatest dimension, capsular and vascular invasion while the expression of HSP72 was only related to the presence of necrosis and the lymphoid infiltration. Kaplan-Maier analysis suggested that the expression of HSP27 significantly worsened the patients' median overall survival (11 ± 3.18 vs 55 ± 4.1 months, P-value = 0.0003). Moreover HSP27-positive patients exhibited the worst mean survival (7.0 ± 3.2 months) in the absence of concomitant HSP72 expression.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The expression of HSP27, likely increasing cell proliferation, tumor mass, vascular and capsular invasion, might promote aggressive tumor behaviour in IHCCA and decrease patients' survival. Immunohistochemical detection of HSP27 on routine sections may provide a reliable prognostic marker for IHCCA able to influence the therapeutic strategies for this cancer.</p

Structural Basis for Apoptosis Inhibition by Epstein-Barr Virus BHRF1

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is associated with human malignancies, especially those affecting the B cell compartment such as Burkitt lymphoma. The virally encoded homolog of the mammalian pro-survival protein Bcl-2, BHRF1 contributes to viral infectivity and lymphomagenesis. In addition to the pro-apoptotic BH3-only protein Bim, its key target in lymphoid cells, BHRF1 also binds a selective sub-set of pro-apoptotic proteins (Bid, Puma, Bak) expressed by host cells. A consequence of BHRF1 expression is marked resistance to a range of cytotoxic agents and in particular, we show that its expression renders a mouse model of Burkitt lymphoma untreatable. As current small organic antagonists of Bcl-2 do not target BHRF1, the structures of it in complex with Bim or Bak shown here will be useful to guide efforts to target BHRF1 in EBV-associated malignancies, which are usually associated with poor clinical outcomes

Adult zebrafish as a model organism for behavioural genetics

Recent research has demonstrated the suitability of adult zebrafish to model some aspects of complex behaviour. Studies of reward behaviour, learning and memory, aggression, anxiety and sleep strongly suggest that conserved regulatory processes underlie behaviour in zebrafish and mammals. The isolation and molecular analysis of zebrafish behavioural mutants is now starting, allowing the identification of novel behavioural control genes. As a result of this, studies of adult zebrafish are now helping to uncover the genetic pathways and neural circuits that control vertebrate behaviour