In this paper we report on a sequence of large‐amplitude Alfvénic fluctuations terminating in a field and flow discontinuity and their effects on electromagnetic fields and plasmas in the ...near‐magnetopause magnetosheath. An arc‐polarized structure in the magnetic field was observed by the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms‐C in the solar wind, indicative of nonlinear Alfvén waves. It ends with a combined tangential discontinuity/vortex sheet, which is strongly inclined to the ecliptic plane and at which there is a sharp rise in the density and a drop in temperature. Several effects resulting from this structure were observed by the Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft in the magnetosheath close to the subsolar point (11:30 magnetic local time) and somewhat south of the geomagnetic equator (−33° magnetic latitude): (i) kinetic Alfvén waves; (ii) a peaking of the electric and magnetic field strengths where E·J becomes strong and negative (−1 nW/m3) just prior to an abrupt dropout of the fields; (iii) evolution in the pitch angle distribution of energetic (a few tens of kilo‐electron‐volts) ions (H+, Hen+, and On+) and electrons inside a high‐density region, which we attribute to gyrosounding of the tangential discontinuity/vortex sheet structure passing by the spacecraft; (iv) field‐aligned acceleration of ions and electrons that could be associated with localized magnetosheath reconnection inside the high‐density region; and (v) variable and strong flow changes, which we argue to be unrelated to reconnection at partial magnetopause crossings and likely result from deflections of magnetosheath flow by a locally deformed, oscillating magnetopause.
Key Points
We examine effects at MMS in inner magnetosheath of an arc‐polarized structure and a combination of a tangential discontinuity and vortex sheet
One effect is that kinetic Alfvén waves are observed by the MMS spacecraft
Accelerated plasma flows are seen which are likely due to magnetopause motions resulting from tangential stresses
Abstract
Introduction:
Prospective memory (PM), or the ability to plan and spontaneously remember to execute activities in the future, is a vital, everyday life skill. Recent evidence demonstrates ...that sleep enhances PM, particularly in the context of a semantic categorization task (Scullin and McDaniel, 2010). The goal of the present study was to determine the generalizability of sleep’s benefit on PM and its relationship to sleep stages.
Methods:
Participants were divided into wake (n=30) and sleep (n=30) groups. Wake participants arrived at 9am and completed a battery of cognitive tests including three ongoing tasks: living/nonliving decision, lexical decision, and semantic categorization. After the final task, a PM instruction for the next session was given (i.e., hit “q” whenever “table” or “horse” appears), followed by a distractor task. Wake participants were dismissed for 12hr of wakefulness before a second session that included another round of the ongoing tasks and a PM test for the critical words. Sleep participants completed the same experimental design, but arrived at 9pm and had a 12-hour delay that included a night of polysomnograph-recorded sleep.
Results:
Results showed no main effect of task type, indicating that performance was similar across all tasks. Importantly, the sleep group performed significantly better on overall PM performance than the wake group t(58)=2.0, p=0.05. Within the sleep group there was a negative correlation between PM performance and percentage of SWS r(30)=-0.39, p=0.03, such that individuals with higher percentages of SWS during the night had worse PM performance.
Conclusion:
These results suggest that sleep protects the ability to successfully perform future actions across multiple contexts and is not limited to testing modality. Further, we found a negative association between PM performance and SWS, which is interesting in light of recent evidence suggesting that SWS impairs gist memory (Pardilla-Delgado et al., 2016). We suggest that given the generalizable (i.e. not based on individual experiences) nature of a PM instruction, prospective memory and gist memory may have overlapping sleep consolidation networks, such that while a night of sleep benefits PM, the detail-focused episodic memory benefit of SWS reduces time spent consolidating prospection-based memory.
Support (If Any):
Summary
A collection of tagged deletion mutant strains was created in Streptococcus mutans UA159 to facilitate investigation of the aciduric capability of this oral pathogen. Gene‐specific barcoded ...deletions were attempted in 1432 open reading frames (representing 73% of the genome), and resulted in the isolation of 1112 strains (56% coverage) carrying deletions in distinct non‐essential genes. As S. mutans virulence is predicated upon the ability of the organism to survive an acidic pH environment, form biofilms on tooth surfaces, and out‐compete other oral microflora, we assayed individual mutant strains for the relative fitness of the deletion strain, compared with the parent strain, under acidic and oxidative stress conditions, as well as for their ability to form biofilms in glucose‐ or sucrose‐containing medium. Our studies revealed a total of 51 deletion strains with defects in both aciduricity and biofilm formation. We have also identified 49 strains whose gene deletion confers sensitivity to oxidative damage and deficiencies in biofilm formation. We demonstrate the ability to examine competitive fitness of mutant organisms using the barcode tags incorporated into each deletion strain to examine the representation of a particular strain in a population. Co‐cultures of deletion strains were grown either in vitro in a chemostat to steady‐state values of pH 7 and pH 5 or in vivo in an animal model for oral infection. Taken together, these data represent a mechanism for assessing the virulence capacity of this pathogenic microorganism and a resource for identifying future targets for drug intervention to promote healthy oral microflora.
Abstract Objectives To explore the influence of values and context in public health priority-setting in local government in England. Study design Qualitative interview study. Methods Decision-makers' ...views were identified through semi-structured interviews and prioritization tools relevant for public health were reviewed. Interviews (29) were carried out with Health and Wellbeing Board members and other key stakeholders across three local authorities in England, following an introductory workshop. Results There were four main influences on priorities for public health investment in our case study sites: an organizational context where health was less likely to be associated with health care and where accountability was to a local electorate; a commissioning and priority-setting context (plan, do, study, act) located within broader local authority priority-setting processes; different views of what counts as evidence and, in particular, the role of local knowledge; and debates over what constitutes a public health intervention, triggered by the transfer of a public health budget from the NHS to local authorities in England. Conclusions The relocation of public health into local authorities exposes questions over prioritizing public health investment, including the balance across lifestyle interventions and broader action on social determinants of health and the extent to which the public health evidence base influences local democratic decision-making. Action on wider social determinants reinforces not only the art and science but also the values and politics of public health.
Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) is a conducting polymer used in regenerative medicine, solar energy conversion, OLEDs, and biological sensing. PEDOT:PSS can be ...synthesized with a wide range of biomolecular oxidants including hemoglobin, catalase, horseradish peroxidase, soybean peroxidase, and laccase. Unfortunately heme proteins have been found to degrade during polymer synthesis, limiting their utility. We show that the peroxidase substrate, 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS), inhibits heme degradation during hemoglobin-mediated synthesis of PEDOT:PSS, measured by fluorescence emission. Four-point probe measurements show that films of PEDOT:PSS are more conductive when synthesized in the presence of ABTS. Characterization of the resulting PEDOT:PSS films using visible and near IR spectroscopy shows that ABTS produces a bipolaron rich polymer, as expected if heme degradation is inhibited. Conductivity is further enhanced (31 S cm −1 ) when an iron chelator, EDTA, is used in combination with ABTS.
To describe and test a new method that increases the conspicuity of a Hill–Sachs lesion on internal rotation (IR) radiographs.
This study had institutional review board approval. A retrospective ...search for patients with a prior shoulder dislocation and a Hill–Sachs lesion documented on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed over a 10-year period identifying 256 test patients. In Part 1, the IR radiographs from test cases were randomised with controls, and three readers scored them independently for the defect. The readers were then taught the Broken Circle (BC) method and re-scored the radiographs. In Part 2, 15 cases of Hill–Sachs lesions that were missed by all readers in Part 1 were randomised with controls, and were shown to 25 radiology residents before (pre-test) and after (post-test) learning the BC method. A paired t-test was used to compare the differences in sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV).
In Part 1, the sensitivity increased 19.7% (54.1%–73.8%; p<0.05) and NPV increased 10.8% (62.5%–73.3%; p<0.01). In Part 2, post-test sensitivity for residents increased 16.3% (55.2%–71.5%; p<0.0001), accuracy increased 13.4% (64%–77.4%; p<0.0001), and NPV increased 13.3% (40.8%–54.1%; p<0.0001) independent of the level of training. The change in accuracy was also statistically significant for every individual class.
The BC method was an effective technique that facilitated detection of a Hill–Sachs lesion at all levels of training, and was useful as a teaching tool.
•Glenohumeral joint dislocations are the most common type of dislocation.•After reduction, a Hill-Sachs lesion may be the only indication of a dislocation.•Broken Circle (BC) Method utilizes PACS tools to interrogate the humeral head.•The BC method facilitates detection of Hill-Sachs lesions on radiographs.•It may be used as a teaching or diagnostic tool.
Wavelet cross-correlation (WCC) is used to analyse the relationship between low-frequency oscillations in near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) measured cerebral oxyhaemoglobin (O(2)Hb) and mean arterial ...blood pressure (MAP) in patients suffering from autonomic failure and age-matched controls. Statistically significant differences are found in the wavelet scale of maximum cross-correlation upon posture change in patients, but not in controls. We propose that WCC analysis of the relationship between O(2)Hb and MAP provides a useful method of investigating the dynamics of cerebral autoregulation using the spontaneous low-frequency oscillations that are typically observed in both variables without having to make the assumption of stationarity of the time series. It is suggested that for a short-duration clinical test previous transfer-function-based approaches to analyse this relationship may suffer due to the inherent nonstationarity of low-frequency oscillations that are observed in the resting brain.
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