The Delboeuf Illusion affects perceptions of the relative sizes of concentric shapes. This study was designed to extend research on the application of the Delboeuf illusion to food on a plate by ...testing whether a plate's rim width and coloring influence perceptual bias to affect perceived food portion size.
Within-subjects experimental design. Experiment 1 tested the effect of rim width on perceived food portion size. Experiment 2 tested the effect of rim coloring on perceived food portion size. In both experiments, participants observed a series of photographic images of paired, side-by-side plates varying in designs and amounts of food. From each pair, participants were asked to select the plate that contained more food. Multilevel logistic regression examined the effects of rim width and coloring on perceived food portion size.
Experiment 1: participants overestimated the diameter of food portions by 5% and the visual area of food portions by 10% on plates with wider rims compared with plates with very thin rims (P<0.0001). The effect of rim width was greater with larger food portion sizes. Experiment 2: participants overestimated the diameter of food portions by 1.5% and the visual area of food portions by 3% on plates with rim coloring compared with plates with no coloring (P=0.01). The effect of rim coloring was greater with smaller food portion sizes.
The Delboeuf illusion applies to food on a plate. Participants overestimated food portion size on plates with wider and colored rims. These findings may help design plates to influence perceptions of food portion sizes.
The paper presents the current status of the Maritime Aerosol Network (MAN), which has been developed as a component of the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET). MAN deploys Microtops handheld Sun ...photometers and utilizes the calibration procedure and data processing (Version 2) traceable to AERONET. A web site dedicated to the MAN activity is described. A brief historical perspective is given to aerosol optical depth (AOD) measurements over the oceans. A short summary of the existing data, collected on board ships of opportunity during the NASA Sensor Intercomparison and Merger for Biological and Interdisciplinary Oceanic Studies (SIMBIOS) Project is presented. Globally averaged oceanic aerosol optical depth (derived from island‐based AERONET measurements) at 500 nm is ∼0.11 and Angstrom parameter (computed within spectral range 440–870 nm) is calculated to be ∼0.6. First results from the cruises contributing to the Maritime Aerosol Network are shown. MAN ship‐based aerosol optical depth compares well to simultaneous island and near‐coastal AERONET site AOD.
Summary
The Earth’s mean surface temperature is already approximately 1.1°C higher than pre‐industrial levels. Exceeding a mean 1.5°C rise by 2050 will make global adaptation to the consequences of ...climate change less possible. To protect public health, anaesthesia providers need to reduce the contribution their practice makes to global warming. We convened a Working Group of 45 anaesthesia providers with a recognised interest in sustainability, and used a three‐stage modified Delphi consensus process to agree on principles of environmentally sustainable anaesthesia that are achievable worldwide. The Working Group agreed on the following three important underlying statements: patient safety should not be compromised by sustainable anaesthetic practices; high‐, middle‐ and low‐income countries should support each other appropriately in delivering sustainable healthcare (including anaesthesia); and healthcare systems should be mandated to reduce their contribution to global warming. We set out seven fundamental principles to guide anaesthesia providers in the move to environmentally sustainable practice, including: choice of medications and equipment; minimising waste and overuse of resources; and addressing environmental sustainability in anaesthetists’ education, research, quality improvement and local healthcare leadership activities. These changes are achievable with minimal material resource and financial investment, and should undergo re‐evaluation and updates as better evidence is published. This paper discusses each principle individually, and directs readers towards further important references.
Biological mediators have been used to enhance periodontal regeneration. The aim of this prospective randomized controlled study was to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of 3 doses of fibroblast ...growth factor 2 (FGF-2) when combined with a β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) scaffold carrier placed in vertical infrabony periodontal defects in adult patients. In this double-blinded, dose-verification, externally monitored clinical study, 88 patients who required surgical intervention to treat a qualifying infrabony periodontal defect were randomized to 1 of 4 treatment groups—β-TCP alone (control) and 0.1% recombinant human FGF-2 (rh-FGF-2), 0.3% rh-FGF-2, and 0.4% rh-FGF-2 with β-TCP—following scaling and root planing of the tooth prior to a surgical appointment. Flap surgery was performed with EDTA conditioning of the root prior to device implantation. There were no statistically significant differences in patient demographics and baseline characteristics among the 4 treatment groups. When a composite outcome of gain in clinical attachment of 1.5 mm was used with a linear bone growth of 2.5 mm, a dose response pattern detected a plateau in the 0.3% and 0.4% rh-FGF-2/β-TCP groups with significant improvements over control and 0.1% rh-FGF-2/β-TCP groups. The success rate at 6 mo was 71% in the 2 higher-concentration groups, as compared with 45% in the control and lowest treatment groups. Percentage bone fill in the 2 higher-concentration groups was 75% and 71%, compared with 63% and 61% in the control and lowest treatment group. No increases in specific antibody to rh-FGF-2 were detected, and no serious adverse events related to the products were reported. The results from this multicenter trial demonstrated that the treatment of infrabony vertical periodontal defects can be enhanced with the addition of rh-FGF-2/β-TCP (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01728844).
Objective To identify features associated with multisystem involvement and therapeutic failure in patients with skin Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH). Study design We reviewed medical records of ...71 consecutive patients with LCH with skin involvement evaluated at Texas Children's Hospital and analyzed clinical features, laboratory results, and the presence of circulating cells with the BRAF-V600E mutation with respect to initial staging and clinical outcomes. Results Skin disease in patients older than 18 months of age at diagnosis was associated with the presence of multisystem disease (OR, 9.65; 95% CI, 1.17-79.4). Forty percent of patients referred for presumed skin-limited LCH had underlying multisystem involvement, one-half of these with risk-organ involvement. Patients with skin-limited LCH had a 3-year progression-free survival of 89% after initial therapy, and none developed multisystem disease. Patients with skin/multisystem involvement had a 3-year progression-free survival of 44% with vinblastine/prednisone therapy, and risk-organ involvement did not correlate with failure to achieve nonactive disease. Circulating cells with BRAF-V600E were detected at higher frequency in patients with multisystem involvement (8 of 11 skin/multisystem vs 1 of 13 skin-limited; P = .002). Conclusion Skin-limited LCH necessitates infrequent therapeutic intervention and has a lower risk of progression relative to skin plus multisystem LCH. The less-aggressive clinical course and lack of circulating cells with the BRAF-V600E mutation in skin-limited LCH suggest a different mechanism of disease origin compared with multisystem or risk-organ disease.
colonization of the human stomach is a strong risk factor for gastric cancer. To investigate
-induced gastric molecular alterations, we used a Mongolian gerbil model of gastric carcinogenesis. ...Histologic evaluation revealed varying levels of atrophic gastritis (a premalignant condition characterized by parietal and chief cell loss) in
-infected animals, and transcriptional profiling revealed a loss of markers for these cell types. We then assessed the spatial distribution and relative abundance of proteins in the gastric tissues using imaging mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. We detected striking differences in the protein content of corpus and antrum tissues. Four hundred ninety-two proteins were preferentially localized to the corpus in uninfected animals. The abundance of 91 of these proteins was reduced in
-infected corpus tissues exhibiting atrophic gastritis compared with infected corpus tissues exhibiting non-atrophic gastritis or uninfected corpus tissues; these included numerous proteins with metabolic functions. Fifty proteins localized to the corpus in uninfected animals were diffusely delocalized throughout the stomach in infected tissues with atrophic gastritis; these included numerous proteins with roles in protein processing. The corresponding alterations were not detected in animals infected with a
∆
mutant (lacking Cag type IV secretion system activity). These results indicate that
can cause loss of proteins normally localized to the gastric corpus as well as diffuse delocalization of corpus-specific proteins, resulting in marked changes in the normal gastric molecular partitioning into distinct corpus and antrum regions.IMPORTANCEA normal stomach is organized into distinct regions known as the corpus and antrum, which have different functions, cell types, and gland architectures. Previous studies have primarily used histologic methods to differentiate these regions and detect
-induced alterations leading to stomach cancer. In this study, we investigated
-induced gastric molecular alterations in a Mongolian gerbil model of carcinogenesis. We report the detection of numerous proteins that are preferentially localized to the gastric corpus but not the antrum in a normal stomach. We show that stomachs with
induced atrophic gastritis (a precancerous condition characterized by the loss of specialized cell types) exhibit marked changes in the abundance and localization of proteins normally localized to the gastric corpus. These results provide new insights into
-induced gastric molecular alterations that are associated with the development of stomach cancer.
Summary
Article 25 of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrines the right to health and well‐being for every individual. However, universal access to high‐quality healthcare ...remains the purview of a handful of wealthy nations. This is no more apparent than in peri‐operative care, where an estimated five billion individuals lack access to safe, affordable and timely surgical care. Delivery of surgery and anaesthesia in low‐resource environments presents unique challenges that, when unaddressed, result in limited access to low‐quality care. Current peri‐operative research and clinical guidance often fail to acknowledge these system‐level deficits and therefore have limited applicability in low‐resource settings. In this manuscript, the authors priority‐set the need for equitable access to high‐quality peri‐operative care and analyse the system‐level contributors to excess peri‐operative mortality rates, a key marker of quality of care. To provide examples of how research and investment may close the equity gap, a modified Delphi method was adopted to curate and appraise interventions which may, with subsequent research and evaluation, begin to address the barriers to high‐quality peri‐operative care in low‐ and middle‐income countries.
The effective solid propellant burning rate in a rocket depends on surface area and propellant composition. Currently, the surface area geometry in a rocket is limited to what can be practically cast ...using molds, etc. Additive manufacturing (AM) could allow the production of unique propellant grain geometries, however printing propellants with high solids loadings and viscosities is not readily possible using currently available printers. A new AM direct write system developed recently in our laboratory, is capable of printing visibly low-void propellants with high end mix viscosities into highly resolved geometries. The system was used to print ammonium perchlorate (AP) composite propellants at 85% solids loading using hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) and a UV-curable polyurethane binder. The change in HTPB propellant viscosity with time after mixing was measured and the microstructure of the strands was evaluated with X-ray tomography scans. The burning rate of printed and cast strands was measured to compare the quality of the strands at high pressure, since propellants with significant voids should catastrophically fail due to flame spreading. The printed samples burned in a planar fashion up to pressures of 10.34 MPa with consistent rates that were comparable to the cast propellants. The HTPB propellant used was not optimized and showed some porosity due to gas generation, but strands printed with the UV binder exhibited extremely low porosity. A strand printed with no gaps in one half and gaps in the other failed catastrophically where intended at high pressure, demonstrating the ability to spatially grade propellants. This new system can produce adequate strands of composite propellant with high solids loadings without the addition of solvents, special binders (low viscosity, thermal softening, etc.), or restricting use to formulations with lower viscosities, and enables the fabrication of complex propellant grain geometries.
Abstract Background Workplace violence (WPV) has increasingly become commonplace in the United States (US), and particularly in the health care setting. Assaults are the third leading cause of ...occupational injury-related deaths for all US workers. Among all health care settings, Emergency Departments (EDs) have been identified specifically as high-risk settings for WPV. Objective This article reviews recent epidemiology and research on ED WPV and prevention; discusses practical actions and resources that ED providers and management can utilize to reduce WPV in their ED; and identifies areas for future research. A list of resources for the prevention of WPV is also provided. Discussion ED staff faces substantially elevated risks of physical assaults compared to other health care settings. As with other forms of violence including elder abuse, child abuse, and domestic violence, WPV in the ED is a preventable public health problem that needs urgent and comprehensive attention. ED clinicians and ED leadership can: 1) obtain hospital commitment to reduce ED WPV; 2) obtain a work-site-specific analysis of their ED; 3) employ site-specific violence prevention interventions at the individual and institutional level; and 4) advocate for policies and programs that reduce risk for ED WPV. Conclusion Violence against ED health care workers is a real problem with significant implications to the victims, patients, and departments/institutions. ED WPV needs to be addressed urgently by stakeholders through continued research on effective interventions specific to Emergency Medicine. Coordination, cooperation, and active commitment to the development of such interventions are critical.
Abstract Background Readmission to the hospital within 30 days is a measure of quality care; however, only few modifiable risk factors for 30-day readmission in adults with sickle cell disease are ...known. Methods We performed a retrospective review of the medical records of adults with sickle cell disease at a tertiary care center, to identify potentially modifiable risk factors for 30-day readmission due to vasoocclusive pain episodes. A total of 88 patients ≥18 years of age were followed for 3.5 years between 2010 and 2013, for 158 first admissions for vasoocclusive pain episodes. Of these, those subsequently readmitted (cases) or not readmitted (controls) within 30 days of their index admissions were identified. Seven risk factors were included in a multivariable model to predict readmission: age, sex, hemoglobin phenotype, median oxygen saturation level, listing of primary care provider, type of health insurance, and number of hospitalized vasoocclusive pain episodes in the prior year. Results Mean age at admission was 31.7 (18-59) years; median time to readmission was 11 days (interquartile range 20 days). Absence of a primary care provider listed in the electronic medical record (odds ratio 0.38; 95% confidence interval, 0.16-0.91; P = .030) and the number of vasoocclusive pain episodes requiring hospitalization in the prior year were significant risk factors for 30-day readmission (odds ratio 1.30; 95% confidence interval, 1.16-1.44; P <.001). Conclusion Improved discharge planning and ensuring access to a primary care provider may decrease the 30-day readmission rate in adults with sickle cell disease.
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