Laboratory testing methods to confirm the identity of meat products and eliminate food fraud regularly rely on PCR amplification of extracted DNA, with most published assays detecting mitochondrial ...sequences, providing sensitive presence/absence results. By targeting single-copy nuclear targets instead, relative quantification measurements are achievable, providing additional information on the proportions of meat species detected. In this Methods paper, new assays for horse, donkey, duck, kangaroo, camel, water buffalo and crocodile have been developed to expand the range of species that can be quantified, and a previously published reference assay targeting the myostatin gene has been modified to include marsupials and reptiles. The accuracy of this ratio measurement approach was demonstrated using dPCR with mixtures of meat DNA down to 0.1%. However, the limit of detection (LOD) of this approach is not just determined by the assay targets, but by the samples themselves, with food or feed ingredients and processing impacting the DNA yield and integrity. In routine testing settings, the myostatin assay can provide multiple quality control roles, including monitoring the yield and purity of extracted DNA, identifying the presence of additional meats not detected by the suite of species-specific assays and potentially estimating a sample-specific LOD based on measured copy numbers of the myostatin target. In addition to the myostatin positive control assay, a synthetic DNA reference material (RM) has been designed, containing PCR targets for beef, pork, sheep, chicken, goat, kangaroo, horse, water buffalo and myostatin, to be used as a positive template control. The availability of standardised measurement methods and associated RMs significantly improves the reliability, comparability and transparency of laboratory testing, leading to greater confidence in results.
We integrate theory and research from disparate areas to develop a descriptive stakeholder theory. We (1) show that at any given organizational life cycle stage, certain stakeholders, because of ...their potential to satisfy critical organizational needs, will be more important than others; (2) identify specific stakeholders likely to become more or less important as an organization evolves from one stage to the next; and (3) propose that the strategy an organization uses to deal with each stakeholder will depend on the importance of that stakeholder to the organization relative to other stakeholders.
Targeting mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) to treat cancer has been hampered due to serious side-effects potentially arising from the inability to discriminate between non-cancerous ...and cancerous mitochondria. Herein, comprehensive mitochondrial phenotyping was leveraged to define both the composition and function of OXPHOS across various murine cancers and compared to both matched normal tissues and other organs. When compared to both matched normal tissues, as well as high OXPHOS reliant organs like heart, intrinsic expression of the OXPHOS complexes, as well as OXPHOS flux were discovered to be consistently lower across distinct cancer types. Assuming intrinsic OXPHOS expression/function predicts OXPHOS reliance in vivo, these data suggest that pharmacologic blockade of mitochondrial OXPHOS likely compromises bioenergetic homeostasis in healthy oxidative organs prior to impacting tumor mitochondrial flux in a clinically meaningful way. Although these data caution against the use of indiscriminate mitochondrial inhibitors for cancer treatment, considerable heterogeneity was observed across cancer types with respect to both mitochondrial proteome composition and substrate-specific flux, highlighting the possibility for targeting discrete mitochondrial proteins or pathways unique to a given cancer type.
With growing populations fueling increased groundwater ion and forecasts of greater water scarcity in the southeastern United States, identifying land management strategies that enhance water ...availability will be vital to maintaining hydrologic resources and protecting natural systems. Management of forested uplands for lower basal area, currently a priority for habitat improvement on public lands, may also increase water yield through decreased evapotranspiration (ET). To explore this hypothesis, we synthesized studies of precipitation and ET in coastal plain pine stands to develop a statistical model of water yield as a function of management strategy, stand structure, and ecosystem water use. This model allowed us to estimate changes in water yield in response to varying management strategies across spatial scales from the individual stand to a regional watershed. Results suggest that slash pine stands managed at lower basal areas can have up to 64% more cumulative water yield over a 25‐year rotation compared to systems managed for high‐density timber production, with the greatest increases in stands also managed for recurrent understory fire. Although there are important uncertainties in the magnitude of additional water yield and its final destination (i.e., surface water bodies vs. groundwater), this analysis highlights the potential for management activities on public and private timber lands to partially offset increasing demand on surface and groundwater resources.
Abstract Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing has been a challenge for more than 50 years. Current methods (Sanger sequencing, sequence-specific primers SSP, sequence-specific oligonucleotide probes ...SSOP) continue to generate ambiguities that are time-consuming and expensive to resolve. However, next-generation sequencing (NGS) overcomes ambiguity through the combination of clonal amplification, which provides on-phase sequence and a high level of parallelism, whereby millions of sequencing reads are produced enabling an expansion of the HLA regions sequenced. We explored HLA typing using NGS through a three-step process. First, HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, and -DQB1 were amplified with long-range PCR. Subsequently, amplicons were sequenced using the 454 GS-FLX platform. Finally, sequencing data were analyzed with Assign-NG software. In a single experiment, four individual samples and two mixtures were sequenced producing >75 Mb of sequence from >300,000 individual sequence reads (average length, 244 b). The reads were aligned and covered 100% of the regions amplified. Allele assignment was 100% concordant with the known HLA alleles of our samples. Our results suggest this method can be a useful tool for complete genomic characterization of new HLA alleles and for completion of sequence for existing, partially sequenced alleles. NGS can provide complete, unambiguous, high-resolution HLA typing; however, further evaluation is needed to explore the feasibility of its routine use.
With the use of expert consensus a digital training tool was developed which proved useful when teaching radiographers how to interpret chest images. The training tool included A) a search strategy ...and B) an educational video programme to communicate the search strategies using eye tracking technology.
A multi-reader multi-case study was undertaken to assess the effectiveness of a training tool and study day. The interventions were designed to cover a range of potential pathological presentations. Participants, physiotherapists and nurse practitioners working at a cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit (ICU), were asked to interpret 20 chest images at the beginning of the study and following access to each intervention. Participants received access to the training tool at different times for a period of 4–6 weeks. A study day was then be provided to all participants and interpretations of a different dataset were completed by all. Each participant was asked to complete a questionnaire to gain perceptions of the training provided.
Twenty-eight participants interpreted a total of 1680 chest radiographs. Improvements in specificity were noted across the participants. Sensitivity fell in both groups following both training interventions.
Face to face learning and digital components are potentially useful in professional development and revision in chest x-ray interpretation for non-medical healthcare professionals working in an ICU setting.
The training tool and study day may be useful as image interpretation revision aids or to accompany formal methods of education.
Harvest can change phenotypic traits of populations through immediate demographic consequences, evolutionary responses to harvest selection, or developmental responses by individuals. This study ...investigated the plastic phenotypic effects of harvest on size and age at maturity in a commercially exploited freshwater fish. We tested an individual growth and life history plasticity model using lagged correlations incorporating how harvesting fish ages 2 and older influenced the abundance of juvenile fish, resource availability, individual growth rates, and carry-over responses in age and size at maturity. Our test used cohort data for Lake Erie yellow perch (Perca flavescens). Age and size at maturity fluctuated widely and rapidly across 23 cohorts between 1991 and 2013, suggesting phenotypic plasticity contributed strongly to maturation dynamics. The changes in maturity could not be explained by responses to harvest, as expected under the plasticity model. In Lake Erie, age and size at maturity in yellow perch appear to be responding to other drivers, such as harvest-induced dynamics of other fish stocks or ecosystem changes that are independent of harvest.
Medical imaging is arguably the most technologically advanced field in healthcare, encompassing a range of technologies which continually evolve as computing power and human knowledge expand. ...Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the next frontier which medical imaging is pioneering. The rapid development and implementation of AI has the potential to revolutionise healthcare, however, to do so, staff must be competent and confident in its application, hence AI readiness is an important precursor to AI adoption. Research to ascertain the best way to deliver this AI-enabled healthcare training is in its infancy. The aim of this scoping review is to compare existing studies which investigate and evaluate the efficacy of AI educational interventions for medical imaging staff.
Following the creation of a search strategy and keyword searches, screening was conducted to determine study eligibility. This consisted of a title and abstract scan, then subsequently a full-text review. Articles were included if they were empirical studies wherein an educational intervention on AI for medical imaging staff was created, delivered, and evaluated.
Of the initial 1309 records returned, n = 5 (∼0.4 %) of studies met the eligibility criteria of the review. The curricula and delivery in each of the five studies shared similar aims and a ‘flipped classroom’ delivery was the most utilised method. However, the depth of content covered in the curricula of each varied and measured outcomes differed greatly.
The findings of this review will provide insights into the evaluation of existing AI educational interventions, which will be valuable when planning AI education for healthcare staff.
This review highlights the need for standardised and comprehensive AI training programs for imaging staff.
Abstract Enhanced sensitivity in echocardiographic analyses may allow for early detection of changes in cardiac function beyond the detection limits of conventional echocardiographic analyses, ...particularly in a small animal model. The goal of this study was to compare conventional echocardiographic measurements and speckle-tracking based strain imaging analyses in a small animal model of type 1 diabetes mellitus. Conventional analyses revealed differences in ejection fraction, fractional shortening, cardiac output, and stroke volume in diabetic animals relative to controls at 6-weeks post-diabetic onset. In contrast, when assessing short- and long-axis speckle-tracking based strain analyses, diabetic mice showed changes in average systolic radial strain, radial strain rate, radial displacement, and radial velocity, as well as decreased circumferential and longitudinal strain rate, as early as 1-week post-diabetic onset and persisting throughout the diabetic study. Further, we performed regional analyses for the LV and found that the free wall region was affected in both the short- and long-axis when assessing radial dimension parameters. These changes began 1-week post-diabetic onset and remained throughout the progression of the disease. These findings demonstrate the use of speckle-tracking based strain as an approach to elucidate cardiac dysfunction from a global perspective, identifying left ventricular cardiac regions affected during the progression of type 1 diabetes mellitus earlier than contractile changes detected by conventional echocardiographic measurements.
Radiotherapy is a major component of cancer care and treatment is delivered almost exclusively by therapeutic radiographers/radiation therapists (RTTs). Numerous government and professional guidance ...publications have recommended a person-centred approach to healthcare through communication and collaboration between professionals, agencies, and users. With approximately half of patients undergoing radical radiotherapy experiencing some degree of anxiety and distress, RTTs are uniquely placed as frontline cancer professionals to engage with patients regarding their experience. This review seeks to map the available evidence of patient reported views of their experience of being treated by RTTs and any impact, this treatment had on the patient's frame of mind or perception of treatment.
In line with the principles of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) systematic review methodology, a review of relevant literature was conducted. Electronic databases MEDLINE, PROQUEST, EMBASE and CINAHL were searched.
Nine hundred and eighty-eight articles were identified. Twelve papers were included in the final review.
Increased time with, and continuity of RTTs during treatment has a positive influence on patients’ perspectives of RTTs. A positive patient perspective of their engagement with RTTs can be a strong predictor of overall satisfaction in radiotherapy.
RTTs should not underestimate the impact of their supportive role in guiding patients through treatment. A standardised method for integrating patients’ experience and engagement with RTTs is lacking. Further RTT led research is required in this area.
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