3,434 research outputs found
Caregiver Wellness after Traumatic Brain Injury (CG-Well): Protocol for a randomized clinical trial
No full textINTRODUCTION: After injury, survivors of moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (msTBI) depend on informal family caregivers. Upwards of 77 % of family caregivers experience poor outcomes, such as adverse life changes, poor health-related quality of life, and increased depressive symptoms. Caregivers frequently report minimal support or training to prepare them for their new role. The majority of previously developed caregiver and caregiver/survivor dyad interventions after msTBI focus on providing information to either survivors only, or to long-term caregivers, rather than to the new caregiver. This manuscript describes the protocol of an ongoing randomized control trial, Caregiver Wellness after TBI (CG-Well), developed to provide education, support, and skill-building to caregivers of adults with msTBI, beginning when the survivor is early in the clinical course.
METHODS: Within two weeks of admission to the ICU, participants are randomized to CG-Well online modules (intervention group, n = 50 dyads) or information, support, and referral (ISR) e-bulletins that exist in the public domain (control group, n = 50 dyads) over the first six months after their family member\u27s msTBI. Both groups receive regular phone calls. The primary outcome is intervention satisfaction at six months.
RESULTS: Enrollment began in March 2022 and is projected to complete October 2024. We have enrolled approximately 70 % of participants at this time. Primary analysis completion is anticipated April 2025.
DISCUSSION: This RCT is designed to evaluate caregiver satisfaction by addressing the need for tailored supportive care for caregivers of msTBI beginning during the ICU admission.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials. gov Registration Number: NCT05307640
Prolog+CG: A Maintainer's Perspective
No full text Prolog+CG is an implementation of Prolog with Conceptual Graphs as first-class datastructures, on a par with terms. As such, it lends itself well to applications in which reasoning with Conceptual Graphs and/or ontologies plays a role. It as originally developed by Prof. Dr. Adil Kabbaj, who in 2004 turned over maintainership of Prolog+ CG to the present author. In this paper, Prolog+CG is described in terms of its history, evolution, and maintenance. A special web-enabled version of Prolog+CG is also described. Possible interoperability with CGIF and the CharGer tool are explored. Finally, we offer some general observations about the tenets that make Prolog+CG a success.</p
New mobilizable vectors suitable for gene replacement in gram-negative bacteria and their use in mapping of the 3 ' end of the Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris gum operon
No full textKatzen F, Becker A, Ielmini MV, Oddo CG, Ielpi L. New mobilizable vectors suitable for gene replacement in gram-negative bacteria and their use in mapping of the 3 ' end of the Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris gum operon. APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY. 1999;65(1):278-282.We describe useful vectors to select double-crossover events directly in site-directed marker exchange mutagenesis in gram-negative bacteria. These vectors contain the gusA marker gene, providing colorimetric screens to identify bacteria harboring those sequences. The applicability of these vectors was shown by mapping the 3' end of the Xanthomonas campestris gum operon, involved in biosynthesis of xanthan
Voluntary corporate governance disclosure by post-apartheid South African corporations
No full textPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate as to whether post-Apartheid South African (SA) listed corporations voluntarily comply with and disclose recommended good corporate governance (CG) practices and, if so, the major factors that influence such voluntary CG disclosure behaviour. Design/methodology/approach – The paper constructs a broad voluntary CG disclosure index containing 50 CG provisions from the 2002 King Report using a sample of 169 SA listed corporations from 2002 to 2006. The authors also conduct regression analysis to identify the main drivers of voluntary CG disclosure. Findings – The results suggest that while compliance with, and disclosure of, good CG practices varies substantially among the sampled companies, CG standards have generally improved over the five-year period examined. The authors also find that block ownership is negatively associated with voluntary CG disclosure, while board size, audit firm size, cross-listing, the presence of a CG committee, government ownership and institutional ownership are positively related to voluntary CG disclosure. Practical implications – These findings have important implications for policy-makers and regulators. Evidence of improving CG standards implies that efforts by various stakeholders at improving CG standards in SA companies have had some positive impact on CG practices of SA firms. However, the substantial variation in the levels of compliance implies that enforcement may need to be strengthened further. Originality/value – There is a dearth of evidence on the level of compliance with the King Report. This study fills this gap by providing evidence for the first time on the level of compliance achieved, as well as contributing generally to the literature on compliance with codes of good governance and voluntary disclosure.<br/
Cellular and axonal plasticity in the lesioned spinal cord of adult zebrafish
No full textZebrafish, in contrast to mammals, are capable of functional regeneration after complete transection of the spinal cord. In this system I asked:
(1) Which spinal cell types regenerate in the lesioned spinal cord? (2) To what extent do the dopaminergic and 5-HT systems regenerate and (3) do dopaminergic axons from the brain influence cellular regeneration in the spinal cord?
(1) Lost motor neurons are replaced by newly born motor neurons that mature and are integrated into the spinal circuitry after a spinal lesion in adult zebrafish. Using immunohistochemical and transgenic markers in combination with BrdU labeling, we showed that also 5-HT, parvalbuminergic, Pax2+ and Vsx1+ cells are newly born after lesion. Thus, my work shows that diverse cell types are newly generated in the lesioned spinal cord of adult zebrafish.
(2) After spinal cord lesion, zebrafish completely recover locomotion within six weeks. Previous work suggested that axonal regeneration is crucial for functional recovery. Here I analyzed changes in the density of 5-HT and dopaminergic axon terminals in the lesioned spinal cord during recovery. Rostral to the lesion site, I observed die-back and sprouting of dopaminergic axons within two weeks post-lesion. Caudal of the lesion, axons are lost indicating Wallerian degeneration. At six weeks post-lesion I tested functional recovery with a behavioral swim test. In recovered fish, a third of the axonal density was restored just caudal of the lesion site, but not at far caudal levels. In contrast, in fish that had non-recovered, only few axons had bridged the lesion site. Thus dopaminergic axon regrowth correlates with functional recovery. Re-transection of the spinal cord in recovered animals abolished re-gained swimming capability, suggesting that behavioral recovery critically depends on axons that crossed the spinal lesion site and not on an intraspinal circuit. 5-HT axon terminals are of both intra- and supraspinal origin. The overall time course of changes in axon terminal density during recovery is similar to that of dopaminergic axon terminals and also correlates with functional recovery. Overall, the organization of the spinal dopaminergic and 5-HT systems, consisting of neuronal somata in the spinal cord and descending axons, differs significantly from their unlesioned organization. I observe sprouting rostral to the lesion site and limited innervation of the caudal spinal cord, as axons do not regrow into the far distal spinal cord.
(3) We further hypothesized that signals released by descending axons are involved in cellular regeneration around the lesion site. Dopaminergic axons of supraspinal origin sprout rostral, but are almost completely absent caudal to the lesion site at two weeks post-lesion. Moreover, we observe that expression of the dopamine receptor drd4a is only increased rostral to the lesion site in the ventricular zone of progenitor cells, including olig2 expressing motor neuron progenitor cells. Correlated with these rostro-caudal differences, numbers of regenerating motor neurons are almost two-fold higher rostral than caudal of the lesion site. To functionally test whether dopamine is involved in motor neuron regeneration, we ablated tyrosine hydroxylase positive, mostly dopaminergic axons by injecting the toxin 6-hydroxydopamine. This treatment significantly reduced motor neuron numbers only rostral to the lesion site. As a gain-of-function experiment, we injected the dopamine agonist NPA after spinal lesion, which increased motor neuron numbers only rostral to the lesion site at two weeks post-lesion. These results suggest that dopamine released by descending axons, augments the generation of motor neurons in the lesioned spinal cord of adult zebrafish. In summary, during spinal cord regeneration I observe generation of various cell types and plastic changes of descending axonal projections. Dopamine released by descending axons is able to increase motor neuron regeneration, showing for the first time that signals from descending axons influence cellular regeneration in the spinal cord
Cg-TIMP, an inducible tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase from the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas with a potential role in wound healing and defense mechanisms(1)
No full textWe have cloned and characterized a cDNA encoding Cg-TIMP, the first tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase identified in mollusks. The isolated cDNA encodes a protein of 221 residues that has a domain organization similar to that of vertebrate TIMPs including a signal sequence, and the 12 cysteines characteristic of the TIMP signature. Analysis of Cg-TIMP expression in adult oyster tissues, by Northern blot and in situ hybridization, indicates that Cg-TIMP was only expressed in hemocytes which are the key components of defense mechanisms in mollusks. We also observed that Cg-TIMP mRNA accumulated during shell damage and bacterial challenge. This pattern of expression suggests that Cg-TIMP may be an important factor in wound healing and defense mechanisms.LR: 20061115; PUBM: Print; GENBANK/AF321279; JID: 0155157; 0 (DNA, Complementary); 0 (RNA, Messenger); 0 (TIMP protein, Crassostrea gigas); 0 (Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinases); ppublishSource type: Electronic(1
Subwavelength spinning of particles in vector cosine-Gaussian field with radial polarization
No full textA new type of radially polarized (RP) cosine-Gaussian (CG) field is proposed. Through the analytical model, it is found that such RP CG beam exhibits completely different focusing properties from the reported RP plane waves. More importantly, a stable three-dimensional trap of Rayleigh particle accompanied by a subwavelength spin motion can be easily achieved using this RP CG beam.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.ImPhys/Optic
DNMT3A haploinsufficiency results in behavioral deficits and global epigenomic dysregulation shared across neurodevelopmental disorders
No full textMutations in DNA methyltransferase 3A (DNMT3A) have been detected in autism and related disorders, but how these mutations disrupt nervous system function is unknown. Here, we define the effects of DNMT3A mutations associated with neurodevelopmental disease. We show that diverse mutations affect different aspects of protein activity but lead to shared deficiencies in neuronal DNA methylation. Heterozygous DNMT3A knockout mice mimicking DNMT3A disruption in disease display growth and behavioral alterations consistent with human phenotypes. Strikingly, in these mice, we detect global disruption of neuron-enriched non-CG DNA methylation, a binding site for the Rett syndrome protein MeCP2. Loss of this methylation leads to enhancer and gene dysregulation that overlaps with models of Rett syndrome and autism. These findings define the effects of DNMT3A haploinsufficiency in the brain and uncover disruption of the non-CG methylation pathway as a convergence point across neurodevelopmental disorders
How to Make a CG Video (Media Exposition)
No full textIn this video we describe why producing a Computational Geometry video is a good idea, what it takes to make one, and how to actually do it. This includes a guide for the overall process, a number of examples, and a variety of tips and tricks
Archeologisch Bureauonderzoek en Inventariserend Veldonderzoek (IVO), verkennende fase
No full textIn opdracht van Stichting Philadelphia Zorg heeft archeologisch onderzoeksbureau Becker & Van de Graaf bv in augustus 2008 een Inventariserend Veldonderzoek (IVO) verkennende fase uitgevoerd op de hoek van de Herderstraat en de Mozartlaan in Heesch, gemeente Bernheze. De aanleiding voor dit onderzoek is de herontwikkeling van de locatie. Het plangebied heeft een omvang van circa 1577 m2 waarvan circa 443 m2 momenteel bebouwd is. Door de geplande nieuwbouw zal circa 716 m2 van het plangebied opnieuw bebouwd worden. De kans bestaat dat eventueel aanwezige archeologische waarden door sloop en nieuwbouw verstoord dan wel vernietigd zullen worden.
Op basis van de resultaten van het bureauonderzoek werd verwacht dat het plangebied op een dekzandrug met enkeerdgronden ligt. Hierdoor is de verwachting op archeologische waarden hoog. Archeologische resten mogen dan vooral verwacht worden in de top van het dekzand en/of aan de basis van het eventueel aanwezige plaggendek. Deze resten kunnen dateren van het Paleolithicum tot en met de Late-Middeleeuwen. Recentere resten zullen zich in het plaggendek bevinden. Om de mate van intactheid van de bodem en het verwachtingsmodel te toetsen is een verkennend veldonderzoek uitgevoerd. Hiervoor zijn in het plangebied 5 boringen gezet. Uit de boringen is gebleken dat de enkeerdgronden tot in de C-horizont recent en/of subrecent verstoord zijn. Onder de 80 tot 100 cm dikke A-horizont is nergens een intacte “oude” bodem aanwezig. In boring 2 is nog wel een roestige Cg-horizont aangetroffen, maar gezien de aangetroffen subrecente indicatoren in deze laag, is deze als verstoord te beschouwen. Vanwege de diepe verstoringen zijn er in het plangebied vrijwel zeker geen archeologische waarden meer aanwezig. De aangetroffen fragmenten aardewerk, met name het fragment uit boring 2 gedateerd Romeins tijd/Late-Middeleeuwen, sluiten de aanwezigheid van een vindplaats niet uit, maar deze vindplaats is dan wel door de recente en/of subrecente vergravingen verdwenen. Op basis van de resultaten van het Inventariserend Veldonderzoek wordt geadviseerd om geen vervolgonderzoek NB.
Bovenstaand advies dient gecontroleerd en beoordeeld te worden door de bevoegde overheid, in dit geval de Gemeente Bernheze. Deze zal vervolgens een besluit nemen inzake de te volgen procedure. Becker & Van de Graaf bv wil meegeven dat voordat dit besluit genomen is, er niet begonnen kan worden met bodemverstorende activiteiten of activiteiten die voorbereiden op bodemverstoringen
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