Accelerated Wound Closure of Deep Partial Thickness Burns with Acellular Fish Skin Graft

Thermal injuries are caused by exposure to a variety of sources, and split thickness skin grafts are the gold standard treatment for severe burns; however, they may be impossible when there is no donor skin available. Large total body surface area burns leave patients with limited donor site availability and create a need for treatments capable of achieving early and complete coverage that can also retain normal skin function. In this preclinical trial, two cellular and tissue based products (CTPs) are evaluated on twenty-four 5 × 5 deep partial thickness (DPT) burn wounds. Using appropriate pain control methods, DPT burn wounds were created on six anesthetized Yorkshire pigs. Wounds were excised one day post-burn and the bleeding wound beds were subsequently treated with omega-3-rich acellular fish skin graft (FSG) or fetal bovine dermis (FBD). FSG was reapplied after 7 days and wounds healed via secondary intentions. Digital images, non-invasive measurements, and punch biopsies were acquired during rechecks performed on days 7, 14, 21, 28, 45, and 60. Multiple qualitative measurements were also employed, including re-epithelialization, contraction rates, hydration, laser speckle, and trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL). Each treatment produced granulated tissue (GT) that would be receptive to skin grafts, if desired; however, the FSG induced GT 7 days earlier. FSG treatment resulted in faster re-epithelialization and reduced wound size at day 14 compared to FBD (50.2% vs. 23.5% and 93.1% vs. 106.7%, p < 0.005, respectively). No differences in TEWL measurements were observed. The FSG integrated into the wound bed quicker as evidenced by lower hydration values at day 21 (309.7 vs. 2500.4 µS, p < 0.05) and higher blood flow at day 14 (4.9 vs. 3.1 fold change increase over normal skin, p < 0.005). Here we show that FSG integrated faster without increased contraction, resulting in quicker wound closure without skin graft application which suggests FSG improved burn wound healing over FBD.     

Group cognitive-behavioral therapy and group interpersonal psychotherapy for the nonpurging bulimic individual: A controlled comparison.

Evaluated the effectiveness of group cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) and group interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) for binge eating. 56 women with nonpurging bulimia were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: CBT, IPT, or a wait-list control (WLC). Treatment was administered in small groups that met for 16 weekly sessions. At posttreatment, both group CBT and group IPT treatment conditions showed significant improvement in reducing binge eating, whereas the WLC condition did not. Binge eating remained significantly below baseline levels for both treatment conditions at 6-mo and 1-yr follow-ups. These data support the central role of both eating behavior and interpersonal factors in the understanding and treatment of bulimia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Volatile compounds in honey: a review on their involvement in aroma, botanical origin determination and potential biomedical activities

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in honey are obtained from diverse biosynthetic pathways and extracted by using various methods associated with varying degrees of selectivity and effectiveness. These compounds are grouped into chemical categories such as aldehyde, ketone, acid, alcohol, hydrocarbon, norisoprenoids, terpenes and benzene compounds and their derivatives, furan and pyran derivatives. They represent a fingerprint of a specific honey and therefore could be used to differentiate between monofloral honeys from different floral sources, thus providing valuable information concerning the honey's botanical and geographical origin. However, only plant derived compounds and their metabolites (terpenes, norisoprenoids and benzene compounds and their derivatives) must be employed to discriminate among floral origins of honey. Notwithstanding, many authors have reported different floral markers for honey of the same floral origin, consequently sensory analysis, in conjunction with analysis of VOCs could help to clear this ambiguity. Furthermore, VOCs influence honey's aroma described as sweet, citrus, floral, almond, rancid, etc. Clearly, the contribution of a volatile compound to honey aroma is determined by its odor activity value. Elucidation of the aroma compounds along with floral origins of a particular honey can help to standardize its quality and avoid fraudulent labeling of the product. Although only present in low concentrations, VOCS could contribute to biomedical activities of honey, especially the antioxidant effect due to their natural radical scavenging potential.     

Pyrolytic formation of polyaromatic hydrocarbons from steroid hormones

Four steroid hormones, namely androsterone, cholesterol, estrone and estradiol, have been pyrolysed at 300, 400 and 500 °C and the pyrolysates from these have been analysed by GC–MS. The results indicate that these formed different products under the pyrolysis and most of them evolved into polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons during their residence in the pyrolysis chamber at high temperatures. The products from the pyrolysates, at all temperatures, were analysed for similarities and differences using multivariate data analysis. The products possessed some similarities on pyrolysis at 300 °C but were entirely different when pyrolysed at 500 °C. Androsterone and cholesterol formed a higher percentage of substituted PAH than did estrone and estradiol. These compounds included carcinogens, such as phenanthrene, methylphenanthrene, fluorene and its derivatives. The side chain of cholesterol had no effect on the products formed, while the presence of the aromatic ring in estrone and estradiol led to a higher percentage of phenol and its derivatives in the pyrolysates. Furthermore, estrone was subjected to flash pyrolysis and the products formed were compared with those which resulted from the long time pyrolysis: flash pyrolysis produced small amounts of PAH.     

The molecular size of natural organic matter (NOM) determined by diffusivimetry and seven other methods

The objectives of this work are to (1) determine the diffusion coefficients of natural organic matter (NOM) by diffusivimetry, (2) compare the results with diffusion coefficients determined by two other methods (fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) and dynamic adsorption experiments (DAM), (3) compare molecular weights derived from the diffusion coefficients to molecular weights determined by three different ultrafiltration experiments and high perfomance size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC). The diffusion coefficients determined in this work (stirred diffusion cell) are about 70% higher than that determined by DAM, and agree well with diffusion coefficients determined by FCS. Molecular weights determined by HPSEC are of the same magnitude as molecular weights derived from diffusion coefficients. Molecular weights determined by ultrafiltration vary considerably depending on the choice of membrane types. Membranes made of cellulose acetate generate results similar to results derived from diffusion coefficients. Membranes made of regenerated cellulose and polyether sulfone appear to retain too much of NOM, resulting in artificially high molecular weights.     

Assertiveness and narcissism.

166 undergraduates' scores on the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule (RAS) were positively related to measures of healthy narcissism and inversely related to empathic distress, anxiety, and depression. Partial correlational procedures controlled for the tendency of healthy and unhealthy forms of narcissism to be linked together and revealed the RAS to be inversely associated with maladaptive narcissism. This same basic pattern was observed following a more specific examination of RAS items previously identified as predictive of individuals who create an impression of not being "nice." Results do not support arguments that a psychotherapeutic emphasis on assertiveness promotes an antisocial egocentrism and instead are consistent with a suggested connection between individualism and interdependence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aerobic and Cometabolic MTBE Biodegradation at Novato and Port Hueneme

Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), a gasoline oxygenate additive, is present in groundwater aquifers at the Department of Defense Housing Facility, Novato, Calif. (Novato), and the Naval Base Ventura County, Port Hueneme, Calif. (Port Hueneme). A microcosm study was conducted to examine and compare the potential for and performance of aerobic, anaerobic, and aerobic cometabolic MTBE biodegradation processes using soils and groundwater collected from the Novato and Port Hueneme sites. Propane and butane were tested as the cometabolic growth substrates. Nitrogen requirements were tested by preparing microcosms with and without nitrate as a nitrogen source. The results of this study demonstrated the potential for aerobic MTBE biodegradation and mineralization at both sites. In the commingled, or upgradient, portion of the Novato plume, nitrate enhanced aerobic MTBE biodegradation; in the absence of nitrate or under anaerobic conditions, MTBE degradation was insignificant. Downgradient, where the groundwater was impacted only by MTBE, the MTBE was readily degraded with and without nitrate addition and without other external nutrient amendments. Mineralization studies showed that MTBE was mineralized at both sites, with maximum recoveries approaching 80% of the radiolabeled carbon added to the microcosms. In the downgradient, MTBE-only portions of both sites, the addition of propane and butane to stimulate cometabolic MTBE degradation provided negligible improvement over direct oxidation under aerobic conditions. Furthermore, when nitrate was not present, propane and butane were not degraded and the residual propane and butane in the bottles appeared to inhibit the MTBE degradation; this inhibition was most pronounced in the Port Hueneme microcosms where MTBE degradation all but ceased in the presence of residual propane and butane. In the upgradient, commingled Novato plume, propane plus nitrate-fed microcosms outperformed the aerobic, nitrate-fed microcosms; this was the only condition where cometabolism enhanced MTBE degradation over direct aerobic oxidation.     

Infrared evanescent field sensing with quantum cascade lasers and planar silver halide waveguides

We demonstrate the first midinfrared evanescent field absorption measurements with an InGaAs/AlInAs/InP distributed feedback (DFB) quantum cascade laser (QCL) light source operated at room temperature coupled to a free-standing, thin-film, planar, silver halide waveguide. Two different analytes, each matched to the emission frequency of a QCL, were investigated to verify the potential of this technique. The emission of a 1650 cm(-1) QCL overlaps with the amide absorption band of urea, which was deposited from methanol solution, forming urea crystals at the waveguide surface after solvent evaporation. Solid urea was detected down to 80.7 microg of precipitate at the waveguide surface. The emission frequency of a 974 cm(-1) QCL overlaps with the CH3-C absorption feature of acetic anhydride. Solutions of acetic anhydride in acetonitrile have been detected down to a volume of 0.01 microL (10.8 microg) of acetic anhydride solution after deposition at the planar waveguide (PWG) surface. Free-standing, thin-film, planar, silver halide waveguides were produced by press-tapering heated, cylindrical, silver halide fiber segments to create waveguides with a thickness of 300-190 microm, a width of 3 mm, and a length of 35 mm. In addition, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) evanescent field absorption measurements with planar silver halide waveguides and transmission absorption QCL measurements verify the obtained results.     

Chlorine isotope fractionation during microbial reduction of perchlorate

Perchlorate contamination of surface water and groundwater is an emerging public health problem that has adversely affected the drinking water supplies of millions of people in the western United States. Microbial reduction has shown promise as a cost-effective means for in situ bioremediation of perchlorate-contaminated water. Measurements of stable isotope ratios of light elements (H, C, N, O, S, Cl) can often be used to distinguish biodegradation of organic and inorganic molecules from abiotic loss mechanisms such as adsorption, dispersion, or volatilization because of the relatively large kinetic isotope effects accompanying biodegradation. We quantified chlorine isotope fractionation during perchlorate biodegradation by a common perchlorate-reducing bacterium, Dechlorosoma suillum, initially isolated from a perchlorate-contaminated groundwater source in southern California. The values of the chlorine isotopic fractionation factor alpha derived from two microcosm experiments were alpha = 0.9834 +/- 0.0001 (R2 = 0.9999) and alpha = 0.9871 +/- 0.0008 (R2 = 0.9832). These alpha values indicate that the rate of the 35ClO4 reduction is approximately 1.3-1.7% faster than that of the 37ClO4 reduction. This relatively large kinetic isotope effect indicates that chlorine isotope analysis provides a sensitive technique by which to document in situ bioremediation of perchlorate in groundwater.     

SpatialML: annotation scheme,resources, and evaluation

SpatialML is an annotation scheme for marking up references to places in natural language. It covers both named and nominal references to places, grounding them where possible with geo-coordinates, and characterizes relationships among places in terms of a region calculus. A freely available annotation editor has been developed for SpatialML, along with several annotated corpora. Inter-annotator agreement on SpatialML extents is 91.3 F-measure on a corpus of SpatialML-annotated ACE documents released by the Linguistic Data Consortium. Disambiguation agreement on geo-coordinates on ACE is 87.93 F-measure. An automatic tagger for SpatialML extents scores 86.9 F on ACE, while a disambiguator scores 93.0 F on it. Results are also presented for two other corpora. In adapting the extent tagger to new domains, merging the training data from the ACE corpus with annotated data in the new domain provides the best performance.