Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of low-intensity tFUS under the threshold for BBB disruption in patients with AD. In addition, we assessed changes in the regional cerebral metabolic rate of glucose (rCMRglu) using F-18 fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) and cognitive function after tFUS. Methods: Eight AD patients were recruited. We applied low-intensity tFUS to the right hippocampus for 3 minutes using an image-guided tFUS system. For multi-modal neuroimaging guidance, MRI and CT data were spatially co-registered using the maximization of normalized mutual information. The subjectspecific coordinates of the hippocampus in the right hemisphere were identified as the tFUS target location. Results: Radiological evidence of contrast enhancement associated with BBB opening was not found in neither the visual inspection nor the ICA of the DCE-MRI data. No adverse events were observed during the hospitalization and follow-up outpatient visits for 5 to 24 months. The immediate recall and recognition memory on the SVLT were significantly improved after the sonication. The PET analysis showed the increased level of rCMRglu in the right hippocampus. Conclusions: Application of low-intensity tFUS to the hippocampus with MB did not open blood brain barrier but increased hippocampal glucose metabolism and memory function.

Influenza virus infections can lead to a number of secondary complications, including sepsis. We applied linear regression models to mortality and hospital admission data coded for septicaemia from 1998 to 2019 in Hong Kong, and estimated that septicaemia was associated with an annual average excess mortality rate of 0.23 (95% CI 0.04–0.40) per 100 000 persons per year and an excess septicaemia hospitalisation rate of 1.73 (95% CI 0.94–2.50) per 100 000 persons per year. The highest excess morbidity and mortality was found in older adults and young children, and during influenza A(H3N2) epidemics.

Volunteering is a popular activity among middle-aged and older adults as means to contribute to the society and to maintain personal health and wellbeing. While the benefits of volunteering have been well-documented in the current literature, it does not tend to distinguish between various types of volunteering activities. This cross-sectional study aims to compare the effects of instrumental (e.g. food preparation, fundraising) and cognitively demanding volunteering activities (e.g. befriending, mentoring) in a sample of 487 middle-aged and older Hong Kong Chinese adults. Participation in instrumental and cognitively demanding volunteering, life satisfaction, depressive symptoms, cognitive functioning and hand-grip strength were measured. The results of two-way between-subject robust analyses of variance demonstrated significant main effects of volunteering type and their interaction effect with age on life satisfaction and depressive symptoms. Comparisons among four volunteering groups (no volunteering, instrumental volunteering, cognitively demanding volunteering and both types) revealed that individuals engaging in instrumental volunteering exhibited lower life satisfaction and more depressive symptoms compared to those who engaged in cognitively demanding volunteering and those who did not volunteer at all. This detrimental pattern of instrumental volunteering was only seen in middle-aged adults, but not in older adults. Findings of this study revealed distinctive effects of two volunteering types, and provide valuable directions for designing future volunteering programmes.

This SHEA white paper identifies knowledge gaps and challenges in healthcare epidemiology research related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) with a focus on core principles of healthcare epidemiology. These gaps, revealed during the worst phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, are described in 10 sections: epidemiology, outbreak investigation, surveillance, isolation precaution practices, personal protective equipment (PPE), environmental contamination and disinfection, drug and supply shortages, antimicrobial stewardship, healthcare personnel (HCP) occupational safety, and return to work policies. Each section highlights three critical healthcare epidemiology research questions with detailed description provided in supplementary materials. This research agenda calls for translational studies from laboratory-based basic science research to well-designed, large-scale studies and health outcomes research. Research gaps and challenges related to nursing homes and social disparities are included. Collaborations across various disciplines, expertise and across diverse geographic locations will be critical.

The nonlinear evolution of electron Weibel instability in a symmetric, counterstream, unmagnetized electron–positron e−/e+ plasmas is studied by a 2D particle-in-cell (PIC) method. The magnetic field is produced and amplified by the Weibel instability, which extracts energy from the plasma anisotropy. A weakly relativistic drift velocity of 0.5c is considered for two counterstreaming e−/e+ plasma flows. Simulations show that in a homogeneous e−/e+ plasma distribution, the magnetic field amplifies exponentially in the linear regime and rapidly decays after saturation. However, in the case of inhomogeneous e−/e+ plasma distribution, the magnetic field re-amplifies at post-saturation. We also find that the amount of magnetic field amplification at post-saturation depends on the strength of the density inhomogeneity of the upstream plasma distribution. The temperature calculation shows that the finite thermal anisotropy exists in the case of an inhomogeneous plasma distribution which leads to the second-stage magnetic field amplification after the first saturation. Such density inhomogeneities are present in a variety of astrophysical sources: for example, in supernova remnants and gamma-ray bursts. Therefore, the present analysis is very useful in understanding these astrophysical sources, where anisotropic density fluctuations are very common in the downstream region of the relativistic shocks and the widely distributed magnetic field.

Depression is a common mental disorder that substantially impairs a client's functioning. the aim of this study is to examine the predictive factors of quality of life (QOL) for depression from longitudinal perspectives. 237 outpatients with depression were recruited in the study. They were from a psychiatric outpatient clinic in northern Taiwan. All subjects were tested on the baseline and followed up twice during 3-year period. the average age of subjects was 47.1 years. Most subjects were female, married and lived with their spouses.Seventy subjects participated in both follow ups (T2 and T3). there were no significant differences on the demographic characteristics at T1 between the respondents (N = 70) and non-respondents (N = 167) except for gender. the subjects were tested on the WHOQOL-BREF-Taiwan version, occupational self assessment, mastery, social support and Center of Epidemiology Study-Depression Scale (CESD). the data were analyzed by mixed effect model using SAS computer program.The severity of depression could predict overall QOL, overall health and 13 items of QOL. the type of antidepressants had significant impact on the subjects’ QOL in 10 items. the occupational competence and sense of mastery predicted 13 items (50%) and 14 items (53.8%), respectively.In order to advance the treatment outcomes, the professionals should pay more attention on the enhancement of the sense of competence and mastery. We suggested that treatments should target at improving adaptive skills, lifestyle, and occupational competence.

Results of comprehensive particle image velocimetry measurements investigating the dynamics of turbulent jets in a rotating fluid are presented. It is observed that background system rotation induces a time-periodic formation–breakdown cycle of the jets. The flow dynamics associated with this process is studied in detail. It is found that the frequency of the cycle increases linearly with the background rotation rate. The data show that the onset of the breakdown phase and of the reformation phase of the cycle can be characterized in terms of a local Rossby number employing an internal velocity and a length scale of the jet. The critical values for this local Rossby number, for onset of breakdown and reformation, scale linearly with a global Rossby number based on the flow conditions at the source. The analysis of the experimental data suggests centrifugal instability as the potential origin of the formation–breakdown cycle.

Rhizoctonia solani Kühn and Pythium aphanidermatum Edson cause cabbage seedling damping-off, resulting in severe yield losses. The current study demonstrates the production of toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by two strains of Bacillus mycoides and the evaluation of a potential use of B. mycoides as a biocontrol agent to control cabbage damping-off. Two VOCs, dimethyl disulphide and ammonia, were found to reduce radial growth, cause hyphal deformation and result in organelle degeneration in both R. solani and P. aphanidermatum. Pathogen hyphae, after being exposed to VOCs, showed poor rigidity, shrinkage, curling and swelling. The amount of VOCs produced by B. mycoides and the antagonistic activity against plant pathogens varied, depending on the type of medium used to culture bacteria. Application of B. mycoides cell suspensions to cultivation medium promotes growth of five different plant species tested. Experiments conducted in greenhouses revealed that B. mycoides did not reduce damping-off incidence caused by R. solani. However, B. mycoides reduced damping-off incidence induced by P. aphanidermatum by as much as 45% on cabbage seedlings. The results provide valuable information on the feasibility of utilizing B. mycoides as a biocontrol agent in controlling cabbage damping-off.

With their long geological history and stable low-Mg calcite shells, Rhynchonelliform brachiopods are attractive sources of environmental data such as past seawater temperature (Buening and Spero, 1996; Auclair et al., 2003; Brand et al., 2003; Parkinson et al., 2005). Concerns about the influence of vital effects on the stable isotope composition of brachiopod shells (Popp et al., 1986), led to isotope analyses of different parts of brachiopod shells in order to identify those parts of the shell that are influenced by any vital effect and those parts that may be suitable recorders of seawater temperature via stable oxygen isotope composition (Carpenter and Lohmann, 1995; Parkinson et al., 2005). Such detailed studies demonstrated that the outer primary layer of acicularcalcite is isotopically light in both δ18O and δ13C while the secondary layer, composed of calcite fibres, is in oxygen-isotope equilibrium with ambient seawater(Fig. 1) (Parkinson et al., 2005).

We investigated the clinical predictors of methicillin-resistance and their impact on mortality in 371 patients with Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia identified from two prospective multi-centre studies. Methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) accounted for 42.2% of community-onset and 74.5% of hospital-onset cases. No significant clinical difference was found between patients infected with MRSA vs. methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA), except that the former were more likely to have had hospital-onset bacteraemia and received antibiotics in the preceding 90 days. After stratifying according to the acquisition site, prior antibiotic use was the only independent predictor of having MRSA in both community-onset and hospital-onset cases. The frequency of inappropriate empirical antibiotic therapy was higher in patients with MRSA than in those with MSSA bacteraemia. However, methicillin resistance was not a predictor of mortality in patients and the clinical characteristics and outcomes of both MRSA and MSSA bacteraemia were similar. This study indicates that there are no definitive clinical or epidemiological risk factors which could distinguish MRSA from MSSA cases with the exception of the previous use of antibiotics for having MRSA bacteraemia, which emphasises the prudent use of glycopeptide treatment of patients at risk for invasive MRSA infections.