Duquesne University

About: Duquesne University is a education organization based out in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 3615 authors who have published 7169 publications receiving 180066 citations. The organization is also known as: Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit.

[Ir(N^N^N)(C^N)L]+: a new family of luminophores combining tunability and enhanced photostability.

Abstract: The relatively unexplored luminophore architecture [Ir(N^N^N)(C^N)L]+ (N^N^N = tridentate polypyridyl ligand, C^N = 2-phenylpyridine derivative, and L = monodentate anionic ligand) offers the stability of tridentate polypyridyl coordination along with the tunability of three independently variable ligands. Here, a new family of these luminophores has been prepared based on the previously reported compound [Ir(tpy)(ppy)Cl]+ (tpy = 2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine and ppy = 2-phenylpyridine). Complexes are obtained as single stereoisomers, and ligand geometry is unambiguously assigned via X-ray crystallography. Electrochemical analysis of the materials reveals facile HOMO modulation through ppy functionalization and alteration of the monodentate ligand’s field strength. Emission reflects similar modulation shifting from orange to greenish-blue upon replacement of chloride with cyanide. Many of the new compounds exhibit impressive room temperature phosphorescence with lifetimes near 3 μs and quantum yields reaching 28...

Blood meal-induced inhibition of vector-borne disease by transgenic microbiota.

Abstract: Vector-borne diseases are a substantial portion of the global disease burden; one of the deadliest of these is malaria. Vector control strategies have been hindered by mosquito and pathogen resistances, and population alteration approaches using transgenic mosquitos still have many hurdles to overcome before they can be implemented in the field. Here we report a paratransgenic control strategy in which the microbiota of Anopheles stephensi was engineered to produce an antiplasmodial effector causing the mosquito to become refractory to Plasmodium berghei. The midgut symbiont Asaia was used to conditionally express the antiplasmodial protein scorpine only when a blood meal was present. These blood meal inducible Asaia strains significantly inhibit pathogen infection, and display improved fitness compared to strains that constitutively express the antiplasmodial effector. This strategy may allow the antiplasmodial bacterial strains to survive and be transmitted through mosquito populations, creating an easily implemented and enduring vector control strategy. Vector alteration strategies are emerging as attractive tools for malaria transmission control. Here, Shane et al. engineer a bacterial strain, isolated from mosquitoes, to produce an antiplasmodial protein in the presence of blood meal, causing the mosquitoes to become refractory to Plasmodium infection.

Quality of life experienced by adults with congenital heart disease.

Abstract: Adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) represent a growing population of patients. Medical and surgical advances have increased the number of CHD adult survivors, which may create quality-of-life (QOL) issues not previously considered. Quality-of-life issues pertinent to this patient population involve health and life insurance acquisition, birth control, genetic counseling, pregnancy concerns, employment, and independent living arrangements. The purpose of this study was to describe the QOL of adults with CHD. The study used a prospective cross-sectional case-control design to examine QOL using the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP). The study participants were a sample of 124 adults with CHD from an outpatient cardiology clinic in a metropolitan university-affiliated teaching hospital in the Northeast and 124 matched healthy control subjects. Between the participants and the matched control subjects, there was a significant difference in the total mean SIP score, the physical and psychosocial dimension scores, and all the category scores (P < 0.05). The areas of life the adults with CHD reported as lacking in quality involved the categories of work (SIP of 11.1, moderate disability) and sleep and rest (SIP of 9.03, mild disability). The results of this study indicate that the SIP can be used for quantitative and subjective QOL assessment of adults with CHD. It is suggested that cardiac advanced practice nurses use the results of this study to develop appropriate information, counseling, and anticipatory guidance for this patient population.

E Pluribus Unum: Impact Entrepreneurship as a Solution to Grand Challenges

Abstract: Insufficiency of research and theory on the relationship between entrepreneurship and grand challenges means that we know little about who engages and what repertoires of actions they take to tackle socioenvironmental challenges that transcend firms, markets, and nations, and what sorts of solutions they create. Drawing on the five articles featured in this symposium-and focusing especially on their protagonists or actors, the actions these actors take, and their achievements-we begin to conceptualize an impact entrepreneurship perspective. Following the tenet of e pluribus unum ("out of many, one") and adhering to the doctrine that diverse, decentralized human effort can improve the world, our impact entrepreneurship perspective refers to the development of solutions to grand challenges, in a financially, socially, and environmentally sustainable fashion. All in all, then, this symposium provides a starting point to discuss, conceptualize, study, interpret, and enrich our understanding of impact entrepreneurship and collective action to address grand challenges.