Synthesis and characterization of new poly(ethylene glycol)bisphosphonate vinylic monomer and non-fluorescent and NIR-fluorescent bisphosphonate micrometer-sized particles

Bisphosphonates (BPs) are non-hydrolysable pyrophosphate analogs with high affinity to hydroxyapatite (HAP, the main inorganic ingredient in bones) and are mainly used for bone diseases treatments.A new stable PEG-BP monomer and particles have been prepared for enhanced long term bone-targeted imaging and therapy applications. The new formed BP particles possess dual functionalities: chelation to the bone mineral, HAP, through the BP groups and covalent attachment of a dye or drug through primary amine groups.The BP particles showed no cytotoxic effect on human osteosarcoma cell lines and minor toxicity on mouse macrophage cells, indicating that these BP particles are good candidates for in vivo testing. The BP monomer and particles exhibited inhibition of HAP formation and dissolution, similar to a commercial Alendronate. Near IR (NIR) fluorescent BP particles were obtained by conjugation of Cy7-NHS ester to the primary amine groups of the BP particles.     

Ways of listening to depressed women in qualitative research: Interview techniques and analyses.

Qualitative research on depression requires methods of interviewing and analysis that allow the researcher to hear how social factors are structured in thought and how such factors affect depressive conflict. This article discusses 6 ways of listening used in the author's qualitative research with depressed women: open listening, focused awareness, and attending to moral language, to inner dialogues, to meta-statements, and to the logic of the narrative. Examples illustrate how listening to processes of thought leads to content analysis that preserves the individuality of subjects, and to theory formation. Silencing the Self theory is summarized as it relates to these ways of listening. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of natural convection flows under VHTR type conditions modeled by both the conservation and incompressible forms of the Navier-Stokes equations

This paper illustrates a comparative study to analyze the physical differences between numerical simulations obtained with both the conservation and incompressible forms of the Navier-Stokes equations for natural convection flows in simple geometries. The purpose of this study is to quantify how the incompressible flow assumption (which is based upon constant density advection, divergence-free flow, and the Boussinesq gravitational body force approximation) differs from the conservation form (which only assumes that the fluid is a continuum) when solving flows driven by gravity acting upon density variations resulting from local temperature gradients. Driving this study is the common use of the incompressible flow assumption in fluid flow simulations for nuclear power applications in natural convection flows subjected to a high heat flux (large temperature differences). A series of simulations were conducted on two-dimensional, differentially heated rectangular geometries and modeled with both hydrodynamic formulations. From these simulations, the selected characterization parameters of maximum Nusselt number, average Nusselt number, and normalized pressure reduction were calculated. Comparisons of these parameters were made with available benchmark solutions for air with the ideal gas assumption at both low and high heat fluxes. Additionally, we generated specific force quantities and velocity and temperature distributions to provide a basis for further analysis. The simulations and analysis were then extended to include helium at the Very High Temperature gas-cooled Reactor (VHTR) normal operating conditions. Our results show that the consequences of incorporating the incompressible flow assumption in high heat flux situations may lead to unrepresentative results. The results question the use of the incompressible flow assumption for simulating fluid flow in an operating nuclear reactor, where large temperature variations are present.     

Job demands and pesticide exposure among immigrant Latino farmworkers.

The goal of this study was to understand the potential threat of job stressors to farmworker health. To accomplish this goal we studied pesticide exposure, an issue with immediate and long-term health consequences, and predictions from the Demands-Control model of occupational stress. Longitudinal, self-report data and urine samples were collected at monthly intervals from a cohort of Latino farmworkers (N = 287) during the 2007 agricultural season. The primary hypothesis was that greater exposure to psychological demands, physical exertion, and hazardous work conditions are associated with greater odds of detecting dialkylphosphate (DAP) urinary pesticide metabolites, biomarkers indicating exposure to pesticides. Contrary to this hypothesis, results indicated that none of the elements of the Demands-Control model were independently associated with detection of DAP urinary pesticide metabolites. However, analyses produced several interaction effects, including evidence that high levels of control may buffer the effects of physical job demands on detection of DAP urinary pesticide metabolites. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A note on fracture criteria for interface fracture

Several criteria for interface fracture are examined and compared to test results obtained from glass/epoxy specimens. These include two energy release rate criteria, a critical hoop stress criterion and a critical shear stress criterion. In addition, approximate plastic zone size and shape within the epoxy are determined for these tests.     

Answer Justification in Diagnostic Expert Systems?Part II: Supporting Plausible Justifications

This paper describes how a new method for answer justification in abductive diagnostic expert systems, presented in a preceding companion paper (Part I), can be supported in a domain-independent fashion. Both the issues of explaining why a disorder is included in a differential diagnosis and why it is ranked the way it is relative to its "competitors" are addressed. This approach to answer justification is then compared to previous work on answer justification in medical expert systems.     

Semantische Technologien für Produktionsprozessinnovationen in der Landwirtschaft

Optimization of production processes in agriculture requires that innovation in form of efficiency enhancing devices is being continuously introduced and integrated within the production environments. This paper describes how semantic modelling, web services and automatic logical reasoning are used as system enablers for such value-adding integration in implementation of semantic-based diagnoses supporting optimization of milk production processes of dairy farms.     

Dissociations between procedural and episodic memory: Effects of time and aging.

The issue of multiple memory systems is explored. Young and older adults (mean ages?=?20 and 71, respectively) named pictures and were tested immediately, 1, 7, or 21 days later. Episodic memory (recognition) for pictures was significantly lower in older relative to young adults and declined systematically across all retention intervals in both age groups. In contrast, procedural memory (repetition priming in picture naming) revealed no reliable age differences. In both age groups, priming declined within the first 24 hr, but unlike recognition, there was no further decrement from 1 to 21 days. There were also within-subject dissociations: The magnitude of priming was equivalent for remembered and forgotten items, and the relation between recognition and priming across intervals was nonmonotonic, revealing a reversed association. The findings were interpreted within a multiple-memory-systems framework. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hierarchical representation of problem-solving knowledge in a frame-based process planning system

In most frame-based reasoning systems, the information being manipulated is represetned using frames, but the problem-solving knowledge that manipulates the frames is represented as production rules. One problem with this approach is that rules are not always a natrual way to represent knowledge; another is that systems containing lots of rules may suffer from problems with “exponetial blowup” in the amount of computation required. This paper describes a way to address these problems by organizing the problem-solving knowledge not as rules, but in a particular kind of frame hierarchy. the approach described in this paper has been implemented in a problem-solving system called SIPP (Semi-Intelligent Process Planner), which produces plans of action for the manufacture of metal parts. the paper gives an overview of SIPP, compares its knowledge representation and problem solving methods to approaches used in other knowledge-based systems, and describes goals for further research.