A high-field adiabatic fast passage ultracold neutron spin flipper for the UCNA experiment

The UCNA collaboration is making a precision measurement of the β asymmetry (A) in free neutron decay using polarized ultracold neutrons (UCN). A critical component of this experiment is an adiabatic fast passage neutron spin flipper capable of efficient operation in ambient magnetic fields on the order of 1 T. The requirement that it operate in a high field necessitated the construction of a free neutron spin flipper based, for the first time, on a birdcage resonator. The design, construction, and initial testing of this spin flipper prior to its use in the first measurement of A with UCN during the 2007 run cycle of the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center's 800 MeV proton accelerator is detailed. These studies determined the flipping efficiency of the device, averaged over the UCN spectrum present at the location of the spin flipper, to be ε=0.9985(4).     

Inhibition of host RNA polymerase II-dependent transcription by vesicular stomatitis virus results from inactivation of TFIID

The present study tested the hypothesis that one or more tyrosine kinase(s) are downstream of protein kinase C (PKC) in the signal transduction pathway responsible for the cardioprotective effect of ischemic preconditioning (PC). Isolated rabbit hearts were subjected to 30 min of regional ischemia followed by 2 h of reperfusion. Infarct size was measured by triphenyltetrazolium staining and expressed as a percentage of the area at risk. Infarction in control hearts was 32.9+/-1.8%. Ischemic PC with 5-min ischemia/10-min reperfusion reduced infarct size to 11.5+/-1.5% (P<0.05). Infusion of the tyrosine kinase inhibitors, genistein (50 microM) or lavendustin A (0.5 microM), alone did not affect the level of infarction. When infused around the 5-min PC ischemia genistein failed to block protection (13.7+/-1.0%). However, when present at the onset of the 30-min ischemia both genistein and lavendustin A completely aborted protection (31.4+/-2.0 and 28.1+/-1.5%, respectively). Activation of PKC by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA, 0.05 nmol) was as protective is ischemic PC (14.9+/-3.0%; P<0. 05). Similar to PC, PMA-induced protection was completely prevented by both genistein and lavendustin A. Conversely, anisomycin (50 ng/ml), an activator of MAP kinase kinases (dual tyrosine and threonine kinases), was very protective (7.5+/-1.6%; P<0.05) and this protection was still present when PKC was inhibited by 5 microM chelerythrine (12.1+/-1.6%; P<0.05). In conclusion, activation of a tyrosine kinase during the long ischemia appears to be required for cardioprotection in the rabbit heart. Furthermore, the ability of tyrosine kinase inhibitors to block PMA-induced protection in conjunction with the failure of PKC inhibition to prevent anisomycin-induced protection suggests that the tyrosine kinase is downstream of PKC and that the tyrosine kinase may be a MAP kinase kinase.     

A strategy for improving patient satisfaction by the intensive training of residents in psychosocial medicine: a controlled, randomized study

PURPOSE: To use a controlled, randomized design to assess the effect on patient satisfaction of an intensive psychosocial training program for residents. METHOD: Twenty-six first-year residents, in two internal medicine and family practice community-based programs affiliated with the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, were randomly assigned during 1991 and 1992 to a control group or a one-month intensive training program. Experiential teaching focused on many psychosocial skills required in primary care. A 29-item questionnaire administered before and after the residents' training evaluated their patients' satisfaction regarding patient disclosure, physician empathy, confidence in physician, general satisfaction, and comparison of the physician with other physicians. Analyses of covariance with groups and gender as factors and pre-training patient satisfaction scores as the covariate evaluated the effect of the training. RESULTS: The patients of the trained residents expressed more confidence in their physicians (p = .01) and more general satisfaction (p = .02) than did the patients of controls. The effect of training on patient satisfaction with patient disclosure (p < .01) and physician empathy (p < .05) was greater for female than for male residents. CONCLUSION: The intensive psychosocial training program for residents improved their patients' satisfaction.     

Congestion control for best-effort service: why we need a newparadigm

The current congestion control paradigm assumes that end users will use a single mandated algorithm. While the work done in this area has proven to be of great value, we need to recognize as a community that this paradigm is clearly inappropriate for future public networks. The reformulation of congestion control for best-effort service is discussed. We are not attempting to design specific new congestion control algorithms. Instead, we are merely trying to articulate the design principles. Many of these principles have been discussed before; however, with ATM currently designing a best-effort service under the name available bit rate (ABR) and the increasing commercialization of the Internet, these issues warrant revisiting. We outline the service model for best-effort service, describe the set of mechanisms available to implement this service model and contrast their various roles. The implications of our findings for future network design are discussed including some well-known examples of congestion control mechanisms     

On strategies for comparing occupational exposure data to limits

Although research interest in the Harderian gland (HG) has increased during the last few years, only a small amount of information exists about its organogenesis. In mouse the HG appears in the posterior part of eye region, in the form of nonluminated tubules between the sixteenth and eighteenth days of gestation. At birth it is still not differentiated histologically. In birds the HG originates from the conjunctival epithelium at a late embryonic stage. In the English sparrow, Passer domesticus (incubation period of about 13 days), it appears between the seventh and the eighth days of incubation. In the chick embryo (incubation period of about 21 days) it originates between the eleventh and the twelfth days. Among reptiles the lizard Podarcis s. sicula has proved to be a useful model to clarify the embryological origin of the orbital glands since it possesses the anterior lacrimal gland contiguous to the HG in the medial corner of the orbit. The anlage of the orbital glands appears on about the twenty-second day of development (incubation period of about 43 days) in the form of a short tubule projecting from the conjunctival epithelium, at the time of development of the nictitating membrane. At this stage the mesenchymal cells surrounding the glandular blastema form a well-defined sac, later occupied by the orbital glands. From this stage until hatching the growth of the glandular blastema continues with the formation of acini which move posteriorly into the preformed mesenchymal sac. At the thirty-sixth day of development the more lateral acini differentiate into the HG. Only at the forty-first day do the more medial acini differentiate into the anterior lacrimal gland. At hatching the HG is fully differentiated. In anuran amphibia the primordium of the HG appears during the metamorphosis at the time of development of the nictitating membrane.     

The role of psychological factors in the report of building-related symptoms in sick building syndrome.

Sick building syndrome (SBS) is an increasingly common problem, although continued skepticism exists regarding its validity. Because of this, the attribution of complaints to psychogenic causes or mass hysteria persists. In this study (N?=?111), self-report measures of psychopathology (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory [MMPI] and SCL-90—Revised) and physical symptom reports failed to discriminate symptomatic from nonsymptomatic workers in an affected building but could more generally differentiate workers in the target building from control Ss. These results suggest that SBS cannot be justifiably attributed to psychological factors alone, although working in a contaminated environment appeared to have deleterious psychological consequences for some workers. Smoking history (in pack/years [packs per day?×?number of years smoked]) was reliably associated with the development of symptoms in exposed workers. Issues related to the assessment of psychological complaints in SBS are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Managing patients with complications of osteoporosis

This article reviews the impact of osteoporosis on quality of life. It defines specific impairments and suggests how best to minimize the impact of osteoporosis on patients' daily lives. Specific issues such as a spinal deformity, limitations on activities of daily living, pain, functionality, social impairment, self esteem, and depression also are addressed. Finally, a multidisciplinary team approach to osteoporosis is advocated.     

Quasi-induced exposure revisited

Considerable attention is still given to developing and using alternate methods for determining exposure for calculating highway accident rates. A quasi-induced method of measuring exposure developed in the late 1960s is reexamined and found to be promising for determining relative accident involvement rates. A new empirical investigation is offered as the first step in verifying that the characteristics of the "innocent victim" in two-vehicle highway accidents represent a random sample of the driver-vehicle combinations present on the highway system under specified conditions. Quasi-induced exposure estimates are shown to be, at a minimum, consistent and reproducible.     

A comprehensive review on the quasi-induced exposure technique

Objective

The goal is to comprehensively examine the state-of-the-art applications and methodological development of quasi-induced exposure and consequently pinpoint the future research directions in terms of implementation guidelines, limitations, and validity tests.

Methods

The paper conducts a comprehensive review on approximately 45 published papers relevant to quasi-induced exposure regarding four key topics of interest: applications, responsibility assignment, validation of assumptions, and methodological development.

Results

Specific findings include that: (1) there is no systematic data screening procedure in place and how the eliminated crash data will impact the responsibility assignment is generally unknown; (2) there is a lack of necessary efforts to assess the validity of assumptions prior to its application and the validation efforts are mostly restricted to the aggregated levels due to the limited availability of exposure truth; and (3) there is a deficiency of quantitative analyses to evaluate the magnitude and directions of bias as a result of injury risks and crash avoidance ability.

Conclusions

The paper points out the future research directions and insights in terms of the validity tests and implementation guidelines.     

Viability and recovery of peripheral blood mononuclear cells cryopreserved for up to 12 years in a multicenter study

Polish physicians-philosophers tried to find a compromise between medicine as a science and medicine as a healing art. They stated that clinical practice should be transformed into science, bearing in mind that there would be no medicine without the existence of the sick. A perfect physician is a good and wise person and not exclusively a proficient expert. Polish physicians exercised a science that they called philosophy of medicine. It included logic, psychology, and medical ethics. The Polish school claimed that the history of medicine and philosophy of medicine are necessary for future doctors. The historical and philosophical approach makes it possible to recognize the subject of medicine (health, disease, and the sick) and its aim (treatment, restoration of health or just alleviation of suffering). The ethics teaches what values are pursued by medicine, what moral duties a doctor has, and what role model to follow to become a good physician. Placing the sick in the focus of medical interest, the Polish school taught future physicians to see in them suffering fellow men who should be embraced with care, compassion, and Christian charity. Such an approach to the ethical aspect of medical philosophy became incorporated into an education towards humane values, responsibility for ones' life and health in the spirit of the ethics of care.