The Broselow tape as an effective medication dosing instrument: A review of the literature.
Meguerdician, M. J., & Clapper, T. C. (2012, in press). The Broselow tape as an effective medication dosing instrument: A review of the literature. Journal of Pediatric Nursing.
The Broselow tape provides clinical providers with a method of quickly estimating medications and airway adjuncts for... more The Broselow tape provides clinical providers with a method of quickly estimating medications and airway adjuncts for pediatric patients. However, since the development of the Broselow tape, there has remained a controversy over the accuracy of the tape for estimating weight to determine pediatric resuscitation needs. Using multiple search engines, this review of the literature examined the potential of the Broselow tape to be an effective guide for emergency medicine teams. The evidence suggests that when compared with other methods of estimating medication dosing and airway equipment size, it is the most reliable predictor in most situations, especially in younger pediatric patients. Ultimately, the Broselow tape is only a guide that should be considered, whereas the final determination of drug dosage and equipment sizes will be determined by the patient situation and the clinical provider's experience and training. Objective: Pediatric emergency medicine departments can be overwhelmed with conflicting literature on the accuracy of the Broselow tape. The Broselow tape provides clinical providers with a method of quickly estimating medications and airway adjuncts for pediatric patients. We present an analysis of literature and research of the Broselow tape as a means of estimating weight in pediatric patients to address medication dosing. Methods: A systematic review was conducted using three primary search engines, including PubMed, Ebscohost, and ProQuest. Inclusion criteria included (a) peer-reviewed literature and (b) original research articles. Literature related to or appearing to have a commercial interest was not included in this review. The initial search showed 84 publications, 24 with relevance to this review. Results: Although the Broselow tape may underestimate the weight of outlier pediatric patients, it is still the most accurate tool available. In addition, it appears to be more accurate for use with younger patients. Conclusion: The evidence suggests that when compared with other methods of estimating medication dosing and airway equipment size, the Broselow tape is the most reliable predictor in most situations, especially in younger pediatric patients.
Ectoparasites of small mammals in Malaysia. 2010
Ixodes granulatus and Leptotrombidium deliense are of known medical importance.
http://www.tm.mahidol.ac.th/seameo/2011-42-4/06-4984.pdf
A total of 16 animals comprising 5 species of hosts were caught and examined for ectoparasites. The hosts examined... more
A total of 16 animals comprising 5 species of hosts were caught and examined for ectoparasites. The hosts examined were Maxomys rajah, Maxomys whiteheadi, Leopoldamys sabanus, Lariscus insignis and Tupaia glis. Of these hosts, 9 genera, consisting of 14 species of ectoparasites were extracted. Three species of ticks (Ixodidae), 7 species of mesostigmatid mites (Laelaptidae), 3 species of chiggers (Trombiculidae) and 1 species of listrophorid mites (Listrophoriidae) were identified. The infestation rate of ectoparasites observed ranged from 12.5% to 62.5%. Among the ectoparasites found, Ixodes granulatus and Leptotrombidium deliense are of known medical importance.
Keywords: ectoparasites, small mammals, wildlife reserves, Peninsular Malaysia.
A Madinah, A Fatimah, A Mariana and MT Abdullah
Smart Delivery and Controlled Drug Release with Gold Nanoparticles: New Frontiers in Nanomedicine
Recent Patents on Nanomedicine - Vol. 2, Is. 1, pp.34-44, 2012, doi: 10.2174/1877913111202010034
Discoveries in the field of nanotechnology are triggering a revolution in medicine, by providing a profusion of
potential and actual applications of nanosized objects in the diagnosis and treatment of several diseases. This trend is also
evident in the increasing number of patents recorded annually. In particular, nanoparticles able to find a target and release
their payload upon a specific stimulus are highly attractive for the diagnostics and therapeutics, for example, of cancer and
gene diseases. In this view, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) stood out as suitable platforms for the development of efficient
delivery and release systems. AuNPs are biocompatible, and can be easily synthesized and functionalized. The capability
of tuning their size and geometry allows manipulating their optical and physical properties. Engineering their coating
controls the stability, targeting and release features. In this review several patents concerning release strategies based on
gold nanostructures are reported, together with a discussion about their operating processes and their mutual advantages
and disadvantages.
101 views
Seen by: and 2 moreTextualidades cannábicas
Ponencia presentada en el Debate Nacional sobre drogas- 29 al 31 de agosto de 2011
APOYA:
APOYA:
CSIC-UNIVERSIDAD DE LA REPUBLICA, URUGUAY
Título: Textualidades cannábicas.
Prof. Agr. Dr. L. Nicolás Guigou- Núcleo de Antropología de la ContemporaneidadDepartamento de Ciencias Sociales y Humanas, LICCOM, UDELAR.
Introducción.
Parte del proceso de secularización de las culturas, puede ser atendido en tanto
desencantamiento – no del mundo- sino de la naturaleza. La naturaleza desencantada,
exterior, silenciosa –prácticamente la naturaleza del mito de La Caída-, o bien la imagen
clásica que teníamos de la diferenciación entre naturaleza y cultura se ha visto a todas
luces, trastocada. A los filosofemas y mitemas antropológicos que proponían dar a la
naturaleza el lugar de los universales culturales, o meramente de los universales -todo lo
universal es parte de la naturaleza, lo singular, un producto de la cultura-, se le
opusieron procesos teóricos cada vez más secularizantes (como el giro derridadiano)
llegándose en la contemporaneidad a proponerse cambios radicales en nuestra
perspectiva de la naturaleza, la cultura, la percepción y las diferentes formas de
entrelazamiento entre inteligencias humanas y no humanas.
La selva – la naturaleza- se vuelve inteligente, al decir de Descola,
mostrándonos así todas las aristas de una antropología no-humana (post-humana) en la
cual la naturaleza ya no es objeto inteligible, sino sujeto inteligente...
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Seen by: and 21 moreIdentification of secondary targets of N-containing bisphosphonates in mammalian cells via parallel competition analysis of the barcoded yeast deletion …
Bivi N, Romanello M, Harrison R, Clarke I, Hoyle DC, Moro L, Ortolani F, Bonetti A, Quadrifoglio F, Tell G, Delneri D.
Genome Biol. 2009;10(9):R93. Epub 2009 Sep 10.
BACKGROUND:
Nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates are the elected drugs for the treatment of diseases in which... more
BACKGROUND:
Nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates are the elected drugs for the treatment of diseases in which excessive bone resorption occurs, for example, osteoporosis and cancer-induced bone diseases. The only known target of nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates is farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase, which ensures prenylation of prosurvival proteins, such as Ras. However, it is likely that the action of nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates involves additional unknown mechanisms. To identify novel targets of nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates, we used a genome-wide high-throughput screening in which 5,936 Saccharomyces cerevisiae heterozygote barcoded mutants were grown competitively in the presence of sub-lethal doses of three nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates (risedronate, alendronate and ibandronate). Strains carrying deletions in genes encoding potential drug targets show a variation of the intensity of their corresponding barcodes on the hybridization array over the time.
RESULTS:
With this approach, we identified novel targets of nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates, such as tubulin cofactor B and ASK/DBF4 (Activator of S-phase kinase). The up-regulation of tubulin cofactor B may explain some previously unknown effects of nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates on microtubule dynamics and organization. As nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates induce extensive DNA damage, we also document the role of DBF4 as a key player in nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate-induced cytotoxicity, thus explaining the effects on the cell-cycle.
CONCLUSIONS:
The dataset obtained from the yeast screen was validated in a mammalian system, allowing the discovery of new biological processes involved in the cellular response to nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates and opening up opportunities for development of new anticancer drugs.
A comparison of Obstetric maneuvers for the acute management of shoulder dystocia. Letter to the Editor.
Clapper, T. C., Gross, S. J., & Wilcox, W. C. (2012). A comparison of Obstetric maneuvers for the acute management of shoulder dystocia. Letter to the Editor. Obstetrics & Genecology, 119(2), Part 1, 386. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0b013e318244b405
Letter to the Editor, Re: Hoffman MK, Bailit JL, Branch DW,
Burkman RT, Van Veldhusien P, Lu L,et al. A... more
Letter to the Editor, Re: Hoffman MK, Bailit JL, Branch DW,
Burkman RT, Van Veldhusien P, Lu L,et al. A comparison of obstetric maneuvers for the acute management of shoulder
dystocia. Obstet Gynecol 2011;117:1272–8.
Our charge should be the prevention of such injuries by providing appropriate training, including realistic simulation training that promotes teamwork and adheres to protocols, which still call for choice as well as a combination of correctly applied maneuvers.
A Tibetan Medical Perspective on Irritable Bowel Syndrome
by Eliot Tokar
Tokar, Eliot 1998, A Tibetan medical perspective on irritable bowel syndrome: building a means of discourse for integrative medicine, Alternative and Complementary Therapies, 4(5): 343-349
This article will compare the diagnostic approaches of Western biomedicine and Tibetan medicine. The biomedical... more
This article will compare the diagnostic approaches of Western biomedicine and Tibetan medicine. The biomedical disease irritable bowel syndrome will be used as a case study. It will be contrasted with the multiple nosological categories that could be used in TIbetan medicine to achieve a differential diagnosis for patients with symptoms that are typical of this biomedical disease.
As a result of the grassroots alternative medicine movement, for four decades Americans have increasingly used a wide diversity of natural medical approaches. Among these are ancient systems of traditional natural medicine such as Tibetan medicine. As the use of such medical alternatives expand it is important to consider how they can be best utilized within our society.
The integration of such systems into the existing medical industrial complex is an approach sponsored by powerful voices within the government, academia and the medical industry. Alternatively, many laypeople and health professionals advocate for medical pluralism in order to provide a means for promoting the greatest possible healthcare diversity and freedom. In analyzing the debate between integration and pluralism it is vital to consider how they will each effect the actual practice of traditional natural medical systems as well as the indigenous cultures from which such disciplines originate. This article will draw upon the history of Tibetan medicine to inform the debate between integration and pluralism. Finally, it will pose some critical questions regarding medical reform.
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Seen by:Mobile Computing & Semantic Web in Health & Medicine
Language : German
Mobile Computing & Semantic Web für Medizin und Informationsversorgung
Mobile Computing is big and unstoppable. The iPhone and iPad have given an enormous innovative boost to mobile... more
Mobile Computing is big and unstoppable. The iPhone and iPad have given an enormous innovative boost to mobile healthcare. Applications, data, software, Operation systems and even Things are going into the “Cloud” to be accessed via Apps by a exponentially growing amount of mobile devices. What is the real magic of these devices? In the design, it’s functionality, in the easy of use, or …? And where exactly is wireless and unlimited Internet access changing healthcare for professionals and patients? What roles do libraries have now in this fast changing world of biomedicine & information technology? And what roles do they really need to develop? Web 2.0 gave users (and librarians) power over the web, making connections, interoperability and sharing possible. Who is actually shaping the web 3.0, this World Web Database, the great Internet of Things? Can your library contribute to this? But for whom and why should you? This article will try to merge the possible implications on the long term with practical immediate actions to be taken.
Keywords: mobile, semantic web, healthcare, medicine, library, information management, linked data, technology, apps
APPLICATION OF THE “TRIANGULAR ECO-KINEMATICS THEORY” (TEKT) (PART I) - THE PARADIGM OF ECOLOGY, PUBLIC HEALTH AND ECONOMY AS A SYNERGISTIC EFFECT UPON HUMAN RIGHTS
Presented at the International Conference "Human Ecology: Health, Culture and Quality of Life, Oct. 26-27, 2011, Moscow, Russian Federation and Published in the "Herald of the International Academy of Science, Russian Section", 2011, Vol 1, ISSN 2221-7479 Full article [22 pages] in English with a Russian abstract and English abstract. Free download at http://www.heraldrsias.org/online/2011/1/203/
Upcoming updates on TEKT are on the way. Introductory presentation made during conference excerpts at http://youtu.be/kZkGKkbnGKE Comments and collaboration proposals are welcome. Thank you!
The laws governing natural economic flow are recommended to be used as model for a sustainable anthropogenic economy.... more
The laws governing natural economic flow are recommended to be used as model for a sustainable anthropogenic economy. Life can't be monopolized. Biodiversity has a paramount importance to sustainable development. This article is intended to be the first in a series of applicative works based on the Triangular Eco-Kinematics Theory «TEKT» proposed here as foundation for global cooperation mechanisms. It is an urgent call for global anthropogenic economic reforms. Planet Earth can sustain a maximum population load if it's properly managed. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights needs to be revised. A Life Equivalent Etalon [LEE] as currency reference is proposed. Key words: natural rights, Life Equivalent Etalon, LEE, gold, energy, protein, organization equilibrium theory, monetary system, entropy, antientropy, negentropy, syntropy, UNESCO, intangible commodities, economics, religion, protein, amino acids, seed germination, carbon dioxide, oxigen, dinitrogen, nitrogen, air, global warming, occupy wall street, occupy movement, evolution, macroeconomics.
Introduction.
Ecological issues should not be separated from economic issues or from public health concerns as they correlate. The global crises have their beginnings back in the history of mankind. Lately they are acutely identified and discussed as our natural resources are depleting visibly. Furthermore, the strong polarization of wealth, abusive exploitation of natural resources and excessive material accumulation do not just hinder the free economic flow, but are also unethical. It conducts to social segregation and conflicts; the expanding “occupy movement” is just one of the latest examples. With this paper, I am also calling for an urgent and closer look at Human Rights principles. Human Rights need to be a section of a future Universal Declaration of Natural Rights.
This paper (as part 1) is an attempt to address several interconnected issues in a fashion such as an overture to an upcoming series of work (work is in progress) with the belief that readers have a fairly strong natural inducement to co-operate [20] with the author in order to build and consolidate the proposed model, the presently included applications and the upcoming ones as well.
Fighting Nature is a historical human endeavor for which we just recently started to see the beginning of its outcome. Public health, ecological systems and global economics, being intimately interconnected, undergo a cycle of crises that I take the freedom to call “The Bermuda Triangle of Human Endeavors”. Planet Earth offers us as Humanity the means to support our very material existence. Health and ecology together are the primary life supporting elements that form the structures of a sustainable social and economic development.
Deprivation of proper living conditions represents an acute denial of Human Rights. No one has the right to deprive others from the inherited Natural Rights, the rights to exist. The economic principles need to be brought up to date and restructured such as to observe the non-monetary values going beyond Human Rights. For the economic system to be sustainable it needs to use a currency that has a sustainable etalon as reference. Life Equivalent Etalons (LEE) can assure economic and international stability as they are fixed and indispensable.
Each one of us is responsible for the global economy as it is an expression of human endeavor and its dynamics, more so in the context of globalization. I’ll tailor my work in a way to make it accessible to most people. It does not matter how good are whatever ideas one may have if they are not well understood by the intended audience, in this particular case, Humanity at large.The M.A.Sholokhov Moscow State University of Humanities is a great place to present this paper addressing ecological issues; such subjects are only about Humanity and concerns Humanity at large. What can be more human than human activity and its overall outcome?
Primary conclusions – Life’s properties and limitations
1) Acute and severely disastrous possible outcomes are due, a total collapse of the system is expected if one living entity is lowering its entropy (increasing anti-entropy) and comes too close to exhausting its own life support, regardless of the energy that may be available. Outgrowing life’s support capacity induces the destruction of the entire system, its entire collapse to decay possibly into lifeless while keeping the energy tightly locked into a stinky slime form of existence.
2) If our planet was to be populated only by forests and plants, cyanobacteria and green algae, Earth could have exhausted its life support and its destiny would have been limited to a continuous energy and structural accumulation up to the point when a total decay would have follow, perhaps a slimy world. Strange as it may appear my statement, we’ve seen in the above experimental example that as long as there are living entities consuming oxygen, ready synthesized sugars and proteins, having CO2 as waste on which the plants can feed on, the cycle of life can continue as long as the relative organizational equilibrium is being kept to a sustainable level or why not a sustainable rapport as represented by TEKT.
3) Based on the above, the biological classifications are forming two major groups:
a) The self-sustaining, food independent living entities (i.e. cyanobacteria, plantae),
b) The by-sustaining, food dependent living entities (i.e. animalia, etc.)
4) Thermodynamically, utilization of energy is not a mere “emerging property” of life, it is Life itself. Utilization of energy by living forms of existence is a self organizing and a conducting mechanism that “knows” to use energy efficiently. It knows when and how to accumulate the dissipated free energy, to “pump it” in the re-assembled structures. It concentrates energy reserves; it creates protective resistant ergonomic structures. The Life forms of material existence have as main property (as opposed to emerging property) the thermo-dynamical ability to act as heat energy pumps; Life forms of material existence are structures of concentrated energy ready to be used. A small seed has the ability to act as a heat energy pump concentrating dissipated free energy into a chemical structure with energy ready to use (i.e. burning wood producing heat).
5) The minerals and vitamins play a key roll in the kinematics of the Life phenomena, the energy, the dynamics of it, but the mother of all dynamics is the mystery of Life, the low entropy or high anti-entropy of information encoded in the DNA folds confers the ability to use and further concentrate more energy into a structural body, into the high anti-entropy of the newly grown living entity, the plants, the trees with their fruits and byproducts holding enormous incorporated energy as well. The high anti-entropy of information has the ability to concentrate low negentropy (high entropy) into high anti-entropy, ready to use concentrated forms of energy, a real gift of Life.
The ability to self-acquiring, holding, using and transmitting information we can also identify it as being a main property of Life.
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See the full article [ free PDF DOWNLOAD ] from
http://www.heraldrsias.org/online/2011/1/203/
Comments and contributions are welcome.
Ion Beam Analysis Of Silicon Based Surfaces And Correlation With Surface Energy Measurements
Qian Xing, N. Herbots, M. Hart, J. D. Bradley, B. J. Wilkens, D. A. Sell, Clive H. Sell, Henry Mark Kwong Jr., R. J. Culbertson, S. D. Whaley
Department of Physics, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1504
Associated Retina Consultants, 7600 N 15th Street, Suite 155, Phoenix, AZ 85020
Citation: AIP Conf. Proc. 1336, 201 (2011); doi: 10.1063/1.3586089
The water affinity of Si-based surfaces is quantified by contact angle measurement and surface free energy to explain... more
The water affinity of Si-based surfaces is quantified by contact angle measurement and surface free energy to explain hydrophobic or hydrophilic behavior of silicone, silicates, and silicon surfaces. Surface defects such as dangling bonds, surface free energy including Lewis acid-base and Lifshitz-van der Waals components are discussed. Water nucleation and condensation is further explained by surface topography. Tapping mode atomic force microscopy (TMAFM) provides statistical analysis of the topography of these Si-based surfaces. The correlation of the above two characteristics describes the behavior of water condensation at Si-based surfaces. Surface root mean square roughness increasing from several Å to several nm is found to provide nucleation sites that expedite water condensation visibly for silica and silicone. Hydrophilic surfaces have a condensation pattern that forms puddles of water while hydrophobic surfaces form water beads. Polymer adsorption on these surfaces alters the water affinity as well as the surface topography, and therefore controls condensation on Si-based surfaces including silicone intraocular lens (IOL). The polymer film is characterized by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) in conjunction with 4.265 MeV 12C(α, α)12C, 3.045 MeV 16O(α, α)16O nuclear resonance scattering (NRS), and 2.8 MeV elastic recoil detection (ERD) of hydrogen for high resolution composition and areal density measurements. The areal density of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) film ranges from 1018 atom/cm2 to 1019 atom/cm2 gives the silica or silicone surface a roughness of several Å and a wavelength of 0.16 ± 0.02 μm, and prevents fogging by forming a complete wetting layer during water condensation.
Keywords: ERD, NRS, RBS, AFM, polymer film, silicone, silica, Si(100), contact angle, surface free energy, surface topography, intraocular implant.
Pharmacist intervention in primary care to improve outcomes in patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction
by Frances Mair
This was a late breaking trial at the American Heart Association Mtg on 14 November 2011. It is the largest and longest study of a pharmacist intervention for heart failure published to date. Co-authored with: Richard Lowrie, Nicola Greenlaw, Paul Forsyth, Pardeep S. Jhund, Alex McConnachie, Brian Rae and John J.V. McMurray.
Background Meta-analysis of small trials suggests that pharmacist-led collaborative review and revision of... more
Background Meta-analysis of small trials suggests that pharmacist-led collaborative review and revision of medical treatment may improve outcomes in heart failure.
Methods and results We studied patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction in a cluster-randomized controlled, event driven, trial in primary care. We allocated 87 practices (1090 patients) to pharmacist intervention and 87 practices (1074 patients) to usual care. The intervention was delivered by non-specialist pharmacists working with family doctors to optimize medical treatment. The primary outcome was a composite of death or hospital admission for worsening heart failure. This trial is registered, number ISRCTN70118765. The median follow-up was 4.7 years. At baseline, 86% of patients in both groups were treated with an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker. In patients not receiving one or other of these medications, or receiving less than the recommended dose, treatment was started, or the dose increased, in 33.1% of patients in the intervention group and in 18.5% of the usual care group [odds ratio (OR) 2.26, 95% CI 1.64–3.10; P< 0.001]. At baseline, 62% of each group were treated with a β-blocker and the proportions starting or having an increase in the dose were 17.9% in the intervention group and 11.1% in the usual care group (OR 1.76, 95% CI 1.31–2.35; P< 0.001). The primary outcome occurred in 35.8% of patients in the intervention group and 35.4% in the usual care group (hazard ratio 0.97, 95% CI 0.83–1.14; P = 0.72). There was no difference in any secondary outcome.
Conclusion A low-intensity, pharmacist-led collaborative intervention in primary care resulted in modest improvements in prescribing of disease-modifying medications but did not improve clinical outcomes in a population that was relatively well treated at baseline.
Telehealth in practice: using Normalisation Process Theory To Bridge The Translational Gap
by Frances Mair
Co-authored with Deborah Morrison.
Declerck, G., Charlet, J. (2011). Intelligence Artificielle, ontologies et connaissances en médecine. Les limites de la mécanisation de la pensée
Prepublication version
Complete reference :
Declerck, G., Charlet, J. (2011). Intelligence Artificielle, ontologies et connaissances en médecine. Les limites de la mécanisation de la pensée. Revue d’Intelligence Artificielle (RIA), vol. 25, n°4, pp. 445-472, n° spécial « Intelligence artificielle et santé »
This theoretical article aims to draw up an inventory of the latest advances in medical knowledge engineering in the... more This theoretical article aims to draw up an inventory of the latest advances in medical knowledge engineering in the specific area of ontologies and knowledge based systems design. Echoing the debates that animated the landscape of Artificial Intelligence (AI) from the 1970s under the impetus of Dreyfus HL, it aims to show that most of the difficulties currently faced by medical knowledge engineering are inherent in the nature of AI, whose project is the mechanization of cognitive activity. As such it promotes the idea that only a fair understanding of what machines can do, given their machinic character itself, and remains, despite its cognitive finitude, a property of human being, may offer to balancing the scales between tasks that can be allocated to machines and those that have to be left in charge of humans.
162 views
Seen by:Internet experiments: methods, guidelines, metadata
published 2009 in Human Vision and Electronic Imaging XIV 7240(1), 724008. (Invited paper by the SPIE-IS&T Science and Technology Electronic Imaging societies)
The Internet experiment is now a well-established and widely used method. The present paper describes guidelines for... more The Internet experiment is now a well-established and widely used method. The present paper describes guidelines for the proper conduct of Internet experiments, e.g. handling of dropout, unobtrusive naming of materials, and pre-testing. Several methods are presented that further increase the quality of Internet experiments and help to avoid frequent errors. These methods include the "seriousness check", "warm-up," "high hurdle," and "multiple site entry" techniques, control of multiple submissions, and control of motivational confounding. Finally, metadata from sites like WEXTOR (http://wextor.org) and the web experiment list (http://wexlist.net/) are reported that show the current state of Internet-based research in terms of the distribution of fields, topics, and research designs used.
Multiphoton Molecular Photorelease in Click-Chemistry-Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles
SMALL, Vol 7, Is 23, pp 3271–3275, 2011
Yellow–green controlled photorelease: probes click-linked to peptide-coated gold nanospheres by a triazole ring can be... more Yellow–green controlled photorelease: probes click-linked to peptide-coated gold nanospheres by a triazole ring can be released in living cells under a focused 561 nm laser at low power. Photocleaving follows a three-photon event stimulated by the excitation of the localized surface plasmon resonance.
65 views
Seen by:Words for Dying, Death, and Living
by Daniel Keeran, MSW
Much of the content of this paper is from the chapter on Grief Counseling Skills in
Areas of conversation between the living and the dying are listed and described in practical detail designed for sharing with family and friends.
The most common reaction to the subject of death and dying is to feel afraid and to avoid the discussion altogether, yet being able to talk openly about the end of life, is one of the most important conversations. For the living, unresolved grief is a major cause of poor mental health often resulting in chronic depression, relationship breakdown, addiction, physical illness, and sometimes suicide.
Field equations, quantum mechanics and geotropism
by Han Geurdes
The paper is about gravitropism in plants. However, I believe that there are further implications possible:
One constant form factor in the formation of 'life on earth' is gravity. Gravity is omnipresence and its influence on the formation and workings of the organism is easily overlooked. It was Darwin who noticed that plants do have orthogravity behavior independent of, but perhaps connected to, photoperiodism. In fungi, for instance, the exact positioning of the plant in the gravity field is crucial to the most effective spreading of spores.
If gravity conditions play such a crucial role in plant-life, it should be no surprise that gravity also is important in the machinery of animal life but is going to be even less noticed. The main idea of the research is that gravity medicine is not only restricted to spaceflight missions but perhaps can further the understanding of diseases that are difficult to cure under normal g=9.8 m/s2 gravity conditions.
In a neuro-muscular autoimmune disease such as Myasthenia Gravis (MG) there is a disbalance between Acetylcholine-esterase AChE) and the (production of) Acetylcholine (ACh). One may wonder how this condition of disballance arose in the cell but in aquired MG there once was a condition of balance that is disturbed with e.g. virus infection. If the virus, or the general disturbance, has put the cell in a greater level of stress apparently this stress continues to be present in further copies of the cell. However, if cell membranes can be 'chemically' or 'elastically' be relaxed perhaps the chemical balance between AChE and ACh will be restored. The patient will be less in need of corrective medcine and secondary cancer will most likely not evolve. In plant science, artificial changes in gravity condition are enabled with the use of a clinostat or with special airplanes in so called parabolic flight.
The following study employs a mathematical approach to unify field theories in order to understand the influence of weak gravity on biochemical processes.
The biochemistry of geotropism in plants and gravisensing in e.g. cyanobacteria or paramacia is still not well understood today. Perhaps there are more ways than one for organisms to sense gravity.
The two best known relatively old explanations for gravity sensing are sensing through the redistribution of cellular starch statoliths and sensing through redistribution of auxin. The starch containing statoliths in a gravity field produce pressure on the endoplasmic reticulum of the cell. This enables the cell to sense direction. Alternatively, there is the redistribution of auxin under the action of gravity. This is known as the Cholodny-Went hypothesis. The latter redistribution coincides with a redistribution of electrical charge in the cell.
In the present paper a unified field theory approach to gravisensing is advanced. In plants, the activity of e.g. Phytochrome and Zeatin is demonstrated to be changed under the influence of(weak) gravity. With the unified field theory advanced in the paper, conformational changes of biomolecules are derived. The advantage of the (Einstein like) unified field approach is that electromagnetic, quantum mechanical and (weak) gravity are put in one mathematical conceptual framework that allows direct biochemical testing. The evidence from the influence of e.g. Phytochrome on plants gravisensing is already known from studies in 1966. The only thing that was lacking was a proper chemical and physical explanation to suggest further experimentation and finally perhaps medical application.
The biochemistry of geotropism in plants and gravisensing in e.g. cyanobacteria or paramacia is still not well... more
The biochemistry of geotropism in plants and gravisensing in e.g. cyanobacteria or paramacia is still not well understood today. Perhaps there are more ways than one for organisms to sense gravity.
The two best known relatively old explanations for gravity sensing are sensing through the redistribution of cellular starch statoliths and sensing through redistribution of auxin. The starch containing statoliths in a gravity field produce pressure on the endoplasmic reticulum of the cell. This enables the cell to sense direction. Alternatively, there is the redistribution of auxin under the action of gravity. This is known as the Cholodny-Went hypothesis. The latter redistribution coincides with a redistribution of electrical charge in the cell.
In the present paper a unified field theory approach to gravisensing is advanced. In plants, the activity of e.g. Phytochrome and Zeatin is demonstrated to be changed under the influence of(weak) gravity. With the unified field theory advanced in the paper, conformational changes of biomolecules are derived. The advantage of the (Einstein like) unified field approach is that electromagnetic, quantum mechanical and (weak) gravity are put in one mathematical conceptual framework that allows direct biochemical testing. The evidence from the influence of e.g. Phytochrome on plants gravisensing is already known from studies in 1966. The only thing that was lacking was a proper chemical and physical explanation to suggest further experimentation and finally perhaps medical application.
2 views
Evaluating Complex Interventions and Health Technologies Using Normalization Process Theory: Development of a Simplified Approach and Web-Enabled Toolkit
by Frances Mair
Published in BMC Health Services Research 2011, 11:245.
Background
Normalization Process Theory (NPT) can be used to explain implementation processes in health care... more
Background
Normalization Process Theory (NPT) can be used to explain implementation processes in health care relating to new technologies and complex interventions. This paper describes the processes by which we developed a simplified version of NPT for use by clinicians, managers, and policy makers, and which could be embedded in a web-enabled toolkit and on-line users manual.
Methods
Between 2006 and 2010 we undertook four tasks. (i) We presented NPT to potential and actual users in multiple workshops, seminars, and presentations. (ii) Using what we discovered from these meetings, we decided to create a simplified set of statements and explanations expressing core constructs of the theory (iii) We circulated these statements to a criterion sample of 60 researchers, clinicians and others, using SurveyMonkey to collect qualitative textual data about their criticisms of the statements. (iv) We then reconstructed the statements and explanations to meet users' criticisms, embedded them in a web-enabled toolkit, and beta tested this 'in the wild'.
Results
On-line data collection was effective: over a four week period 50/60 participants responded using SurveyMonkey (40/60) or direct phone and email contact (10/60). An additional nine responses were received from people who had been sent the SurveyMonkey form by other respondents. Beta testing of the web enabled toolkit produced 13 responses, from 327 visits to www.normalizationprocess.org. Qualitative analysis of both sets of responses showed a high level of support for the statements but also showed that some statements poorly expressed their underlying constructs or overlapped with others. These were rewritten to take account of users' criticisms and then embedded in a web-enabled toolkit. As a result we were able to translate the core constructs into a simplified set of statements that could be utilized by non-experts.
Conclusion
Normalization Process Theory has been developed through transparent procedures at each stage of its life. The theory has been shown to be sufficiently robust to merit formal testing. This project has provided a user friendly version of NPT that can be embedded in a web-enabled toolkit and used as a heuristic device to think through implementation and integration problems.

