An apparatus for the production of high isotopic purity deuterium

An apparatus for the electrolytic preparation of high purity D2 is described. D2 with isotopic purity exceeding 99.98% (atomic percentage) was obtained with this apparatus by electrolysing D2O (99.8% isotopic purity) down to about 30% of its original volume

An Exploration of Pharmacy Education Researchers\u27 Perceptions of and Experiences Conducting Qualitative Research: Challenges and Benefits

Objective: To investigate pharmacy education researchers’ experiences conducting qualitative research and their perceptions of qualitative research in pharmacy education. Methods: One-time, in-depth interviews were conducted with 19 participants across 12 schools/ colleges of pharmacy. Faculty represented the most significant demographic in the sample, followed by graduate students, postdoctoral fellows/scholars, and residents. Interview transcripts were coded, and emergent themes were identified using a modified form of the Sort and Sift, Think and Shift method. Results: This study revealed that pharmacy education researchers have varying levels of training in conducting qualitative research or none at all. On average, participants had either led or contributed to three qualitative projects (range 1-20 projects). Three emergent themes were identified: 1) pharmacy educators\u27 qualitative training experiences, 2) barriers and challenges to considering and conducting qualitative research in pharmacy education, and 3) benefits of employing qualitative research in pharmacy education. Conclusion: The application of rigorous qualitative approaches by pharmacy education researchers clearly holds great potential in addressing complex and evolving healthcare problems. However, like other health fields, findings from this study suggest that increased opportunities for training and exposure to qualitative approaches are needed to enhance preparation and appreciation for this vital research tool

Management of Gastroduodenal Artery Pseudoaneurysm Rupture With Duodenal Ulcer Complicated by Coil Migration.

Rupture of visceral artery aneurysms or visceral artery pseudoaneurysms is an unusual cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Although most visceral artery aneurysms and visceral artery pseudoaneurysms occur in the splenic artery or hepatic artery, they can rarely occur in the gastroduodenal artery. These are at high risk for rupture, with a 40%-70% mortality. We report a case of recurrent upper gastrointestinal bleeding due to gastroduodenal artery pseudoaneurysm despite endoscopic treatment and endovascular embolization complicated by coil migration into the duodenum

Cluster Dynamics for Randomly Frustrated Systems with Finite Connectivity

In simulations of some infinite range spin glass systems with finite connectivity, it is found that for any resonable computational time, the saturatedenergy per spin that is achieved by a cluster algorithm is lowered in comparison to that achieved by Metropolis dynamics.The gap between the average energies obtained from these two dynamics is robust with respect to variations of the annealing schedule. For some probability distribution of the interactions the ground state energy is calculated analytically within the replica symmetry assumptionand is found to be saturated by a cluster algorithm.Comment: Revtex, 4 pages with 3 figure

Mean Field Behavior of Cluster Dynamics

The dynamic behavior of cluster algorithms is analyzed in the classical mean field limit. Rigorous analytical results below $T_c$ establish that the dynamic exponent has the value $z_{sw}=1$ for the Swendsen-Wang algorithm and $z_{uw}=0$ for the Wolff algorithm. An efficient Monte Carlo implementation is introduced, adapted for using these algorithms for fully connected graphs. Extensive simulations both above and below $T_c$ demonstrate scaling and evaluate the finite-size scaling function by means of a rather impressive collapse of the data.Comment: Revtex, 9 pages with 7 figure

Automatic mental processes, automatic actions and behaviours in game transfer phenomena: an empirical self-report study using online forum data

Previous studies have demonstrated that the playing of videogames can have both intended and unintended effects. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of videogames on players’ mental processes and behaviours in day-to-day settings. A total of 1,023 self-reports from 762 gamers collected from online videogame forums were classified, quantified, described and explained. The data include automatic thoughts, sensations and impulses, automatic mental replays of the game in real life, and voluntary/involuntary behaviours with videogame content. Many gamers reported that they had responded – at least sometimes – to real life stimuli as if they were still playing videogames. This included overreactions, avoidances, and involuntary movements of limbs. These experiences lasted relatively short periods of time but in a minority of players were recurrent. The gamers' experiences appeared to be enhanced by virtual embodiment, repetitive manipulation of game controls, and their gaming habits. However, similar phenomena may also occur when doing other non-gaming activities. The implications of these game transfer experiences are discussed

Ground states of two-dimensional ±\pmJ Edwards-Anderson spin glasses

We present an exact algorithm for finding all the ground states of the two-dimensional Edwards-Anderson $\pm J$ spin glass and characterize its performance. We investigate how the ground states change with increasing system size and and with increasing antiferromagnetic bond ratio $x$. We find that that some system properties have very large and strongly non-Gaussian variations between realizations.Comment: 15 pages, 21 figures, 2 tables, uses revtex4 macro

Comparison of new forms of creatine in raising plasma creatine levels

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previous research has shown that plasma creatine levels are influenced by extracellular concentrations of insulin and glucose as well as by the intracellular creatine concentration. However, the form of creatine administered does not appear to have any effect although specific data on this is lacking. This study examined whether the administration of three different forms of creatine had different effects on plasma creatine concentrations and pharmacokinetics.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Six healthy subjects (three female and three male subjects) participated in the study. Each subject was assigned to ingest a single dose of isomolar amounts of creatine (4.4 g) in the form of creatine monohydrate (CrM), tri-creatine citrate (CrC), or creatine pyruvate (CrPyr) using a balanced cross-over design. Plasma concentration curves, determined over eight hours after ingestion, were subject to pharmacokinetic analysis and primary derived data were analyzed by repeated measures ANOVA.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mean peak concentrations and area under the curve (AUC) were significantly higher with CrPyr (17 and 14%, respectively) in comparison to CrM and CrC. Mean peak concentration and AUC were not significantly different between CrM and CrC. Despite the higher peak concentration with CrPyr there was no difference between the estimated velocity constants of absorption (ka) or elimination (kel) between the three treatments. There was no effect of treatment with CrPyr on the plasma pyruvate concentration.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The findings suggest that different forms of creatine result in slightly altered kinetics of plasma creatine absorption following ingestion of isomolar (with respect to creatine) doses of CrM, CrC and CrPyr although differences in ka could not be detected due to the small number of blood samples taken during the absorption phase. Characteristically this resulted in higher plasma concentrations of creatine with CrPyr. Differences in bioavailability are thought to be unlikely since absorption of CrM is already close to 100%. The small differences in kinetics are unlikely to have any effect on muscle creatine elevation during periods of creatine loading.</p