Radio meteorology at jpl goldstone pioneer station, july 14, 1965 final report

Macroscopic refractive index structure of troposphere and local microscopic refractive index variations - radio meteorolog

A new approach to ensuring oral health care for people living with HIV/AIDS: the dental case manager

INTRODUCTION: The American Dental Association has identified several barriers to adequate dental care for vulnerable populations, including appropriate case management. The objective of this study was to examine the perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs of dental patients living with HIV/AIDS on the role and value of the dental case manager (DCM) and the effect of DCM services on their oral or overall health. METHODS: We used a qualitative descriptive study design and focus groups. Twenty-five people who had received DCM services on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, attended 1 of 5 focus groups in 2009 and 2010. Digital recordings of the groups were transcribed verbatim. Textual data were categorized using directed qualitative content analysis techniques. We identified major themes and representative quotes. RESULTS: The following themes emerged from discussions on the DCM\u27s role: being available, knowledgeable about clients and insurance, and empathetic; increasing access; and providing comfort. Most participants credited their oral and overall health improvements to the DCM. All participants believed that the DCM was a valuable addition to the clinic and noted that other at-risk populations, including the elderly and developmentally disabled, likely would benefit from working with a DCM. CONCLUSION: The addition of a DCM facilitated access to dental care among this sample of people living with HIV/AIDS, providing them with an advocate and resulting in self-reported improvements to oral and overall health

Thermal Motions of the E. Coli Glucose-Galactose Binding Protein Studied Using Well-Sampled Semi-Atomistic Simulations

The E. coli glucose-galactose chemosensory receptor is a 309 residue, 32 kDa protein consisting of two distinct structural domains. In this computational study, we studied the protein's thermal fluctuations, including both the large scale interdomain movements that contribute to the receptor's mechanism of action, as well as smaller scale motions, using two different computational methods. We employ extremely fast, "semi-atomistic" Library-Based Monte Carlo (LBMC) simulations, which include all backbone atoms but "implicit" side chains. Our results were compared with previous experiments and an all-atom Langevin dynamics simulation. Both LBMC and Langevin dynamics simulations were performed using both the apo and glucose-bound form of the protein, with LBMC exhibiting significantly larger fluctuations. The LBMC simulations are also in general agreement with the disulfide trapping experiments of Careaga & Falke (JMB, 1992; Biophys. J., 1992), which indicate that distant residues in the crystal structure (i.e. beta carbons separated by 10 to 20 angstroms) form spontaneous transient contacts in solution. Our simulations illustrate several possible "mechanisms" (configurational pathways) for these fluctuations. We also observe several discrepancies between our calculations and experiment. Nevertheless, we believe that our semi-atomistic approach could be used to study the fluctuations in other proteins, perhaps for ensemble docking, or other analyses of protein flexibility in virtual screening studies.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figures, 2 table

Community dimensions and HPSA practice location: 30 years of family medicine training

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Our objective was to assess practicing family physicians\u27 confidence and participation in a range of community-related activities. Additionally, we assessed the strength of the relationship between the physicians\u27 reported medical school and residency training in community-related activities and their current community activities, as well as whether they were practicing in an underserved location. METHODS: All 347 graduates of the University of Massachusetts Family Medicine Residency were surveyed about practice location and type, involvement and training in community work, confidence in community-related skills, and sociodemographic characteristics. Analyses were conducted by residency graduation decade (1976-1985, 1986-1995, and 1996-2005). RESULTS: Earlier graduates (19761985) were significantly more likely to engage in an array of community-related activities, but recent graduates (1996-2005) were more likely to report having been trained in these skills. There was a significant positive association between practice in an underserved area and confidence in issues related to sociocultural aspects of care. While recent graduates were more likely to locate both initial and current practices in a Health Professions Shortage Area (HPSA), 20.6% of all graduates reported an initial practice in a HPSA. CONCLUSIONS: While family physician involvement in community-related activities increases with years out of residency, a higher proportion of recent graduates report having learned community-related skills while in medical school. Physician relocation tends to be away from HPSA toward non-HPSA sites

Eat Walk Sleep for Health: Primary Prevention in a Refugee Community

Background: Refugees resettling in the US historically follow a trajectory of declining health as they adopt American diet and physical activity. Methods: This participatory research study explored health beliefs and behaviors of refugees from Burma currently resettling in New England. Community members and researchers adapted a healthy living bilingual educational flipchart, which was piloted in two workshops with a total of 20 adult men and women. An interpreter translated the audio taped discussions which were transcribed and analyzed using standard qualitative methods. Conclusions/ Discussion: Refugee camps constrain food and physical activity related health behaviors. Refugees rely on traditional healing practices but are familiar with western public health care and preventive education. In camps, close living quarters encouraged social interaction and group play. Physical activity was built into daily life as transportation, occupation and food gathering method. Exercise was a byproduct of a busy day, walking to work or school, collecting bamboo in the woods. New arrivals are often housebound and isolated; they seek simple maps that assist in locating resources in their new communities. Asking about sleep appears to open the conversation about emotional and mental health problems. Refugees want specific information about healthy foods and better understanding of how to determine need for exercise. They also seek consistent information on prevention of health problems common in the US coupled with assistance preserving their traditional beliefs. Discussion: Post-settlement in the US, retaining good health is challenging. Flipcharts and neighborhood map drawing provide avenues for open discussion leading to areas for Prevention Research Centers to partner for health

Family medicine residency characteristics associated with practice in a health professions shortage area

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: While some family medicine residency programs are designed to train residents in community health centers (CHCs) for future careers serving underserved populations, there are few outcome studies on such programs. Our residency program provides three options for ambulatory health center training, but otherwise residents participate in the same curriculum. We analyzed relationships between ambulatory training site and likelihood of practice in health professions shortage areas (HPSAs). METHODS: We sent a mail survey to all graduates of one family medicine residency about practice locations, types, and populations; influences on practice choice; and sociodemographic characteristics. RESULTS: Training in a CHC had a statistically significant association with the likelihood of practice in an HPSA for both initial and current practice. Training in a rural residency site was associated with initial and current rural practice. Logistic regression analysis showed that physicians who completed ambulatory training in the CHC were nearly six times more likely to report having practiced initially and four times more likely to cite current practice in an HPSA. CONCLUSIONS: Outpatient CHC residency training increases the likelihood of practice in an underserved setting. This finding has policy implications for supporting workforce training in practice settings that care for underserved populations

Changes in the Proliferative Activity of Human Hematopoietic Stem Cells in NOD/SCID Mice and Enhancement of Their Transplantability after In Vivo Treatment with Cell Cycle Inhibitors

Human hematopoietic tissue contains rare stem cells with multilineage reconstituting ability demonstrable in receptive xenogeneic hosts. We now show that within 3 wk nonobese diabetic severe combined immunodeficiency (NOD/SCID) mice transplanted with human fetal liver cells regenerate near maximum levels of daughter human hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) able to repopulate secondary NOD/SCID mice. At this time, most of the human HSCs (and other primitive progenitors) are actively proliferating as shown by their sensitivity to treatments that kill cycling cells selectively (e.g., exposure to high specific-activity [3H]thymidine in vitro or 5-fluorouracil in vivo). Interestingly, the proliferating human HSCs were rapidly forced into quiescence by in vivo administration of stromal-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) and this was accompanied by a marked increase in the numbers of human HSCs detectable. A similar result was obtained when transforming growth factor-β was injected, consistent with a reversible change in HSCs engrafting potential linked to changes in their cell cycle status. By 12 wk after transplant, most of the human HSCs had already entered Go and treatment with SDF-1 had no effect on their engrafting activity. These findings point to the existence of novel mechanisms by which inhibitors of HSC cycling can regulate the engrafting ability of human HSCs executing self-renewal divisions in vivo

Magma fragmentation:a perspective on emerging topics and future directions

AbstractThe breaking apart of magma into fragments is intimately related to the eruptive style and thus the nature and footprint of volcanic hazards. The size and shape distributions of the fragments, in turn, affect the efficiency of heat transfer within pyroclastic plumes and currents and the settling velocity, and so the residence time, of particles in the atmosphere. Fundamental work relating the glass transition to the fragmentation of magmas remains at the heart of conceptual and numerical models of volcanic eruptions. Current fragmentation criteria, however, do not predict the sizes and shapes of the resulting fragments, or fully account for the multiphase nature of magmas or ways in which magma can break in a fluidal manner or by thermal stress. The pulsatory, non-steady state nature of some eruptions, and related interactions with these fragmentation criteria, also requires further investigation. Here, we briefly review some recent advances in the field of magma fragmentation and provide a perspective on how integrated field, experimental and numerical modelling studies can address key outstanding challenges.</jats:p

Frequency Dependent Rheology of Vesicular Rhyolite

Frequency dependent rheology of magmas may result from the presence of inclusions (bubbles, crystals) in the melt and/or from viscoelastic behavior of the melt itself. With the addition of deformable inclusions to a melt possessing viscoelastic properties one might expect changes in the relaxation spectrum of the shear stresses of the material (e.g., broadening of the relaxation spectrum) resulting from the viscously deformable geometry of the second phase. We have begun to investigate the effect of bubbles on the frequency dependent rheology of rhyolite melt. The present study deals with the rheology of bubble-free and vesicular rhyolite melts containing spherical voids of 10 and 30 vol %. We used a sinusoidal torsion deformation device. Vesicular rhyolite melts were generated by the melting (at 1 bar) of an Armenian obsidian (Dry Fountain, Erevan, Armenia) and Little Glass Mountain obsidian (California). The real and imaginary parts of shear viscosity and shear modulus have been determined in a frequency range of 0.005–10 Hz and temperature range of 600°–900°C. The relaxed shear viscosities of samples obtained at low frequencies and high temperatures compare well with data previously obtained by parallel plate viscometry. The relaxed shear viscosity of vesicular rhyolites decreases progressively with increasing bubble content. The relaxation spectrum for rhyolite melt without bubbles has an asymmetric form and fits an extended exponent relaxation. The presence of deformable bubbles results in an imaginary component of the shear modulus that becomes more symmetrical and extends into the low-frequency/high-temperature range. The internal friction Q −1 is unaffected in the high-frequency/low-temperature range by the presence of bubbles and depends on the bubble content in the high-temperature/low-frequency range. The present work, in combination with the previous study of Stein and Spera (1992), illustrates that magma viscosity can either increase or decrease with bubble content, depending upon the rate of style of strain during magmatic flow