6,135 research outputs found
The omnivorous Tyrolean Iceman: colon contents (meat, cereals, pollen, moss and whipworm) and stable isotope analyses
The contents of the colon of the Tyrolean Iceman who lived Ga. 5300 years ago include muscle fibres, cereal remains, a diversity of pollen, and most notably that of the hop hornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia) retaining cellular contents, as well as a moss leaf (Neckera complanata) and eggs of the parasitic whipworm (Trichuris trichiura). Based almost solely on stable isotope analyses and ignoring the work on the colon contents, two recently published papers on the Iceman's diet draw ill- founded conclusions about vegetarianism and even veganism. Neither the pollen nor the moss is likely to have been deliberately consumed as food by the Iceman. All the available evidence concerning the Iceman's broad-based diet is reviewed and the significance of the colon contents for matters other than assessment of food intake is outlined
Community pharmacy-based medication therapy management services: financial impact for patients
This is the published version. Copyright 2012 Centro de Investigaciones y Publicaciones Farmaceuticas.Objective: To determine the direct financial impact
for patients resulting from Medication Therapy
Management (MTM) interventions made by
community pharmacists. Secondary objectives
include evaluating the patient and physician
acceptance rates of the community pharmacistsâ
recommended MTM interventions.
Methods: This was a retrospective observational
study conducted at 20 Price Chopper and Hen
House grocery store chain pharmacies in the
Kansas City metro area from January 1, 2010 to
December 31, 2010. Study patients were Medicare
Part D beneficiaries eligible for MTM services. The
primary outcome was the change in patient out-ofpocket
prescription medication expense as a result
of MTM services.
Results: Of 128 patients included in this study, 68%
experienced no out-of-pocket financial impact on
their medication expenses as a result of MTM
services. A total of 27% of the patients realized a
cost-savings (USD440.50 per year, (SD=289.69))
while another 5% of patients saw a cost increase in
out-of-pocket expense (USD255.66 per year,
(SD=324.48)). The net financial impact for all 128
patients who participated in MTM services was an
average savings of USD102.83 per patient per year
(SD=269.18, p<0.0001). Pharmacists attempted a
total of 732 recommendations; 391 (53%) were
accepted by both the patient and their prescriber. A
total of 341 (47%) recommendations were not
accepted because of patient refusal (290, 85%) or
prescriber refusal (51, 15%).
Conclusions: Patient participation in MTM services
reduces patient out-of-pocket medication expense.
However, this savings is driven by only 32% of
subjects who are experiencing a financial impact on
out-of-pocket medication expense. Additionally, the
majority of the pharmacistsâ recommended
interventions (53%) were accepted by patients and
prescribers
Relationships between Larval and Juvenile Abundance of Winter-Spawned Fishes in North Carolina, USA
We analyzed the relationships between the larval and juvenile abundances of selected estuarine-dependent fishes that spawn during the winter in continental shelf waters of the U.S. Atlantic coast. Six species were included in the analysis based on their ecological and economic importance and relative abundance in available surveys: spot Leiostomus xanthurus, pinfish Lagodon rhomboides, southern flounder Paralichthys lethostigma, summer flounder Paralichthys dentatus, Atlantic croaker Micropogonias undulatus, and Atlantic menhaden Brevoortia tyrannus. Cross-correlation analysis was used to examine the relationships between the larval and juvenile abundances within species. Tests of synchrony across species were used to find similarities in recruitment dynamics for species with similar winter shelf-spawning life-history strategies. Positive correlations were found between the larval and juvenile abundances for three of the six selected species (spot, pinfish, and southern flounder). These three species have similar geographic ranges that primarily lie south of Cape Hatteras. There were no significant correlations between the larval and juvenile abundances for the other three species (summer flounder, Atlantic croaker, and Atlantic menhaden); we suggest several factors that could account for the lack of a relationship. Synchrony was found among the three southern species within both the larval and juvenile abundance time series. These results provide support for using larval ingress measures as indices of abundance for these and other species with similar geographic ranges and winter shelf-spawning life-history strategies
Charge injection instability in perfect insulators
We show that in a macroscopic perfect insulator, charge injection at a
field-enhancing defect is associated with an instability of the insulating
state or with bistability of the insulating and the charged state. The effect
of a nonlinear carrier mobility is emphasized. The formation of the charged
state is governed by two different processes with clearly separated time
scales. First, due to a fast growth of a charge-injection mode, a localized
charge cloud forms near the injecting defect (or contact). Charge injection
stops when the field enhancement is screened below criticality. Secondly, the
charge slowly redistributes in the bulk. The linear instability mechanism and
the final charged steady state are discussed for a simple model and for
cylindrical and spherical geometries. The theory explains an experimentally
observed increase of the critical electric field with decreasing size of the
injecting contact. Numerical results are presented for dc and ac biased
insulators.Comment: Revtex, 7pages, 4 ps figure
An Experimental Platform for Pulsed-Power Driven Magnetic Reconnection
We describe a versatile pulsed-power driven platform for magnetic
reconnection experiments, based on exploding wire arrays driven in parallel
[Suttle, L. G. et al. PRL, 116, 225001]. This platform produces inherently
magnetised plasma flows for the duration of the generator current pulse (250
ns), resulting in a long-lasting reconnection layer. The layer exists for long
enough to allow evolution of complex processes such as plasmoid formation and
movement to be diagnosed by a suite of high spatial and temporal resolution
laser-based diagnostics. We can access a wide range of magnetic reconnection
regimes by changing the wire material or moving the electrodes inside the wire
arrays. We present results with aluminium and carbon wires, in which the
parameters of the inflows and the layer which forms are significantly
different. By moving the electrodes inside the wire arrays, we change how
strongly the inflows are driven. This enables us to study both symmetric
reconnection in a range of different regimes, and asymmetric reconnection.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures. Version revised to include referee's comments.
Submitted to Physics of Plasma
'A light in a very dark place' : The role of a voluntary organisation providing support for those affected by encephalitis
Voluntary organisations are seen as contributing to the âdemocratisationâ of health and social care. Little, however, is written about their role and this paper, by focusing on the work of The Encephalitis Society, provides insights into the challenges facing voluntary organisations as they manage twin roles as service providers and advocates, of people with neurological disorders. Two studies are presented: a review conducted by the Society, focusing on patientâs experiences of neurological services; and an external evaluation of the Societyâs current provision. The first, based on a postal survey of its members affected by encephalitis (n = 339), illustrates the Societyâs advocacy role. The survey provided support for the Association of British Neurologistsâ recommendation for nationally agreed standards of care. The second study, a postal survey of recent contacts (n = 76) and in-depth telephone interviews (n = 22), illustrates the Societyâs value role as a service provider and supports its role in helping rehabilitate affected individuals and their families. These studies provided the Society with information for policy and service development. Importantly, providing the basis of informed action and partnership with stakeholders and informing the organisationâs sense of purpose, in the changing context of welfare provision in the UK
Homochiral growth through enantiomeric cross-inhibition
The stability and conservation properties of a recently proposed
polymerization model are studied. The achiral (racemic) solution is linearly
unstable once the relevant control parameter (here the fidelity of the
catalyst) exceeds a critical value. The growth rate is calculated for different
fidelity parameters and cross-inhibition rates. A chirality parameter is
defined and shown to be conserved by the nonlinear terms of the model. Finally,
a truncated version of the model is used to derive a set of two ordinary
differential equations and it is argued that these equations are more realistic
than those used in earlier models of that form.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, Orig. Life Evol. Biosph. (accepted
Tumor Repression of VCaP Xenografts by a Pyrrole-Imidazole Polyamide
Pyrrole-imidazole (Py-Im) polyamides are high affinity DNA-binding small molecules that can inhibit protein-DNA interactions. In VCaP cells, a human prostate cancer cell line overexpressing both AR and the TMPRSS2-ERG gene fusion, an androgen response element (ARE)-targeted Py-Im polyamide significantly downregulates AR driven gene expression. Polyamide exposure to VCaP cells reduced proliferation without causing DNA damage. Py-Im polyamide treatment also reduced tumor growth in a VCaP mouse xenograft model. In addition to the effects on AR regulated transcription, RNA-seq analysis revealed inhibition of topoisomerase-DNA binding as a potential mechanism that contributes to the antitumor effects of polyamides in cell culture and in xenografts. These studies support the therapeutic potential of Py-Im polyamides to target multiple aspects of transcriptional regulation in prostate cancers without genotoxic stress
Understanding interpersonal relationships and psychopathy
Although psychopathy is widely recognised for its importance in forensic and criminal justice settings, the range of interpersonal relationships that are experienced and engaged in by individuals with psychopathy is understudied. A Rapid Evidence Assessment (Study 1) examined what is known empirically about the nature and quality of relationships for individuals with psychopathy. Affective, Cognitive and Lifestyle Assessment (ACL) interviews and genograms were then analysed in conjunction with Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV) scores to explore the extent, nature, and quality of interpersonal relationships in student and forensic psychiatric samples (Study 2). Quantitative data indicated that total psychopathy score predicted a smaller number of positive interpersonal relationships. Findings regarding Factors 1 and 2 and numbers of positive and negative interpersonal relationships varied between samples. Qualitative analyses demonstrated that psychopathic participants used less positive descriptors than non-psychopathic participants when discussing their interpersonal relationships. Findings are examined with regards to implications for future research
Consistent off-shell vertex and nucleon self-energy
We present a consistent calculation of half-off-shell form factors in the
pion-nucleon vertex and the nucleon self-energy. Numerical results are
presented. Near the on-shell point the pion-nucleon vertex is dominated by the
pseudovector coupling, while at large nucleon invariant masses we find a
sizable pseudoscalar admixture.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures, REVTeX, submitted to Phys. Rev. C, replaced with
corrected versio
- âŠ