Covariate-Adjusted Constrained Bayes Predictions of Random Intercepts and Slopes. Sujit Ghosh is a

Constrained Bayes methodology represents an alternative to the posterior mean (empirical Bayes) method commonly used to produce random effect predictions under mixed linear models. The general constrained Bayes methodology of Ghosh (1992) is compared to a direct implementation of constraints, and it is suggested that the former approach could feasibly be incorporated into commercial mixed model software. Simulation studies and a real-data example illustrate the main points and support the conclusions

Characterization of designed cobaltacarborane porphyrins using conductive probe atomic force microscopy

© 2016 Jayne C. Garno, et al. Porphyrins and metalloporphyrins have unique chemical and electronic properties and thus provide useful model structures for studies of nanoscale electronic properties. The rigid planar structures and π-conjugated backbones of porphyrins convey robust electrical characteristics. For our investigations, cobaltacarborane porphyrins were synthesized using a ring-opening zwitterionic reaction to produce isomers with selected arrangements of carborane clusters on each macrocycle. Experiments were designed to investigate how the molecular structure influences the selforganization, surface assembly, and conductive properties of three molecular structures with 2, 4, or 8 cobaltacarborane substituents. Current versus voltage (I-V) spectra for designed cobaltacarborane porphyrins deposited on conductive gold substrates were acquired using conductive probe atomic force microscopy (CP-AFM). Characterizations with CP-AFM provide capabilities for obtaining physical measurements and structural information with unprecedented sensitivity. We found that the morphology of cobaltacarborane porphyrin structures formed on surfaces depends on a complex interplay of factors such as the solvent used for dissolution, the nature of the substrate, and the design of the parent molecule. The conductive properties of cobaltacarborane porphyrins were observed to change according to the arrangement of cobaltacarborane substituents. Specifically, the number and placement of the cobaltacarborane ligands on the porphyrin macrocycle affect the interactions that drive porphyrin self-assembly and crystallization. Interestingly, coulombic staircase I-V profiles were detected for a porphyrin with two cobaltacarborane substituents

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(overbar) = 0.9985(4)

Validation Analysis of the Groundwater Flow and Transport Model of the Central Nevada Test Area

The Central Nevada Test Area (CNTA) is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) site undergoing environmental restoration. The CNTA is located about 95 km northeast of Tonopah, Nevada, and 175 km southwest of Ely, Nevada (Figure 1.1). It was the site of the Faultless underground nuclear test conducted by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (DOE's predecessor agency) in January 1968. The purposes of this test were to gauge the seismic effects of a relatively large, high-yield detonation completed in Hot Creek Valley (outside the Nevada Test Site [NTS]) and to determine the suitability of the site for future large detonations. The yield of the Faultless underground nuclear test was between 200 kilotons and 1 megaton (DOE, 2000). A three-dimensional flow and transport model was created for the CNTA site (Pohlmann et al., 1999) and determined acceptable by DOE and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) for predicting contaminant boundaries for the site

The Link Between Everyday Discrimination, Healthcare Utilization, and Health Status Among a National Sample of Women

Background: Research has not adequately examined the potential negative effects of perceiving routine discrimination on general healthcare utilization or health status, especially among reproductive-aged women. We sought to evaluate the association between everyday discrimination, health service use, and perceived health among a national sample of women in the United States. Materials and Methods: Data were drawn from the Women's Healthcare Experiences and Preferences survey, a randomly selected, national probability sample of 1078 U.S. women aged 18?55 years. We examined associations between everyday discrimination (via a standardized scale) on frequency of health service utilization and perceived general health status using chi-square and multivariable logistic regression modeling. Results: Compared with women who reported healthcare visits every 3 years or less (reference group), each one-point increase in discrimination score was associated with higher odds of having healthcare visits annually or more often (odds ratio [OR]?=?1.36, confidence interval [95% CI]?=?1.01?1.83). Additionally, each one-point increase in discrimination score was significantly associated with lower odds of having excellent/very good perceived health (OR?=?0.65; 95% CI?=?0.54?0.80). Conclusion: Perceived discrimination was associated with increased exposure to the healthcare setting among this national sample of women. Perceived discrimination was also inversely associated with excellent/very good perceived health status.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/140141/1/jwh.2015.5522.pd

Fatigue Intervention by Nurses Evaluation - The FINE Trial. A randomised controlled trial of nurse led self-help treatment for patients in primary care with chronic fatigue syndrome: study protocol. [ISRCTN74156610]

Background: Chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as ME (CFS/ME), is a condition characterised primarily by severe, disabling fatigue, of unknown origin, which has a poor prognosis and serious personal and economic consequences. Evidence for the effectiveness of any treatment for CFS/ME in primary care, where most patients are seen, is sparse. Recently, a brief, pragmatic treatment for CFS/ME, based on a physiological dysregulation model of the condition, was shown to be successful in improving fatigue and physical functioning in patients in secondary care. The treatment involves providing patients with a readily understandable explanation of their symptoms, from which flows the rationale for a graded rehabilitative plan, developed collaboratively with the therapist. The present trial will test the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of pragmatic rehabilitation when delivered by specially trained general nurses in primary care. We selected a client-centred counselling intervention, called supportive listening, as a comparison treatment. Counselling has been shown to be as effective as cognitive behaviour therapy for treating fatigue in primary care, is more readily available, and controls for supportive therapist contact time. Our control condition is treatment as usual by the general practitioner (GP). Methods and design: This study protocol describes the design of an ongoing, single-blind, pragmatic randomized controlled trial of a brief (18 week) self-help treatment, pragmatic rehabilitation, delivered by specially trained nurse-therapists in patients' homes, compared with nurse-therapist delivered supportive listening and treatment as usual by the GP. An economic evaluation, taking a societal viewpoint, is being carried out alongside the clinical trial. Three adult general nurses were trained over a six month period to deliver the two interventions. Patients aged over 18 and fulfilling the Oxford criteria for CFS are assessed at baseline, after the intervention, and again one year later. Primary outcomes are self-reported physical functioning and fatigue at one year, and will be analysed on an intention-to-treat basis. A qualitative study will examine the interventions' mechanisms of change, and also GPs' drivers and barriers towards referral

LIV-1 Promotes Prostate Cancer Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition and Metastasis through HB-EGF Shedding and EGFR-Mediated ERK Signaling

LIV-1, a zinc transporter, is an effector molecule downstream from soluble growth factors. This protein has been shown to promote epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in human pancreatic, breast, and prostate cancer cells. Despite the implication of LIV-1 in cancer growth and metastasis, there has been no study to determine the role of LIV-1 in prostate cancer progression. Moreover, there was no clear delineation of the molecular mechanism underlying LIV-1 function in cancer cells. In the present communication, we found increased LIV-1 expression in benign, PIN, primary and bone metastatic human prostate cancer. We characterized the mechanism by which LIV-1 drives human prostate cancer EMT in an androgen-refractory prostate cancer cells (ARCaP) prostate cancer bone metastasis model. LIV-1, when overexpressed in ARCaPE (derivative cells of ARCaP with epithelial phenotype) cells, promoted EMT irreversibly. LIV-1 overexpressed ARCaPE cells had elevated levels of HB-EGF and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) 2 and MMP 9 proteolytic enzyme activities, without affecting intracellular zinc concentration. The activation of MMPs resulted in the shedding of heparin binding-epidermal growth factor (HB-EGF) from ARCaPE cells that elicited constitutive epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) phosphorylation and its downstream extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK) signaling. These results suggest that LIV-1 is involved in prostate cancer progression as an intracellular target of growth factor receptor signaling which promoted EMT and cancer metastasis. LIV-1 could be an attractive therapeutic target for the eradication of pre-existing human prostate cancer and bone and soft tissue metastases

Learning and innovation of Chinese Firms along the paths of “Bring In” to “Go Global”

Over the past several decades, the “Bring In” and “Go Global” policies implemented in China have encouraged an unprecedented level of investment in and out of the country, creating unique opportunities for Chinese firms to learn and innovate along the paths of inward and outward internationalization. The international business (IB) literature has yet to satisfactorily explain what has been learnt by the Chinese firms and whether and how their learning and innovation have taken place over time. This special issue examines the specific content, nature, mechanisms, processes, and internal and external conditions and contexts of learning and innovation of Chinese firms during the course of inward and outward internationalization. We provide an overview of the “Bring In” and “Go Global” policies, assess the current state of the field, and explicate how the research articles in the special issue contribute to the understanding of learning and innovation of Chinese firms along the paths of inward and outward internationalization

Food Insecurity in Relation to Changes in Hemoglobin A1c, Self-Efficacy, and Fruit/Vegetable Intake During a Diabetes Educational Intervention

OBJECTIVE Food insecurity is hypothesized to make diabetes self-management more difficult. We conducted a longitudinal assessment of food insecurity with several diabetes self-care measures.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSWe conducted a secondary, observational analysis of 665 low-income patients with diabetes, all of whom received self-management support as part of a larger diabetes educational intervention. We analyzed baseline food insecurity (measured by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Security module) in relation to changes in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) as well as self-reported diabetes self-efficacy and daily fruit and vegetable intake. We examined longitudinal differences using generalized estimating equation linear regression models, controlling for time, age, sex, race, income, and intervention arm.RESULTSOverall, 57% of the sample had an income <$15,000. Participants who were food insecure (33%) were younger, had less income, and were more likely to be unemployed compared with participants who were food secure. At baseline, those who were food insecure had higher mean HbA1c values (8.4% vs. 8.0%) and lower self-efficacy and fruit and vegetable intake than those who were food secure (all P < 0.05). Compared with food-secure individuals, participants who were food insecure had significantly greater improvements in HbA1c over time (0.38% decrease compared with 0.01% decrease; P value for interaction <0.05) as well as in self-efficacy (P value for interaction <0.01). There was no significant difference in HbA1c by food security status at follow-up.CONCLUSIONSParticipants experiencing food insecurity had poorer diabetes-related measures at baseline but made significant improvements in HbA1c and self-efficacy. Low-income patients who were food insecure may be particularly receptive to diabetes self-management support, even if interventions are not explicitly structured to address finances or food security challenges