Chemical Identification of the Radioelements Produced from Carbon and Boron by Deuteron Bombardment

Chemical experiments were made on the radioactive substances resulting from the bombardment of carbon and boron by deuterons. Carbon is shown to yield an isotope of nitrogen and boron an isotope of carbon. The nitrogen so formed has a half-life of 10.5 minutes while that found by Curie and Joliot on bombardment of boron with alpha-particles has a half-life of 14 minutes. These facts are discussed

Personal preferences for Personalised Trials among patients with chronic diseases: an empirical Bayesian analysis of a conjoint survey.

OBJECTIVE: To describe individual patient preferences for Personalised Trials and to identify factors and conditions associated with patient preferences. DESIGN: Each participant was presented with 18 conjoint questions via an online survey. Each question provided two choices of Personalised Trials that were defined by up to eight attributes, including treatment types, clinician involvement, study logistics and trial burden on a patient. SETTING: Online survey of adults with at least two common chronic conditions in the USA. PARTICIPANTS: A nationally representative sample of 501 individuals were recruited from the Chronic Illness Panel by Harris Poll Online. Participants were recruited from several sources, including emails, social media and telephone recruitment of the target population. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The choice of Personalised Trial design that the participant preferred with each conjoint question. RESULTS: There was large variability in participants\u27 preferences for the design of Personalised Trials. On average, they preferred certain attributes, such as a short time commitment and no cost. Notably, a population-level analysis correctly predicted 62% of the conjoint responses. An empirical Bayesian analysis of the conjoint data, which supported the estimation of individual-level preferences, improved the accuracy to 86%. Based on estimates of individual-level preferences, patients with chronic pain preferred a long study duration (p≤0.001). Asthma patients were less averse to participation burden in terms of data-collection frequency than patients with other conditions (p=0.002). Patients with hypertension were more cost-sensitive (p\u3c0.001). CONCLUSION: These analyses provide a framework for elucidating individual-level preferences when implementing novel patient-centred interventions. The data showed that patient preference in Personalised Trials is highly variable, suggesting that individual differences must be accounted for when marketing Personalised Trials. These results have implications for advancing precise interventions in Personalised Trials by indicating when rigorous scientific principles, such as frequent monitoring, is feasible in a substantial subset of patients

Analyses showing how religiosity, social activities, and drug-related beliefs mediate relationships between post-high school experiences and substance use

https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137877/1/occ50.pd

Epidemiology of oral candidiasis in HIV-infected patients: Colonization, infection, treatment, and emergence of fluconazole resistance

: To study the epidemiology of oral candidiasis and the effect of treatment of thrush in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients.: We conducted a prospective observational study of 92 patients over 1 year, including a nonblinded, randomized treatment trial of thrush with clotrimazole troches or oral fluconazole. Oral sites were cultured monthly and when thrush occurred. Candida albicans strains were typed by contour-clamped homogeneous electric field (CHEF) electrophoresis. Changes in strains were evaluated over time and in regard to their associations with particular sites, episodes of thrush, relapse after treatment, and colonization of sexual partners. Susceptibility to fluconazole was tested and CHEF analysis was done on these strains to determine the epidemiology of fluconazole resistance.: Yeasts colonized 84% of patients. C albicans accounted for 81% of all isolates and was separated into 34 distinct strains. Most patients had persistent carriage of 1 or 2 dominant strains of C albicans. Three couples shared strains. Nineteen different C albicans strains caused 82 episodes of thrush in 45 patients. CD4 Torulopsis glabrata and Saccharomyces cerevisiae increased after treatment with either drug, but these organisms were never a sole cause of thrush. In a subset of 35 patients followed for over 3 months in whom fluconazole susceptiblities were performed, minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) to fluconazole increased only in those on fluconazole prophylaxis. Clinical failure of fluconazole was associated with an MIC >= 64 [mu]g/mL in 3 patients, and with an MIC of 8 [mu]g/mL in 1 patient. In 2 of these 4 patients, the prior colonizing strain developed fluconazole resistance. In the other 2, new resistant strains were acquired.: Many different strains of C albicans colonize and cause thrush in patients infected with HIV. Patients are usually persistently colonized with a single strain, and recurrences following treatment are usually due to the same strain. Transmission of strains may occur between couples. Fluconazole and clotrimazole are equally effective in treating thrush, but mycologic cure occurs more often with fluconazole.Fluconazole resistance in C albicans occurs most often in patients who have low CD4 counts and are taking fluconazole prophylactically for recurrent thrush. Fluconazole resistance may occur through acquisition of a new resistant strain or by development of resistance in a previously susceptible strain.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/31920/1/0000873.pd

Phytotoxic Effects of (±)-Catechin In vitro, in Soil, and in the Field

BACKGROUND: Exploring the residence time of allelochemicals released by plants into different soils, episodic exposure of plants to allelochemicals, and the effects of allelochemicals in the field has the potential to improve our understanding of interactions among plants. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We conducted experiments in India and the USA to understand the dynamics of soil concentrations and phytotoxicity of (+/-)-catechin, an allelopathic compound exuded from the roots of Centaurea maculosa, to other plants in vitro and in soil. Experiments with single and pulsed applications into soil were conducted in the field. Experimental application of (+/-)-catechin to soils always resulted in concentrations that were far lower than the amounts added but within the range of reported natural soil concentrations. Pulses replenished (+/-)-catechin levels in soils, but consistently at concentrations much lower than were applied, and even pulsed concentrations declined rapidly. Different natural soils varied substantially in the retention of (+/-)-catechin after application but consistent rapid decreases in concentrations over time suggested that applied experimental concentrations may overestimate concentrations necessary for phytotoxicity by over an order of magnitude. (+/-)-Catechin was not phytotoxic to Bambusa arundinacea in natural Indian soil in a single pulse, but soil concentrations at the time of planting seeds were either undetectable or very low. However, a single dose of (+/-)-catechin suppressed the growth of bamboo in sand, in soil mixed with organic matter, and Koeleria macrantha in soils from Montana and Romania, and in field applications at 40 microg l(-1). Multiple pulses of (+/-)-catechin were inhibitory at very low concentrations in Indian soil. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results demonstrate that (+/-)-catechin is highly dynamic in natural soils, but is phytotoxic well below natural concentrations measured in some soils and applied at low concentrations in the field. However, there is substantial conditionality in the effects of the allelochemical

A review of the phytochemical support for the shifting defence hypothesis

Several theories have been developed to explain why invasive species are very successful and develop into pest species in their new area. The shifting defence hypothesis (SDH) argues that invasive plant species quickly evolve towards new defence levels in the invaded area because they lack their specialist herbivores but are still under attack by local (new) generalist herbivores. The SDH predicts that plants should increase their cheap, toxic defence compounds and lower their expensive digestibility reducing compounds. As a net result resources are saved that can be allocated to growth and reproduction giving these plants a competitive edge over the local plant species. We conducted a literature study to test whether toxic defence compounds in general are increased in the invaded area and if digestibility reducing compounds are lowered. We specifically studied the levels of pyrrolizidine alkaloids, a toxin which is known for its beneficial and detrimental impact against specialists and generalists, respectively. Digestibility reducers did not show a clear trend which might be due to the small number of studies and traits measured. The meta analysis showed that toxic compounds in general and pyrrolizidine alkaloid levels specifically, increased significantly in the invaded area, supporting the predictions of the SDH that a fast evolution takes place in the allocation towards defence

Heritability of Intraindividual Mean and Variability of Positive and Negative Affect : Genetic Analysis of Daily Affect Ratings Over a Month

Positive affect (e.g., attentiveness) and negative affect (e.g., upset) fluctuate over time. We examined genetic influences on interindividual differences in the day-to-day variability of affect (i.e., ups and downs) and in average affect over the duration of a month. Once a day, 17-year-old twins in the United Kingdom (N = 447) rated their positive and negative affect online. The mean and standard deviation of each individual’s daily ratings across the month were used as the measures of that individual’s average affect and variability of affect. Analyses revealed that the average of negative affect was significantly heritable (.53), but the average of positive affect was not; instead, the latter showed significant shared environmental influences (.42). Fluctuations across the month were significantly heritable for both negative affect (.54) and positive affect (.34). The findings support the two-factor theory of affect, which posits that positive affect is more situational and negative affect is more dispositional