1,236 research outputs found
PLA membranes loaded with dba analogs. Controlled release study during hydrolitic degradation
In this research two dibenzylideneacetone (DBA) analogs compounds: (1E,4E)-1-(4-(dimethylamino)phenyl)-5-(4-methoxyphenyl)penta-1,4-dien-3-one (DBA-1) and (1E,4E)-1-(4-methoxyphenyl)-5-(4-nitrophenyl)penta-1,4-dien-3-one (DBA-2) were encapsulated in poly(lactic acid) (PLA) membranes. These DBA analogs can have several applications such as in the development of controlled drug release systems and tissue engineering. The membranes were elaborated by solvent casting. It was found that these fluorescent compounds have a small percentage of hemolysis in human blood red cells at concentrations between 200-500 µg/mL. Therefore, they can be considered not-toxic at these concentrations. The hydrolytic degradation of PLA membranes loaded with the DBA analogs was studied at a temperature of 37 °C under solutions at acid, neutral, and basic pH conditions for a maximum time of six weeks. The hydrolysis was monitored by measuring the loss of mass of the membranes, changes in pH environments, variations in the molecular weight of PLA matrix, and changes in surface morphology observed through Scanning the Electron Microscopy (SEM) technique. Applying UV-visible spectrophotometry, the amount released from the DBA analogs in the PLA membranes was determined during the degradation time, and finally, the release profile was obtained. It was observed employing SEM that the membranes presented a major degradation under basic pH conditions, with a higher percentage of release in an acid medium for both analogues of DBA studie
Full-sky maps for gravitational lensing of the CMB
We use the large cosmological Millennium Simulation (MS) to construct the
first all-sky maps of the lensing potential and the deflection angle, aiming at
gravitational lensing of the CMB, with the goal of properly including
small-scale non-linearities and non-Gaussianity. Exploiting the Born
approximation, we implement a map-making procedure based on direct ray-tracing
through the gravitational potential of the MS. We stack the simulation box in
redshift shells up to , producing continuous all-sky maps with
arcminute angular resolution. A randomization scheme avoids repetition of
structures along the line of sight and structures larger than the MS box size
are added to supply the missing contribution of large-scale (LS) structures to
the lensing signal. The angular power spectra of the projected lensing
potential and the deflection-angle modulus agree quite well with semi-analytic
estimates on scales down to a few arcminutes, while we find a slight excess of
power on small scales, which we interpret as being due to non-linear clustering
in the MS. Our map-making procedure, combined with the LS adding technique, is
ideally suited for studying lensing of CMB anisotropies, for analyzing
cross-correlations with foreground structures, or other secondary CMB
anisotropies such as the Rees-Sciama effect.Comment: LaTeX file, 10 pages, MNRAS in press, scales larger than the
Millennium Simulation box size semi-analytically added, maps changed,
references added, typos correcte
Lensed CMB temperature and polarization maps from the Millennium Simulation
We have constructed the first all-sky CMB temperature and polarization lensed
maps based on a high-resolution cosmological N-body simulation, the Millennium
Simulation (MS). We have exploited the lensing potential map obtained using a
map-making procedure (Carbone et al. 2008) which integrates along the
line-of-sight the MS dark matter distribution by stacking and randomizing the
simulation boxes up to , and which semi-analytically supplies the
large-scale power in the angular lensing potential that is not correctly
sampled by the N-body simulation. The lensed sky has been obtained by properly
modifying the latest version of the LensPix code (Lewis 2005) to account for
the MS structures. We have also produced all-sky lensed maps of the so-called
and potentials, which are directly related to the electric
and magnetic types of polarization. The angular power spectra of the simulated
lensed temperature and polarization maps agree well with semi-analytic
estimates up to , while on smaller scales we find a slight excess of
power which we interpret as being due to non-linear clustering in the MS. We
also observe how non-linear lensing power in the polarised CMB is transferred
to large angular scales by suitably misaligned modes in the CMB and the lensing
potential. This work is relevant in view of the future CMB probes, as a way to
analyse the lensed sky and disentangle the contribution from primordial
gravitational waves.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, comments added, MNRAS in pres
Quantitative and Qualitative Findings and Implications of an Intercultural Sensitivity Assessment Among Employees at a Large Health System
Tuesday, November 10, 2009: 2:45 PM Jarret R. Patton, MD , Department of Pediatrics, Lehigh Valley Health Network, Allentown, PA Jay Baglia, PhD , Department of Family Medicine, Lehigh Valley Health Network, Allentown, PA Lynn M. Deitrick, RN, PhD , Department of Community Health, Health Studies and Education, Lehigh Valley Health Network, Allentown, PA Anthony Nerino, MA , Department of Community Health, Health Studies and Education, Lehigh Valley Health Network, Allentown, PA Eric J. Gertner, MD, MPH , Department of Medicine, Lehigh Valley Health Network, Allentown, PA Judith N. Sabino, MPH , Cultural Awareness, Lehigh Valley Health Network, Allentown, PA MaryKay Grim, BS , Human Resources, Lehigh Valley Health Network, Allentown, PA Debbie Salas-Lopez, MD, MPH , Department of Medicine, Lehigh Valley Health Network, Allentown, PABackground: As our nation welcomes people from many cultures, it is essential that healthcare providers understand the cultural background of their patients. In response to this diversity, community hospitals are systematically strengthening and improving services to address the cultural needs of their multi-cultural patient populations. As part of a multi-faceted, system-wide cultural awareness initiative, our health network conducted a baseline intercultural sensitivity assessment of its employees.
Research Objectives: To establish measures of intercultural sensitivity among employees through the use of a validated instrument.
Population: 9,000+ physicians, nurses, technicians and non-clinical employees of a large health network in mid-Eastern Pennsylvania.
Methods: All employees were invited to complete the IRB-reviewed, web-based Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (Chen and Starosta 2000). The ICS scale measures attitudes about interacting with people from different cultural backgrounds. The five sub-scales include: 1) interaction engagement, 2) respect for cultural differences, 3) interaction confidence, 4) interaction enjoyment, and 5) interaction attentiveness. Three open-ended questions asked how the network could enhance cultural sensitivity. Two other questions asked for learning preferences (i.e., e-learning, Grand Rounds) and topic information (i.e. diet, religious practices). Demographic information (i.e., age, position, years of service hospital) was also acquired.
Results and Conclusions: A 35% (n=3446) response rate was achieved. Characteristics of the respondent sample were highly similar across age, length of employment, racial and ethnic status, gender and proportions of staff positions. With regard to two of the five sub-scales, the survey revealed relative strength in interaction enjoyment while respect for cultural differences exposed an interesting bi-modal distribution – with many staff achieving perfect scores in this area and another large contingent scoring well below the mean.
Baseline measures informed educational interventions, assessed training needs, enabled evaluation of interventions, and revealed individual and/or institutional factors that impeded or enhanced responses to patient experiences of healthcare disparities. Initial findings suggest general staff preferences for diversity workshops and cultural fact sheets as the preferred mode of instruction. Employees requested information about religion, attitudes about death and dying, and attitudes about health care institutions relevant to cultures represented in our local community.
Practice Implications: Baseline results are used to direct network initiatives (i.e. creating health information repository, ensuring language-appropriate services, and strengthening educational programs) and to measure intervention outcomes. Along with obtaining uniform racial/ethnic patient data, this information is essential in comprehensive organizational change regarding culturally-appropriate service delivery and will ensure the delivery of equitable health care.
Learning Objectives: 1. Explain how quantitative and qualitative results inform system-wide planning related to cultural competency. 2. List the key findings from this assessment 3. Describe a research methodology to measure the intercultural sensitivity of a health care organization employee population.
Keywords:Cultural Competency, Hospitals
Presenting author\u27s disclosure statement:
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am co-chair of Lehigh Valley Health Network\u27s Cultural Awareness Initiative. The abstract describes a baseline assessment that was part of this initiative. Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation
Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropies from second order gravitational perturbations
This paper presents a complete analysis of the effects of second order
gravitational perturbations on Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropies, taking
explicitly into account scalar, vector and tensor modes. We also consider the
second order perturbations of the metric itself obtaining them, for a universe
dominated by a collision-less fluid, in the Poisson gauge, by transforming the
known results in the synchronous gauge. We discuss the resulting second order
anisotropies in the Poisson gauge, and analyse the possible relevance of the
different terms. We expect that, in the simplest scenarios for structure
formation, the main effect comes from the gravitational lensing by scalar
perturbations, that is known to give a few percent contribution to the
anisotropies at small angular scales.Comment: 15 pages, revtex, no figures. Version to be published in Phys. Rev.
CMB polarization from secondary vector and tensor modes
We consider a novel contribution to the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave
Background induced by vector and tensor modes generated by the non-linear
evolution of primordial scalar perturbations. Our calculation is based on
relativistic second-order perturbation theory and allows to estimate the
effects of these secondary modes on the polarization angular power-spectra. We
show that a non-vanishing B-mode polarization unavoidably arises from pure
scalar initial perturbations, thus limiting our ability to detect the signature
of primordial gravitational waves generated during inflation. This secondary
effect dominates over that of primordial tensors for an inflationary
tensor-to-scalar ratio . The magnitude of the effect is smaller than
the contamination produced by the conversion of polarization of type E into
type B, by weak gravitational lensing. However the lensing signal can be
cleaned, making the secondary modes discussed here the actual background
limiting the detection of small amplitude primordial gravitational waves.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, minor changes matching the version to be
published in Phys. Rev.
Inhibition of p38-MAPK signaling pathway attenuates breast cancer induced bone pain and disease progression in a murine model of cancer-induced bone pain
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Mechanisms driving cancer-induced bone pain are poorly understood. A central factor implicated to be a key player in the process of tumorigenesis, osteoclastogenesis and nociception is p38 MAPK. We determined the role of p38 MAPK in a mouse model of breast cancer induced bone pain in which mixed osteolytic and osteoblastic remodeling occurs.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In cancer-treated mice, acute as well as chronic inhibition of p38 MAPK with SB203580 blocked flinching and guarding behaviors in a dose-dependent manner whereas no effect on thresholds to tactile stimuli was observed. Radiographic analyses of bones demonstrated that chronic inhibition of p38 MAPK reduced bone loss and incidence of spontaneous fracture in cancer-treated mice. Histological analysis of bones collected from mice treated with the p38 MAPK inhibitor showed complete absence of osteoblastic growth in the intramedullary space as well as significantly reduced tumor burden.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Blockade of non-evoked pain behaviors but not hypersensitivity suggests differences in the underlying mechanisms of specific components of the pain syndrome and a possibility to individualize aspects of pain management. While it is not known whether the role of p38 MAPK signaling can be expanded to other cancers, the data suggest a need for understanding molecular mechanisms and cellular events that initiate and maintain cancer-induced bone pain for effective management for both ongoing pain as well as breakthrough pain.</p
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