481 research outputs found
A Strategy for Small Group Relational Evangelism for the Ukiah Seventh-day Adventist Church
This ministry focus paper has the purpose to provide a biblical foundation for spiritual growth and outreach through small group ministry and to provide an evangelism strategy and training materials for implementing such a ministry in the Ukiah Seventh-day Adventist Church.https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/hrsa/1012/thumbnail.jp
The heat of atomization of sulfur trioxide, SO - a benchmark for computational thermochemistry
Calibration ab initio (direct coupled cluster) calculations including basis
set extrapolation, relativistic effects, inner-shell correlation, and an
anharmonic zero-point energy, predict the total atomization energy at 0 K of
SO to be 335.96 (observed 335.920.19) kcal/mol. Inner polarization
functions make very large (40 kcal/mol with , 10 kcal/mol with
basis sets) contributions to the SCF part of the binding energy. The molecule
presents an unusual hurdle for less computationally intensive theoretical
thermochemistry methods and is proposed as a benchmark for them. A slight
modification of Weizmann-1 (W1) theory is proposed that appears to
significantly improve performance for second-row compounds.Comment: Chem. Phys. Lett., in pres
Cryopreservation of equine mesenchymal stem cells in 95 % autologous serum and 5 % DMSO does not alter post-thaw growth or morphology in vitro compared to fetal bovine serum or allogeneic serum at 20 or 95 % and DMSO at 10 or 5 %
INTRODUCTION: Equine superficial digital flexor tendon injury is a well-accepted model of human tendon injury and is routinely treated with local injections of autologous mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Identification of a clinically safe medium for short-term cryopreservation of MSCs prior to cell implantation would streamline laboratory and clinical procedures for autologous regenerative therapies. Veterinary experience with short-term (MSCs prepared after the injury has occurred) cryopreserved MSCs in naturally occurring injury in the horse will be of value to human practitioners. METHODS: Equine bone marrow derived MSCs were cryopreserved in 6 different solutions consisting of 20 % serum, 10 % DMSO and 70 % media or 95 % serum and 5 % DMSO. Serum was autologous serum, commercially available pooled equine serum or fetal bovine serum (FBS). Cell survival, morphology and growth kinetics were assessed by total cell number, measurement of growth kinetics, colony-forming-unit-assay and morphology of MSCs after monolayer culture post-thaw. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in post-thaw viability, total cell number, morphology scores or growth kinetics among the 6 solutions. Post thaw viabilities from each group ranged from 80-90 %. In all solutions, there were significantly fewer MSCs and the majority (99 %) of MSCs remained in the original generation 24 hours post-thaw. Seventy two hours post-thaw, the majority of MSCs (50 %) were proliferating in the fourth generation. Mean colony count in the CFU-F assay ranged from 72 to 115 colonies. CONCLUSIONS: Each of the serum sources could be used for short-term cryopreservation of equine bone marrow derived MSCs. Prior to clinical use, clinicians may prefer autologous serum and a lower concentration of DMSO. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13287-015-0230-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users
Generation of Arbitrary Frequency Chirps with a Fiber-Based Phase Modulator and Self-Injection-Locked Diode Laser
We present a novel technique for producing pulses of laser light whose
frequency is arbitrarily chirped. The output from a diode laser is sent through
a fiber-optical delay line containing a fiber-based electro-optical phase
modulator. Upon emerging from the fiber, the phase-modulated pulse is used to
injection-lock the laser and the process is repeated. Large phase modulations
are realized by multiple passes through the loop while the high optical power
is maintained by self-injection-locking after each pass. Arbitrary chirps are
produced by driving the modulator with an arbitrary waveform generator
Repeated intra-articular injection of allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells causes an adverse response compared to autologous cells in the equine model
BACKGROUND: Intra-articular injection of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is efficacious in osteoarthritis therapy. A direct comparison of the response of the synovial joint to intra-articular injection of autologous versus allogeneic MSCs has not been performed. The objective of this study was to assess the clinical response to repeated intra-articular injection of allogeneic versus autologous MSCs prepared in a way to minimize xeno-contaminants in a large animal model. METHODS: Intra-articular injections of bone marrow-derived, culture-expanded MSCs to a forelimb metacarpophalangeal joint were performed at week 0 and week 4 (six autologous; six autologous with xeno-contamination; six allogeneic). In the week following each injection, clinical and synovial cytology evaluations were performed. RESULTS: Following the first intra-articular injection, there were no differences in clinical parameters over time. Following the second intra-articular injection, there was a significant adverse response of the joint to allogeneic MSCs and autologous MSCs with xeno-contamination with elevated synovial total nucleated cell counts. There was also significantly increased pain from joints injected with autologous MSCs with xeno-contamination. CONCLUSIONS: Repeated intra-articular injection of allogeneic MSCs results in an adverse clinical response, suggesting there is immune recognition of allogeneic MSCs upon a second exposure. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13287-017-0503-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users
The network topology of a potential energy landscape: A static scale-free network
Here we analyze the topology of the network formed by the minima and
transition states on the potential energy landscape of small clusters. We find
that this network has both a small-world and scale-free character. In contrast
to other scale-free networks, where the topology results from the dynamics of
the network growth, the potential energy landscape is a static entity.
Therefore, a fundamentally different organizing principle underlies this
behaviour: The potential energy landscape is highly heterogeneous with the
low-energy minima having large basins of attraction and acting as the
highly-connected hubs in the network.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, revtex
Effectiveness of bisphosphonates on nonvertebral and hip fractures in the first year of therapy: The risedronate and alendronate (REAL) cohort study
INTRODUCTION: Randomized clinical trials have shown that risedronate and alendronate reduce fractures among women with osteoporosis. The aim of this observational study was to observe, in clinical practice, the incidence of hip and nonvertebral fractures among women in the year following initiation of once-a-week dosing of either risedronate or alendronate. METHODS: Using records of health service utilization from July 2002 through September 2004, we created two cohorts: women (ages 65 and over) receiving risedronate (n = 12,215) or alendronate (n = 21,615). Cox proportional hazard modeling was used to compare the annual incidence of nonvertebral fractures and of hip fractures between cohorts, adjusting for potential differences in risk factors for fractures. RESULTS: There were 507 nonvertebral fractures and 109 hip fractures. Through one year of therapy, the incidence of nonvertebral fractures in the risedronate cohort (2.0%) was 18% lower (95% CI 2% – 32%) than in the alendronate cohort (2.3%). The incidence of hip fractures in the risedronate cohort (0.4%) was 43% lower (95% CI 13% – 63%) than in the alendronate cohort (0.6%). These results were consistent across a number of sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSION: Patients receiving risedronate have lower rates of hip and nonvertebral fractures during their first year of therapy than patients receiving alendronate
Electron affinities of the first- and second- row atoms: benchmark ab initio and density functional calculations
A benchmark ab initio and density functional (DFT) study has been carried out
on the electron affinities of the first- and second-row atoms. The ab initio
study involves basis sets of and quality, extrapolations to
the 1-particle basis set limit, and a combination of the CCSD(T), CCSDT, and
full CI electron correlation methods. Scalar relativistic and spin-orbit
coupling effects were taken into account. On average, the best ab initio
results agree to better than 0.001 eV with the most recent experimental
results. Correcting for imperfections in the CCSD(T) method improves the mean
absolute error by an order of magnitude, while for accurate results on the
second-row atoms inclusion of relativistic corrections is essential. The latter
are significantly overestimated at the SCF level; for accurate spin-orbit
splitting constants of second-row atoms inclusion of (2s,2p) correlation is
essential. In the DFT calculations it is found that results for the 1st-row
atoms are very sensitive to the exchange functional, while those for second-row
atoms are rather more sensitive to the correlation functional. While the LYP
correlation functional works best for first-row atoms, its PW91 counterpart
appears to be preferable for second-row atoms. Among ``pure DFT'' (nonhybrid)
functionals, G96PW91 (Gill 1996 exchange combined with Perdew-Wang 1991
correlation) puts in the best overall performance. The best results overall are
obtained with the 1-parameter hybrid modified Perdew-Wang (mPW1) exchange
functionals of Adamo and Barone [J. Chem. Phys. {\bf 108}, 664 (1998)], with
mPW1LYP yielding the best results for first-row, and mPW1PW91 for second-row
atoms. Indications exist that a hybrid of the type mPW1LYP +
mPW1PW91 yields better results than either of the constituent functionals.Comment: Phys. Rev. A, in press (revised version, review of issues concerning
DFT and electron affinities added
Double Diffraction Dissociation at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider
We present results from a measurement of double diffraction dissociation in
collisions at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. The production cross
section for events with a central pseudorapidity gap of width
(overlapping ) is found to be [] at [630]
GeV. Our results are compared with previous measurements and with predictions
based on Regge theory and factorization.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, using RevTeX. Submitted to Physical Review
Letter
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