Interfacial States in Donor–Acceptor Organic Heterojunctions: Computational Insights into Thiophene-Oligomer/Fullerene Junctions

Donor–acceptor heterojunctions composed of thiophene oligomers and C60 fullerene were investigated with computational methods. Benchmark calculations were performed with time-dependent density functional theory. The effects of varying the density functional, the number of oligomers, the intermolecular distance, the medium polarization, and the chemical functionalization of the monomers were analyzed. The results are presented in terms of diagrams where the electronic states are classified as locally excited states, charge-transfer states, and delocalized states. The effects of each option for computational simulations of realistic heterojunctions employed in photovoltaic devices are evaluated and discussed

An Emerging Pulmonary Haemorrhagic Syndrome in Dogs: Similar to the Human Leptospiral Pulmonary Haemorrhagic Syndrome?

Severe pulmonary haemorrhage is a rare necropsy finding in dogs but the leptospiral pulmonary haemorrhagic syndrome (LPHS) is a well recognized disease in humans. Here we report a pulmonary haemorrhagic syndrome in dogs that closely resembles the human disease. All 15 dogs had massive, pulmonary haemorrhage affecting all lung lobes while haemorrhage in other organs was minimal. Histologically, pulmonary lesions were characterized by acute, alveolar haemorrhage without identifiable vascular lesions. Seven dogs had mild alveolar wall necrosis with hyaline membranes and minimal intraalveolar fibrin. In addition, eight dogs had acute renal tubular necrosis. Six dogs had a clinical diagnosis of leptospirosis based on renal and hepatic failure, positive microscopic agglutination test (MAT) and/or positive blood/urine Leptospira-specific PCR. Leptospira could not be cultured post mortem from the lungs or kidneys. However, Leptospira-specific PCR was positive in lung, liver or kidneys of three dogs. In summary, a novel pulmonary haemorrhagic syndrome was identified in dogs but the mechanism of the massive pulmonary erythrocyte extravasation remains elusive. The lack of a consistent post mortem identification of Leptospira spp. in dogs with pulmonary haemorrhage raise questions as to whether additional factors besides Leptospira may cause this as yet unrecognized entity in dogs

Bias in the journal impact factor

The ISI journal impact factor (JIF) is based on a sample that may represent half the whole-of-life citations to some journals, but a small fraction (<10%) of the citations accruing to other journals. This disproportionate sampling means that the JIF provides a misleading indication of the true impact of journals, biased in favour of journals that have a rapid rather than a prolonged impact. Many journals exhibit a consistent pattern of citation accrual from year to year, so it may be possible to adjust the JIF to provide a more reliable indication of a journal's impact.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures; one reference correcte

The Role of Europe in World-Wide Science and Technology: Monitoring and Evaluation in a Context of Global Competition

Noyons ECM, Buter RK, van Raan AFJ, Schwechheimer H, Winterhager M, Weingart P. The Role of Europe in World-Wide Science and Technology: Monitoring and Evaluation in a Context of Global Competition. Leiden: Universiteit Leiden; 2000

Screening for Chronic Conditions Using a Patient Internet Portal: Recruitment for an Internet-based Primary Care Intervention

Background: Patient Internet portals have created new opportunities for assessment and management of chronic conditions. Objective: To conduct an online screening survey for a study recruitment using a secure patient Internet portal to identify primary care patients with untreated depression, chronic pain, or mobility difficulty before nonurgent office visits. Design: Internet-based screening survey for a randomized trial. Participants: Patients who were registered portal users who had scheduled primary care appointments. Approach: Electronic study invitations via the portal were sent to 4,047 patients with scheduled visits to 34 primary care physicians participating in the study. After clicking on a link in the study invitation, patients were consecutively shown the study description, consent form, and lastly, the screening survey to determine final eligibility for study participation. Results: Of the 2,113 (52%) patients who opened the study invitation, 1,001 consented online to join the study and 981 (98%) of these completed the screening survey. Of the respondents, 319 (33%) screened positive for 1 or more of the 3 conditions. Conclusions: The online screening survey conducted through the patient portal was effective in identifying patients with chronic conditions in advance of scheduled primary care visits for participation in an intervention study

Changes in intracellular ion activities induced by adrenaline in human and rat skeletal muscle

To study the stimulating effect of adrenaline (ADR) on active Na+/K+ transport we used double-barrelled ion-sensitive micro-electrodes to measure the activities of extracellular K+ (aKe) and intracellular Na+ (aNai) in isolated preparations of rat soleus muscle, normal human intercostal muscle and one case of hyperkalemic periodic paralysis (h.p.p.). In these preparations bath-application of ADR (10−6 M) resulted in a membrane hyperpolarization and transient decreasesaKe andaNai which could be blocked by ouabain (3×10−4 M). In the h.p.p. muslce a continuous rise ofaNai induced by elevation ofaKe to 5.2 mM could be stopped by ADR. In addition, the intracellular K+ activity (aKi), the free intracellular Ca2+ concentration (pCai) and intracellular pH (pHi) were monitored in rat soleus muscle. During ADRaKi increased, pHi remained constant and intracellular Ca2+ apparently decreased. In conclusion, our data show that ADR primarily stimulates the Na+/K+ pump in mammalian skeletal muscle. This stimulating action is not impaired in the h.p.p. muscle

Biallelic MLH1 SNP cDNA expression or constitutional promoter methylation can hide genomic rearrangements causing Lynch syndrome

A positive family history, germline mutations in DNA mismatch repair genes, tumours with high microsatellite instability, and loss of mismatch repair protein expression are the hallmarks of hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (Lynch syndrome). However, in ~10-15% of cases of suspected Lynch syndrome, no disease-causing mechanism can be detected

The Thinking State?

Political Scienc

Patient access to complex chronic disease records on the internet

Background: Access to medical records on the Internet has been reported to be acceptable and popular with patients, although most published evaluations have been of primary care or office-based practice. We tested the feasibility and acceptability of making unscreened results and data from a complex chronic disease pathway (renal medicine) available to patients over the Internet in a project involving more than half of renal units in the UK. Methods: Content and presentation of the Renal PatientView (RPV) system was developed with patient groups. It was designed to receive information from multiple local information systems and to require minimal extra work in units. After piloting in 4 centres in 2005 it was made available more widely. Opinions were sought from both patients who enrolled and from those who did not in a paper survey, and from staff in an electronic survey. Anonymous data on enrolments and usage were extracted from the webserver. Results: By mid 2011 over 17,000 patients from 47 of the 75 renal units in the UK had registered. Users had a wide age range (&#60;10 to &#62;90 yrs) but were younger and had more years of education than non-users. They were enthusiastic about the concept, found it easy to use, and 80% felt it gave them a better understanding of their disease. The most common reason for not enrolling was being unaware of the system. A minority of patients had security concerns, and these were reduced after enrolling. Staff responses were also strongly positive. They reported that it aided patient concordance and disease management, and increased the quality of consultations with a neutral effect on consultation length. Neither patient nor staff responses suggested that RPV led to an overall increase in patient anxiety or to an increased burden on renal units beyond the time required to enrol each patient. Conclusions: Patient Internet access to secondary care records concerning a complex chronic disease is feasible and popular, providing an increased sense of empowerment and understanding, with no serious identified negative consequences. Security concerns were present but rarely prevented participation. These are powerful reasons to make this type of access more widely available