Phase I and Phase II Therapies for Acute Ischemic Stroke: An Update on Currently Studied Drugs in Clinical Research.

Acute ischemic stroke is a devastating cause of death and disability, consequences of which depend on the time from ischemia onset to treatment, the affected brain region, and its size. The main targets of ischemic stroke therapy aim to restore tissue perfusion in the ischemic penumbra in order to decrease the total infarct area by maintaining blood flow. Advances in research of pathological process and pathways during acute ischemia have resulted in improvement of new treatment strategies apart from restoring perfusion. Additionally, limiting the injury severity by manipulating the molecular mechanisms during ischemia has become a promising approach, especially in animal research. The purpose of this article is to review completed and ongoing phases I and II trials for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke, reviewing studies on antithrombotic, thrombolytic, neuroprotective, and antineuroinflammatory drugs that may translate into more effective treatments

Leadership In The Fortune 500: Women At The Executive Level Of Corporate Management

This study examines the influence of executive women in business using a sample of firms included in the Fortune 500.  Our analysis looks at the movement of female executives on or off corporate management to determine whether an increase of female representation at the highest levels of corporate management signals an increased commitment of a firm to a higher representation of females on their boards of directors.  Our sample includes a group of 73 corporations for which we longitudinally examined the data for women at the director and executive manager levels for the period from 1999 through 2003.  Our data indicate that, while the number of firms having multiple female directors increased over this period, the increase was even more pronounced for women at the executive management level.  Our data also indicate that, while the number of executive level managers was relatively stable (increased) between 1999 and 2001 (2001 and 2003), the number of women at this level increased by 25.5 (27.1) percent

Glass and Glass-Ceramic Sealant Compositions

A glass composition for use as a sealant or otherwise bonded to a fuel cell component, including from about 40 mol % to about 60 mol % RO; from about 2 mol % to about 10 mol % M2O3; and from about 35 mol % to about 45 mol % SiO2. R is selected from the group including strontium, calcium, magnesium and zinc and combinations thereof. M is selected from the group including aluminum, boron, lanthanum, iron and combinations thereof. The glass includes at least about 5 mol % ZnO. Upon heat treatment, the glass at least partially crystallizes with the formation of at least one alkaline earth-zinc pyrosilicate crystalline phases

Elbows of internal resistance rise curves in Li-ion cells

The degradation of lithium-ion cells with respect to increases of internal resistance (IR) has negative implications for rapid charging protocols, thermal management and power output of cells. Despite this, IR receives much less attention than capacity degradation in Li-ion cell research. Building on recent developments on ‘knee’ identification for capacity degradation curves, we propose the new concepts of ‘elbow-point’ and ‘elbow-onset’ for IR rise curves, and a robust identification algorithm for those variables. We report on the relations between capacity’s knees, IR’s elbows and end of life for the large dataset of the study. We enhance our discussion with two applications. We use neural network techniques to build independent state of health capacity and IR predictor models achieving a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 0.4% and 1.6%, respectively, and an overall root mean squared error below 0.0061. A relevance vector machine, using the first 50 cycles of life data, is employed for the early prediction of elbow-points and elbow-onsets achieving a MAPE of 11.5% and 14.0%, respectively

Applying knowledge translation concepts and strategies in dementia care education for health professionals: recommendations from a narrative literature review

Introduction: Dementia education programs are being developed for health professionals, but with limited guidance about what works in design and content to promote best practice in dementia care. Knowledge translation (KT) is a conceptual framework for putting evidence to work in health care. This narrative literature review examined the question: What does the field KT offer, conceptually and practically, for education of health professionals in dementia care? It seeks to identify the types of strategies currently used within education to facilitate effective KT for the wide range of health professionals who may be involved in the care of people with dementia, plus explore enablers and barriers to KT in this context. Methods: From 76 articles identified in academic databases and manual bibliographic searching, 22 met review criteria. Results: The literature synthesis indicated four hallmarks of successful KT-oriented dementia education for health professionals: (1) multimodal delivery, (2) tailored approaches, (3) relationship building, and (4) organizational support for change in the work setting. Participatory action frameworks were also favored, based on interactive knowledge exchange (eg, blended learning) rather than passive unidirectional approaches alone (eg, lectures). Discussion: The following six principles are proposed for educating health professionals in dementia care: (1) Match the education strategy to the KT goal and learner preferences; (2) Use integrated multimodal learning strategies and provide opportunities for multiple learning exposures plus feedback; (3) Build relationships to bridge the research-practice gap; (4) Use a simple compelling message with formats and technologies relevant to the audience; (5) Provide incentives to achieve KT goals; and (6) Plan to change the workplace, not just the individual health professional