Simultaneous flow and temperature correction in the equilibrium stage problem

Iterative solution for steady state equilibrium problem with temperature and flow rate adjustmen

A Comparison of Risk Preference Measurements with Implications for Extension Programming

Risk and Uncertainty, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Motion of the Zinc Ions in Catalysis by a Dizinc Metallo-β-Lactamase

We report rapid-freeze-quench X-ray absorption spectroscopy of a dizinc metallo-β-lactamase (MβL) reaction intermediate. The Zn(II) ions in the dinuclear active site of the S. maltophilia Class B3 MβL move away from each other, by ∼0.3 Å after 10 ms of reaction with nitrocefin, from 3.4 to 3.7 Å. Together with our previous characterization of the resting enzyme and its nitrocefin product complex, where the Zn(II) ion separation relaxes to 3.6 Å, these data indicate a scissoring motion of the active site that accompanies the ring-opening step. The average Zn(II) coordination number of 4.5 in the resting enzyme appears to be maintained throughout the reaction with nitrocefin. This is the first direct structural information available on early stage dizinc metallo-β-lactamase catalysis

Therapeutic pharmaceutical utilization by military optometrists

The Air Force, Army, and Navy have instituted regulations that authorize optometrists to use therapeutic pharmaceutical agents (TPAs). A survey of clinical optometrists on active duty was conducted to evaluate the impact of these regulations on military optometry. The results indicate that the majority of optometrists support the regulations and are utilizing TPAs to treat a wide variety of ocular disorders. However, the survey also found a number of optometrists in each service who were dissatisfied with certain aspects of the regulations. Some Air Force and Navy optometrists expressed concern that their regulations did not allow access to TPAs which they felt qualified to use. Some Army respondents felt that their regulation was unduly influenced by local policy and was not an equitable means of granting therapeutic privileges. These concerns suggest that a reevaluation of the therapeutic regulations might be required in the future

The Promise of Information and Communication Technology In Health Care: Extracting Value from the Chaos

Healthcare is an information business with expanding use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Current ICT tools are immature, but a brighter future looms. We examine 7 areas of ICT in healthcare: electronic health records (EHRs), health information exchange (HIE), patient portals, telemedicine, social media, mobile devices and wearable sensors and monitors, and privacy and security. In each of these areas, we examine the current status and future promise, highlighting how each might reach its promise. Steps to better EHRs include a universal programming interface, universal patient identifiers, improved documentation and improved data analysis. HIEs require federal subsidies for sustainability and support from EHR vendors, targeting seamless sharing of EHR data. Patient portals must bring patients into the EHR with better design and training, greater provider engagement and leveraging HIEs. Telemedicine needs sustainable payment models, clear rules of engagement, quality measures and monitoring. Social media needs consensus on rules of engagement for providers, better data mining tools and approaches to counter disinformation. Mobile and wearable devices benefit from a universal programming interface, improved infrastructure, more rigorous research and integration with EHRs and HIEs. Laws for privacy and security need updating to match current technologies, and data stewards should share information on breaches and standardize best practices. ICT tools are evolving quickly in healthcare and require a rational and well-funded national agenda for development, use and assessment

Graphics for uncertainty

Graphical methods such as colour shading and animation, which are widely available, can be very effective in communicating uncertainty. In particular, the idea of a ‘density strip’ provides a conceptually simple representation of a distribution and this is explored in a variety of settings, including a comparison of means, regression and models for contingency tables. Animation is also a very useful device for exploring uncertainty and this is explored particularly in the context of flexible models, expressed in curves and surfaces whose structure is of particular interest. Animation can further provide a helpful mechanism for exploring data in several dimensions. This is explored in the simple but very important setting of spatiotemporal data

A Five-coordinate Metal Center in Co(II)-substituted VanX

In an effort to structurally probe the metal binding site in VanX, electronic absorption, EPR, and extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopic studies were conducted on Co(II)-substituted VanX. Electronic spectroscopy revealed the presence of Co(II) ligand field transitions that had molar absorptivities of ∼100 m–1 cm–1, which suggests that Co(II) is five-coordinate in Co(II)-substituted VanX. Low temperature EPR spectra of Co(II)-substituted VanX were simulated using spin Hamiltonian parameters of M = |±½〉, E/D = 0.14, greal(x,y) = 2.37, and grealS(z) = 2.03. These parameters lead to the prediction that Co(II) in the enzyme is five-coordinate and that there may be at least one solvent-derived ligand. Single scattering fits of EXAFS data indicate that the metal ions in both native Zn(II)-containing and Co(II)-substituted VanX have the same coordination number and that the metal ions are coordinated by 5 nitrogen/oxygen ligands at ∼ 2.0 Å. These data demonstrate that Co(II) (and Zn(II) from EXAFS studies) is five-coordinate in VanX in contrast to previous crystallographic studies (Bussiere, D. E., Pratt, S. D., Katz, L., Severin, J. M., Holzman, T., and Park, C. H. (1998) Mol. Cell 2, 75–84). These spectroscopic studies also demonstrate that the metal ion in Co(II)-substituted VanX when complexed with a phosphinate analog of substrate d-Ala-d-Ala is also five-coordinate

Synchronization of video recording and laser pulses including background light suppression

An apparatus for and a method of triggering a pulsed light source, in particular a laser light source, for predictable capture of the source by video equipment. A frame synchronization signal is derived from the video signal of a camera to trigger the laser and position the resulting laser light pulse in the appropriate field of the video frame and during the opening of the electronic shutter, if such shutter is included in the camera. Positioning of the laser pulse in the proper video field allows, after recording, for the viewing of the laser light image with a video monitor using the pause mode on a standard cassette-type VCR. This invention also allows for fine positioning of the laser pulse to fall within the electronic shutter opening. For cameras with externally controllable electronic shutters, the invention provides for background light suppression by increasing shutter speed during the frame in which the laser light image is captured. This results in the laser light appearing in one frame in which the background scene is suppressed with the laser light being uneffected, while in all other frames, the shutter speed is slower, allowing for the normal recording of the background scene. This invention also allows for arbitrary (manual or external) triggering of the laser with full video synchronization and background light suppression