Beta-2 Adrenoceptor Control of the Venous Circulation in Intact Dogs1

ABSTRACT The effects of beta-2 adrenoceptor stimulation on the peripheral circulation in 1 0 dogs were evaluated. All studies were done during ganglion blockade with hexamethonium

Comparative effectiveness of asthma interventions within a practice based research network

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Asthma is a chronic lung disease that affects more than 23 million people in the United States, including 7 million children. Asthma is a difficult to manage chronic condition associated with disparities in health outcomes, poor medical compliance, and high healthcare costs. The research network coordinating this project includes hospitals, urgent care centers, and outpatient clinics within Carolinas Healthcare System that share a common electronic medical record and billing system allowing for rapid collection of clinical and demographic data. This study investigates the impact of three interventions on clinical outcomes for patients with asthma. Interventions are: an integrated approach to care that incorporates asthma management based on the chronic care model; a shared decision making intervention for asthma patients in underserved or disadvantaged populations; and a school based care approach that examines the efficacy of school-based programs to impact asthma outcomes including effectiveness of linkages between schools and the healthcare providers.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>This study will include 95 Practices, 171 schools, and over 30,000 asthmatic patients. Five groups (A-E) will be evaluated to determine the effectiveness of three interventions. Group A is the usual care control group without electronic medical record (EMR). Group B practices are a second control group that has an EMR with decision support, asthma action plans, and population reports at baseline. A time delay design during year one converts practices in Group B to group C after receiving the integrated approach to care intervention. Four practices within Group C will receive the shared decision making intervention (and become group D). Group E will receive a school based care intervention through case management within the schools. A centralized database will be created with the goal of facilitating comparative effectiveness research on asthma outcomes specifically for this study. Patient and community level analysis will include results from patient surveys, focus groups, and asthma patient density mapping. Community variables such as income and housing density will be mapped for comparison. Outcomes to be measured are reduced hospitalizations and emergency department visits; improved adherence to medication; improved quality of life; reduced school absenteeism; improved self-efficacy and improved school performance.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Identifying new mechanisms that improve the delivery of asthma care is an important step towards advancing patient outcomes, avoiding preventable Emergency Department visits and hospitalizations, while simultaneously reducing overall healthcare costs.</p

Spin dynamics in semiconductors

This article reviews the current status of spin dynamics in semiconductors which has achieved a lot of progress in the past years due to the fast growing field of semiconductor spintronics. The primary focus is the theoretical and experimental developments of spin relaxation and dephasing in both spin precession in time domain and spin diffusion and transport in spacial domain. A fully microscopic many-body investigation on spin dynamics based on the kinetic spin Bloch equation approach is reviewed comprehensively.Comment: a review article with 193 pages and 1103 references. To be published in Physics Reports

Glycan labeling strategies and their use in identification and quantification

Most methods for the analysis of oligosaccharides from biological sources require a glycan derivatization step: glycans may be derivatized to introduce a chromophore or fluorophore, facilitating detection after chromatographic or electrophoretic separation. Derivatization can also be applied to link charged or hydrophobic groups at the reducing end to enhance glycan separation and mass-spectrometric detection. Moreover, derivatization steps such as permethylation aim at stabilizing sialic acid residues, enhancing mass-spectrometric sensitivity, and supporting detailed structural characterization by (tandem) mass spectrometry. Finally, many glycan labels serve as a linker for oligosaccharide attachment to surfaces or carrier proteins, thereby allowing interaction studies with carbohydrate-binding proteins. In this review, various aspects of glycan labeling, separation, and detection strategies are discussed

Lake sedimentary dna research on past terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity: Overview and recommendations

The use of lake sedimentary DNA to track the long-term changes in both terrestrial and aquatic biota is a rapidly advancing field in paleoecological research. Although largely applied nowadays, knowledge gaps remain in this field and there is therefore still research to be conducted to ensure the reliability of the sedimentary DNA signal. Building on the most recent literature and seven original case studies, we synthesize the state-of-the-art analytical procedures for effective sampling, extraction, amplification, quantification and/or generation of DNA inventories from sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) via high-throughput sequencing technologies. We provide recommendations based on current knowledge and best practises.</jats:p