Polyelectrolyte capsules with metal nanoparticles in their walls and fluorescently labeled polymers as cargo inside their cavity were prepared. Capsules were ingested by living cells with no uncontrolled release of the cargo upon the incorporation process. Photoinduced heating of the metal nanoparticles in the capsule walls lead to rupture of the capsule walls, and the polymeric cargo was released to the whole cytosol.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Benzodiazepines are prescribed to relieve anxiety and aid sleep. Studies demonstrate that benzodiazepines increase odds of crash involvement, but little evidence exists regarding their impact on crash responsibility. We examined the impact of benzodiazepines on crash responsibility by drug half-life and driver age, using a case-control design with drivers aged 20 and over involved in fatal crashes in the United States from 1993-2006.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: We set up this study to determine the predictive value of approaches for which a statistical association with driving performance has been documented.
Methods: We determined the statistical association (magnitude of association and probability of occurrence by chance alone) between four different predictors (the Mini-Mental State Examination, Trails A test, Useful Field of View [UFOV], and a composite measure of past driving incidents) and driving performance. We then explored the predictive value of these measures with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and various cutoff values.
In asymmetric olefin metathesis reactions, the addition of halide additives is often required to augment enantioselectivities, despite the fact that the additives result in catalysts with diminished reactivities. The preparation of new chiral Ru-based catalysts was accomplished by exploiting previously reported mechanistic studies. The catalysts possess a high level of reactivity and successfully induce high levels of asymmetry in desymmetrization reactions without the use of halide additives.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPolymeric nanometer-thick membranes or nanomembranes possessing photocontrollable permeability are presented. Microcapsules are used as membrane model systems, while gold nanoparticle aggregates are used as active absorption centers. Upon laser light illumination the membranes change permeability reversibly because nanoparticles transiently affect the nearby polymeric network.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOlmsted syndrome is a rare congenital mutilating palmoplantar keratoderma associated with periorificial keratotic plaques. Treatment options include topical keratolytics, systemic retinoids, and debulking procedures. Full-thickness excision of hyperkeratotic plaques followed by skin grafting has been reported in the medical literature, although long-term results have not been evaluated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: An increasing number of older adults rely on the automobile for transportation. Educational approaches based on the specific needs of older drivers may help to optimize safe driving. We examined if the combination of an in-class education program with on-road education would lead to improvements in older drivers' knowledge of safe driving practices and on-road driving evaluations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe synthesis of well-defined, homodisperse oligoamine structures based on natural basic amino acids, so-called oligoamine "patches", is presented. They contain an intermediary number of cationic groups (exactly 11 amine groups) to allow sufficiently strong, but reversible, binding to anionic surfaces and polymers and are shown to be non-cytotoxic. Their overall charge can be switched in the ordinary pH range (5.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: We review what we currently know about older driver safety and mobility, and we highlight important research needs in a number of key areas that hold promise for achieving the safety and mobility goals for the aging baby boomers and future generations of older drivers.
Design And Methods: Through the use of a framework for transportation and safe mobility, we describe key areas of screening and assessment, remediation and rehabilitation, vehicle design and modification, technological advancements, roadway design, transitioning to nondriving, and alternative transportation to meet the goals of crash prevention and mobility maintenance for older adults.
Results: Four cross-cutting themes emerged from this review: safe transportation for older adults is important; older adults have a variety of needs, abilities, and resources; research to help meet the transportation needs of older adults may be of benefit to persons with disabilities; and transportation issues concerning older adults are multifaceted.
This paper outlines the development of an algorithm to determine appropriate levels of care (LOC) for individuals with a serious mental illness (SMI). The algorithm, drew on several domains of the Resident Assessment Instrument-Mental Health (RAI-MH) to support a statistical model that would explain a maximum of variance with the gold standard, a consensus-based global rating of required LOC. The RAI-MH model explained 67.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSensorimotor adaptation is thought to involve a remapping of the kinematic and kinetic parameters associated with movements performed within a changing environment. Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) are known to be affected on this type of learning process, although the specific role of dopamine depletion in these deficits has not yet been elucidated. The present study was an attempt to clarify whether dopamine depletion in PD may directly affect the capacity to internally reorganize the visuomotor remapping of a distorted environment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The delivery of mental health services is often provided through agencies set up to serve both young and older adults. Young and older adults with a severe mental illness (SMI) have different needs; this study was designed to identify important differences.
Methods: This is a descriptive study based on a representative sample of mental health services users from northwestern Ontario (n = 532 [one-half rural and one-half urban]).
Results obtained in patients with schizophrenia have shown that antipsychotic drugs may induce motor learning deficits correlated with the striatal type-2 dopamine receptors (D(2)R) occupancy. Other findings suggest that the role of the striatum in motor learning could be related to a process of "chunking" discrete movements into motor sequences. We therefore hypothesized that a D(2)R blocking substance, such as raclopride, would affect motor learning by specifically disrupting the grouping of movements into sequences.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCensus data suggest that persons over 84 years of age represent the fastest growing segment of populations in most western nations. As advancing age remains the single strongest risk factor for dementia, prevalence rates are expected to increase substantially in coming years. This awareness underscores the need to more fully understand the clinical presentation of Alzheimer disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt Psychogeriatr
February 2008
Background: Although sleep problems are commonly reported among dementia caregivers, the nature and frequency of caregiver sleep disruptions, and their relationship to health status, has received little empirical attention to date.
Methods: The current study investigated the sleep situations of a sample of 60 spousal caregivers currently residing with a Alzheimer disease care recipient, including the frequency of nocturnal disruptions by the care recipient, and the reasons for these disruptions. In addition, exploratory correlations were computed between caregiver sleep variables and health outcomes.
Objective: To assess challenges in providing palliative care in long-term care (LTC) facilities from the perspective of medical directors.
Design: Cross-sectional mailed survey. A questionnaire was developed, reviewed, pilot-tested, and sent to 450 medical directors representing 531 LTC facilities.
Plant-virus-based vaccines have emerged as a promising avenue in vaccine development. This report describes the engineering of an innovative vaccine platform using the papaya mosaic virus (PapMV) capsid protein (CP) as a carrier protein and a C-terminal fused hepatitis C virus (HCV) E2 epitope as the immunogenic target. Two antigen organizations of the PapMV-based vaccines were tested: a virus-like-particle (VLP; PapMVCP-E2) and a monomeric form (PapMVCP(27-215)-E2).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Cannabis is known to have detrimental effects on human performance and may also affect driving adversely. However, studies designed to examine this issue have provided equivocal findings. We set up this study to further determine the effect of cannabis on driving.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The objectives of this study were to track changes in medical students' interest in obstetrics from the beginning of their studies in medicine to the end of their pre-clinical clerkships and to identify factors that influenced this interest.
Methods: This was a cohort study of all Québec medical students who, in 2003, were about to begin their clerkships (n = 500). A questionnaire was administered at this time (T1) and at the end of the clerkship (T2).
Patient-related incidents are of particular concern for those working with forensic psychiatric populations. Evidence suggests that personality, stress, and burnout of nursing staff are predictive of incidents. However, the exact relationship of these factors with staff-patient interactions and the incidents that occur within these interactions have not been thoroughly explored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Late postpartum hemorrhage following a Caesarean section (CS) is uncommon. A partial or complete dehiscence of the lower segment CS incision is a rare but possible cause.
Case: A 33-year-old woman underwent a lower segment CS for chorioamnionitis and failure to progress in labour at 40 weeks and 5 days of gestation.
Background: Standard measurement scales used in anti-dementia trials may not capture symptomatic changes recognized by clinicians and caregivers. We studied a symptom checklist, completed separately by caregivers and by clinicians, to identify patterns of change associated with donepezil treatment.
Methods: In a multi-centre, 6-month, open-label study of 101 primary care patients, changes in a 19-symptom checklist were assessed in relation to changes in standardized scales of cognition, activities of daily living, behavior, and caregiver burden.
Interest in consolidating service points within health sciences libraries continues. This article proposes a definition of a library single service point and mentions some notable examples in academic health sciences libraries. The experiences of two of these libraries are summarized and compared, and the advice culled from those experiences is shared.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe purpose of this study was to collect information on the practice of end-of-life (EOL) care in long-term care (LTC) facilities in the Province of Ontario, Canada. A cross-sectional survey of directors of care in all licensed LTC facilities in the province was conducted between September 2003 and April 2004. Directors of care from 426 (76% response rate) facilities completed the postal survey questionnaire.
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