Cerium doped yttrium aluminum perovskite scintillator as an absolute ultracold neutron detector.

The upcoming UCNProBe experiment at Los Alamos National Laboratory will measure the beta decay rate of free neutrons with different systematic uncertainties than previous beam-based neutron lifetime experiments. We have tested a new 10B-coated Yttrium Aluminum Perovskite (YAP:Ce) scintillator and present its properties. The advantages of the YAP:Ce scintillator include its high Fermi potential, which reduces the probability for upscattering of ultracold neutrons (UCN), and its short decay time, which increases sensitivity at high counting rates.

Scintillation characteristics of the EJ-299-02H scintillator.

A study of the dead layer thickness and quenching factor of a plastic scintillator for use in ultracold neutron (UCN) experiments is described. Alpha spectroscopy was used to determine the thickness of a thin surface dead layer to be 630 ± 110 nm. The relative light outputs from the decay of 241Am and Compton scattering of electrons were used to extract Birks' law coefficient, yielding a kB value of 0.

Ultracold neutron properties of the Eljen-299-02D deuterated scintillator.

In this paper, we report studies of the Fermi potential and loss per bounce of ultracold neutrons (UCNs) on a deuterated scintillator (Eljen-299-02D). These UCN properties of the scintillator enable its use in a wide variety of applications in fundamental neutron research.

"Implementation Is so Difficult": Survey of National Learning Health System Decision-makers Identifies Need For Implementation Information in Evidence Reviews.

Background: Evidence use within learning health care systems can improve patient health outcomes. Embedded in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) since 2007, the Veterans Affairs Evidence Synthesis Program (ESP) provides tailored evidence synthesis services to support VHA's learning health care system goals. As part of the ESP's ongoing quality improvement efforts, we have been surveying our users since 2016.

"It Would've Been Nice if They Interpreted the Data a Little Bit. It Didn't Really Say Much, and It Didn't Really Help Us.": A Qualitative Study of VA Health System Evidence Needs.

Background: Patient health outcomes improve when learning health care systems use evidence to implement promising services and allocate resources effectively. Here, we examine the unique environment in which Veterans Health Administration (VHA) leadership use evidence and the facilitators and barriers to using evidence synthesis products in decision-making. We end by describing the steps researchers can take to better support the needs of health system leadership.

Research Lifecycle to Increase the Substantial Real-world Impact of Research: Accelerating Innovations to Application.

Background: US health care systems face a growing demand to incorporate innovations that improve patient outcomes at a lower cost. Funding agencies increasingly must demonstrate the impact of research investments on public health. The Learning Health System promotes continuous institutional innovation, yet specific processes to develop innovations for further research and implementation into real-world health care settings to maximize health impacts have not been specified.

Improving Charting Skills of Physicians in Monitored Practice.

Introduction: The Physician Enhancement Program (PEP) is an in-practice monitoring program for physicians with potential dyscompetency issues. One component of PEP is a monthly chart audit. The purpose of our study was to determine if physicians' charting skills improve through their participation in PEP.

User survey finds rapid evidence reviews increased uptake of evidence by Veterans Health Administration leadership to inform fast-paced health-system decision-making.

Background: To provide evidence synthesis for faster-paced healthcare decision-making, rapid reviews have emerged as a streamlined alternative to standard systematic reviews. In 2012, the Veterans Affairs Evidence-based Synthesis Program (VA ESP) added rapid reviews to support Veterans Health Administration (VHA) operational partners' more urgent decision-making needs. VHA operational partners play a substantial role in dissemination of ESP rapid reviews through a variety of routes, including posting on the VA ESP's public website ( http://www.

Photoinduced, family-specific, site-selective cleavage of TIM-barrel proteins.

Nonenzymatic, chemical methods for the controlled cleavage of proteins at predictable sites in a site-specific manner are rare and of strong potential utility in clean, post-translational manipulation of protein structure for use in, for example, proteomics, sequencing, and tagged-protein production. Unprecedented photochemical, site-selective cleavage of a His-Trp (HW) motif in the GH1 family TIM-barrel proteins is observed upon exposure to 240-308 nm light to cleanly release N-terminal primary amide and C-terminal indolylenamide fragments. We also show that this photocleaveable motif can be transferred to fusion proteins for use in photoresponsive affinty purification.

AHRQ series paper 3: identifying, selecting, and refining topics for comparative effectiveness systematic reviews: AHRQ and the effective health-care program.

Objective: This article discusses the identification, selection, and refinement of topics for comparative effectiveness systematic reviews within the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Effective Health Care (EHC) program.

Study Design And Setting: The EHC program seeks to align its research topic selection with the overall goals of the program, impartially and consistently apply predefined criteria to potential topics, involve stakeholders to identify high-priority topics, be transparent and accountable, and continually evaluate and improve processes.

Results: A topic prioritization group representing stakeholder and scientific perspectives evaluates topic nominations that fit within the EHC program (are "appropriate") to determine how "important" topics are as considered against seven criteria.

Cardiometabolic risk among African American women: a pilot study.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the associations of the Homeostatic Model of Assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-ir), acanthosis nigricans, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) with 2 of the commonly used definitions of metabolic syndrome (Adult Treatment Panel III [ATP III] and International Diabetes Federation [IDF]) among reproductive-age, healthy, free-living African American women.

Methods: A pilot study with a cross-sectional design examined 33 African American women aged 20 to 46 years (mean [SD], 31.24 [7.

Allyl sulfides are privileged substrates in aqueous cross-metathesis: application to site-selective protein modification.

Allyl sulfides undergo efficient cross-metathesis in aqueous media with Hoveyda-Grubbs second generation catalyst 1. The high reactivity of allyl sulfides in cross-metathesis was exploited in the first examples of cross-metathesis on a protein surface. S-Allylcysteine was incorporated chemically into the protein, providing the requisite allyl sulfide handle.

African-American women, metabolic syndrome, and national cholesterol education program criteria: a pilot study.

Background: The association between elevated levels of triglycerides and insulin may be weaker in African-American women than in women of other groups, leading to underdiagnosis of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) in African-American women when using the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) criteria, as that criteria does not include a marker of insulin resistance, using elevated triglycerides to provide an indirect indication of insulin resistance.

Objectives: To determine the degree of agreement between two definitions for the MetS, that described by the NCEP and the NCEP criteria with the addition of a marker of insulin resistance in a sample of African-American women.

Method: This nonexperimental pilot study took place in the General Clinical Research Center of a major medical center Thirty-three African-American women 19-45 years of age were screened using the NCEP criteria for MetS, additional markers of insulin resistance, and a 2-hour Oral Glucose Tolerance Test.

Chronic anal fissure: 1994 and a decade later--are we doing better?

Background: Debate exists regarding whether the use of topical agents and Botox injections are as efficacious as sphincterotomy for the treatment of chronic anal fissure.

Methods: A retrospective review was performed to assess changes in management and outcomes of chronic anal fissure care in a community based colorectal practice between the individual years 1994 and 2003.

Results: Forty-seven patients in 1994 underwent lateral partial internal sphincterotomy and had a 100% healing rate.

Transanal endoscopic microsurgical resection of pT1 rectal tumors.

Purpose: Transanal endoscopic microsurgery has emerged as an improved method of transanal excision of neoplasms because its enhanced visibility, superior optics, and longer reach permit a more complete excision and precise closure. This study will show that transanal endoscopic microsurgical treatment of pT1 rectal cancers is safe and achieves low local recurrence and high survival rates.

Methods: Retrospective review performed of all pT1 rectal cancers treated by a single surgeon (TS) using transanal endoscopic microsurgery between 1991 and 2003.

African American women, metabolic syndrome, and national cholesterol education program criteria: a pilot study.

Background: The association between elevated levels of triglycerides and insulin may be weaker in African American women (AAW) than in women of other groups, leading to under diagnosis of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) in AAW when using the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) criteria, as those criteria do not include a marker of insulin resistance, using elevated triglycerides to provide an indirect indication of insulin resistance.

Objectives: To determine the degree of agreement between two definitions for the MetS, that described by the NCEP and the NCEP criteria with the addition of a marker of insulin resistance in a sample of AAW.

Method: This non experimental pilot study took place in the General Clinical Research Center of a major medical center.

Hypofractionated intensity-modulated radiotherapy for primary glioblastoma multiforme.

Purpose: A pilot study was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a novel regimen of hypofractionated intensity-modulated radiotherapy (RT) in the adjuvant treatment of primary glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). The rationale of the study was to combine the potential radiobiologic advantage of hypofractionation to GBM with a highly conformal radiotherapeutic technique. The study was designed to measure the acute and chronic morbidity of patients treated with this regimen, response of GBM to the treatment, overall survival, and time to disease progression after therapy completion.

Orbitomedial prefrontal cortical projections to hypothalamus in the rat.

A previous study in the rat revealed that distinct orbital and medial prefrontal cortical (OMPFC) areas projected to specific columns of the midbrain periaqueductal gray region (PAG). This study used anterograde tracing techniques to define projections to the hypothalamus arising from the same OMPFC regions. In addition, injections of anterograde and retrograde tracers were made into different PAG columns to examine connections between hypothalamic regions and PAG columns projected upon by the same OMPFC regions.