Scanwave: a new approach to enhancing spectral data on a tandem quadrupole mass spectrometer.

A new type of mass analyzer is described, which allows low-resolution axial ion ejection to be obtained from a traveling wave based, stacked ring collision cell. Linking this ejection temporally with the scanning of the second quadrupole of a tandem quadrupole mass spectrometer provides an improvement in sampling duty cycle, which results in significant signal intensity improvements for scanning acquisitions such as product ion spectra. A near 100% storage efficiency is enabled by a split cell design, which allows ion fragmentation and accumulation to be performed in one section of the collision cell whilst previously accumulated ions are simultaneously ejected from the rear of the cell.

Mineral trioxide aggregate produces superior outcomes in vital primary molar pulpotomy.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the outcomes of vital primary molar pulpotomy when there is no direct contact between eugenol and the vital pulp. Four pulpotomy techniques were compared: (1) ferric sulfate (FS) pulpotomy; (2) eugenol-free FS pulpotomy; (3) mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) pulpotomy; and (4) FS/MTA pulpotomy.

Methods: The pulpotomy technique assigned to each molar was determined by random selection.

Mass casualty care in an expeditionary environment: developing local knowledge and expertise in context.

To discover new experience-based clinical and care delivery knowledge learned in the Iraq and Afghanistan combat zones, 107 Air Force, Army, and Navy nurses were interviewed. Eight areas of experiential knowledge were identified in the new care delivery system that featured rapid transport, early trauma and surgical care, and expeditious aeromedical evacuation: (1) organizing for mass casualties, (2) uncertainty about incoming casualties, (3) developing systems to track patients, (4) resource utilization, (5) ripple effects of a mass casualty event, (6) enlarging the scope of nursing practice, (7) operating medical facilities under attack, and (8) nurse emotions related to mass casualties.

Annexin V binding to platelets is agonist, time and temperature dependent.

Platelets bind annexin V when stimulated with combinations of platelet agonists such as collagen and thrombin. Previous studies have demonstrated significant heterogeneity of platelets binding annexin V. The relative role of the thrombin protease-activated receptors (PARs), PAR1 and PAR4, together with different methods of platelet preparation on annexin V binding to platelets is unclear.

Multiple levels of analysis in psychotherapy research.

Psychotherapy research can be thought to involve multiple levels of analysis: client, therapist, and group. The authors argue that such research would benefit from the application of multilevel modeling. They illustrate the use of such a procedure for research studies of individual psychotherapy, group psychotherapy, and rolling group psychotherapy and provide SPSS syntax for all three cases.

Platelet function and HIV: a case-control study.

Objective: Cardiovascular disease and myocardial infarction are of increasing concern in HIV-infected populations. Although platelets mediate arterial thrombosis, central to myocardial infarction, data on platelet function in HIV infection are lacking. We hypothesized that HIV-infected patients would have altered platelet reactivity.

Singing for children and adults with bronchiectasis.

Background: Bronchiectasis is a common respiratory disease, especially in developing countries. Its cause varies from chronic infection to rare immune deficiencies. Bronchiectasis can be present with other respiratory diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Similarity and agreement in self-and other perception: a meta-analysis.

The authors examined the consistency of person perception in two domains: agreement (i.e., do two raters of the same person agree?) and similarity (i.

Predicting beef carcass meat, fat and bone proportions from carcass conformation and fat scores or hindquarter dissection.

Equations for predicting the meat, fat and bone proportions in beef carcasses using the European Union carcass classification scores for conformation and fatness, and hindquarter composition were developed and their accuracy was tested using data from 662 cattle. The animals included bulls, steers and heifers, and comprised of Holstein-Friesian, early- and late-maturing breeds × Holstein-Friesian, early-maturing × early-maturing, late-maturing × early-maturing and genotypes with 0.75 or greater late-maturing ancestry.

Single-step separation of platelets from whole blood coupled with digital quantification by interfacial platelet cytometry (iPC).

We report the efficient single-step separation of individual platelets from unprocessed whole blood, enabling digital quantification of platelet function using interfacial platelet cytometry (iPC) on a chip. iPC is accomplished by the precision micropatterning of platelet-specific protein surfaces on solid substrates. By separating platelets from whole blood using specific binding to protein spots of a defined size, iPC implements a simple incubate-and-rinse approach, without sample preparation, that enables (1) the study of platelets in the physiological situation of interaction with a protein surface, (2) the choice of the number of platelets bound on each protein spot, from one to many, (3) control of the platelet-platelet distance, including the possibility to study noninteracting single platelets, (4) digital quantification (counting) of platelet adhesion to selected protein matrices, enabling statistical characterization of platelet subpopulations from meaningfully large numbers of single platelets, (5) the study of platelet receptor expression and spatial distribution, and (6) a detailed study of the morphology of isolated single platelets at activation levels that can be manipulated.

Physical conditioning programs for improving work outcomes in workers with back pain.

Background: Physical conditioning programs aim to improve work status for workers on sick leave. This is an update of a Cochrane Review (Work conditioning, work hardening and functional restoration for workers with back and neck pain) first published in 2003.

Objectives: To compare the effectiveness of physical conditioning programs in reducing time lost from work for workers with back pain.

Methane emissions, feed intake, and performance of finishing beef cattle offered maize silages harvested at 4 different stages of maturity.

This experiment aimed to quantify the methane emissions and intake, digestibility, performance, and carcass characteristics of finishing beef cattle offered maize (Zea mays) silages harvested at 1 of 4 sequential stages of maturity and to relate these values to those obtained from animals offered an ad libitum concentrate-based diet. Sixty continental crossbred steers with a mean initial BW of 531 kg (SD 23.8) were blocked (n = 12 blocks) according to BW and allocated from within block to 1 of 5 dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design: maize silage harvested on September 13 (DM = 277 g/kg), maize silage harvested on September 28 (DM = 315 g/kg), maize silage harvested on October 9 (DM = 339 g/kg), maize silage harvested on October 23 (DM = 333 g/kg), and ad libitum concentrates (ALC).

Care of the patient with enteral tube feeding: an evidence-based practice protocol.

Background: Care of patients with enteral feeding tubes often is based on tradition and textbook guidance rather than best evidence. Care practices can vary widely both between and within institutions, and this was the case at a northeastern military medical center that served as the site for this evidence-based protocol development and implementation project.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to describe the development and implementation of an evidence-based clinical protocol for care of patients with enteral feeding tubes.

Collaborating across services to advance evidence-based nursing practice.

Background: Military medical treatment facilities offer a unique environment in which to develop a culture of evidence-based practice (EBP). Distinctive issues arise in the context of changed patient care demographics because of a war-injured population. These issues offer an opportunity to enhance the quality of care through the use and adaptation of research findings in this special nursing environment.

Interpersonal perception in the context of doctor-patient relationships: a dyadic analysis of doctor-patient communication.

Doctor-patient communication is an interpersonal process and essential to relationship-centered care. However, in many studies, doctors and patients are studied as if living in separate worlds. This study assessed whether: 1) doctors' perception of their communication skills is congruent with their patients' perception; and 2) patients of a specific doctor agree with each other about their doctor's communication skills.

Variation in urban and rural water fluoride levels in Ontario.

Objective: To compare levels of water fluoridation in urban and rural distribution systems in Ontario.

Methods: A random sample of 17 urban and 17 rural municipalities was taken from a list of 445 municipalities. The Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE) website was used to identify the water treatment plants that supply these municipalities, and water quality reports published by each of these distribution systems for 2007 were collected.

Phenotypic and genetic parameters for different measures of feed efficiency in different breeds of Irish performance-tested beef bulls.

No genetic parameters for performance and feed efficiency traits are available for Irish performance-tested bulls. The objective of this study was to determine the phenotypic and genetic variation for feed intake, BW, ADG, and measures of feed efficiency including feed conversion ratio (FCR), relative growth rate, Kleiber ratio, residual BW gain (RG), and residual feed intake (RFI). Observations were available on up to 2,605 bulls for each trait from one test station across 24 yr; breeds included in the analyses were Aberdeen Angus (AN), Charolais (CH), Hereford, Limousin (LI), and Simmental.

Platelet hyper-reactivity in active inflammatory arthritis is unique to the adenosine diphosphate pathway: a novel finding and potential therapeutic target.

Objective: To assess the influence of disease activity on platelet function in patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA).

Methods: Ninety-six patients with an established diagnosis of IA (RA, PsA, seronegative SpA) were recruited. Patients with a history of cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes mellitus or receiving anti-platelet therapy were excluded.

The relationship between periovulatory endocrine and follicular activity on corpus luteum size, function, and subsequent embryo survival.

The objectives of this study were to examine the relationships between periovulatory endocrine events, ovarian activity, and embryo survival after artificial insemination (AI) in cattle (Bos taurus). Eighty-four reproductively normal beef heifers were estrus synchronized using a prostaglandin-based regimen. Artificial insemination was performed between 5 and 21h after heat onset.

The relationship of live animal muscular and skeletal scores, ultrasound measurements and carcass classification scores with carcass composition and value in steers.

This study examined the relationship of muscular and skeletal scores and ultrasound measurements in the live animal, and carcass conformation and fat scores with carcass composition and value using 336 steers, slaughtered at 2 years of age. Live animal scores and measurements were recorded at 8 to 12 months of age and pre-slaughter. Following slaughter, each carcass was classified for conformation and fatness and the right side dissected into meat, fat and bone.

Change in vibrato rate and extent during tertiary training in classical singing students.

Objectives: Vibrato is an integral and desirable feature of the classical singing voice. For elite singing students, achieving and developing vibrato may constitute one of the essential elements of their vocal training, although it is not necessarily a focus of that training.

Study Design: In this longitudinal study, we measured vibrato rate (VR) and vibrato extent (VE) and regularity (SD) of VR and VE in student singers over the course of four semesters of tertiary level voice training at a conservatorium of music to determine how these parameters changed during training.

Human IgG antibody profiles differentiate between symptomatic patients with and without colorectal cancer.

Objective: Patients with cancer have antibodies against tumour antigens. Characterising the antibody repertoire may provide insights into aberrant cellular mechanisms in cancer development, ultimately leading to novel diagnostic or therapeutic targets. The aim of this study was to characterise the antibody profiles in patients whose symptoms warranted colonoscopy, to see if there was a difference in patients with and without colorectal cancer.

Effect of divergence in residual feed intake on feeding behavior, blood metabolic variables, and body composition traits in growing beef heifers.

This study examined the relationship of feed efficiency and performance with feeding behavior, blood metabolic variables, and various body composition measurements in growing beef heifers. Individual DMI and growth were measured in yearling Limousin x Holstein-Friesian heifers [n = 86; initial BW = 191.8 (SD = 37) kg] fed a TMR diet comprising 70:30 concentrate:corn silage on a DM basis (ME of 2.

Initial experience of pacing with a lumenless lead system in patients with congenital heart disease.

Background: Long-term pacing is frequently necessary in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). Preservation of ventricular function and avoidance of venous occlusion is important in these patients. Site-selective pacing with a smaller diameter lead is achievable with the model 3830 lead (SelectSecure, Medtronic Inc.