Synthesis and spectroscopic properties of 4-amino-1,8-naphthalimide derivatives involving the carboxylic group: a new molecular probe for ZnO nanoparticles with unusual fluorescence features.

Of a series of 4-substituted 1,8-naphthalimides, fluorescent 4-(6-piperidinyl-1,3-dioxo-1H-benzo[de]isoquinolin-2(3H)-yl)benzoic acid (4) was found to be a sensitive molecular probe for ZnO nanoparticles. We investigated in detail one- and two-photon absorption properties of this fluorophore. In nonpolar solvents, the acid 4 absorbs at about 400 nm and fluoresces at 500 nm with a fluorescence lifetime of about 7 ns, similar to the ester 6 and typical of the lifetimes of other derivatives of this type.

Random laser action of ZnO@mesoporous silicas.

ZnO@mesoporous silica nanocomposite was prepared by the impregnation method, and very efficient laser action was highlighted. As revealed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), nanometric ZnO particles are confined inside the mesochannels of CMI-1 mesoporous silicas. Upon excitation at 3.

Reducing neonatal mortality rate with nurse-midwives.

Newborn health indices were measured before, during, and after a demonstration nurse-midwife program introduced to relieve a health manpower shortage at a county hospital in rural California. During the program, prenatal care increased, and prematurity and neonatal mortality rate decreased at the county hospital. After the 3 year program, prenatal care decreased while prematurity rose from 6.

Surface fluorescence resonance energy transfer studies on interfacial adsorption of Thermomyces (humicola) lanuginosa lipase, using monomolecular films of cis-parinaric acid.

The fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) technique was adapted to study the process whereby lipase is adsorbed to monomolecular lipid films spread at the air-water interface. When cis-parinaric acid (cis-PnA) was spread over an aqueous subphase before the injection of sodium taurodeoxycholate (NaTDC) and Thermomyces lanuginosa lipase (TLL), no FRET was observed. Under these conditions, no adsorption of TLL was detected using an ELISA.

Process of care and outcomes for elderly patients hospitalized with peptic ulcer disease: results from a quality improvement project.

Context: Since publication in 1994 of guidelines for management of peptic ulcer disease (PUD), trends in physician practice and outcomes related to guideline application have not been evaluated.

Objectives: To describe changes in process of care that occurred in a quality improvement program for patients hospitalized with PUD and to evaluate associations between in-hospital treatment of PUD and 1-year rehospitalization for PUD and mortality in a subset of these patients.

Design, Setting, And Patients: Cohort study of 4292 sequential Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized at acute care hospitals with a principal diagnosis of PUD in 5 states (Colorado, Georgia, Connecticut, Oklahoma, and Virginia) in 1995 (baseline) and 1997 (remeasurement); outcomes were evaluated for 752 patients in Colorado.

Motor vehicle crash fatalities: A comparison of Hispanic and non-Hispanic motorists in Colorado.

Study Objectives: We compare the population-based death rates from traffic crashes in the Hispanic and non-Hispanic white populations in a single state, and compare fatally injured Hispanic and non-Hispanic drivers with respect to safety belt use, alcohol involvement, speeding, vehicle age, valid licensure, and urban-rural location.

Methods: Hispanic and non-Hispanic white motorists killed in traffic crashes in 1991-1995 were studied (n=2,272). Data from death certificates (age, sex, education, race, and ethnicity) and the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS; driver, vehicle, and crash information) were merged.

Modeling of gas dynamics for a laser-generated plasma: propagation into low-pressure gases.

The physical phenomena involved during three-dimensional axisymmetric laser-induced plasma expansion into background gas are numerically studied. For this purpose, a multispecies hydrodynamic model is developed which considers the effects of mass and ambipolar diffusions, thermal conduction, viscosity, and nonequilibrium conditions for ionization. This model is applied to describe quantitatively the Si plasma plume expansion into Ar or He gases.

Tobacco use and other risk behaviors among adolescents in an STD clinic.

Background: This study examined the potential for tobacco use and other health risk behavior interventions in the context of an urban sexually transmitted diseases (STD) clinic.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of two populations. Adolescents seen at an STD clinic or at the teen clinic of a community health center completed a self-administered computer survey in 1996.

Comparison of health status, socioeconomic characteristics, and knowledge and use of HIV-related resources between HIV-infected women and men.

Objectives: The authors compared socioeconomic characteristics, and knowledge and use of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related resources and health status measures between HIV-infected women and men registered within the Denver Health and Hospitals health care system.

Methods: Data collected through two Centers for Disease Control-funded surveillance initiatives (Adult Spectrum of Disease and Supplement to HIV/AIDS Surveillance) were linked. Health status measures were obtained using the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS-20) questionnaire.

Urban and rural traumatic brain injuries in Colorado.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare and contrast the epidemiology of traumatic brain injury among urban and rural residents of Colorado.

Methods: Cases of traumatic brain injury (ICD 800, 801, 803, 804, 850-854) for 1991 and 1992 from the Colorado surveillance system of hospitalized and fatal traumatic brain injuries were used. Urban cases resided in counties designated by the U.

Usefulness of human immunodeficiency virus post-test counseling by telephone for low-risk clients of an urban sexually transmitted diseases clinic.

Background: Failure of clients to return for post-test counseling for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been noted consistently as a problem with HIV counseling and testing in sexually transmitted disease clinics.

Goals: To assess trends in the rates of HIV post-test counseling in an urban sexually transmitted disease clinic. To determine the usefulness of providing post-test counseling by telephone to clients at low risk for HIV as a means of increasing post-test counseling rates and efficiency of clinic operations.

Tracking community sentinel events: breast cancer mortality and neighborhood risk for advanced-stage tumors in Denver.

Objectives: The incidence of related sentinel events--breast cancer mortality and neighborhood-specific morbidity for advanced stage at diagnosis--were calculated for women likely to use a community health center in Denver, Colo.

Methods: For the center's service area, neighborhoods (n = 37) were defined by program use. Mortality rates and proportional hazards regression models were estimated for 4189 breast cancer cases recorded between 1979 and 1990.

Risk factors for delayed immunization against measles, mumps, and rubella in Colorado two-year-olds.

Objectives: 1) To examine a wide range of potential risk factors for delayed childhood immunization against measles, mumps, and rubella and 2) to determine the parental response to proposed solutions regarding the problem of delayed childhood immunization.

Design: A case-control study in which subjects had (controls) or had not (cases) received measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR) by 2 years of age. Parents of subjects were also surveyed to find out whether they thought selected proposals to improve immunization rates would be successful.

Chlamydia trachomatis antibody titers and hysterosalpingography in predicting tubal disease in infertility patients.

Objective: To determine if the number of diagnostic laparoscopies done on women without tubal adhesive disease could be reduced by testing for tubal disease with Chlamydia trachomatis antibody titers and hysterosalpingography (HSG), either singly or together.

Design: Historical prospective chart review.

Setting: The Colorado Kaiser Permanente Reproductive Endocrinology Clinic.

Children with special health-care needs in Texas.

A comprehensive system for the delivery of care to children with special healthcare needs and to their families has been developed by the department of pediatrics of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. A description of the structure and operations of this system is presented and offered as a model for the state of Texas.

Mandatory seatbelts: epidemiologic, financial, and medical rationale from the Colorado matched pairs study.

In what approximated a controlled clinical trial for efficacy of seatbelts, the Colorado matched pairs study examined 256 crashes meeting the following criteria: driver plus front-seat passenger, one belted (SB) and one nonbelted (NSB) occupant, and at least one occupant injured. Nearly half (119 of 256) of the SB partners escaped injury, while only 16% (41 of 256) of the NSB group were as fortunate. To ascertain a differential effect the 160 pairs discordant for injury were analyzed.

Evaluation of an intervention to change benzodiazepine-prescribing behavior in a prepaid group practice setting.

To determine the effect of two levels of educational intervention on benzodiazepine-prescribing behavior in an elderly population in a controlled prepaid group practice (PPGP) setting, we designed a prospective controlled trial, with six-month follow-up. Our setting was a 270,000 member group-model PPGP in Colorado, from 1990 to 1991. Participants included 91 physicians, 62 men and 29 women; median age was 38.

Detection of injury-prone behaviors among internal medicine patients.

Objectives: 1) To describe the prevalence of eight injury-prone behaviors (IPBs) and the associations of these behaviors with ten standard chronic disease and sociodemographic risk factors (CDSRFs) among internal medicine patients and 2) to identify a subset of patients with multiple IPBs who might be at particularly high risk of injury.

Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Setting: The University of Colorado Health Sciences Center general internal medicine clinic.

Work-related aviation fatalities in Colorado 1982-1987.

On-the-job deaths related to aviation are the seventh leading cause of fatal occupational injury in the United States. In Colorado, they comprise 37% of all air transport deaths. A review of all occupational aviation-related fatalities in Colorado during 1982-1987 identified 86 deaths.

Clinically important respiratory effects of dust exposure and smoking in British coal miners.

A unique data set of 3,380 British coal miners has been reanalyzed with major focus on nonpneumoconiotic respiratory conditions. The aim was to assess the independent contribution of smoking and exposure to respirable dust to clinically significant measures of respiratory dysfunction. Exposure to coal-mine dust was monitored over a 10-yr period.

Antigenic memory to influenza A viruses in man determined by monovalent vaccines.

This study was conducted to test the limits of the doctrine of 'original antigenic sin' in influenza A. The design included use of zonal purified 1000 CCA (chick cell agglutinating) units monovalent vaccines consisting of H0N1, H1N1, H2N2 and H3N2. Age cohorts with different primary influenza A infections were established for the 687 volunteers.