Comparing the Efficacy of Targeted and Blast Portal Messaging in Message Opening Rate and Anticoagulation Initiation in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation in the Preventing Preventable Strokes Study II: Prospective Cohort Study.

Background: The gap in anticoagulation use among patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) is a major public health threat. Inadequate patient education contributes to this gap. Patient portal-based messaging linked to educational materials may help bridge this gap, but the most effective messaging approach is unknown.

Preventing preventable strokes: A study protocol to push guideline-driven atrial fibrillation patient education via patient portal.

Background: The main approach to preventing stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) is anticoagulation (AC), but only about 60% of at-risk individuals are on AC. Patient-facing electronic health record-based interventions have produced mixed results. Little is known about the impact of health portal-based messaging on AC use.

Atomic force microscopy measurements and model of DNA bending caused by binding of AraC protein.

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to conduct single-molecule imaging of protein/DNA complexes involved in the regulation of the arabinose operon of Escherichia coli. In the presence of arabinose, the transcription regulatory protein AraC binds to a 38 bp region consisting of the araI1 and araI2 half-sites. The domain positioning of full-length AraC, when bound to DNA, was not previously known.

Carbon nanotube porin diffusion in mixed composition supported lipid bilayers.

Carbon nanotube porins (CNTPs), short pieces of carbon nanotubes capable of self-inserting into a lipid bilayer, represent a simplified model of biological membrane channels. We have used high-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) and all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to study the behavior of CNTPs in a mixed lipid membrane consisting of DOPC lipid with a variable percentage of DMPC lipid added to it. HS-AFM data reveal that the CNTPs undergo diffusive motion in the bilayer plane.

Method of ultrafast beam rotation for single-shot, time-resolved measurements.

Ultrafast optical beam rotation is proposed for single-shot, time-resolved measurements. A pump-probe configuration is considered using a diffraction grating and focusing optics to create angular encoding of the time delay between the pump and probe pulses. The characteristic time t(ap) of the grating-lens system is derived as a function of dispersion, NA, and time window T.

Computational and experimental investigation of constitutive behavior in AraC.

Many mutations in the N-terminal arm of AraC result in constitutive behavior in which transcription of the araBAD genes occurs even in the absence of arabinose. To begin to understand the mechanism underlying this class of mutations, we used molecular dynamics with self-guided Langevin dynamics to simulate (1) wild-type (WT) AraC, (2) known constitutive mutants resulting from alterations in the regulatory arm, particularly alanine and glycine substitutions at residue 8 because P8G is constitutive, whereas P8A behaves like wild type, and (3) selected variant AraC proteins containing alterations in the dimerization core. In all of the constitutive arm mutants, but not the WT protein, residues 37-42, which are located in the core of the dimerization domain, became restructured.

The future of continuing medical education: effectiveness of continuing medical education: American College of Chest Physicians Evidence-Based Educational Guidelines.

To ensure that continuing medical education (CME) continues to evolve so that it offers educational activities that are relevant to physicians in keeping with the definition of CME, CME providers must respond to and prepare for emerging expectations. This article puts into context the impact of the current emphasis on lifelong learning in medicine, particularly the requirement for maintenance of certification and licensure, on CME. Further, the effect of changing needs assessments and the impact of the integration of new technology in CME is included.

The role of audience characteristics and external factors in continuing medical education and physician change: effectiveness of continuing medical education: American College of Chest Physicians Evidence-Based Educational Guidelines.

Background: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Evidence Report identified and assessed audience characteristics (internal factors) and external factors that influence the effectiveness of continuing medical education (CME) in changing physician behavior.

Methods: Thirteen studies examined a series of CME audience characteristics (internal factors), and six studies looked at external factors to reinforce the effects of CME in changing behavior.

Results: With regard to CME audience characteristics, the 13 studies examined age, gender, practice setting, years in practice, specialty, foreign vs US medical graduate, country of practice, personal motivation, nonmonetary rewards and motivations, learning satisfaction, and knowledge enhancement.

Quantitative, longitudinal profiling of the primate fecal microbiota reveals idiosyncratic, dynamic communities.

We used slot blot hybridization, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), and flow cytometry microarrays to quantify specific 16S rDNAs in weekly fecal specimens from four monkeys housed in a research vivarium for periods ranging from five to 8 months. Even in these uniformly housed and fed animals the gut microbiota is idiosyncratic, very dynamic on short timescales, and shows significant positive and negative correlations among some bacteria as well as responses to heavy metal exposure. The relative quantification (fmol targets per total fmol bacterial 16S rDNA) afforded by flow cytometry microarrays agreed well with the absolute quantification (nanogram of target DNA per nanogram of fecal DNA) afforded by slot blots and qPCR.

Multiplexed, particle-based detection of DNA using flow cytometry with 3DNA dendrimers for signal amplification.

Background: Complex mixtures of DNA may be found in environmental and medical samples. There is a need for techniques that can measure low concentrations of target DNAs. For a multiplexed, flow cytometric assay, we show that the signal-to-noise ratio for fluorescence detection may be increased with the use of 3DNA dendrimers.

Stimulating the in situ activity of Geobacter species to remove uranium from the groundwater of a uranium-contaminated aquifer.

The potential for removing uranium from contaminated groundwater by stimulating the in situ activity of dissimilatory metal-reducing microorganisms was evaluated in a uranium-contaminated aquifer located in Rifle, Colo. Acetate (1 to 3 mM) was injected into the subsurface over a 3-month period via an injection gallery composed of 20 injection wells, which was installed upgradient from a series of 15 monitoring wells. U(VI) concentrations decreased in as little as 9 days after acetate injection was initiated, and within 50 days uranium had declined below the prescribed treatment level of 0.

PROBEmer: A web-based software tool for selecting optimal DNA oligos.

PROBEmer (http://probemer.cs.loyola.

Geochemistry and microbial diversity of a trichloroethene-contaminated Superfund site undergoing intrinsic in situ reductive dechlorination.

This study explored the geochemistry and microbial diversity of a Superfund site containing trichloroethene (TCE) and an unusual co-pollutant, tetrakis(2-ethylbutoxy)silane. Geochemical analysis of contaminated groundwater indicated subsurface anaerobiosis, reductive dechlorination of TCE to predominantly cis-1,2-dichloroethene, and (transient) accumulation of 2-ethylbutanol and 2-ethylbutyrate as a result of tetrakis(2-ethylbutoxy)silane breakdown. Comparative analysis of 106 16S rDNA and 61 16S-23S rDNA intergenic spacer region sequences - obtained from pristine and contaminated groundwater via DNA extraction, PCR amplification, cloning and sequencing - revealed that the contaminated groundwater featured (i) a distinct microbial community, (ii) reduced species diversity, (iii) various anaerobes, and (iv) bacteria closely related to the TCE-dechlorinating, dichloroethene-accumulating genus Dehalobacter, whereas (v) the TCE-dechlorinating, ethene-producing species Dehalococcoides ethenogenes was not detectable.

Quantitation of DNA sequences in environmental PCR products by a multiplexed, bead-based method.

A first application of a multiplexed, bead-based method is described for determining the abundances of target sequences in an environmental PCR product. Target sequences as little as 0.3% of the total amount of DNA can be quantified.

Introductory remarks.

This panel addressed five pertinent sets of questions involved in the communication process between women and their health care providers. Does gender really make a difference in health service delivery? Are health professionals taught adequate communication skills? Do communication barriers stem from the clinical setting itself? What are the most important barriers to effective communication with respect to women and particularly elderly women? Has there been progress in communication between patients and health care providers?