Risk of hospitalization for community acquired pneumonia with renin-angiotensin blockade in elderly patients: a population-based study.

Objective: To characterize the 90-day risk of hospitalization with pneumonia among patients treated with different anti-hypertensive drug classes.

Design: Population based cohort study using five linked databases.

Participants: Individuals over the age of 65 who filled a new outpatient prescription for one of four anti-hypertensive medications: ACE inhibitors (n = 86 775), ARBs (n = 33,953), calcium channel blockers (CCB, n = 34,240), beta blockers (BB, n = 35,331) and thiazide diuretics (n = 64 186).

Higher dose versus lower dose of antiviral therapy in the treatment of herpes zoster infection in the elderly: a matched retrospective population-based cohort study.

Background: Higher versus lower doses of antiviral drugs used to treat herpes zoster infection may lead to more adverse drug events in older adults, particularly those with chronic kidney disease.

Methods: We conducted a matched retrospective population-based cohort study of older adults (mean 77 years) in Ontario, Canada who initiated in the outpatient setting a higher (n = 23,256) or lower (n = 3,876) dose of one of three oral antivirals for the treatment of herpes zoster between 2002 and 2011. The primary outcome was hospitalization within 30 days with evidence of a computed tomography (CT) scan of the head (a proxy for acute neurotoxicity).

Rivaroxaban vs. low molecular weight heparin for the prevention of venous thromboembolism after hip or knee arthroplasty: a cohort study.

Background: Rivaroxaban is increasingly used to prevent venous thromboembolism after hip or knee arthroplasty. Studies evaluating the effectiveness of rivaroxaban compared to low molecular weight heparin after orthopedic surgery in routine practice are scarce.

Patients And Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study in 121 hospitals in Ontario, Canada, between 2002 and 2012.

Kidney function and population-based outcomes of initiating oral atenolol versus metoprolol tartrate in older adults.

Background: Atenolol and metoprolol tartrate are commonly prescribed β-blockers. Atenolol elimination depends on kidney function, whereas metoprolol tartrate does not. We hypothesized that compared to metoprolol tartrate, initiating oral atenolol treatment would be associated with more adverse events in older adults, with the association most pronounced in patients with lower baseline estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFRs).

Predictors of progression to chronic dialysis in survivors of severe acute kidney injury: a competing risk study.

Background: Survivors of acute kidney injury are at an increased risk of developing irreversible deterioration in kidney function and in some cases, the need for chronic dialysis. We aimed to determine predictors of chronic dialysis and death among survivors of dialysis-requiring acute kidney injury.

Methods: We used linked administrative databases in Ontario, Canada, to identify patients who were discharged from hospital after an episode of acute kidney injury requiring dialysis and remained free of further dialysis for at least 90 days after discharge between 1996 and 2009.

The three-year incidence of fracture in chronic kidney disease.

Knowing a person's fracture risk according to their kidney function, gender, and age may influence clinical management and decision-making. Using healthcare databases from Ontario, Canada, we conducted a cohort study of 679,114 adults of 40 years and over (mean age 62 years) stratified at cohort entry by estimated glomerular filtration rate ((eGFR) 60 and over, 45-59, 30-44, 15-29, and under 15 ml/min per 1.73 m(2)), gender, and age (40-65 and over 65 years).

The three-year incidence of major hemorrhage among older adults initiating chronic dialysis.

Background: For those who initiate chronic dialysis, knowing what proportion will experience 3-year outcomes of hemorrhage with hospitalization informs patient prognosis, disease impact, and the planning of trials and programs to prevent events.

Objectives: We examined the incidence of hemorrhage and related gastrointestinal endoscopic procedures in incident older dialysis patients and stratified patients by age, era, dialysis modality and whether recently prescribed anti-thrombotic medication.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Calcium-channel blocker-clarithromycin drug interactions and acute kidney injury.

Importance: Calcium-channel blockers are metabolized by the cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4; EC 1.14.13.

Predictive value from pediatrician plusoptix screening: impact of refraction and binocular alignment.

Background: The positive predictive value (PPV) of conventional preschool acuity screening is about 50% whereas previous Polaroid photoscreening with experienced interpretation can achieve PPV greater than 85%. The Plusoptix photoscreener has immediate computer interpretation and a CPT code available to pediatricians.

Methods: Two Plusoptix SO9 were used in two pediatric group practices with previously validated refractive criteria and new manufacturer's binocular alignment criteria.

A molecular phylogenetic approach to western North America endemic Artemisia and allies (Asteraceae): untangling the sagebrushes.

Premise Of The Study: Artemisia subgenus Tridentatae plants characterize the North American Intermountain West. These are landscape-dominant constituents of important ecological communities and habitats for endemic wildlife. Together with allied species and genera (Picrothamnus and Sphaeromeria), they make up an intricate series of taxa whose limits are uncertain, likely the result of reticulate evolution.

A multi-timescale map of radiative and nonradiative decay pathways for excitons in CdSe quantum dots.

A combination of transient absorption (TA) and time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) spectroscopies performed on solution-phase samples of colloidal CdSe quantum dots (QDs) allows the construction of a time-resolved, charge carrier-resolved map of decay from the first excitonic state of the QD. Data from TA and TRPL yield the same six exponential components, with time constants ranging from ∼1 ps to 50 ns, for excitonic decay. Comparison of TA signals in the visible and near-infrared (NIR) spectral regions enables determination of the relative contributions of electron and hole dynamics to each decay component, and comparison of TA and TRPL reveals that each component represents a competition between radiative and nonradiative decay pathways.

Charge carrier resolved relaxation of the first excitonic state in CdSe quantum dots probed with near-infrared transient absorption spectroscopy.

This manuscript describes a global regression analysis of near-infrared (NIR, 900-1300 nm) transient absorptions (TA) of colloidal CdSe quantum dots (QDs) photoexcited to their first (1S(e)1S(3/2)) excitonic state. Near-IR TA spectroscopy facilitates charge carrier-resolved analysis of excitonic decay of QDs because signals in the NIR are due exclusively to absorptions of photoexcited electrons and holes, as probe energies in this region are not high enough to induce absorptions across the optical bandgap that crowd the visible TA spectra. The response of each observed component of the excitonic decay to the presence of a hole-trapping ligand (1-octanethiol) and an electron-accepting ligand (1,4-benzoquinone), and comparison of time constants to those for recovery of the ground state bleaching feature in the visible TA spectrum, allow for the assignment of the components to (i) a 1.

Chemical control of the photoluminescence of CdSe quantum dot-organic complexes with a series of para-substituted aniline ligands.

Replacement of the native (as-synthesized) ligands of colloidal CdSe QDs with varying concentrations of a series of para-substituted anilines (R-An), where R ranges from strongly electron-withdrawing to strongly electron-donating, decreases the PL of the QDs. The molar ratio of R-An to QD ([R-An]:[QD]) at which the PL decreases by 50% shifts by 4 orders of magnitude over the series R-An. The model employed to describe the data combines a Freundlich binding isotherm (which reflects the dependence of the binding affinity of the amine headgroups of R-An on the substituent R) with a function that describes the response of the PL to R-An ligands once they are bound at their equilibrium surface coverage.

Ribosomal DNA, heterochromatin, and correlation with genome size in diploid and polyploid North American endemic sagebrushes (Artemisia, Asteraceae).

Subgenus Tridentatae (Artemisia, Asteraceae) can be considered a polyploid complex. Both polyploidy and hybridization have been documented in the Tridentatae. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and fluorochrome banding were used to detect and analyze ribosomal DNA changes linked to polyploidization in this group by studying four diploid-polyploid species pairs.

Symbiotic regulation of plant growth, development and reproduction.

The growth and development of rice (Oryzae sativa) seedlings was shown to be regulated epigenetically by a fungal endophyte. In contrast to un-inoculated (nonsymbiotic) plants, endophyte colonized (symbiotic) plants preferentially allocated resources into root growth until root hairs were well established. During that time symbiotic roots expanded at five times the rate observed in nonsymbiotic plants.

Genotype, soil type, and locale effects on reciprocal transplant vigor, endophyte growth, and microbial functional diversity of a narrow sagebrush hybrid zone in Salt Creek Canyon, Utah.

When addressing the nature of ecological adaptation and environmental factors limiting population ranges and contributing to speciation, it is important to consider not only the plant's genotype and its response to the environment, but also any close interactions that it has with other organisms, specifically, symbiotic microorganisms. To investigate this, soils and seedlings were reciprocally transplanted into common gardens of the big sagebrush hybrid zone in Salt Creek Canyon, Utah, to determine location and edaphic effects on the fitness of parental and hybrid plants. Endophytic symbionts and functional microbial diversity of indigenous and transplanted soils and sagebrush plants were also examined.

The distinction between torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

The present article seeks to clarify the distinction between torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The author argues that the decisive criteria for distinguishing torture from CIDT is not, as argued by the European Court of Human Rights and many scholars, the intensity of the pain or suffering inflicted, but the purpose of the conduct and the powerlessness of the victim and that as such the distinction is primarily linked to the question of personal liberty. He concludes that the "scope of application" of CIDT is a relative concept, that outside a situation of detention and similar direct control, the prohibition of CIDT is subject to the proportionality principle.

Mechanism of UV photoreactivity of alkylsiloxane self-assembled monolayers.

A molecular level understanding of the photoreactivity of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) becomes increasingly important as the spatial resolution starts to be limited by the size of the resist and the spatial extent of the photochemical reactions in photoresist micropatterning. To this end, a number of surface characterization techniques were combined to understand the reactive agents, reactive sites, kinetics, and reaction pathways in the UV photoreactivity of octadecylsiloxane (ODS) SAMs. Quantitative analysis of our results provides evidence that ground state atomic oxygen is the primary reactive agent for the UV degradation of ODS SAMs.

Ultrafast excited-state electron transfer at an organic liquid/aqueous interface.

Ultrafast excited-state electron transfer has been monitored at the liquid/liquid interface for the first time. Second harmonic generation (SHG) pump/probe measurements monitored the electron transfer (ET) occurring between photoexcited coumarin 314 (C314) acceptor and dimethylaniline (DMA) donor molecules. In the treatment of this problem, translational diffusion of solute molecules can be neglected since the donor DMA is one of the liquid phases of the interface.

Variation of DNA amount in 47 populations of the subtribe Artemisiinae and related taxa (Asteraceae, Anthemideae): karyological, ecological, and systematic implications.

Genome size has been estimated by flow cytometry in 47 populations of 40 species of the tribe Anthemideae (Asteraceae), mainly from Artemisia and other genera of the subtribe Artemisiinae and related taxa. A range of 2C values from 3.54 to 21.

Fluorescence detection of surface-bound intermediates produced from UV photoreactivity of alkylsiloxane SAMs.

Detection and quantification of submonolayer coverage surface species is not trivial. We have developed a novel method sensitive to surface-bound chemical functional groups as low as 10(11) molecules/cm(2) by specific covalent attachment of fluorescent chromophores. This enables the intermediates of the UV photochemistry of alkylsiloxane self-assembled monolayers to be identified.

Dealing with uncertainty: parental assessment of pain in their children with profound special needs.

Background: Despite advances in the assessment and management of children's pain, children with profound special needs are especially vulnerable to poor pain management. Their underpinning condition often severely compromises their ability to express pain through the usual verbal and behavioural routes. The lack of any appropriate framework for assessment results in a suboptimum and inaccurate approach to an important aspect of their care.

Narrow hybrid zone between two subspecies of big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata: Asteraceae) : XII. Galls on sagebrush in a reciprocal transplant garden.

Several species of gall-forming insects specialize on big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), a species that shows much clinal and subspecific variation throughout its geographic range. Two of those subspecies, basin big sagebrush (A. t.