Effect of Poly(ethylene oxide) Molecular Weight on the Pinning and Pillar Formation of Evaporating Sessile Droplets: The Role of the Interface.

We report on the drying process of sessile droplets of aqueous poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) solutions studied by contact angle analysis. Liquid samples were prepared with the same initial concentration of four different molecular weights, Mw, of PEO. Droplets with initial volumes of between 1 and 5 μL were left to evaporate while temperature, pressure, and relative humidity were kept constant.

Promoting supportive parenting in new mothers with substance-use problems: a pilot randomized trial of residential treatment plus an attachment-based parenting program.

This pilot randomized trial tested the feasibility and efficacy of supplementing residential substance-abuse treatment for new mothers with a brief, yet rigorous, attachment-based parenting program. Twenty-one predominantly (86%) White mothers and their infants living together in residential substance-abuse treatment were randomly assigned to the program (n = 11) or control (n = 10) group. Program mothers received 10 home-based sessions of Dozier's Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) intervention.

Can personality traits and intelligence compensate for background disadvantage? Predicting status attainment in adulthood.

This study investigated the interplay of family background and individual differences, such as personality traits and intelligence (measured in a large U.S. representative sample of high school students; N = 81,000) in predicting educational attainment, annual income, and occupational prestige 11 years later.

Affective temperaments and neurocognitive functioning in bipolar disorder.

Background: There is evidence that patients with bipolar disorder (BD) score higher on affective temperament ratings compared to healthy controls (HCs). Moreover, unaffected relatives demonstrate similar patterns as BD patients suggesting that such temperaments are related to the genetic risk for BD and may serve as endophenotypes for the disorder. It is unknown whether affective temperaments are associated with other core features of BD, such as impairments in neurocognition.

Process evaluation of a statewide abusive head trauma prevention program.

The current study used four dimensions of the RE-AIM framework (Reach, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance) to evaluate the implementation of a statewide abusive head trauma prevention program. Numerous methods, including telephone surveys, paper and pencil questionnaires, site visits, and program administrative data were used to conduct the process evaluation. Results indicate that the intervention was successfully implemented in all birthing hospitals (n=86) across the state with a high degree of fidelity.

Empirical evidence for discrete neurocognitive subgroups in bipolar disorder: clinical implications.

Background: Recent data suggest trait-like neurocognitive impairments in bipolar disorder (BPD), with deficits about 1 s.d. below average, less severe than deficits noted in schizophrenia.

Effect of particle geometry on triple line motion of nano-fluid drops and deposit nano-structuring.

We illustrate the importance of particle geometry on droplet contact line pinning, 'coffee-stain' formation and nano-structuring within the resulting rings. We present the fundamentals of pure liquid droplet evaporation and then discuss the effect of particles on the evaporation process. The resulting coffee-stain patterns and particle structuring within them are presented and discussed.

Cost benefit analysis of two policy options for cannabis: status quo and legalisation.

Aims: To date there has been limited analysis of the economic costs and benefits associated with cannabis legalisation. This study redresses this gap. A cost benefit analysis of two cannabis policy options the status quo (where cannabis use is illegal) and a legalised-regulated option was conducted.

Preferences for policy options for cannabis in an Australian general population: A discrete choice experiment.

Background: Policy choices for illicit drugs such as cannabis entail consideration of competing factors such as individual health, societal views about pleasure, and criminal justice impacts. Society must weigh up these factors in determining the preferred cannabis policy; although often cast as a contest between legalisation of cannabis or full prohibition the actual policy choices are not so black and white. This study assessed societal preferences for different cannabis policies and multiple consequences.

Recalcitrant bubbles.

We demonstrate that thermocapillary forces may drive bubbles against liquid flow in 'anomalous' mixtures. Unlike 'ordinary' liquids, in which bubbles migrate towards higher temperatures, we have observed vapour bubbles migrating towards lower temperatures, therefore against the flow. This unusual behaviour may be explained by the temperature dependence of surface tension of these binary mixtures.

Critical design aspects involved in the study of Paneth cells and the intestinal microbiota.

Paneth cells are long-lived secretory cells that reside in the base of the crypts of Lieberkühn of the small intestine. They produce an arsenal of molecules that are involved in numerous biological processes, ranging from the control of gut microbial populations to supporting the intestinal stem cell niche. Because of these important functions, Paneth cell abnormalities are becoming implicated in a variety of disease processes.

The entropic brain: a theory of conscious states informed by neuroimaging research with psychedelic drugs.

Entropy is a dimensionless quantity that is used for measuring uncertainty about the state of a system but it can also imply physical qualities, where high entropy is synonymous with high disorder. Entropy is applied here in the context of states of consciousness and their associated neurodynamics, with a particular focus on the psychedelic state. The psychedelic state is considered an exemplar of a primitive or primary state of consciousness that preceded the development of modern, adult, human, normal waking consciousness.

Comprehensive, quantitative bioprocess productivity monitoring using fluorescence EEM spectroscopy and chemometrics.

This study demonstrates the application of fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (EEM) spectroscopy to the quantitative predictive analysis of recombinant glycoprotein production cultured in a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell fed-batch process. The method relies on the fact that EEM spectra of complex solutions are very sensitive to compositional change. As the cultivation progressed, changes in the emission properties of various key fluorophores (e.

Aspirin use in heart failure: is low-dose therapy associated with mortality and morbidity benefits in a large community population?

Background- Aspirin use in heart failure (HF) is controversial. The drug has proven benefit in comorbidities associated with HF; however, retrospective analysis of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor trials and prospective comparisons with warfarin have shown increased risk of morbidity with aspirin use. This study aims to evaluate the association of low-dose aspirin with mortality and morbidity risk in a large community-based cohort.

The control of global brain dynamics: opposing actions of frontoparietal control and default mode networks on attention.

Understanding how dynamic changes in brain activity control behavior is a major challenge of cognitive neuroscience. Here, we consider the brain as a complex dynamic system and define two measures of brain dynamics: the synchrony of brain activity, measured by the spatial coherence of the BOLD signal across regions of the brain; and metastability, which we define as the extent to which synchrony varies over time. We investigate the relationship among brain network activity, metastability, and cognitive state in humans, testing the hypothesis that global metastability is "tuned" by network interactions.

National, regional, and state abusive head trauma: application of the CDC algorithm.

Objective: To examine national, regional, and state abusive head trauma (AHT) trends using child hospital discharge data by applying a new coding algorithm developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Methods: Data from 4 waves of the Kids' Inpatient Database and annual discharge data from North Carolina were used to determine trends in AHT incidence among children <1 year of age between 2000 and 2009. National, regional, and state incidence rates were calculated.

A discrete-time Multiple Event Process Survival Mixture (MEPSUM) model.

Traditional survival analysis was developed to investigate the occurrence and timing of a single event, but researchers have recently begun to ask questions about the order and timing of multiple events. A multiple event process survival mixture model is developed here to analyze nonrepeatable events measured in discrete-time that may occur at the same point in time. Building on both traditional univariate survival analysis and univariate survival mixture analysis, the model approximates the underlying multivariate distribution of hazard functions via a discrete-point finite mixture in which the mixing components represent prototypical patterns of event occurrence.

Engagement with the criminal justice system among opioid-dependent people: a retrospective cohort study.

Aims: Studies of offending among people who use drugs typically focus upon small and potentially unrepresentative samples. We examined an entire population of opioid-dependent clients' contact with the criminal justice system to develop more accurate population-wide measures of offending among opioid-dependent people in Australia.

Design: Retrospective data linkage study.

Social, behavioral, and genetic linkages from adolescence into adulthood.

The influence of genetic factors on health and behavior is conditioned by social, cultural, institutional, and physical environments in which individuals live, work, and play. We encourage studies supporting multilevel integrative approaches to understanding these contributions to health, and describe the Add Health study as an exemplar. Add Health is a large sample of US adolescents in grades 7 to 12 in 1994-1995 followed into adulthood with 4 in-home interviews and biomarker collections, including DNA.

Prefrontal executive function associated coupling relates to Huntington's disease stage.

Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disease caused by cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG)-repeat expansion in the huntingtin (HTT) gene. Early changes that may precede clinical manifestation of movement disorder include executive dysfunction. The aim of this study was to identify functional network correlates of impaired higher cognitive functioning in relation to HD stage.

Molecular detection of bacterial contamination in gnotobiotic rodent units.

Gnotobiotic rodents provide an important technique to study the functional roles of commensal bacteria in host physiology and pathophysiology. To ensure sterility, these animals must be screened frequently for contamination. The traditional screening approaches of culturing and Gram staining feces have inherent limitations, as many bacteria are uncultivable and fecal Gram stains are difficult to interpret.

Large-scale network organization in the avian forebrain: a connectivity matrix and theoretical analysis.

Many species of birds, including pigeons, possess demonstrable cognitive capacities, and some are capable of cognitive feats matching those of apes. Since mammalian cortex is laminar while the avian telencephalon is nucleated, it is natural to ask whether the brains of these two cognitively capable taxa, despite their apparent anatomical dissimilarities, might exhibit common principles of organization on some level. Complementing recent investigations of macro-scale brain connectivity in mammals, including humans and macaques, we here present the first large-scale "wiring diagram" for the forebrain of a bird.