Kinetic Stability of MOF-5 in Humid Environments: Impact of Powder Densification, Humidity Level, and Exposure Time.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are an emerging class of microporous, crystalline materials with potential applications in the capture, storage, and separation of gases. Of the many known MOFs, MOF-5 has attracted considerable attention because of its ability to store gaseous fuels at low pressure with high densities. Nevertheless, MOF-5 and several other MOFs exhibit limited stability upon exposure to reactive species such as water.

Process-oriented guided inquiry learning strategy enhances students' higher level thinking skills in a pharmaceutical sciences course.

Objective: To determine if the process-oriented guided inquiry learning (POGIL) teaching strategy improves student performance and engages higher-level thinking skills of first-year pharmacy students in an Introduction to Pharmaceutical Sciences course.

Design: Overall examination scores and scores on questions categorized as requiring either higher-level or lower-level thinking skills were compared in the same course taught over 3 years using traditional lecture methods vs the POGIL strategy. Student perceptions of the latter teaching strategy were also evaluated.

Recognition of teaching excellence.

The 2008-2009 Task Force for the Recognition of Teaching Excellence was charged by the AACP Council of Faculties Leadership to examine teaching excellence by collecting best practices from colleges and schools of pharmacy, evaluating the literature to identify evidence-based criteria for excellent teaching, and recommending appropriate means to acknowledge and reward teaching excellence. This report defines teaching excellence and discusses a variety of ways to assess it, including student, alumni, peer, and self-assessment. The task force identifies important considerations that colleges and schools must address when establishing teaching recognition programs including the purpose, criteria, number and mix of awards, frequency, type of award, and method of nominating and determining awardees.

Academic pharmacy administrators' perceptions of core requirements for entry into professional pharmacy programs.

Objectives: To determine which basic and social science courses academic pharmacy administrators believe should be required for entry into the professional pharmacy program and what they believe should be the required length of preprofessional study.

Methods: An online survey was sent to deans of all colleges and schools of pharmacy in the United States. Survey respondents were asked to indicate their level of agreement as to whether the basic and social science courses listed in the survey instrument should be required for admission to the professional program.

Administrative barriers reduce emergency physician ordering of nasal and acromioclavicular joint radiographs.

The objective of this study was to determine whether administrative barriers to clinician ordering of nasal bone and acromioclavicular (AC) joint radiographs would result in a significant diminution in emergency department use of these films and in patient charges. This study involved a retrospective cohort or pre-post analysis of radiograph ordering by emergency care providers seeing adult patients with nasal area or shoulder injuries. Numbers of films ordered before and after enactment of a restrictive policy change were determined, as well as any charge reductions associated with diminished film use.

EAA receptors in the dorsomedial hypothalamic area mediate the cardiovascular response to activation of the amygdala.

The role of excitatory amino acid (EAA) receptors in the dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH) in mediating the cardiovascular response to activation of the basolateral amygdala (BLA) was examined using conscious rats. Microinjection of the nonselective EAA receptor antagonist kynurenic acid (0.1-10 nmol) into the DMH blocked or reversed the increases in heart rate and arterial pressure resulting from injection of the GABAA receptor antagonists bicuculline methiodide (BMI; 100 pmol) and picrotoxin (100 pmol) into the BLA.

Cardiovascular effects of the beta-carboline FG 7142 in borderline hypertensive rats.

The hypothesis that acute and chronic administration of the benzodiazepine inverse agonist FG 7142 (N-methyl-beta-carboline-3-carboxamide) produces cardiovascular changes similar to those seen during acute and chronic episodes of stress was studied using conscious, unrestrained borderline hypertensive rats (BHR). Chronic intraperitoneal administration of FG 7142 (10 mg/kg; 5 days/week for 8 weeks) failed to alter resting mean arterial pressure or heart rate compared to maturation and vehicle controls. However, chronic administration of FG 7142 prevented the hypertension associated with a high salt diet.

Interaction of GABA and excitatory amino acids in the basolateral amygdala: role in cardiovascular regulation.

Activation of the amygdala in rats produces cardiovascular changes that include increases in heart rate and arterial pressure as well as behavioral changes characteristic of emotional arousal. The objective of the present study was to examine the interaction of GABA and excitatory amino acid (EAA) receptors in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) in regulating cardiovascular function. Microinjection of the GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculline methiodide (BMI) or the E A A receptor agonists NMDA or AMPA into the same region of the BLA of conscious rats produced dose-related increases in heart rate and arterial pressure.

In vivo characterization of two cell types in the rat globus pallidus which have opposite responses to dopamine receptor stimulation: comparison of electrophysiological properties and responses to apomorphine, dizocilpine, and ketamine anesthesia.

Extracellular single-unit recording techniques were used to examine the rat globus pallidus (GP). In both locally anesthetized, paralyzed rats and ketamine-anesthetized rats, we observed two distinct biphasic extracellular waveforms, which we have labeled Type I (negative/positive waveform) and Type II (positive/negative waveform). No significant differences were observed in the firing pattern or number of cells per track between these cell types, although the Type II neurons had a faster mean firing rate in the locally anesthetized animals.

A managed care model for home infusion therapy.

Home infusion therapy began in response to the medical needs of the patients. In the traditional model, products and services were delivered in the home on a physician's prescription. Limitations related to medical quality management and cost were recognized in this model.

A role for non-NMDA excitatory amino acid receptors in regulating the basal activity of rat globus pallidus neurons and their activation by the subthalamic nucleus.

We have investigated the hypothesis that excitatory amino acid (EAA) receptors in the globus pallidus (GP) play a significant role in maintaining the firing rates of GP neurons under basal conditions and following activation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN). Drugs were infused directly into the GP and/or STN while the extracellular single unit activity of Type II GP neurons was recorded in ketamine-anesthetized rats. Local infusions of the EAA agonists NMDA (30-300 pmol/200 nl) or AMPA (0.

Behavioral and electrophysiological comparison of ketamine with dizocilpine in the rat.

We have compared the effects of MK 801 and ketamine on a measure of anesthesia (loss of righting reflex) and two measures of basal ganglia dopamine (DA) function: apomorphine (APO)-induced stereotypy and APO-induced excitation of type II globus pallidus (GP) neurons. As expected, ketamine induced anesthesia. High-dose MK 801 administered IP induced ataxia, but not anesthesia.

Hypothalamic excitatory amino acid receptors mediate stress-induced tachycardia in rats.

The role of hypothalamic excitatory amino acid (EAA) receptors in mediating the cardiovascular response to stress was examined using conscious chronically instrumented rats. Microinjection of the EAA agonists N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA; 1-10 pmol), alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isooxazolepropionic acid (AMPA; 0.3-3.

Interaction of hypothalamic GABAA and excitatory amino acid receptors controlling heart rate in rats.

We have previously shown that microinjection of drugs that impair gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-mediated synaptic inhibition into the dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH) of rats generates cardiovascular and behavioral changes that mimic the response to stress. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of excitatory amino acid (EAA) receptors in the DMH in generating the cardiovascular changes caused by withdrawal of local GABAergic inhibition in urethan-anesthetized rats. Local treatment of the DMH with the nonselective EAA antagonist kynurenic acid blocked or reversed the increases in heart rate and blood pressure caused by microinjection of the GABAA antagonists bicuculline methiodide (BMI) or picrotoxin into the same region.

GABAA and excitatory amino acid receptors in dorsomedial hypothalamus and heart rate in rats.

We have previously shown that microinjection of drugs that interfere with the function of the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) into the hypothalamus produces cardiorespiratory and behavioral changes resembling those seen in emotional stress. The purpose of this study was to determine whether excitatory amino acids (EAAs) can produce a cardiovascular response similar to that caused by the GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculline methiodide (BMI) when microinjected at the same hypothalamic site in urethan-anesthetized rats and to clarify the precise locus of action of these agents. N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA, 0.

Immunoadsorption of human plasma with protein A-sepharose columns.

Four patients with refractory acute leukemia were treated a total of 31 times with an immunoadsorption system consisting of protein A-sepharose columns, a cell separator, and an elution monitor to test its safety and capacity to remove immunoglobulins. The procedure was tolerated well, and acutely reduced plasma IgG levels by approximately 18 percent. When the procedure was repeated two to three times per week for 3 weeks, IgG levels dropped by 30 to 40 percent, but they gradually returned to pretreatment levels after completion of the course of treatment.

Further characterization of the in vitro tumoricidal activity of staphylococcal protein A.

Treatment of plasma or serum from leukemic patients with solid phase staphylococcal Protein A induced leukemic blast cell lysis in vitro, but this effect was relatively independent of the amount of immunoglobulin G (IgG) removed. Samples with approximately equal cytotoxic activity contained markedly different IgG levels, while samples with similar IgG levels had a wide range of tumoricidal activity. Assays of plasma samples collected during a perfusion of one plasma volume through a Protein A-Sepharose column indicated that the duration of the procedure had a greater effect on cytotoxic activity than did the amount of IgG removed.

Systemic complications of inflammatory bowel disease.

Radiologic assessment of the sacroiliac joints should be part of every inflammatory bowel disease patient's workup; ankylosing spondylitis is 10 to 20 times more common in ulcerative colitis patients than in normal persons. Iritis, which occurs in 10 to 20% of ulcerative colitis patients, often precedes bowel symptoms. It may be necessary to use long-term, low-dose steroid therapy to control frequently recurring iritis.

Acute oligoarthritis associated with Clostridium difficile pseudomembranous colitis.

The abrupt onset of a sterile inflammatory oligoarthritis developed in a patient with active Clostridium difficile pseudomembranous colitis. The arthritis affected a hip and a knee. Leukocyte counts of synovial fluid obtained from the patient's left hip and knee were elevated.

Specific removal of antibodies with an immunoadsorption system.

A continuous flow immunoadsorption system consisting of a cell separator, protein A-sepharose columns, and a semi-automatic elution component was developed to specifically remove circulating IgG. This system provides extensive absorption with an essentially unlimited column bed volume. Six dogs were treated a total of 19 times.

The nature of IgG complexes in alcoholic liver disease.

Circulating immune complexes have been described in most liver diseases, including alcoholic liver disease, although their pathogenic significance remains unclear. Currently available immune complex assays do not distinguish immunoglobulin aggregates from antigen-antibody complexes. Immunoglobulin aggregate formation occurs in vitro at 37 degrees C in the presence of hypergammaglobulinemia and/or hypoalbuminemia, conditions common in liver disease.

The effect of serum immunoglobulin concentration on immune complex detection by polyethylene glycol.

The addition of 4% polyethylene glycol (PEG) to serum and quantitation of immunoglobulins in the dissolved precipitate has been advocated as a simple, reliable method for detecting circulating immune complexes. Because pathological sera, which often yield positive results in this assay, may contain increased concentrations of immunoglobulins compared to normal control sera, we have determined the relationship between total serum immunoglobulin concentration and the quantity of immunoglobulins precipitated by 4% PEG. When IgG was added to normal serum, the quantity and percentage of IgG in the precipitate was directly proportional to total serum IgG concentration.