Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the impact of the multi-hundred million dollar investment by the federal government in the developing Patient Outcomes Research Teams (PORTs) in over a dozen major academic medical centers in the United States throughout the 1990s. The objective of the PORTs was to reduce unnecessary clinical variation in medical treatment.

Methods: Using an economic derivation of welfare loss attributable to medical practice variation and hospital admission claims data for 2 million elderly patients generalizable to the nation, we estimate the change in welfare between 1991 and 2000, the period within which the PORTs were designed and executed and their results disseminated.

Results: Our results show inpatient admission types targeted by the PORTs did have less welfare loss relative to their total expenditure by 2000, but that there was not a net decrease in the welfare loss for all hospital admissions affected by the PORT.

Conclusions: We conclude that PORTs may have had favorable effects on welfare, most likely by reducing variation in clinical care, but that causality cannot be proved, and the effects were not equal across all conditions targeted by PORTs. This research provides a methodological template that may be used to evaluate the impact of patient safety research on welfare loss and on variation in medical treatment in both hospital and ambulatory settings.

Taste acuity declines with age and may be dependent upon Zn status. The aim of the present double-blind, randomised controlled intervention trial has been to determine taste acuity in response to Zn supplementation (placebo, or 15 or 30 mg Zn/d). Healthy older European adults aged 70–87 years were recruited within Italy (Rome) (n 108) and France (Grenoble) (n 91) to the European Commission-funded Zenith project. A signal detection theory approach was adopted for taste assessment. The data were converted to R indices and analysed by repeated-measures ANOVA controlling for baseline taste acuity as well as serum and erythrocyte Zn. Serum Zn increased post-intervention, indicating compliance with the intervention. Results differed across geographical region. Salt taste acuity was greater in response to Zn (30 mg) than placebo post-intervention among those recruited in Grenoble. There was no apparent change in acuity for sweet, sour or bitter taste in response to Zn. Supplemented Zn may have potential to enhance salt taste acuity in those over the age of 70 years. Further research is required to determine if enhanced salt taste acuity is reflected in the eating experiences of older individuals.

In this paper, we report the synthesis and characterization of the PMMA-coated magnetite nanocomposite obtained from the emulsion polymerization method. In this approach, the magnetite particles were prepared separately with oleic acid as the capping ligands in nonaqueous solution and disperse in non-polar solvent. The micells structure consisting water, oil phase and surfactant will contain the oleic acid stabilized magnetite particles inside and the polymerization process will only occur on the surface of the emulsion system. This method allows the individual magnetic particles encapsulated in the polymer matrix. The resulting nanocomposites were characterized by TGA, XRD and SQUID

TiO2 nanoparticles with embedded magnetite were suspended in aqueous HAuCl4 and ultraviolet irradiated to photodeposit gold on the surface. The degree of gold coating and the wavelength of absorbance could be controlled by adjusting [HAuCl4]. Absorbance maxima were between 540-590 nm. Particles exhibited superparamagnetic properties (blocking temperature ∼170 K) whether or not coated with gold. These particles have potential applications as drug delivery agents, magnetic imaging contrast agents, and magnetically separatable photocatalysts with unique surface properties.

Cr doped GaN was grown by rf N-plasma molecular beam epitaxy on sapphire(0001) at a sample temperature of 700 °C. Cr/Ga flux ratio was set to a value from 5% to 20%. Subsequently, scanning tunneling microscopy was performed on these surfaces. Cr incorporates on the GaN surface at 700 °C at a Cr concentration of 5% and less. By increasing the Cr/Ga flux ratio to 20% in CrGaN, linear nano structures were formed on the surface, which were not observed on the bare GaN surface. The RHEED and STM studies reveal that Cr atoms form 3×3 reconstruction when 0.1 ML of Cr was deposited at room temperature on 1×1 adlayer of Ga on GaN(000-1). Cr substitutes Ga on the surface when deposited at 700 °C on the MBE grown GaN(000-1) surface for all the experiments which we have performed provided the Cr concentration is low (∼5%).

In this presentation, we report the self-assembly of monolayer and multilayer nanorings of PbSe nanoparticles. PbSe nanoparticles were synthesized by using a high temperature precipitation method. The nanoparticles are about 5 nm and appeared as truncated octahedral enclosed by the {100} and {111} crystal facets of fcc structure. The large area monodisperse self-assembly nanoarrays were obtained by dropping the high concentration solution of PbSe nanoparticles on the carbon grid. The nanoparticles are hexagonal close packed and oriented randomly in the nanoarrays. By diluting the solution for large area self-assembly, self-assembly of monolayer and multilayer nanorings can be achieved. The nanoring formation is determined by hydrodynamics, surface effects, and interaction between the nanoparticles and carbon grid.

γ-Fe2O3@Au core-shell nanoparticles were prepared through a combined route, in which high temperature organic solution synthesis and colloidal microemulsion techniques were successively applied. High magnification of TEM reveals the core-shell structure. The presence of Au on the surface of as-prepared particles is also confirmed by UV-Vis absorption. The magnetic core-shell nanoparticles offer a promising application in bio- and medical systems.

In late February and early March 2002, an archaeological watching brief at Lynford Quarry, Mundford, Norfolk revealed a palaeochannel with a dark organic fill containing in situ mammoth remains and associated Mousterian stone tools and debitage buried under 2–3 m of bedded sands and gravels. Well-preserved in situ Middle Palaeolithic open air sites are very unusal in Europe and exceedingly rare within a British context. As such, the site was identified as being of national and international importance, and was subsequently excavated by the Norfolk Archaeological Unit with funding provided by English Heritage through the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund.

This report presents some of the initial results of the excavation. It sets out how the site was excavated, outlines the stratigraphic sequence for the site, and presents some provisional findings of the excavation based on the results of the assessment work carried out by project specialists and Norfolk Archaeological Unit staff.

Bismuth sulfide (Bi2S3), a direct band gap material with Eg ñ 1.3 eV, attracts high interest in thermoelectric investigations. In this work, nanometer-sized bismuth sulfide with unique morphology has been successfully prepared by a precipitation between bismuth 2-ethylhexanoate and thioacetamide in high-temperature organic solution with presence of proper capping/ stabilizing agents. By employing this technique, we are able to produce nanobeads of bismuth sulfide with an aspect ratio of ∼ 5, typically ~10 nm wide and ∼50 nm long according to the TEM observation. Characterization of XRD and TEM/HRTEM reveals that the as-prepared particles exist in single orthorhombic phase and possess high crystallinity. The composite ratio between Bi and S can be adjusted by varying the ratio between two precursors and was determined by using EDS (TEM) technique. Thermoelectric properties of these bismuth sulfide nanobeads were also investigated and will be discussed comparatively with those from commercial bulk materials.

Nanometer-sized bismuth has successfully been prepared using a high-temperature organic reducing system by presence of proper capping/stabilizing agents. Self-assembly of bismuth was, at the first time, obtained using size-selected nanoparticles (15nm in size). Various synthetic conditions, which may significantly affect the formation of self-assembled nanocrystalline bismuth, have been optimized and discussed in this paper. The as-prepared nanocrystallites exist in a single rhombohedral phase with high crystallinity, and oxidation problem has been efficiently overcome within limited period by employing this method.

Nanometer-sized Bi0.90Sb0.10 has been, for the first time, prepared using a hightemperature organic solution reducing method. With the presence of proper capping and stabilizing agents, we were able to produce Bi0.90Sb0.10 nanoparticles as small as ∼12 nm. Nearly monodisperse distributions were obtained through a size-selective post treatment. Transmission electron microscope characterization reveals that the as-prepared particles have a highly crystalline single rhombohedral phase. Self-assembled patterns of Bi0.90Sb0.10 were successfully achieved upon evaporation of the solvent from the nanoparticle colloids. As a step toward possible applications of these particles in thermoelectric device structures, we have also demonstrated that we are able to control the pattern of Bi0.90Sb0.10 self-assembly from 2D to 1D by employing different solvent systems with varying ratios of polar and non-polar components.

Ultrafine cobalt particles in AlMCM41 silica tubes have been synthesized by ion exchange and the reduction with sodium borohydride. The role of this stable host matrix of AlMCM41 silica is to prevent agglomeration of the magnetic particles attached to the walls of AlMCM41 silica pores. The size of the host pores naturally limits the particle dimensions and thus improves their size distribution. Both magnetic susceptibility measurements and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) show a narrow distribution size of the nanoparticles. Well controlled insertion of the magnetic material to the host channel excludes formation of bulk particles outside the host material grains, which was confirmed by the TEM studies. X-ray diffraction data did not show peaks corresponding to a crystalline cobalt, but this maybe due to small size of particles and their relatively small volume fraction. The content of Co in the AlMCM41 host was measured using both magnetic measurements and elemental analysis.

We have previously shown that a specific monoclonal antibody prepared against the U1A protein, MAb 12E12, is unique in its ability to recognize a form of U1A which is not associated with the U1snRNP. This unique form of U1A, termed snRNP-free U1A or SF-A, was found to be complexed with a novel set of non-snRNP proteins (O'Connor et al., 1997, RNA 3:1444-1455). Here we demonstrate that the largest protein in these SF-A complex(es), p105, is the polypyrimidine-tract binding protein-associated factor (PSF), an auxiliary splicing factor. We show that PSF copurifies and co-immunoprecipitates with SF-A from 293T cell nucleoplasm and that it interacts with SF-A in vitro. In addition, we show that MAb 12E12 inhibits both splicing and polyadenylation in an in vitro coupled splicing and polyadenylation reaction. This suggests that SF-A and/or the SF-A complex(es) perform an important function in both processing reactions and possibly in last exon definition.

A new ternary material Co3(SbTe3)2 was prepared by using a rapid precipitation metathesis reaction between the Zintl material K3SbTe3 and CoCl2 in aqueous solution. The dc specific resistivity of this material is in the region for metallic conductors (p = 2.75 × 10-3 Ω-cm). The dc magnetic susceptibility of Co3(SbTe3)2 is reported over a 2.2 K-300 K temperature region, and the material is characterized as a spin glass with a freezing temperature of about 5 K. Magnetization data are also reported as both thermal remanent magnetization and isothermal remanent magnetization as a function of magnetizing field and temperature. When cooled well below the glass freezing temperature, the frozen spin glass has been observed to exhibit photomagnetic effects consistent with a disruption of the spin-glass state caused by uv-radiation.