Matching daily healthcare provider capacity to demand in advanced access scheduling systems

Advanced access scheduling, introduced in the early 1990s, is reported to significantly improve the performance of outpatient clinics. The successful implementation of advanced access scheduling requires the match of daily healthcare provider capacity with patient demand. In this paper, for the first time a closed-form approach is presented to determine the optimal percentage of open-access appointments to match daily provider capacity to demand. This paper introduces the conditions for the optimal percentage of open-access appointments and the procedure to find the optimal percentage. Furthermore, the sensitivity of the optimal percentage of open-access appointments to provider capacity, no-show rates, and demand distribution is investigated. Our results demonstrate that the optimal percentage of open-access appointments mainly depends on the ratio of the average demand for open-access appointments to provider capacity and the ratio of the show-up rates for prescheduled and open-access appointments.     

Malonylation/Decarbalkoxylation of Furan Derivatives as Key Steps for the Preparation of Nonactic Acid Derivatives. Part I [1]

Summary. A malonylation/decarbalkoxylation sequence from 2-substituted furans was investigated in view of developing a scalable synthesis of hydrophobic nonactic acid analogues.     

Iterative Convex Quadratic Approximation for Global Optimization in Protein Docking

An algorithm for finding an approximate global minimum of a funnel shaped function with many local minima is described. It is applied to compute the minimum energy docking position of a ligand with respect to a protein molecule. The method is based on the iterative use of a convex, general quadratic approximation that underestimates a set of local minima, where the error in the approximation is minimized in the L¹ norm. The quadratic approximation is used to generate a reduced domain, which is assumed to contain the global minimum of the funnel shaped function. Additional local minima are computed in this reduced domain, and an improved approximation is computed. This process is iterated until a convergence tolerance is satisfied. The algorithm has been applied to find the global minimum of the energy function generated by the Docking Mesh Evaluator program. Results for three different protein docking examples are presented. Each of these energy functions has thousands of local minima. Convergence of the algorithm to an approximate global minimum is shown for all three examples.     

Predicting thermal shape memory of crosslinked polymer networks from linear viscoelasticity

The viscoelastic behavior of an amorphous shape memory polymer network and its dependence on time and temperature were measured by dynamic mechanical analysis. The resulting thermo-mechanical behavior was modeled and implemented in a commercial finite element code. The ability of the resulting thermomechanical model to simulate and, eventually, predict the shape storage and shape recovery of the material was evaluated against experimental shape memory thermomechanical torsion data in a large deformation regimen. The simulations showed excellent agreement with experimental shape memory thermomechanical cycle data. This demonstrates the dependence of the shape recovery on time and temperature. The results suggest that accurate predictions of the shape recovery of any amorphous polymer networks under any thermomechanical conditions combination solely depends on considering the material viscoelasticity and its time–temperature dependence.     

Application of the T-matrix method to determine the structure of spheroidal cell nuclei with angle-resolved light scattering

We demonstrate an inverse light-scattering analysis procedure based on using the T-matrix method as a light-scattering model. We measure light scattered by in vitro cell monolayers using angle-resolved low-coherence interferometry (a/LCI) and compare the data to predictions of the T-matrix theory. The comparison yields measurements of the equal volume diameter and aspect ratio of the spheroid cell nuclei with accuracy comparable to quantitative image analysis of fixed and stained samples. These improvements represent a significant upgrade for the a/LCI technique, expanding both the range of tissue in which it is applicable and potentially increasing its value as a diagnostic tool.     

Sign Inversion in Photopharmacology: Incorporation of Cyclic Azobenzenes in Photoswitchable Potassium Channel Blockers and Openers

Photopharmacology relies on ligands that change their pharmacodynamics upon photoisomerization. Many of these ligands are azobenzenes that are thermodynamically more stable in their elongated trans‐configuration. Often, they are biologically active in this form and lose activity upon irradiation and photoisomerization to their cis‐isomer. Recently, cyclic azobenzenes, so‐called diazocines, have emerged, which are thermodynamically more stable in their bent cis‐form. Incorporation of these switches into a variety of photopharmaceuticals could convert dark‐active ligands into dark‐inactive ligands, which is preferred in most biological applications. This “pharmacological sign‐inversion” is demonstrated for a photochromic blocker of voltage‐gated potassium channels, termed CAL, and a photochromic opener of G protein‐coupled inwardly rectifying potassium (GIRK) channels, termed CLOGO.     

Enhanced visible photoluminescence in ultrathin poly(3-hexylthiophene) films by incorporation of Au nanoparticles

Incorporation of non-luminescent dodecanethiolate-protected gold clusters into regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) films results in a 6-fold increase in the visible photoluminescence (PL) of the polymer, which arises predominantly from NP-induced structural changes in the composite films.