Using optical tweezers to relate the chemical and mechanical cross-bridge cycles.

Science.gov (United States)

Steffen, Walter; Sleep, John

2004-12-29

In most current models of muscle contraction there are two translational steps, the working stroke, whereby an attached myosin cross-bridge moves relative to the actin filament, and the repriming step, in which the cross-bridge returns to its original orientation. The development of single molecule methods has allowed a more detailed investigation of the relationship of these mechanical steps to the underlying biochemistry. In the normal adenosine triphosphate cycle, myosin.adenosine diphosphate.phosphate (M.ADP.Pi) binds to actin and moves it by ca. 5 nm on average before the formation of the end product, the rigor actomyosin state. All the other product-like intermediate states tested were found to give no net movement indicating that M.ADP.Pi alone binds in a pre-force state. Myosin states with bound, unhydrolysed nucleoside triphosphates also give no net movement, indicating that these must also bind in a post-force conformation and that the repriming, post- to pre-transition during the forward cycle must take place while the myosin is dissociated from actin. These observations fit in well with the structural model in which the working stroke is aligned to the opening of the switch 2 element of the ATPase site.

trans-Methylpyridine cyclen versus cross-bridged trans-methylpyridine cyclen. Synthesis, acid-base and metal complexation studies (metal = Co2+, Cu2+, and Zn2+).

Science.gov (United States)

Bernier, Nicolas; Costa, Judite; Delgado, Rita; Félix, Vítor; Royal, Guy; Tripier, Raphaël

2011-05-07

The synthesis of the cross-bridged cyclen CRpy(2) {4,10-bis((pyridin-2-yl)methyl)-1,4,7,10-tetraazabicyclo[5.5.2]tetradecane}, a constrained analogue of the previously described trans-methylpyridine cyclen Cpy(2) is reported. The additional ethylene bridge confers to CRpy(2) proton-sponge type behaviour which was explored by NMR and potentiometric studies. Transition metal complexes have been synthesized (by complexation of both ligands with Co(2+), Cu(2+) and Zn(2+)) and characterized in solution and in the solid state. The single crystal X-ray structures of [CoCpy(2)](2+), [CuCpy(2)](2+) and [ZnCpy(2)](2+) complexes were determined. Stability constants of the complexes, including those of the cross-bridged derivative, were determined using potentiometric titration data and the kinetic inertness of the [CuCRpy(2)](2+) complex in an acidic medium (half-life values) was evaluated by spectrophotometry. The pre-organized structure of the cross-bridged ligand imposes an additional strain for the complexation leading to complexes with smaller thermodynamic stability in comparison with the related non-bridged ligand. The electrochemical study involving cyclic voltammetry underlines the importance of the ethylene cross-bridge on the redox properties of the transition metal complexes.

Cross-Bridge Kelvin resistor structures for reliable measurement of low contact resistances and contact interface characterization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stavitski, N.; Klootwijk, J.H.; van Zeijl, H.W.; Kovalgin, Alexeij Y.; Wolters, Robertus A.M.

2009-01-01

The parasitic factors that strongly influence the measurement accuracy of Cross-Bridge Kelvin Resistor (CBKR) structures for low specific contact resistances (�?�c) have been extensively discussed during last few decades and the minimum of the �?�c value, which could be accurately extracted, was

Synthesis and antimalarial activity of metal complexes of cross-bridged tetraazamacrocyclic ligands.

Science.gov (United States)

Hubin, Timothy J; Amoyaw, Prince N-A; Roewe, Kimberly D; Simpson, Natalie C; Maples, Randall D; Carder Freeman, TaRynn N; Cain, Amy N; Le, Justin G; Archibald, Stephen J; Khan, Shabana I; Tekwani, Babu L; Khan, M O Faruk

2014-07-01

Using transition metals such as manganese(II), iron(II), cobalt(II), nickel(II), copper(II), and zinc(II), several new metal complexes of cross-bridged tetraazamacrocyclic chelators namely, cyclen- and cyclam-analogs with benzyl groups, were synthesized and screened for in vitro antimalarial activity against chloroquine-resistant (W2) and chloroquine-sensitive (D6) strains of Plasmodium falciparum. The metal-free chelators tested showed little or no antimalarial activity. All the metal complexes of the dibenzyl cross-bridged cyclam ligand exhibited potent antimalarial activity. The Mn(2+) complex of this ligand was the most potent with IC50s of 0.127 and 0.157μM against the chloroquine-sensitive (D6) and chloroquine-resistant (W2) P. falciparum strains, respectively. In general, the dibenzyl hydrophobic ligands showed better anti-malarial activity compared to the activity of monobenzyl ligands, potentially because of their higher lipophilicity and thus better cell penetration ability. The higher antimalarial activity displayed by the manganese complex for the cyclam ligand in comparison to that of the cyclen, correlates with the larger pocket of cyclam compared to that of cyclen which produces a more stable complex with the Mn(2+). Few of the Cu(2+) and Fe(2+) complexes also showed improvement in activity but Ni(2+), Co(2+) and Zn(2+) complexes did not show any improvement in activity upon the metal-free ligands for anti-malarial development. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

From Cycling Between Coupled Reactions to the Cross-Bridge Cycle: Mechanical Power Output as an Integral Part of Energy Metabolism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frank Diederichs

2012-10-01

Full Text Available ATP delivery and its usage are achieved by cycling of respective intermediates through interconnected coupled reactions. At steady state, cycling between coupled reactions always occurs at zero resistance of the whole cycle without dissipation of free energy. The cross-bridge cycle can also be described by a system of coupled reactions: one energising reaction, which energises myosin heads by coupled ATP splitting, and one de-energising reaction, which transduces free energy from myosin heads to coupled actin movement. The whole cycle of myosin heads via cross-bridge formation and dissociation proceeds at zero resistance. Dissipation of free energy from coupled reactions occurs whenever the input potential overcomes the counteracting output potential. In addition, dissipation is produced by uncoupling. This is brought about by a load dependent shortening of the cross-bridge stroke to zero, which allows isometric force generation without mechanical power output. The occurrence of maximal efficiency is caused by uncoupling. Under coupled conditions, Hill’s equation (velocity as a function of load is fulfilled. In addition, force and shortening velocity both depend on [Ca2+]. Muscular fatigue is triggered when ATP consumption overcomes ATP delivery. As a result, the substrate of the cycle, [MgATP2−], is reduced. This leads to a switch off of cycling and ATP consumption, so that a recovery of [ATP] is possible. In this way a potentially harmful, persistent low energy state of the cell can be avoided.

A novel type of peptidoglycan-binding domain highly specific for amidated D-Asp cross-bridge, identified in Lactobacillus casei bacteriophage endolysins.

Science.gov (United States)

Regulski, Krzysztof; Courtin, Pascal; Kulakauskas, Saulius; Chapot-Chartier, Marie-Pierre

2013-07-12

Peptidoglycan hydrolases (PGHs) are responsible for bacterial cell lysis. Most PGHs have a modular structure comprising a catalytic domain and a cell wall-binding domain (CWBD). PGHs of bacteriophage origin, called endolysins, are involved in bacterial lysis at the end of the infection cycle. We have characterized two endolysins, Lc-Lys and Lc-Lys-2, identified in prophages present in the genome of Lactobacillus casei BL23. These two enzymes have different catalytic domains but similar putative C-terminal CWBDs. By analyzing purified peptidoglycan (PG) degradation products, we showed that Lc-Lys is an N-acetylmuramoyl-L-alanine amidase, whereas Lc-Lys-2 is a γ-D-glutamyl-L-lysyl endopeptidase. Remarkably, both lysins were able to lyse only Gram-positive bacterial strains that possess PG with D-Ala(4)→D-Asx-L-Lys(3) in their cross-bridge, such as Lactococcus casei, Lactococcus lactis, and Enterococcus faecium. By testing a panel of L. lactis cell wall mutants, we observed that Lc-Lys and Lc-Lys-2 were not able to lyse mutants with a modified PG cross-bridge, constituting D-Ala(4)→L-Ala-(L-Ala/L-Ser)-L-Lys(3); moreover, they do not lyse the L. lactis mutant containing only the nonamidated D-Asp cross-bridge, i.e. D-Ala(4)→D-Asp-L-Lys(3). In contrast, Lc-Lys could lyse the ampicillin-resistant E. faecium mutant with 3→3 L-Lys(3)-D-Asn-L-Lys(3) bridges replacing the wild-type 4→3 D-Ala(4)-D-Asn-L-Lys(3) bridges. We showed that the C-terminal CWBD of Lc-Lys binds PG containing mainly D-Asn but not PG with only the nonamidated D-Asp-containing cross-bridge, indicating that the CWBD confers to Lc-Lys its narrow specificity. In conclusion, the CWBD characterized in this study is a novel type of PG-binding domain targeting specifically the D-Asn interpeptide bridge of PG.

Improved PET Imaging of uPAR expression using new Cu-64-labeled cross-bridged peptide ligands

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Persson, Morten; Hosseini, Masood; Madsen, Jacob

2013-01-01

The correlation between uPAR expression, cancer cell invasion and metastases is now well-established and has prompted the development of a number of uPAR PET imaging agents, which could potentially identify cancer patients with invasive and metastatic lesions. In the present study, we synthesized......, the more stable of the new uPAR PET tracers, (64)Cu-CB-TE2A-PA-AE105, exhibits a significantly reduced liver uptake compared to (64)Cu-DOTA-AE105 as well as (64)Cu-CB-TE2A-AE105, (p...... and characterized two new cross-bridged (64)Cu-labeled peptide conjugates for PET imaging of uPAR and performed a head-to-head comparison with the corresponding and more conventionally used DOTA conjugate. Based on in-source laser-induced reduction of chelated Cu(II) to Cu(I), we now demonstrate the following...... ranking with respect to the chemical inertness of their complexed Cu ions: DOTA-AE105 95%) were achieved in all cases by incubation at 95ºC. In vivo, they display identical tumor uptake after 1h, but differ significantly after 22 hrs, where the DOTA-AE105 uptake remains surprisingly high. Importantly...

Why has reversal of the actin-myosin cross-bridge cycle not been observed experimentally?

KAUST Repository

Loiselle, D. S.

2010-02-04

We trace the history of attempts to determine whether the experimentally observed diminution of metabolic energy expenditure when muscles lengthen during active contraction is consistent with reversibility of biochemical reactions and, in particular, with the regeneration of ATP. We note that this scientific endeavor has something of a parallel flavor to it, with both early and more recent experiments exploiting both isolated muscle preparations and exercising human subjects. In tracing this history from the late 19th century to the present, it becomes clear that energy can be (at least transiently) stored in a muscle undergoing an eccentric contraction but that this is unlikely to be due to the regeneration of ATP. A recently developed, thermodynamically constrained model of the cross-bridge cycle provides additional insight into this conclusion. Copyright © 2010 the American Physiological Society.

Random myosin loss along thick-filaments increases myosin attachment time and the proportion of bound myosin heads to mitigate force decline in skeletal muscle

Science.gov (United States)

Tanner, Bertrand C.W.; McNabb, Mark; Palmer, Bradley M.; Toth, Michael J.; Miller, Mark S.

2014-01-01

Diminished skeletal muscle performance with aging, disuse, and disease may be partially attributed to the loss of myofilament proteins. Several laboratories have found a disproportionate loss of myosin protein content relative to other myofilament proteins, but due to methodological limitations, the structural manifestation of this protein loss is unknown. To investigate how variations in myosin content affect ensemble cross-bridge behavior and force production we simulated muscle contraction in the half-sarcomere as myosin was removed either i) uniformly, from the Z-line end of thick-filaments, or ii) randomly, along the length of thick-filaments. Uniform myosin removal decreased force production, showing a slightly steeper force-to-myosin content relationship than the 1:1 relationship that would be expected from the loss of cross-bridges. Random myosin removal also decreased force production, but this decrease was less than observed with uniform myosin loss, largely due to increased myosin attachment time (ton) and fractional cross-bridge binding with random myosin loss. These findings support our prior observations that prolonged ton may augment force production in single fibers with randomly reduced myosin content from chronic heart failure patients. These simulation also illustrate that the pattern of myosin loss along thick-filaments influences ensemble cross-bridge behavior and maintenance of force throughout the sarcomere. PMID:24486373

Comparison of two cross-bridged macrocyclic chelators for the evaluation of 64Cu-labeled-LLP2A, a peptidomimetic ligand targeting VLA-4-positive tumors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang, Majiong; Ferdani, Riccardo; Shokeen, Monica; Anderson, Carolyn J.

2013-01-01

Integrin α 4 β 1 (also called very late antigen-4 or VLA-4) plays an important role in tumor growth, angiogenesis and metastasis, and there has been increasing interest in targeting this receptor for cancer imaging and therapy. In this study, we conjugated a peptidomimetic ligand known to have good binding affinity for α 4 β 1 integrin to a cross-bridged macrocyclic chelator with a methane phosphonic acid pendant arm, CB-TE1A1P. CB-TE1A1P-LLP2A was labeled with 64 Cu under mild conditions in high specific activity, in contrast to conjugates based on the “gold standard” di-acid cross-bridged chelator, CB-TE2A, which require high temperatures for efficient radiolabeling. Saturation binding assays demonstrated that 64 Cu-CB-TE1A1P-LLP2A had comparable binding affinity (1.2 nM vs 1.6 nM) but more binding sites (B max = 471 fmol/mg) in B16F10 melanoma tumor cells than 64 Cu-CB-TE2A-LLP2A (B max = 304 fmol/mg, p 64 Cu-CB-TE1A1P-LLP2A had less renal retention but higher uptake in tumor (11.4 ± 2.3 %ID/g versus 3.1 ± 0.6 %ID/g, p 64 Cu-CB-TE2A-LLP2A. At 2 h post-injection, 64 Cu-CB-TE1A1P-LLP2A also had significantly higher tumor:blood and tumor:muscle ratios than 64 Cu-CB-TE2A-LLP2A (CB-TE1A1P = 19.5 ± 3.0 and 13.0 ± 1.4, respectively, CB-TE2A = 4.2 ± 1.4 and 5.5 ± 0.9, respectively, p 64 Cu-CB-TE1A1P-LLP2A is an excellent PET radiopharmaceutical for the imaging of α 4 β 1 positive tumors and also has potential for imaging other α 4 β 1 positive cells such as those of the pre-metastatic niche

Delayed peripheral nerve repair: methods, including surgical 'cross-bridging' to promote nerve regeneration.

Science.gov (United States)

Gordon, Tessa; Eva, Placheta; Borschel, Gregory H

2015-10-01

Despite the capacity of Schwann cells to support peripheral nerve regeneration, functional recovery after nerve injuries is frequently poor, especially for proximal injuries that require regenerating axons to grow over long distances to reinnervate distal targets. Nerve transfers, where small fascicles from an adjacent intact nerve are coapted to the nerve stump of a nearby denervated muscle, allow for functional return but at the expense of reduced numbers of innervating nerves. A 1-hour period of 20 Hz electrical nerve stimulation via electrodes proximal to an injury site accelerates axon outgrowth to hasten target reinnervation in rats and humans, even after delayed surgery. A novel strategy of enticing donor axons from an otherwise intact nerve to grow through small nerve grafts (cross-bridges) into a denervated nerve stump, promotes improved axon regeneration after delayed nerve repair. The efficacy of this technique has been demonstrated in a rat model and is now in clinical use in patients undergoing cross-face nerve grafting for facial paralysis. In conclusion, brief electrical stimulation, combined with the surgical technique of promoting the regeneration of some donor axons to 'protect' chronically denervated Schwann cells, improves nerve regeneration and, in turn, functional outcomes in the management of peripheral nerve injuries.

Gas revenue increasingly significant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Megill, R.E.

1991-01-01

This paper briefly describes the wellhead prices of natural gas compared to crude oil over the past 70 years. Although natural gas prices have never reached price parity with crude oil, the relative value of a gas BTU has been increasing. It is one of the reasons that the total amount of money coming from natural gas wells is becoming more significant. From 1920 to 1955 the revenue at the wellhead for natural gas was only about 10% of the money received by producers. Most of the money needed for exploration, development, and production came from crude oil. At present, however, over 40% of the money from the upstream portion of the petroleum industry is from natural gas. As a result, in a few short years natural gas may become 50% of the money revenues generated from wellhead production facilities

Sarcomere lattice geometry influences cooperative myosin binding in muscle.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bertrand C W Tanner

2007-07-01

Full Text Available In muscle, force emerges from myosin binding with actin (forming a cross-bridge. This actomyosin binding depends upon myofilament geometry, kinetics of thin-filament Ca(2+ activation, and kinetics of cross-bridge cycling. Binding occurs within a compliant network of protein filaments where there is mechanical coupling between myosins along the thick-filament backbone and between actin monomers along the thin filament. Such mechanical coupling precludes using ordinary differential equation models when examining the effects of lattice geometry, kinetics, or compliance on force production. This study uses two stochastically driven, spatially explicit models to predict levels of cross-bridge binding, force, thin-filament Ca(2+ activation, and ATP utilization. One model incorporates the 2-to-1 ratio of thin to thick filaments of vertebrate striated muscle (multi-filament model, while the other comprises only one thick and one thin filament (two-filament model. Simulations comparing these models show that the multi-filament predictions of force, fractional cross-bridge binding, and cross-bridge turnover are more consistent with published experimental values. Furthermore, the values predicted by the multi-filament model are greater than those values predicted by the two-filament model. These increases are larger than the relative increase of potential inter-filament interactions in the multi-filament model versus the two-filament model. This amplification of coordinated cross-bridge binding and cycling indicates a mechanism of cooperativity that depends on sarcomere lattice geometry, specifically the ratio and arrangement of myofilaments.

Single molecule fluorescence image patterns linked to dipole orientation and axial position: application to myosin cross-bridges in muscle fibers.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas P Burghardt

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Photoactivatable fluorescent probes developed specifically for single molecule detection extend advantages of single molecule imaging to high probe density regions of cells and tissues. They perform in the native biomolecule environment and have been used to detect both probe position and orientation.Fluorescence emission from a single photoactivated probe captured in an oil immersion, high numerical aperture objective, produces a spatial pattern on the detector that is a linear combination of 6 independent and distinct spatial basis patterns with weighting coefficients specifying emission dipole orientation. Basis patterns are tabulated for single photoactivated probes labeling myosin cross-bridges in a permeabilized muscle fiber undergoing total internal reflection illumination. Emitter proximity to the glass/aqueous interface at the coverslip implies the dipole near-field and dipole power normalization are significant affecters of the basis patterns. Other characteristics of the basis patterns are contributed by field polarization rotation with transmission through the microscope optics and refraction by the filter set. Pattern recognition utilized the generalized linear model, maximum likelihood fitting, for Poisson distributed uncertainties. This fitting method is more appropriate for treating low signal level photon counting data than χ(2 minimization.Results indicate that emission dipole orientation is measurable from the intensity image except for the ambiguity under dipole inversion. The advantage over an alternative method comparing two measured polarized emission intensities using an analyzing polarizer is that information in the intensity spatial distribution provides more constraints on fitted parameters and a single image provides all the information needed. Axial distance dependence in the emission pattern is also exploited to measure relative probe position near focus. Single molecule images from axial scanning fitted

Measurement of nucleotide exchange rate constants in single rabbit soleus myofibrils during shortening and lengthening using a fluorescent ATP analog.

Science.gov (United States)

Shirakawa, I; Chaen, S; Bagshaw, C R; Sugi, H

2000-02-01

The kinetics of displacement of a fluorescent nucleotide, 2'(3')-O-[N[2-[[Cy3]amido]ethyl]carbamoyl]-adenosine 5'-triphosphate (Cy3-EDA-ATP), bound to rabbit soleus muscle myofibrils were studied using flash photolysis of caged ATP. Use of myofibrils from this slow twitch muscle allowed better resolution of the kinetics of nucleotide exchange than previous studies with psoas muscle myofibrils (, Biophys. J. 73:2033-2042). Soleus myofibrils in the presence of Cy3-EDA-nucleotides (Cy3-EDA-ATP or Cy3-EDA-ADP) showed selective fluorescence staining of the A-band. The K(m) for Cy3-EDA-ATP and the K(d) for Cy3-EDA-ADP binding to the myofibril A-band were 1.9 microM and 3.8 microM, respectively, indicating stronger binding of nucleotide to soleus cross-bridges compared to psoas cross-bridges (2.6 microM and 50 microM, respectively). After flash photolysis of caged ATP, the A-band fluorescence of the myofibril in the Cy3-EDA-ATP solution under isometric conditions decayed exponentially with a rate constant of 0.045 +/- 0.007 s(-1) (n = 32) at 10 degrees C, which was about seven times slower than that for psoas myofibrils. When a myofibril was allowed to shorten with a constant velocity, the nucleotide displacement rate constant increased from 0.066 s(-1) (isometric) to 0.14 s(-1) at 20 degrees C with increasing shortening velocity up to 0.1 myofibril length/s (V(max), the shortening velocity under no load was approximately 0. 2 myofibril lengths/s). The rate constant was not significantly affected by an isovelocity stretch of up to 0.1 myofibril lengths/s. These results suggest that the cross-bridge kinetics are not significantly affected at higher strain during lengthening but depend on the lower strain during shortening. These data also indicate that the interaction distance between a cross-bridge and the actin filament is at least 16 nm for a single cycle of the ATPase.

Structural Changes in Isometrically Contracting Insect Flight Muscle Trapped following a Mechanical Perturbation

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Shenping; Liu, Jun; Perz-Edwards, Robert J.; Tregear, Richard T.; Winkler, Hanspeter; Franzini-Armstrong, Clara; Sasaki, Hiroyuki; Goldman, Yale E.; Reedy, Michael K.; Taylor, Kenneth A.

2012-01-01

The application of rapidly applied length steps to actively contracting muscle is a classic method for synchronizing the response of myosin cross-bridges so that the average response of the ensemble can be measured. Alternatively, electron tomography (ET) is a technique that can report the structure of the individual members of the ensemble. We probed the structure of active myosin motors (cross-bridges) by applying 0.5% changes in length (either a stretch or a release) within 2 ms to isometrically contracting insect flight muscle (IFM) fibers followed after 5–6 ms by rapid freezing against a liquid helium cooled copper mirror. ET of freeze-substituted fibers, embedded and thin-sectioned, provides 3-D cross-bridge images, sorted by multivariate data analysis into ∼40 classes, distinct in average structure, population size and lattice distribution. Individual actin subunits are resolved facilitating quasi-atomic modeling of each class average to determine its binding strength (weak or strong) to actin. ∼98% of strong-binding acto-myosin attachments present after a length perturbation are confined to “target zones” of only two actin subunits located exactly midway between successive troponin complexes along each long-pitch helical repeat of actin. Significant changes in the types, distribution and structure of actin-myosin attachments occurred in a manner consistent with the mechanical transients. Most dramatic is near disappearance, after either length perturbation, of a class of weak-binding cross-bridges, attached within the target zone, that are highly likely to be precursors of strong-binding cross-bridges. These weak-binding cross-bridges were originally observed in isometrically contracting IFM. Their disappearance following a quick stretch or release can be explained by a recent kinetic model for muscle contraction, as behaviour consistent with their identification as precursors of strong-binding cross-bridges. The results provide a detailed model

Slack length reduces the contractile phenotype of the Swine carotid artery.

Science.gov (United States)

Rembold, Christopher M; Garvey, Sean M; Tejani, Ankit D

2013-01-01

Contraction is the primary function of adult arterial smooth muscle. However, in response to vessel injury or inflammation, arterial smooth muscle is able to phenotypically modulate from the contractile state to several 'synthetic' states characterized by proliferation, migration and/or increased cytokine secretion. We examined the effect of tissue length (L) on the phenotype of intact, isometrically held, initially contractile swine carotid artery tissues. Tissues were studied (1) without prolonged incubation at the optimal length for force generation (1.0 Lo, control), (2) with prolonged incubation for 17 h at 1.0 Lo, or (3) with prolonged incubation at slack length (0.6 Lo) for 16 h and then restoration to 1.0 Lo for 1 h. Prolonged incubation at 1.0 Lo minimally reduced the contractile force without substantially altering the mediators of contraction (crossbridge phosphorylation, shortening velocity or stimulated actin polymerization). Prolonged incubation of tissues at slack length (0.6 Lo), despite return of length to 1.0 Lo, substantially reduced contractile force, reduced crossbridge phosphorylation, nearly abolished crossbridge cycling (shortening velocity) and abolished stimulated actin polymerization. These data suggest that (1) slack length treatment significantly alters the contractile phenotype of arterial tissue, and (2) slack length treatment is a model to study acute phenotypic modulation of intact arterial smooth muscle. Copyright © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Aging Enhances Indirect Flight Muscle Fiber Performance yet Decreases Flight Ability in Drosophila

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Miller, Mark S.; Lekkas, Panagiotis; Braddock, Joan M.; Farman, Gerrie P.; Ballif, Bryan A.; Irving, Thomas C.; Maughan, David W.; Vigoreaux, Jim O. (IIT); (Vermont)

2008-10-02

We investigated the effects of aging on Drosophila melanogaster indirect flight muscle from the whole organism to the actomyosin cross-bridge. Median-aged (49-day-old) flies were flight impaired, had normal myofilament number and packing, barely longer sarcomeres, and slight mitochondrial deterioration compared with young (3-day-old) flies. Old (56-day-old) flies were unable to beat their wings, had deteriorated ultrastructure with severe mitochondrial damage, and their skinned fibers failed to activate with calcium. Small-amplitude sinusoidal length perturbation analysis showed median-aged indirect flight muscle fibers developed greater than twice the isometric force and power output of young fibers, yet cross-bridge kinetics were similar. Large increases in elastic and viscous moduli amplitude under active, passive, and rigor conditions suggest that median-aged fibers become stiffer longitudinally. Small-angle x-ray diffraction indicates that myosin heads move increasingly toward the thin filament with age, accounting for the increased transverse stiffness via cross-bridge formation. We propose that the observed protein composition changes in the connecting filaments, which anchor the thick filaments to the Z-disk, produce compensatory increases in longitudinal stiffness, isometric tension, power and actomyosin interaction in aging indirect flight muscle. We also speculate that a lack of MgATP due to damaged mitochondria accounts for the decreased flight performance.

Sixteen-Day Bedrest Significantly Increases Plasma Colloid Osmotic Pressure

Science.gov (United States)

Hargens, Alan R.; Hsieh, S. T.; Murthy, G.; Ballard, R. E.; Convertino, V. A.; Wade, Charles E. (Technical Monitor)

1994-01-01

Upon exposure to microgravity, astronauts lose up to 10% of their total plasma volume, which may contribute to orthostatic intolerance after space flight. Because plasma colloid osmotic pressure (COP) is a primary factor maintaining plasma volume, our objective was to measure time course changes in COP during microgravity simulated by 6 deg. head-down tilt (HDT). Seven healthy male subjects (30-55 years of age) were placed in HDT for 16 days. For the purpose of another study, three of the seven subjects were chosen to exercise on a cycle ergometer on day 16. Blood samples were drawn immediately before bedrest on day 14 of bedrest, 18-24 hours following exercise while all subjects were still in HDT and 1 hour following bedrest termination. Plasma COP was measured in all 20 microliter EDTA-treated samples using an osmometer fitted with a PM 30 membrane. Data were analyzed with paired and unpaired t-tests. Plasma COP on day 14 of bedrest (29.9 +/- 0.69 mmHg) was significantly higher (p less than 0.005) than the control, pre-bedrest value (23.1 +/- 0.76 mmHg). At one hour of upright recovery after HDT, plasma COP remained significantly elevated (exercise: 26.9 +/- 0.87 mmHg; no exercise: 26.3 +/- 0.85 mmHg). Additionally, exercise had no significant effect on plasma COP 18-24 hours following exercise (exercise: 27.8 +/- 1.09 mmHg; no exercise: 27.1 +/- 0.78 mmHg). Our results demonstrate that plasma COP increases significantly with microgravity simulated by HDT. However, preliminary results indicate exercise during HDT does not significantly affect plasma COP.

Three-dimensional stochastic model of actin–myosin binding in the sarcomere lattice

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mijailovich, Srboljub M.; Kayser-Herold, Oliver; Stojanovic, Boban; Nedic, Djordje; Irving, Thomas C.; Geeves, MA (Harvard); (IIT); (U. Kent); (Kragujevac)

2016-11-18

The effect of molecule tethering in three-dimensional (3-D) space on bimolecular binding kinetics is rarely addressed and only occasionally incorporated into models of cell motility. The simplest system that can quantitatively determine this effect is the 3-D sarcomere lattice of the striated muscle, where tethered myosin in thick filaments can only bind to a relatively small number of available sites on the actin filament, positioned within a limited range of thermal movement of the myosin head. Here we implement spatially explicit actomyosin interactions into the multiscale Monte Carlo platform MUSICO, specifically defining how geometrical constraints on tethered myosins can modulate state transition rates in the actomyosin cycle. The simulations provide the distribution of myosin bound to sites on actin, ensure conservation of the number of interacting myosins and actin monomers, and most importantly, the departure in behavior of tethered myosin molecules from unconstrained myosin interactions with actin. In addition, MUSICO determines the number of cross-bridges in each actomyosin cycle state, the force and number of attached cross-bridges per myosin filament, the range of cross-bridge forces and accounts for energy consumption. At the macroscopic scale, MUSICO simulations show large differences in predicted force-velocity curves and in the response during early force recovery phase after a step change in length comparing to the two simplest mass action kinetic models. The origin of these differences is rooted in the different fluxes of myosin binding and corresponding instantaneous cross-bridge distributions and quantitatively reflects a major flaw of the mathematical description in all mass action kinetic models. Consequently, this new approach shows that accurate recapitulation of experimental data requires significantly different binding rates, number of actomyosin states, and cross-bridge elasticity than typically used in mass action kinetic models to

Significance in the increase of women psychiatrists in Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Ha Kyoung; Kim, Soo In

2008-01-01

The number of female doctors has increased in Korea; 18.9% (13,083) of the total medical doctors registered (69,097) were women in 2006, compared to 13.6% (2,216) in 1975. The proportion of female doctors will jump up by 2010 considering that nearly 40% of the medical students are women as of today. This trend has had strong influence on the field of psychiatry; the percentage of women psychiatrists rose from 1.6 (6)% to 18% (453), from 1975 to 2006 and now women residents comprise 39% (206) of all. This is not only a reflection of a social phenomenon of the increase in professional women but also attributed to some specific characteristics of the psychiatry. Psychiatric practice may come more natural to women. While clinical activities of women psychiatrists are expanding, there are few women leaders and much less women are involving in academic activities in this field as yet. Though there is less sexual discrimination in the field of psychiatry, women psychiatrists are still having a lot of difficulties in balancing work and family matters. Many women psychiatrists also report they've ever felt an implied discrimination in their careers. In this study, we are to identify the characteristics of women psychiatrists and to explore the significance of the increase in women psychiatrists in Korea and the situation in which they are.

Fluorescent modification and orientation of myosin sulfhydryl 2 in skeletal muscle fibers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ajtai, K.; Burghardt, T.P.

1989-01-01

The authors describe a protocol for the selective covalent labeling of the sulfhydryl 2 (SH2) on the myosin cross-bridge in glycerinated muscle fibers using the sulfhydryl-selective label 4-[N-[(iodoacetoxy)ethyl]-N-methylamino]-7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (IANBD). The protocol promotes the specificity of IANBD by using the ability to protect sulfhydryl 1 (SH1) from modification by binding the cross-bridge to the actin filament and using cross-bridge-bound MgADP to promote the accessibility of SH2. They determined the specificity of the probe using fluorescence gel scanning of fiber-extracted proteins to isolate the probe on myosin subfragment 1 (S1), limited proteolysis of the purified S1 to isolate the probe on the 20-kilodalton fragment of S1, and titration of the free SH1's on purified S1 using the radiolabeled SH1-specific reagent [ 14 C]iodoacetamide or enzymatic activity measurements. They characterized the angular distribution of the IANBD on cross-bridges in fibers when the fibers are in rigor, in relaxation, in the presence of MgADP, and in isometric contraction using wavelength-dependent fluorescence polarization. They find that the SH2 probe distinguishes the different states of the fiber such that rigor and MgADP are ordered and maintain a similar orientation throughout the excitation wavelength domain. The relaxed cross-bridge is ordered and has an orientation that is distinct from the orientation of the cross-bridge in rigor and MgADP over the entire wavelength domain. The active isometric cross-bridge is also oriented differently from the other states, suggesting the presence of a predominant actin-bound cross-bridge state that precedes the power stroke during muscle contraction

A novel three-filament model of force generation in eccentric contraction of skeletal muscles.

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Gudrun Schappacher-Tilp

Full Text Available We propose and examine a three filament model of skeletal muscle force generation, thereby extending classical cross-bridge models by involving titin-actin interaction upon active force production. In regions with optimal actin-myosin overlap, the model does not alter energy and force predictions of cross-bridge models for isometric contractions. However, in contrast to cross-bridge models, the three filament model accurately predicts history-dependent force generation in half sarcomeres for eccentric and concentric contractions, and predicts the activation-dependent forces for stretches beyond actin-myosin filament overlap.

Cytosolic calcium transients are a determinant of contraction-induced HSP72 transcription in single skeletal muscle fibers.

Science.gov (United States)

Stary, Creed M; Hogan, Michael C

2016-05-15

The intrinsic activating factors that induce transcription of heat shock protein 72 (HSP72) in skeletal muscle following exercise remain unclear. We hypothesized that the cytosolic Ca(2+) transient that occurs with depolarization is a determinant. We utilized intact, single skeletal muscle fibers from Xenopus laevis to test the role of the cytosolic Ca(2+) transient and several other exercise-related factors (fatigue, hypoxia, AMP kinase, and cross-bridge cycling) on the activation of HSP72 transcription. HSP72 and HSP60 mRNA levels were assessed with real-time quantitative PCR; cytosolic Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)]cyt) was assessed with fura-2. Both fatiguing and nonfatiguing contractions resulted in a significant increase in HSP72 mRNA. As expected, peak [Ca(2+)]cyt remained tightly coupled with peak developed tension in contracting fibers. Pretreatment with N-benzyl-p-toluene sulfonamide (BTS) resulted in depressed peak developed tension with stimulation, while peak [Ca(2+)]cyt remained largely unchanged from control values. Despite excitation-contraction uncoupling, BTS-treated fibers displayed a significant increase in HSP72 mRNA. Treatment of fibers with hypoxia (Po2: skeletal muscle depolarization provides a sufficient activating stimulus for HSP72 transcription. Metabolic or mechanical factors associated with fatigue development and cross-bridge cycling likely play a more limited role. Copyright © 2016 the American Physiological Society.

Myofibrillar troponin exists in three states and there is signal transduction along skeletal myofibrillar thin filaments.

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Swartz, Darl R; Yang, Zhenyun; Sen, Asok; Tikunova, Svetlana B; Davis, Jonathan P

2006-08-18

Activation of striated muscle contraction is a highly cooperative signal transduction process converting calcium binding by troponin C (TnC) into interactions between thin and thick filaments. Once calcium is bound, transduction involves changes in protein interactions along the thin filament. The process is thought to involve three different states of actin-tropomyosin (Tm) resulting from changes in troponin's (Tn) interaction with actin-Tm: a blocked (B) state preventing myosin interaction, a closed (C) state allowing weak myosin interactions and favored by calcium binding to Tn, and an open or M state allowing strong myosin interactions. This was tested by measuring the apparent rate of Tn dissociation from rigor skeletal myofibrils using labeled Tn exchange. The location and rate of exchange of Tn or its subunits were measured by high-resolution fluorescence microscopy and image analysis. Three different rates of Tn exchange were observed that were dependent on calcium concentration and strong cross-bridge binding that strongly support the three-state model. The rate of Tn dissociation in the non-overlap region was 200-fold faster at pCa 4 (C-state region) than at pCa 9 (B-state region). When Tn contained engineered TnC mutants with weakened regulatory TnI interactions, the apparent exchange rate at pCa 4 in the non-overlap region increased proportionately with TnI-TnC regulatory affinity. This suggests that the mechanism of calcium enhancement of the rate of Tn dissociation is by favoring a TnI-TnC interaction over a TnI-actin-Tm interaction. At pCa 9, the rate of Tn dissociation in the overlap region (M-state region) was 100-fold faster than the non-overlap region (B-state region) suggesting that strong cross-bridges increase the rate of Tn dissociation. At pCa 4, the rate of Tn dissociation was twofold faster in the non-overlap region (C-state region) than the overlap region (M-state region) that likely involved a strong cross-bridge influence on Tn

THE SMALL BUT SIGNIFICANT AND NONTRANSITORY INCREASE IN PRICES (SSNIP TEST

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Liviana Niminet

2008-12-01

Full Text Available The Small but Significant Nontransitory Increase in Price Test was designed to define the relevant market by concepts of product, geographical area and time. This test, also called the ,,hypothetical monopolistic test” is the subject of many researches both economical and legal as it deals with economic concepts as well as with legally aspects.

Increased frequency of retinopathy of prematurity over the last decade and significant regional differences.

Science.gov (United States)

Holmström, Gerd; Tornqvist, Kristina; Al-Hawasi, Abbas; Nilsson, Åsa; Wallin, Agneta; Hellström, Ann

2018-03-01

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) causes childhood blindness globally in prematurely born infants. Although increased levels of oxygen supply lead to increased survival and reduced frequency of cerebral palsy, increased incidence of ROP is reported. With the help of a Swedish register for ROP, SWEDROP, national and regional incidences of ROP and frequencies of treatment were evaluated from 2008 to 2015 (n = 5734), as well as before and after targets of provided oxygen changed from 85-89% to 91-95% in 2014. Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) was found in 31.9% (1829/5734) of all infants with a gestational age (GA) of <31 weeks at birth and 5.7% of the infants (329/5734) had been treated for ROP. Analyses of the national data revealed an increased incidence of ROP during the 8-year study period (p = 0.003), but there was no significant increase in the frequency of treatment. There were significant differences between the seven health regions of Sweden, regarding both incidence of ROP and frequency of treatment (p < 0.001). Comparison of regional data before and after the new oxygen targets revealed a significant increase in treated ROP in one region [OR: 2.24 (CI: 1.11-4.49), p = 0.024] and a borderline increase in one other [OR: 3.08 (CI: 0.99-9.60), p = 0.052]. The Swedish national ROP register revealed an increased incidence of ROP during an 8-year period and significant regional differences regarding the incidence of ROP and frequency of treatment. © 2017 Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Evaluation of Significance of Diffusely Increased Bilateral Renal Uptake on Bone Scan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sung, Mi Sook; Yang, Woo Jin; Byun, Jae Young; Park, Jung Mi; Shinn, Kyung Sub; Bahk, Yong Whee

1990-01-01

Unexpected renal abnormality can be detected on bone scan using 99m Tc-MDP. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the diagnostic significance of diffusely increased bilateral renal uptake on bone scan. 1,500 bone scan were reviewed and 43 scans which showed diffusely increased bilateral renal uptake were selected for analysis. Laboratory findings for renal and liver function tests including routine urinalysis were reviewed in 43 patients. 26 of 43 case showed abnormality in urinalysis and renal function study. 20 of 43 cases showed abnormal liver function study and 3 of these cases were diagnosed as hepatorenal syndrome later. 13 of those 20 cases had liver cirrhosis with or without hepatoma. 12 of 43 cases showed abnormality both in renal and liver function studies. 2 of 43 cases showed diffusely increased bilateral renal uptake after chemotherapy for cancer but not on previous scans before chemotherapy. 2 of 43 cases showed hypercalcaemia and 8 of 43 cases had multifocal bone uptake due to metastasis or benign bone lesion. But the latter showed no hypercalcaemia at all. There was no significant correlation between increased renal uptake and MDP uptake in soft tissue other than kidneys. This study raised the possibility that the impaired liver and/or renal function may result in diffuse increase of bilateral renal uptake of MDP of unknown mechanism. It seems to need further study on this correlation.

Evaluation of Significance of Diffusely Increased Bilateral Renal Uptake on Bone Scan

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Sung, Mi Sook; Yang, Woo Jin; Byun, Jae Young; Park, Jung Mi; Shinn, Kyung Sub; Bahk, Yong Whee [Catholic University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

1990-03-15

Unexpected renal abnormality can be detected on bone scan using {sup 99m}Tc-MDP. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the diagnostic significance of diffusely increased bilateral renal uptake on bone scan. 1,500 bone scan were reviewed and 43 scans which showed diffusely increased bilateral renal uptake were selected for analysis. Laboratory findings for renal and liver function tests including routine urinalysis were reviewed in 43 patients. 26 of 43 case showed abnormality in urinalysis and renal function study. 20 of 43 cases showed abnormal liver function study and 3 of these cases were diagnosed as hepatorenal syndrome later. 13 of those 20 cases had liver cirrhosis with or without hepatoma. 12 of 43 cases showed abnormality both in renal and liver function studies. 2 of 43 cases showed diffusely increased bilateral renal uptake after chemotherapy for cancer but not on previous scans before chemotherapy. 2 of 43 cases showed hypercalcaemia and 8 of 43 cases had multifocal bone uptake due to metastasis or benign bone lesion. But the latter showed no hypercalcaemia at all. There was no significant correlation between increased renal uptake and MDP uptake in soft tissue other than kidneys. This study raised the possibility that the impaired liver and/or renal function may result in diffuse increase of bilateral renal uptake of MDP of unknown mechanism. It seems to need further study on this correlation.

St. John's wort significantly increased the systemic exposure and toxicity of methotrexate in rats

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Shih-Ying; Juang, Shin-Hun; Tsai, Shang-Yuan; Chao, Pei-Dawn Lee; Hou, Yu-Chi

2012-01-01

St. John's wort (SJW, Hypericum perforatum) is one of the popular nutraceuticals for treating depression. Methotrexate (MTX) is an immunosuppressant with narrow therapeutic window. This study investigated the effect of SJW on MTX pharmacokinetics in rats. Rats were orally given MTX alone and coadministered with 300 and 150 mg/kg of SJW, and 25 mg/kg of diclofenac, respectively. Blood was withdrawn at specific time points and serum MTX concentrations were assayed by a specific monoclonal fluorescence polarization immunoassay method. The results showed that 300 mg/kg of SJW significantly increased the AUC 0−t and C max of MTX by 163% and 60%, respectively, and 150 mg/kg of SJW significantly increased the AUC 0−t of MTX by 55%. In addition, diclofenac enhanced the C max of MTX by 110%. The mortality of rats treated with SJW was higher than that of controls. In conclusion, coadministration of SJW significantly increased the systemic exposure and toxicity of MTX. The combined use of MTX with SJW would need to be with caution. -- Highlights: ► St. John's wort significantly increased the AUC 0−t and C max of methotrexate. ► Coadministration of St. John's wort increased the exposure and toxicity of methotrexate. ► The combined use of methotrexate with St. John's wort will need to be with caution.

Continuous background light significantly increases flashing-light enhancement of photosynthesis and growth of microalgae.

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Abu-Ghosh, Said; Fixler, Dror; Dubinsky, Zvy; Iluz, David

2015-01-01

Under specific conditions, flashing light enhances the photosynthesis rate in comparison to continuous illumination. Here we show that a combination of flashing light and continuous background light with the same integrated photon dose as continuous or flashing light alone can be used to significantly enhance photosynthesis and increase microalgae growth. To test this hypothesis, the green microalga Dunaliella salina was exposed to three different light regimes: continuous light, flashing light, and concomitant application of both. Algal growth was compared under three different integrated light quantities; low, intermediate, and moderately high. Under the combined light regime, there was a substantial increase in all algal growth parameters, with an enhanced photosynthesis rate, within 3days. Our strategy demonstrates a hitherto undescribed significant increase in photosynthesis and algal growth rates, which is beyond the increase by flashing light alone. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Breast-cancer-associated metastasis is significantly increased in a model of autoimmune arthritis.

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Das Roy, Lopamudra; Pathangey, Latha B; Tinder, Teresa L; Schettini, Jorge L; Gruber, Helen E; Mukherjee, Pinku

2009-01-01

Sites of chronic inflammation are often associated with the establishment and growth of various malignancies including breast cancer. A common inflammatory condition in humans is autoimmune arthritis (AA) that causes inflammation and deformity of the joints. Other systemic effects associated with arthritis include increased cellular infiltration and inflammation of the lungs. Several studies have reported statistically significant risk ratios between AA and breast cancer. Despite this knowledge, available for a decade, it has never been questioned if the site of chronic inflammation linked to AA creates a milieu that attracts tumor cells to home and grow in the inflamed bones and lungs which are frequent sites of breast cancer metastasis. To determine if chronic inflammation induced by autoimmune arthritis contributes to increased breast cancer-associated metastasis, we generated mammary gland tumors in SKG mice that were genetically prone to develop AA. Two breast cancer cell lines, one highly metastatic (4T1) and the other non-metastatic (TUBO) were used to generate the tumors in the mammary fat pad. Lung and bone metastasis and the associated inflammatory milieu were evaluated in the arthritic versus the non-arthritic mice. We report a three-fold increase in lung metastasis and a significant increase in the incidence of bone metastasis in the pro-arthritic and arthritic mice compared to non-arthritic control mice. We also report that the metastatic breast cancer cells augment the severity of arthritis resulting in a vicious cycle that increases both bone destruction and metastasis. Enhanced neutrophilic and granulocytic infiltration in lungs and bone of the pro-arthritic and arthritic mice and subsequent increase in circulating levels of proinflammatory cytokines, such as macrophage colony stimulating factor (M-CSF), interleukin-17 (IL-17), interleukin-6 (IL-6), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) may contribute

Breast cancer-associated metastasis is significantly increased in a model of autoimmune arthritis

Science.gov (United States)

Das Roy, Lopamudra; Pathangey, Latha B; Tinder, Teresa L; Schettini, Jorge L; Gruber, Helen E; Mukherjee, Pinku

2009-01-01

Introduction Sites of chronic inflammation are often associated with the establishment and growth of various malignancies including breast cancer. A common inflammatory condition in humans is autoimmune arthritis (AA) that causes inflammation and deformity of the joints. Other systemic effects associated with arthritis include increased cellular infiltration and inflammation of the lungs. Several studies have reported statistically significant risk ratios between AA and breast cancer. Despite this knowledge, available for a decade, it has never been questioned if the site of chronic inflammation linked to AA creates a milieu that attracts tumor cells to home and grow in the inflamed bones and lungs which are frequent sites of breast cancer metastasis. Methods To determine if chronic inflammation induced by autoimmune arthritis contributes to increased breast cancer-associated metastasis, we generated mammary gland tumors in SKG mice that were genetically prone to develop AA. Two breast cancer cell lines, one highly metastatic (4T1) and the other non-metastatic (TUBO) were used to generate the tumors in the mammary fat pad. Lung and bone metastasis and the associated inflammatory milieu were evaluated in the arthritic versus the non-arthritic mice. Results We report a three-fold increase in lung metastasis and a significant increase in the incidence of bone metastasis in the pro-arthritic and arthritic mice compared to non-arthritic control mice. We also report that the metastatic breast cancer cells augment the severity of arthritis resulting in a vicious cycle that increases both bone destruction and metastasis. Enhanced neutrophilic and granulocytic infiltration in lungs and bone of the pro-arthritic and arthritic mice and subsequent increase in circulating levels of proinflammatory cytokines, such as macrophage colony stimulating factor (M-CSF), interleukin-17 (IL-17), interleukin-6 (IL-6), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and tumor necrosis factor

Hormone replacement therapy improves contractile function and myonuclear organization of single muscle fibres from postmenopausal monozygotic female twin pairs.

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Qaisar, Rizwan; Renaud, Guillaume; Hedstrom, Yvette; Pöllänen, Eija; Ronkainen, Paula; Kaprio, Jaakko; Alen, Markku; Sipilä, Sarianna; Artemenko, Konstantin; Bergquist, Jonas; Kovanen, Vuokko; Larsson, Lars

2013-05-01

Ageing is associated with a decline in muscle mass and strength leading to increased physical dependency in old age. Postmenopausal women experience a greater decline than men of similar age in parallel with the decrease in female sex steroid hormone production. We recruited six monozygous female twin pairs (55-59 years old) where only one twin pair was on hormone replacement therapy (HRT use = 7.8 ± 4.3 years) to investigate the association of HRT with the cytoplasmic volume supported by individual myonuclei (myonuclear domain (MND) size,) together with specific force at the single fibre level. HRT use was associated with a significantly smaller (∼27%; P muscle fibres expressing the type I but not the IIa myosin heavy chain (MyHC) isoform. In comparison to non-users, higher specific force was recorded in HRT users both in muscle fibres expressing type I (∼27%; P fibre-type dependent, i.e. the higher specific force in fast-twitch muscle fibres was primarily caused by higher force per cross-bridge while slow-twitch fibres relied on both a higher number and force per cross-bridge. HRT use had no effect on fibre cross-sectional area (CSA), velocity of unloaded shortening (V0) and relative proportion of MyHC isoforms. In conclusion, HRT appears to have significant positive effects on both regulation of muscle contraction and myonuclei organization in postmenopausal women.

Significant increase of surface ozone at a rural site, north of eastern China

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Z. Ma

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Ozone pollution in eastern China has become one of the top environmental issues. Quantifying the temporal trend of surface ozone helps to assess the impacts of the anthropogenic precursor reductions and the likely effects of emission control strategies implemented. In this paper, ozone data collected at the Shangdianzi (SDZ regional atmospheric background station from 2003 to 2015 are presented and analyzed to obtain the variation in the trend of surface ozone in the most polluted region of China, north of eastern China or the North China Plain. A modified Kolmogorov–Zurbenko (KZ filter method was performed on the maximum daily average 8 h (MDA8 concentrations of ozone to separate the contributions of different factors from the variation of surface ozone and remove the influence of meteorological fluctuations on surface ozone. Results reveal that the short-term, seasonal and long-term components of ozone account for 36.4, 57.6 and 2.2 % of the total variance, respectively. The long-term trend indicates that the MDA8 has undergone a significant increase in the period of 2003–2015, with an average rate of 1.13 ± 0.01 ppb year−1 (R2 = 0.92. It is found that meteorological factors did not significantly influence the long-term variation of ozone and the increase may be completely attributed to changes in emissions. Furthermore, there is no significant correlation between the long-term O3 and NO2 trends. This study suggests that emission changes in VOCs might have played a more important role in the observed increase of surface ozone at SDZ.

Changes in myosin S1 orientation and force induced by a temperature increase.

Science.gov (United States)

Griffiths, Peter J; Bagni, Maria A; Colombini, Barbara; Amenitsch, Heinz; Bernstorff, Sigrid; Ashley, Christopher C; Cecchi, Giovanni; Ameritsch, Heinz

2002-04-16

Force generation in myosin-based motile systems is thought to result from an angular displacement of the myosin subfragment 1 (S1) tail domain with respect to the actin filament axis. In muscle, raised temperature increases the force generated by S1, implying a greater change in tail domain angular displacement. We used time-resolved x-ray diffraction to investigate the structural corollary of this force increase by measuring M3 meridional reflection intensity during sinusoidal length oscillations. This technique allows definition of S1 orientation with respect to the myofilament axis. M3 intensity changes were approximately sinusoid at low temperatures but became increasingly distorted as temperature was elevated, with the formation of a double intensity peak at maximum shortening. This increased distortion could be accounted for by assuming a shift in orientation of the tail domain of actin-bound S1 toward the orientation at which M3 intensity is maximal, which is consistent with a tail domain rotation model of force generation in which the tail approaches a more perpendicular projection from the thin filament axis at higher temperatures. In power stroke simulations, the angle between S1 tail mean position during oscillations and the position at maximum intensity decreased by 4.7 degrees, corresponding to a mean tail displacement toward the perpendicular of 0.73 nm for a temperature-induced force increase of 0.28 P(0) from 4 to 22 degrees C. Our findings suggest that at least 62% of crossbridge compliance is associated with the tail domain.

St. John's wort significantly increased the systemic exposure and toxicity of methotrexate in rats

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Shih-Ying [Graduate Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan (China); Juang, Shin-Hun [Graduate Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan (China); Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan (China); Tsai, Shang-Yuan; Chao, Pei-Dawn Lee [School of Pharmacy, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan (China); Hou, Yu-Chi, E-mail: hou5133@gmail.com [School of Pharmacy, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan (China); Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan (China)

2012-08-15

St. John's wort (SJW, Hypericum perforatum) is one of the popular nutraceuticals for treating depression. Methotrexate (MTX) is an immunosuppressant with narrow therapeutic window. This study investigated the effect of SJW on MTX pharmacokinetics in rats. Rats were orally given MTX alone and coadministered with 300 and 150 mg/kg of SJW, and 25 mg/kg of diclofenac, respectively. Blood was withdrawn at specific time points and serum MTX concentrations were assayed by a specific monoclonal fluorescence polarization immunoassay method. The results showed that 300 mg/kg of SJW significantly increased the AUC{sub 0−t} and C{sub max} of MTX by 163% and 60%, respectively, and 150 mg/kg of SJW significantly increased the AUC{sub 0−t} of MTX by 55%. In addition, diclofenac enhanced the C{sub max} of MTX by 110%. The mortality of rats treated with SJW was higher than that of controls. In conclusion, coadministration of SJW significantly increased the systemic exposure and toxicity of MTX. The combined use of MTX with SJW would need to be with caution. -- Highlights: ► St. John's wort significantly increased the AUC{sub 0−t} and C{sub max} of methotrexate. ► Coadministration of St. John's wort increased the exposure and toxicity of methotrexate. ► The combined use of methotrexate with St. John's wort will need to be with caution.

Electron microscopic evidence for the myosin head lever arm mechanism in hydrated myosin filaments using the gas environmental chamber

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Minoda, Hiroki; Okabe, Tatsuhiro; Inayoshi, Yuhri; Miyakawa, Takuya; Miyauchi, Yumiko; Tanokura, Masaru; Katayama, Eisaku; Wakabayashi, Takeyuki; Akimoto, Tsuyoshi; Sugi, Haruo

2011-01-01

Research highlights: → We succeeded in recording structural changes of hydrated myosin cross-bridges. → We succeeded in position-marking the cross-bridges with site-directed antibodies. → We recorded cross-bridge movement at different regions in individual cross-bridge. → The movement was smallest at the cross-bridge-subfragment two boundary. → The results provide evidence for the cross-bridge lever arm mechanism. -- Abstract: Muscle contraction results from an attachment-detachment cycle between the myosin heads extending from myosin filaments and the sites on actin filaments. The myosin head first attaches to actin together with the products of ATP hydrolysis, performs a power stroke associated with release of hydrolysis products, and detaches from actin upon binding with new ATP. The detached myosin head then hydrolyses ATP, and performs a recovery stroke to restore its initial position. The strokes have been suggested to result from rotation of the lever arm domain around the converter domain, while the catalytic domain remains rigid. To ascertain the validity of the lever arm hypothesis in muscle, we recorded ATP-induced movement at different regions within individual myosin heads in hydrated myosin filaments, using the gas environmental chamber attached to the electron microscope. The myosin head were position-marked with gold particles using three different site-directed antibodies. The amplitude of ATP-induced movement at the actin binding site in the catalytic domain was similar to that at the boundary between the catalytic and converter domains, but was definitely larger than that at the regulatory light chain in the lever arm domain. These results are consistent with the myosin head lever arm mechanism in muscle contraction if some assumptions are made.

The interdependence of Ca2+ activation, sarcomere length, and power output in the heart.

Science.gov (United States)

McDonald, Kerry S

2011-07-01

Myocardium generates power to perform external work on the circulation; yet, many questions regarding intermolecular mechanisms regulating power output remain unresolved. Power output equals force × shortening velocity, and some interesting new observations regarding control of these two factors have arisen. While it is well established that sarcomere length tightly controls myocyte force, sarcomere length-tension relationships also appear to be markedly modulated by PKA-mediated phosphorylation of myofibrillar proteins. Concerning loaded shortening, historical models predict independent cross-bridge mechanics; however, it seems that the mechanical state of one population of cross-bridges affects the activity of other cross-bridges by, for example, recruitment of cross-bridges from the non-cycling pool to the cycling force-generating pool during submaximal Ca(2+) activation. This is supported by the findings that Ca(2+) activation levels, myofilament phosphorylation, and sarcomere length are all modulators of loaded shortening and power output independent of their effects on force. This fine tuning of power output probably helps optimize myocardial energetics and to match ventricular supply with peripheral demand; yet, the discernment of the chemo-mechanical signals that modulate loaded shortening needs further clarification since power output may be a key convergent point and feedback regulator of cytoskeleton and cellular signals that control myocyte growth and survival.

Muscle activity and kinematics of forefoot and rearfoot strike runners

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A.N. Ahn

2014-06-01

Conclusion: This earlier and longer relative activation of the plantarflexors likely enhances the capacity for the passive structures of the foot and ankle to store elastic energy, and may also enhance the performance of the active muscle by increasing the storage of elastic strain energy in the cross-bridges and activated titin.

2-Deoxyadenosine triphosphate restores the contractile function of cardiac myofibril from adult dogs with naturally occurring dilated cardiomyopathy.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Yuanhua; Hogarth, Kaley A; O'Sullivan, M Lynne; Regnier, Michael; Pyle, W Glen

2016-01-01

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a major type of heart failure resulting from loss of systolic function. Naturally occurring canine DCM is a widely accepted experimental paradigm for studying human DCM. 2-Deoxyadenosine triphosphate (dATP) can be used by myosin and is a superior energy substrate over ATP for cross-bridge formation and increased systolic function. The objective of this study was to evaluate the beneficial effect of dATP on contractile function of cardiac myofibrils from dogs with naturally occurring DCM. We measured actomyosin NTPase activity and contraction/relaxation properties of isolated myofibrils from nonfailing (NF) and DCM canine hearts. NTPase assays indicated replacement of ATP with dATP significantly increased myofilament activity in both NF and DCM samples. dATP significantly improved maximal tension of DCM myofibrils to the NF sample level. dATP also restored Ca(2+) sensitivity of tension that was reduced in DCM samples. Similarly, dATP increased the kinetics of contractile activation (kACT), with no impact on the rate of cross-bridge tension redevelopment (kTR). Thus, the activation kinetics (kACT/kTR) that were reduced in DCM samples were restored for dATP to NF sample levels. dATP had little effect on relaxation. The rate of early slow-phase relaxation was slightly reduced with dATP, but its duration was not, nor was the fast-phase relaxation or times to 50 and 90% relaxation. Our findings suggest that myosin utilization of dATP improves cardiac myofibril contractile properties of naturally occurring DCM canine samples, restoring them to NF levels, without compromising relaxation. This suggests elevation of cardiac dATP is a promising approach for the treatment of DCM. Copyright © 2016 the American Physiological Society.

Introducing extra NADPH consumption ability significantly increases the photosynthetic efficiency and biomass production of cyanobacteria.

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Zhou, Jie; Zhang, Fuliang; Meng, Hengkai; Zhang, Yanping; Li, Yin

2016-11-01

Increasing photosynthetic efficiency is crucial to increasing biomass production to meet the growing demands for food and energy. Previous theoretical arithmetic analysis suggests that the light reactions and dark reactions are imperfectly coupled due to shortage of ATP supply, or accumulation of NADPH. Here we hypothesized that solely increasing NADPH consumption might improve the coupling of light reactions and dark reactions, thereby increasing the photosynthetic efficiency and biomass production. To test this hypothesis, an NADPH consumption pathway was constructed in cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. The resulting extra NADPH-consuming mutant grew much faster and achieved a higher biomass concentration. Analyses of photosynthesis characteristics showed the activities of photosystem II and photosystem I and the light saturation point of the NADPH-consuming mutant all significantly increased. Thus, we demonstrated that introducing extra NADPH consumption ability is a promising strategy to increase photosynthetic efficiency and to enable utilization of high-intensity lights. Copyright © 2016 International Metabolic Engineering Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Genetic and Molecular Bases for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: The Role for Calcium Sensitization.

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Xianfeng; Hensley, Nadia; Brady, Mary Beth; Gao, Wei Dong

2018-02-01

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) affects millions of people around the world as one of the most common genetic heart disorders and leads to cardiac ischemia, heart failure, dysfunction of other organ systems, and increased risk for sudden unexpected cardiac deaths. HCM can be caused by single-point mutations, insertion or deletion mutations, or truncation of cardiac myofilament proteins. The molecular mechanism that leads to disease progression and presentation is still poorly understood, despite decades of investigations. However, recent research has made dramatic advances in the understanding of HCM disease development. Studies have shown that increased calcium sensitivity is a universal feature in HCM. At the molecular level, increased crossbridge force (or power) generation resulting in hypercontractility is the prominent feature. Thus, calcium sensitization/hypercontractility is emerging as the primary stimulus for HCM disease development and phenotypic expression. Cross-bridge inhibition has been shown to halt HCM presentation, and myofilament desensitization appears to reduce lethal arrhythmias in animal models of HCM. These advances in basic research will continue to deepen the knowledge of HCM pathogenesis and are beginning to revolutionize the management of HCM. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hydrologic effects of large southwestern USA wildfires significantly increase regional water supply: fact or fiction?

Science.gov (United States)

Wine, M. L.; Cadol, D.

2016-08-01

In recent years climate change and historic fire suppression have increased the frequency of large wildfires in the southwestern USA, motivating study of the hydrological consequences of these wildfires at point and watershed scales, typically over short periods of time. These studies have revealed that reduced soil infiltration capacity and reduced transpiration due to tree canopy combustion increase streamflow at the watershed scale. However, the degree to which these local increases in runoff propagate to larger scales—relevant to urban and agricultural water supply—remains largely unknown, particularly in semi-arid mountainous watersheds co-dominated by winter snowmelt and the North American monsoon. To address this question, we selected three New Mexico watersheds—the Jemez (1223 km2), Mogollon (191 km2), and Gila (4807 km2)—that together have been affected by over 100 wildfires since 1982. We then applied climate-driven linear models to test for effects of fire on streamflow metrics after controlling for climatic variability. Here we show that, after controlling for climatic and snowpack variability, significantly more streamflow discharged from the Gila watershed for three to five years following wildfires, consistent with increased regional water yield due to enhanced infiltration-excess overland flow and groundwater recharge at the large watershed scale. In contrast, we observed no such increase in discharge from the Jemez watershed following wildfires. Fire regimes represent a key difference between the contrasting responses of the Jemez and Gila watersheds with the latter experiencing more frequent wildfires, many caused by lightning strikes. While hydrologic dynamics at the scale of large watersheds were previously thought to be climatically dominated, these results suggest that if one fifth or more of a large watershed has been burned in the previous three to five years, significant increases in water yield can be expected.

Increasing the statistical significance of entanglement detection in experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

Jungnitsch, Bastian; Niekamp, Sönke; Kleinmann, Matthias; Gühne, Otfried; Lu, He; Gao, Wei-Bo; Chen, Yu-Ao; Chen, Zeng-Bing; Pan, Jian-Wei

2010-05-28

Entanglement is often verified by a violation of an inequality like a Bell inequality or an entanglement witness. Considerable effort has been devoted to the optimization of such inequalities in order to obtain a high violation. We demonstrate theoretically and experimentally that such an optimization does not necessarily lead to a better entanglement test, if the statistical error is taken into account. Theoretically, we show for different error models that reducing the violation of an inequality can improve the significance. Experimentally, we observe this phenomenon in a four-photon experiment, testing the Mermin and Ardehali inequality for different levels of noise. Furthermore, we provide a way to develop entanglement tests with high statistical significance.

Energy economy in the actomyosin interaction: lessons from simple models.

Science.gov (United States)

Lehman, Steven L

2010-01-01

The energy economy of the actomyosin interaction in skeletal muscle is both scientifically fascinating and practically important. This chapter demonstrates how simple cross-bridge models have guided research regarding the energy economy of skeletal muscle. Parameter variation on a very simple two-state strain-dependent model shows that early events in the actomyosin interaction strongly influence energy efficiency, and late events determine maximum shortening velocity. Addition of a weakly-bound state preceding force production allows weak coupling of cross-bridge mechanics and ATP turnover, so that a simple three-state model can simulate the velocity-dependence of ATP turnover. Consideration of the limitations of this model leads to a review of recent evidence regarding the relationship between ligand binding states, conformational states, and macromolecular structures of myosin cross-bridges. Investigation of the fine structure of the actomyosin interaction during the working stroke continues to inform fundamental research regarding the energy economy of striated muscle.

Phytohormone supplementation significantly increases growth of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cultivated for biodiesel production.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Won-Kun; Yoo, Gursong; Moon, Myounghoon; Kim, Chul Woong; Choi, Yoon-E; Yang, Ji-Won

2013-11-01

Cultivation is the most expensive step in the production of biodiesel from microalgae, and substantial research has been devoted to developing more cost-effective cultivation methods. Plant hormones (phytohormones) are chemical messengers that regulate various aspects of growth and development and are typically active at very low concentrations. In this study, we investigated the effect of different phytohormones on microalgal growth and biodiesel production in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and their potential to lower the overall cost of commercial biofuel production. The results indicated that all five of the tested phytohormones (indole-3-acetic acid, gibberellic acid, kinetin, 1-triacontanol, and abscisic acid) promoted microalgal growth. In particular, hormone treatment increased biomass production by 54 to 69 % relative to the control growth medium (Tris-acetate-phosphate, TAP). Phytohormone treatments also affected microalgal cell morphology but had no effect on the yields of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) as a percent of biomass. We also tested the effect of these phytohormones on microalgal growth in nitrogen-limited media by supplementation in the early stationary phase. Maximum cell densities after addition of phytohormones were higher than in TAP medium, even when the nitrogen source was reduced to 40 % of that in TAP medium. Taken together, our results indicate that phytohormones significantly increased microalgal growth, particularly in nitrogen-limited media, and have potential for use in the development of efficient microalgal cultivation for biofuel production.

Increasing the statistical significance of entanglement detection in experiments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jungnitsch, Bastian; Niekamp, Soenke; Kleinmann, Matthias; Guehne, Otfried [Institut fuer Quantenoptik und Quanteninformation, Innsbruck (Austria); Lu, He; Gao, Wei-Bo; Chen, Zeng-Bing [Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale and Department of Modern Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei (China); Chen, Yu-Ao; Pan, Jian-Wei [Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale and Department of Modern Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei (China); Physikalisches Institut, Universitaet Heidelberg (Germany)

2010-07-01

Entanglement is often verified by a violation of an inequality like a Bell inequality or an entanglement witness. Considerable effort has been devoted to the optimization of such inequalities in order to obtain a high violation. We demonstrate theoretically and experimentally that such an optimization does not necessarily lead to a better entanglement test, if the statistical error is taken into account. Theoretically, we show for different error models that reducing the violation of an inequality can improve the significance. We show this to be the case for an error model in which the variance of an observable is interpreted as its error and for the standard error model in photonic experiments. Specifically, we demonstrate that the Mermin inequality yields a Bell test which is statistically more significant than the Ardehali inequality in the case of a photonic four-qubit state that is close to a GHZ state. Experimentally, we observe this phenomenon in a four-photon experiment, testing the above inequalities for different levels of noise.

Effects of adenosine triphosphate concentration on motor force regulation during skeletal muscle contraction

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, J.; Dong, C.; Chen, B.

2017-04-01

We employ a mechanical model of sarcomere to quantitatively investigate how adenosine triphosphate (ATP) concentration affects motor force regulation during skeletal muscle contraction. Our simulation indicates that there can be negative cross-bridges resisting contraction within the sarcomere and higher ATP concentration would decrease the resistance force from negative cross-bridges by promoting their timely detachment. It is revealed that the motor force is well regulated only when ATP concentration is above a certain level. These predictions may provide insights into the role of ATP in regulating coordination among multiple motors.

Quantifying Ca2+ release and inactivation of Ca2+ release in fast- and slow-twitch muscles.

Science.gov (United States)

Barclay, C J

2012-12-01

The aims of this study were to quantify the Ca(2+) release underlying twitch contractions of mammalian fast- and slow-twitch muscle and to comprehensively describe the transient inactivation of Ca(2+) release following a stimulus. Experiments were performed using bundles of fibres from mouse extensor digitorum longus (EDL) and soleus muscles. Ca(2+) release was quantified from the amount of ATP used to remove Ca(2+) from the myoplasm following stimulation. ATP turnover by crossbridges was blocked pharmacologically (N-benzyl-p-toluenesulphonamide for EDL, blebbistatin for soleus) and muscle heat production was used as an index of Ca(2+) pump ATP turnover. At 20°C, Ca(2+) release in response to a single stimulus was 34 and 84 μmol (kg muscle)(-1) for soleus and EDL, respectively, and increased with temperature (30°C: soleus, 61 μmol kg(-1); EDL, 168 μmol kg(-1)). Delivery of another stimulus within 100 ms of the first produced a smaller Ca(2+) release. The maximum magnitude of the decrease in Ca(2+) release was greater in EDL than soleus. Ca(2+) release recovered with an exponential time course which was faster in EDL (mean time constant at 20°C, 32.1 ms) than soleus (65.6 ms) and faster at 30°C than at 20°C. The amounts of Ca(2+) released and crossbridge cycles performed are consistent with a scheme in which Ca(2+) binding to troponin-C allowed an average of ∼1.7 crossbridge cycles in the two muscles.

Significant increase of Echinococcus multilocularis prevalencein foxes, but no increased predicted risk for humans

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Maas, M.; Dam-Deisz, W.D.C.; Roon, van A.M.; Takumi, K.; Giessen, van der J.W.B.

2014-01-01

The emergence of the zoonotic tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis, causative agent ofalveolar echinococcosis (AE), poses a public health risk. A previously designed risk mapmodel predicted a spread of E. multilocularis and increasing numbers of alveolar echinococ-cosis patients in the province of

Hydrogenation of Phenylacetylene to Styrene on Pre-C_xH_y- and C-Covered Cu(111) Single Crystal Catalysts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sohn, Young Ku; Wei, Wei; White, John M.

2011-01-01

Thermal hydrogenation of phenylacetylene (PA, C_8H_6) to styrene (C_8H_8) on pre-C_xH_y- and C-covered Cu(111) single crystal substrates has been studied using temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) mass spectrometry. Chemisorbed PA with an acetylene group has been proved to be associated with hydrogen of pre-adsorbed C_xH_y to form styrene (104 amu) on Cu surface. For the parent (PA) mass (102 amu) TPD profile, the TPD peaks at 360 K and 410 K are assigned to chemisorbed vertically aligned PA and flat-lying cross-bridged PA, respectively (J. Phys. Chem. C 2007, 111, 5101). The relative I_3_6_0_K/I_4_1_0_K TPD ratio dramatically increases with increasing pre-adsorbed C_xH_y before dosing PA, while the ratio does not increase for pre-C-covered surface. For PA on pre-C_xH_y-covered Cu(111) surface, styrene desorption is enhanced relative to the parent PA desorption, while styrene formation is dramatically quenched on pre-C-covered (lack of adsorbed hydrogen nearby) surface. It appears that only cross-bridged PA associates with adsorbed hydrogen to form styrene that promptly desorbs at 410 K, while vertically aligned PA is less likely to participate in forming styrene

Changes in rocket salad phytochemicals within the commercial supply chain: Glucosinolates, isothiocyanates, amino acids and bacterial load increase significantly after processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, Luke; Yahya, Hanis Nadia; Oloyede, Omobolanle Oluwadamilola; Methven, Lisa; Wagstaff, Carol

2017-04-15

Five cultivars of Eruca sativa and a commercial variety of Diplotaxis tenuifolia were grown in the UK (summer) and subjected to commercial growth, harvesting and processing, with subsequent shelf life storage. Glucosinolates (GSL), isothiocyanates (ITC), amino acids (AA), free sugars, and bacterial loads were analysed throughout the supply chain to determine the effects on phytochemical compositions. Bacterial load of leaves increased significantly over time and peaked during shelf life storage. Significant correlations were observed with GSL and AA concentrations, suggesting a previously unknown relationship between plants and endemic leaf bacteria. GSLs, ITCs and AAs increased significantly after processing and during shelf life. The supply chain did not significantly affect glucoraphanin concentrations, and its ITC sulforaphane significantly increased during shelf life in E. sativa cultivars. We hypothesise that commercial processing may increase the nutritional value of the crop, and have added health benefits for the consumer. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Triglyceride content in remnant lipoproteins is significantly increased after food intake and is associated with plasma lipoprotein lipase.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakajima, Katsuyuki; Tokita, Yoshiharu; Sakamaki, Koji; Shimomura, Younosuke; Kobayashi, Junji; Kamachi, Keiko; Tanaka, Akira; Stanhope, Kimber L; Havel, Peter J; Wang, Tao; Machida, Tetsuo; Murakami, Masami

2017-02-01

Previous large population studies reported that non-fasting plasma triglyceride (TG) reflect a higher risk for cardiovascular disease than TG in the fasting plasma. This is suggestive of the presence of higher concentration of remnant lipoproteins (RLP) in postprandial plasma. TG and RLP-TG together with other lipids, lipoproteins and lipoprotein lipase (LPL) in both fasting and postprandial plasma were determined in generally healthy volunteers and in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) after consuming a fat load or a more typical moderate meal. RLP-TG/TG ratio (concentration) and RLP-TG/RLP-C ratio (particle size) were significantly increased in the postprandial plasma of both healthy controls and CAD patients compared with those in fasting plasma. LPL/RLP-TG ratio demonstrated the interaction correlation between RLP concentration and LPL activity The increased RLP-TG after fat consumption contributed to approximately 90% of the increased plasma TG, while approximately 60% after a typical meal. Plasma LPL in postprandial plasma was not significantly altered after either type of meal. Concentrations of RLP-TG found in the TG along with its particle size are significantly increased in postprandial plasma compared with fasting plasma. Therefore, non-fasting TG determination better reflects the presence of higher RLP concentrations in plasma. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Social marketing campaign significantly associated with increases in syphilis testing among gay and bisexual men in San Francisco.

Science.gov (United States)

Montoya, Jorge A; Kent, Charlotte K; Rotblatt, Harlan; McCright, Jacque; Kerndt, Peter R; Klausner, Jeffrey D

2005-07-01

Between 1999 and 2002, San Francisco experienced a sharp increase in early syphilis among gay and bisexual men. In response, the San Francisco Department of Public Health launched a social marketing campaign to increase testing for syphilis, and awareness and knowledge about syphilis among gay and bisexual men. A convenience sample of 244 gay and bisexual men (18-60 years of age) were surveyed to evaluate the effectiveness of the campaign. Respondents were interviewed to elicit unaided and aided awareness about the campaign, knowledge about syphilis, recent sexual behaviors, and syphilis testing behavior. After controlling for other potential confounders, unaided campaign awareness was a significant correlate of having a syphilis test in the last 6 months (odds ratio, 3.21; 95% confidence interval, 1.30-7.97) compared with no awareness of the campaign. A comparison of respondents aware of the campaign with those not aware also revealed significant increases in awareness and knowledge about syphilis. The Healthy Penis 2002 campaign achieved its primary objective of increasing syphilis testing, and awareness and knowledge about syphilis among gay and bisexual men in San Francisco.

Free ammonia pre-treatment of secondary sludge significantly increases anaerobic methane production.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Wei; Zhou, Xu; Wang, Dongbo; Sun, Jing; Wang, Qilin

2017-07-01

Energy recovery in the form of methane from sludge/wastewater is restricted by the poor and slow biodegradability of secondary sludge. An innovative pre-treatment technology using free ammonia (FA, i.e. NH 3 ) was proposed in this study to increase anaerobic methane production. The solubilisation of secondary sludge was significantly increased after FA pre-treatment at up to 680 mg NH 3 -N/L for 1 day, under which the solubilisation (i.e. 0.4 mg SCOD/mg VS; SCOD: soluble chemical oxygen demand; VS: volatile solids) was >10 times higher than that without FA pre-treatment (i.e. 0.03 mg SCOD/mg VS). Biochemical methane potential assays showed that FA pre-treatment at above 250 mg NH 3 -N/L is effective in improving anaerobic methane production. The highest improvement in biochemical methane potential (B 0 ) and hydrolysis rate (k) was achieved at FA concentrations of 420-680 mg NH 3 -N/L, and was determined as approximately 22% (from 160 to 195 L CH 4 /kg VS added) and 140% (from 0.22 to 0.53 d -1 ) compared to the secondary sludge without pre-treatment. More analysis revealed that the FA induced improvement in B 0 and k could be attributed to the rapidly biodegradable substances rather than the slowly biodegradable substances. Economic and environmental analyses showed that the FA-based technology is economically favourable and environmentally friendly. Since this FA technology aims to use the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) waste (i.e. anaerobic digestion liquor) to enhance methane production from the WWTPs, it will set an example for the paradigm shift of the WWTPs from 'linear economy' to 'circular economy'. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hydrogenation of Phenylacetylene to Styrene on Pre-C{sub x}H{sub y}- and C-Covered Cu(111) Single Crystal Catalysts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sohn, Young Ku [Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan (Korea, Republic of); Wei, Wei; White, John M. [The University of Texas at Austin, Texas (United States)

2011-05-15

Thermal hydrogenation of phenylacetylene (PA, C{sub 8}H{sub 6}) to styrene (C{sub 8}H{sub 8}) on pre-C{sub x}H{sub y}- and C-covered Cu(111) single crystal substrates has been studied using temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) mass spectrometry. Chemisorbed PA with an acetylene group has been proved to be associated with hydrogen of pre-adsorbed C{sub x}H{sub y} to form styrene (104 amu) on Cu surface. For the parent (PA) mass (102 amu) TPD profile, the TPD peaks at 360 K and 410 K are assigned to chemisorbed vertically aligned PA and flat-lying cross-bridged PA, respectively (J. Phys. Chem. C 2007, 111, 5101). The relative I{sub 360K}/I{sub 410K} TPD ratio dramatically increases with increasing pre-adsorbed C{sub x}H{sub y} before dosing PA, while the ratio does not increase for pre-C-covered surface. For PA on pre-C{sub x}H{sub y}-covered Cu(111) surface, styrene desorption is enhanced relative to the parent PA desorption, while styrene formation is dramatically quenched on pre-C-covered (lack of adsorbed hydrogen nearby) surface. It appears that only cross-bridged PA associates with adsorbed hydrogen to form styrene that promptly desorbs at 410 K, while vertically aligned PA is less likely to participate in forming styrene.

Increased Mortality in Diabetic Foot Ulcer Patients: The Significance of Ulcer Type

Science.gov (United States)

Chammas, N. K.; Hill, R. L. R.; Edmonds, M. E.

2016-01-01

Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) patients have a greater than twofold increase in mortality compared with nonulcerated diabetic patients. We investigated (a) cause of death in DFU patients, (b) age at death, and (c) relationship between cause of death and ulcer type. This was an eleven-year retrospective study on DFU patients who attended King's College Hospital Foot Clinic and subsequently died. A control group of nonulcerated diabetic patients was matched for age and type of diabetes mellitus. The cause of death was identified from death certificates (DC) and postmortem (PM) examinations. There were 243 DFU patient deaths during this period. Ischaemic heart disease (IHD) was the major cause of death in 62.5% on PM compared to 45.7% on DC. Mean age at death from IHD on PM was 5 years lower in DFU patients compared to controls (68.2 ± 8.7 years versus 73.1 ± 8.0 years, P = 0.015). IHD as a cause of death at PM was significantly linked to neuropathic foot ulcers (OR 3.064, 95% CI 1.003–9.366, and P = 0.049). Conclusions. IHD is the major cause of premature mortality in DFU patients with the neuropathic foot ulcer patients being at a greater risk. PMID:27213157

Significant social events and increasing use of life-sustaining treatment: trend analysis using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as an example.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yen-Yuan; Chen, Likwang; Huang, Tien-Shang; Ko, Wen-Je; Chu, Tzong-Shinn; Ni, Yen-Hsuan; Chang, Shan-Chwen

2014-03-04

Most studies have examined the outcomes of patients supported by extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a life-sustaining treatment. It is unclear whether significant social events are associated with the use of life-sustaining treatment. This study aimed to compare the trend of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation use in Taiwan with that in the world, and to examine the influence of significant social events on the trend of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation use in Taiwan. Taiwan's extracorporeal membrane oxygenation uses from 2000 to 2009 were collected from National Health Insurance Research Dataset. The number of the worldwide extracorporeal membrane oxygenation cases was mainly estimated using Extracorporeal Life Support Registry Report International Summary July 2012. The trend of Taiwan's crude annual incidence rate of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation use was compared with that of the rest of the world. Each trend of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation use was examined using joinpoint regression. The measurement was the crude annual incidence rate of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation use. Each of the Taiwan's crude annual incidence rates was much higher than the worldwide one in the same year. Both the trends of Taiwan's and worldwide crude annual incidence rates have significantly increased since 2000. Joinpoint regression selected the model of the Taiwan's trend with one joinpoint in 2006 as the best-fitted model, implying that the significant social events in 2006 were significantly associated with the trend change of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation use following 2006. In addition, significantly social events highlighted by the media are more likely to be associated with the increase of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation use than being fully covered by National Health Insurance. Significant social events, such as a well-known person's successful extracorporeal membrane oxygenation use highlighted by the mass media, are associated with the use of

Strain in shock-loaded skeletal muscle and the time scale of muscular wobbling mass dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Christensen, Kasper B; Günther, Michael; Schmitt, Syn; Siebert, Tobias

2017-10-16

In terrestrial locomotion, muscles undergo damped oscillations in response to limb impacts with the ground. Muscles are also actuators that generate mechanical power to allow locomotion. The corresponding elementary contractile process is the work stroke of an actin-myosin cross-bridge, which may be forcibly detached by superposed oscillations. By experimentally emulating rat leg impacts, we found that full activity and non-fatigue must meet to possibly prevent forcible cross-bridge detachment. Because submaximal muscle force represents the ordinary locomotor condition, our results show that forcible, eccentric cross-bridge detachment is a common, physiological process even during isometric muscle contractions. We also calculated the stiffnesses of the whole muscle-tendon complex and the fibre material separately, as well as Young's modulus of the latter: 1.8 MPa and 0.75 MPa for fresh, fully active and passive fibres, respectively. Our inferred Young's modulus of the tendon-aponeurosis complex suggests that stiffness in series to the fibre material is determined by the elastic properties of the aponeurosis region, rather than the tendon material. Knowing these stiffnesses and the muscle mass, the complex' eigenfrequency for responses to impacts can be quantified, as well as the size-dependency of this time scale of muscular wobbling mass dynamics.

Templated assembly of photoswitches significantly increases the energy-storage capacity of solar thermal fuels.

Science.gov (United States)

Kucharski, Timothy J; Ferralis, Nicola; Kolpak, Alexie M; Zheng, Jennie O; Nocera, Daniel G; Grossman, Jeffrey C

2014-05-01

Large-scale utilization of solar-energy resources will require considerable advances in energy-storage technologies to meet ever-increasing global energy demands. Other than liquid fuels, existing energy-storage materials do not provide the requisite combination of high energy density, high stability, easy handling, transportability and low cost. New hybrid solar thermal fuels, composed of photoswitchable molecules on rigid, low-mass nanostructures, transcend the physical limitations of molecular solar thermal fuels by introducing local sterically constrained environments in which interactions between chromophores can be tuned. We demonstrate this principle of a hybrid solar thermal fuel using azobenzene-functionalized carbon nanotubes. We show that, on composite bundling, the amount of energy stored per azobenzene more than doubles from 58 to 120 kJ mol(-1), and the material also maintains robust cyclability and stability. Our results demonstrate that solar thermal fuels composed of molecule-nanostructure hybrids can exhibit significantly enhanced energy-storage capabilities through the generation of template-enforced steric strain.

Skipping one or more dialysis sessions significantly increases mortality: measuring the impact of non-adherence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eduardo Gottlieb

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Non-adherence to the prescribed dialysis sessions frequency ranges from 2% to 50% of patients. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of detecting and measuring the non-adherence to the prescribed dialysis frequency and to determine the importance of a multidisciplinary approach with the aim of improving adherence. Methods: longitudinal cohort study including 8,164 prevalent hemodialysis patients in April 2010, with more than 90 days of treatment, in Fresenius Medical Care Argentina units that were monitored for 3 years. The survey evaluated: interruption of at least one dialysis session in a month or reduction at least 10 minutes of a dialysis session in a month, during 6 months prior to the survey. Relative mortality risks were evaluated among groups. Results: 648 patients (7.9% interrupted dialysis sessions: 320 (3.9% interrupted one session per month and 328 (4.01% interrupted more than one session per month. After 3 years monitoring, 349 patients (53.8 % remained active in hemodialysis and 299 were inactive due to different reasons: 206 deceased (31.8 %, 47 transfers or monitoring losses (7.25 %, 36 transplanted (5.55 %, 8 changes to PD modality (1.2% and 2 recovered their kidney function (0.3 %.Interrupting one session per month significantly increased the mortality risk comparing both groups (interrupters and non-interrupters: RR 2.65 (IC 95% 2.24 – 3.14. Interrupting more than one dialysis session also increased significantly mortality risk comparing to the non-interrupters: RR 2.8 (IC 95% 2.39 – 3.28. After 3 years monitoring, 41.6 % of interrupters at the beginning had improved their adherence through a multidisciplinary program of quality improvement. Conclusion: Global mortality was greater among patients who interrupted dialysis sessions. A considerable proportion of interrupter patients at the beginning modified their behavior through the implementation of a multidisciplinary program of quality

[Significant increase in the colonisation of Staphylococcus aureus among medical students during their hospital practices].

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez-Avial, Carmen; Alvarez-Novoa, Andrea; Losa, Azucena; Picazo, Juan J

2013-10-01

Staphylococcus aureus is a pathogen of major concern. The emergence of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) has increasingly complicated the therapeutic approach of hospital-acquired infections. Surveillance of MRSA and control measures must be implemented in different healthcare settings, including screening programs for carriers. Our first aim was to determine the prevalence of methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) and MRSA nasal carriage in medical students from the Clínico San Carlos Hospital (Madrid). As the MRSA carrier rate in healthcare workers is higher than in the general population, we hypothesised that carrier rate could be increased during their clinical practice in their last three years. We performed an epidemiologic al study of the prevalence of S. aureus colonisation among a group of medical students, who were sampled in 2008 in their third-year, and in 2012 when this class was in its sixth year. We have found a significant increase in MSSA carriage, from 27% to 46%. There were no MRSA colonisations in the third-year, but one was found in the sixth-year group. The large majority of strains (89%) of strains were resistant to penicillin, and 27% to erythromycin and clindamycin. As 19 coagulase-negative Staphylococcus MR were also identified, a horizontal transfer of genes, such as mecA gene to S. aureus, could have occurred. Medical students are both, at risk for acquiring, and a potential source of nosocomial pathogens, mainly MSSA. Therefore, they should take special care for hygienic precautions, such as frequent and proper hand washing, while working in the hospital. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.

Increasing vaginal progesterone gel supplementation after frozen-thawed embryo transfer significantly increases the delivery rate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alsbjerg, Birgit; Polyzos, Nikolaos P; Elbaek, Helle Olesen

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the reproductive outcome in patients receiving frozen-thawed embryo transfer before and after doubling of the vaginal progesterone gel supplementation. The study was a retrospective study performed in The Fertility Clinic, Skive Regional Hospital, Denmark....... A total of 346 infertility patients with oligoamenorrhoea undergoing frozen-thawed embryo transfer after priming with oestradiol and vaginal progesterone gel were included. The vaginal progesterone dose was changed from 90mg (Crinone) once a day to twice a day and the reproductive outcome during the two...... rate (8.7% versus 20.5%, respectively; P=0.002). Doubling of the vaginal progesterone gel supplementation during frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycles decreased the early pregnancy loss rate, resulting in a significantly higher delivery rate. This study evaluated the reproductive outcome of 346 women...

Force reduction induced by unidirectional transversal muscle loading is independent of local pressure.

Science.gov (United States)

Siebert, Tobias; Rode, Christian; Till, Olaf; Stutzig, Norman; Blickhan, Reinhard

2016-05-03

Transversal unidirectional compression applied to muscles via external loading affects muscle contraction dynamics in the longitudinal direction. A recent study reported decreasing longitudinal muscle forces with increasing transversal load applied with a constant contact area (i.e., leading to a simultaneous increase in local pressure). To shed light on these results, we examine whether the decrease in longitudinal force depends on the load, the local pressure, or both. To this end, we perform isometric experiments on rat M. gastrocnemius medialis without and with transversal loading (i) changing the local pressure from 1.1-3.2Ncm(-2) (n=9) at a constant transversal load (1.62N) and (ii) increasing the transversal load (1.15-3.45N) at a constant local pressure of 2.3Ncm(-2) (n=7). While we did not note changes in the decrease in longitudinal muscle force in the first experiment, the second experiment resulted in an almost-linear reduction of longitudinal force between 7.5±0.6% and 14.1±1.7%. We conclude that the observed longitudinal force reduction is not induced by local effects such as malfunction of single muscle compartments, but that similar internal stress conditions and myofilament configurations occur when the local pressure changes given a constant load. The decreased longitudinal force may be explained by increased internal pressure and a deformed myofilament lattice that is likely associated with the decomposition of cross-bridge forces on the one hand and the inhibition of cross-bridges on the other hand. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

One stone, two birds: silica nanospheres significantly increase photocatalytic activity and colloidal stability of photocatalysts

Science.gov (United States)

Rasamani, Kowsalya D.; Foley, Jonathan J., IV; Sun, Yugang

2018-03-01

Silver-doped silver chloride [AgCl(Ag)] nanoparticles represent a unique class of visible-light-driven photocatalysts, in which the silver dopants introduce electron-abundant mid-gap energy levels to lower the bandgap of AgCl. However, free-standing AgCl(Ag) nanoparticles, particularly those with small sizes and large surface areas, exhibit low colloidal stability and low compositional stability upon exposure to light irradiation, leading to easy aggregation and conversion to metallic silver and thus a loss of photocatalytic activity. These problems could be eliminated by attaching the small AgCl(Ag) nanoparticles to the surfaces of spherical dielectric silica particles with submicrometer sizes. The high optical transparency in the visible spectral region (400-800 nm), colloidal stability, and chemical/electronic inertness displayed by the silica spheres make them ideal for supporting photocatalysts and significantly improving their stability. The spherical morphology of the dielectric silica particles can support light scattering resonances to generate significantly enhanced electric fields near the silica particle surfaces, on which the optical absorption cross-section of the AgCl(Ag) nanoparticles is dramatically increased to promote their photocatalytic activity. The hybrid silica/AgCl(Ag) structures exhibit superior photocatalytic activity and stability, suitable for supporting photocatalysis sustainably; for instance, their efficiency in the photocatalytic decomposition of methylene blue decreases by only ˜9% even after ten cycles of operation.

Myriocin significantly increases the mortality of a non-mammalian model host during Candida pathogenesis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nadja Rodrigues de Melo

Full Text Available Candida albicans is a major human pathogen whose treatment is challenging due to antifungal drug toxicity, drug resistance and paucity of antifungal agents available. Myrocin (MYR inhibits sphingosine synthesis, a precursor of sphingolipids, an important cell membrane and signaling molecule component. MYR also has dual immune suppressive and antifungal properties, potentially modulating mammalian immunity and simultaneously reducing fungal infection risk. Wax moth (Galleria mellonella larvae, alternatives to mice, were used to establish if MYR suppressed insect immunity and increased survival of C. albicans-infected insects. MYR effects were studied in vivo and in vitro, and compared alone and combined with those of approved antifungal drugs, fluconazole (FLC and amphotericin B (AMPH. Insect immune defenses failed to inhibit C. albicans with high mortalities. In insects pretreated with the drug followed by C. albicans inoculation, MYR+C. albicans significantly increased mortality to 93% from 67% with C. albicans alone 48 h post-infection whilst AMPH+C. albicans and FLC+C. albicans only showed 26% and 0% mortalities, respectively. MYR combinations with other antifungal drugs in vivo also enhanced larval mortalities, contrasting the synergistic antifungal effect of the MYR+AMPH combination in vitro. MYR treatment influenced immunity and stress management gene expression during C. albicans pathogenesis, modulating transcripts putatively associated with signal transduction/regulation of cytokines, I-kappaB kinase/NF-kappaB cascade, G-protein coupled receptor and inflammation. In contrast, all stress management gene expression was down-regulated in FLC and AMPH pretreated C. albicans-infected insects. Results are discussed with their implications for clinical use of MYR to treat sphingolipid-associated disorders.

The adipokine leptin increases skeletal muscle mass and significantly alters skeletal muscle miRNA expression profile in aged mice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamrick, Mark W.; Herberg, Samuel; Arounleut, Phonepasong; He, Hong-Zhi; Shiver, Austin; Qi, Rui-Qun; Zhou, Li; Isales, Carlos M.

2010-01-01

Research highlights: → Aging is associated with muscle atrophy and loss of muscle mass, known as the sarcopenia of aging. → We demonstrate that age-related muscle atrophy is associated with marked changes in miRNA expression in muscle. → Treating aged mice with the adipokine leptin significantly increased muscle mass and the expression of miRNAs involved in muscle repair. → Recombinant leptin therapy may therefore be a novel approach for treating age-related muscle atrophy. -- Abstract: Age-associated loss of muscle mass, or sarcopenia, contributes directly to frailty and an increased risk of falls and fractures among the elderly. Aged mice and elderly adults both show decreased muscle mass as well as relatively low levels of the fat-derived hormone leptin. Here we demonstrate that loss of muscle mass and myofiber size with aging in mice is associated with significant changes in the expression of specific miRNAs. Aging altered the expression of 57 miRNAs in mouse skeletal muscle, and many of these miRNAs are now reported to be associated specifically with age-related muscle atrophy. These include miR-221, previously identified in studies of myogenesis and muscle development as playing a role in the proliferation and terminal differentiation of myogenic precursors. We also treated aged mice with recombinant leptin, to determine whether leptin therapy could improve muscle mass and alter the miRNA expression profile of aging skeletal muscle. Leptin treatment significantly increased hindlimb muscle mass and extensor digitorum longus fiber size in aged mice. Furthermore, the expression of 37 miRNAs was altered in muscles of leptin-treated mice. In particular, leptin treatment increased the expression of miR-31 and miR-223, miRNAs known to be elevated during muscle regeneration and repair. These findings suggest that aging in skeletal muscle is associated with marked changes in the expression of specific miRNAs, and that nutrient-related hormones such as leptin

The adipokine leptin increases skeletal muscle mass and significantly alters skeletal muscle miRNA expression profile in aged mice

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hamrick, Mark W., E-mail: mhamrick@mail.mcg.edu [Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy, Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA (United States); Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA (United States); Herberg, Samuel; Arounleut, Phonepasong [Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy, Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA (United States); Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA (United States); He, Hong-Zhi [Henry Ford Immunology Program, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI (United States); Department of Dermatology, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI (United States); Shiver, Austin [Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy, Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA (United States); Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA (United States); Qi, Rui-Qun [Henry Ford Immunology Program, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI (United States); Department of Dermatology, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI (United States); Zhou, Li [Henry Ford Immunology Program, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI (United States); Department of Dermatology, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI (United States); Department of Internal Medicine, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI (United States); Isales, Carlos M. [Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy, Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA (United States); Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA (United States); others, and

2010-09-24

Research highlights: {yields} Aging is associated with muscle atrophy and loss of muscle mass, known as the sarcopenia of aging. {yields} We demonstrate that age-related muscle atrophy is associated with marked changes in miRNA expression in muscle. {yields} Treating aged mice with the adipokine leptin significantly increased muscle mass and the expression of miRNAs involved in muscle repair. {yields} Recombinant leptin therapy may therefore be a novel approach for treating age-related muscle atrophy. -- Abstract: Age-associated loss of muscle mass, or sarcopenia, contributes directly to frailty and an increased risk of falls and fractures among the elderly. Aged mice and elderly adults both show decreased muscle mass as well as relatively low levels of the fat-derived hormone leptin. Here we demonstrate that loss of muscle mass and myofiber size with aging in mice is associated with significant changes in the expression of specific miRNAs. Aging altered the expression of 57 miRNAs in mouse skeletal muscle, and many of these miRNAs are now reported to be associated specifically with age-related muscle atrophy. These include miR-221, previously identified in studies of myogenesis and muscle development as playing a role in the proliferation and terminal differentiation of myogenic precursors. We also treated aged mice with recombinant leptin, to determine whether leptin therapy could improve muscle mass and alter the miRNA expression profile of aging skeletal muscle. Leptin treatment significantly increased hindlimb muscle mass and extensor digitorum longus fiber size in aged mice. Furthermore, the expression of 37 miRNAs was altered in muscles of leptin-treated mice. In particular, leptin treatment increased the expression of miR-31 and miR-223, miRNAs known to be elevated during muscle regeneration and repair. These findings suggest that aging in skeletal muscle is associated with marked changes in the expression of specific miRNAs, and that nutrient

Big data integration shows Australian bush-fire frequency is increasing significantly.

Science.gov (United States)

Dutta, Ritaban; Das, Aruneema; Aryal, Jagannath

2016-02-01

Increasing Australian bush-fire frequencies over the last decade has indicated a major climatic change in coming future. Understanding such climatic change for Australian bush-fire is limited and there is an urgent need of scientific research, which is capable enough to contribute to Australian society. Frequency of bush-fire carries information on spatial, temporal and climatic aspects of bush-fire events and provides contextual information to model various climate data for accurately predicting future bush-fire hot spots. In this study, we develop an ensemble method based on a two-layered machine learning model to establish relationship between fire incidence and climatic data. In a 336 week data trial, we demonstrate that the model provides highly accurate bush-fire incidence hot-spot estimation (91% global accuracy) from the weekly climatic surfaces. Our analysis also indicates that Australian weekly bush-fire frequencies increased by 40% over the last 5 years, particularly during summer months, implicating a serious climatic shift.

Significant yield increases from control of leaf diseases in maize - an overlooked problem?!

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Lise Nistrup

2012-01-01

The area of maize has increased in several European countries in recent years. In Denmark, the area has increased from 10,000 ha in 1980 to 185,000 ha in 2011. Initially only silage maize was cultivated in Denmark, but in more recent years the area of grain maize has also increased. Farms growing...

Application of Bioorganic Fertilizer Significantly Increased Apple Yields and Shaped Bacterial Community Structure in Orchard Soil.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Lei; Li, Jing; Yang, Fang; E, Yaoyao; Raza, Waseem; Huang, Qiwei; Shen, Qirong

2017-02-01

and Rhodospirillaceae, were found to be the significantly increased by the BOF addition and the genus Lysobacter may identify members of this group effective in biological control-based plant disease management and the members of family Rhodospirillaceae had an important role in fixing molecular nitrogen. These results strengthen the understanding of responses to the BOF and possible interactions within bacterial communities in soil that can be associated with disease suppression and the accumulation of carbon and nitrogen. The increase of apple yields after the application of BOF might be attributed to the fact that the application of BOF increased SOM, and soil total nitrogen, and changed the bacterial community by enriching Rhodospirillaceae, Alphaprotreobateria, and Proteobacteria.

Logarithmic superposition of force response with rapid length changes in relaxed porcine airway smooth muscle.

Science.gov (United States)

Ijpma, G; Al-Jumaily, A M; Cairns, S P; Sieck, G C

2010-12-01

We present a systematic quantitative analysis of power-law force relaxation and investigate logarithmic superposition of force response in relaxed porcine airway smooth muscle (ASM) strips in vitro. The term logarithmic superposition describes linear superposition on a logarithmic scale, which is equivalent to multiplication on a linear scale. Additionally, we examine whether the dynamic response of contracted and relaxed muscles is dominated by cross-bridge cycling or passive dynamics. The study shows the following main findings. For relaxed ASM, the force response to length steps of varying amplitude (0.25-4% of reference length, both lengthening and shortening) are well-fitted with power-law functions over several decades of time (10⁻² to 10³ s), and the force response after consecutive length changes is more accurately fitted assuming logarithmic superposition rather than linear superposition. Furthermore, for sinusoidal length oscillations in contracted and relaxed muscles, increasing the oscillation amplitude induces greater hysteresivity and asymmetry of force-length relationships, whereas increasing the frequency dampens hysteresivity but increases asymmetry. We conclude that logarithmic superposition is an important feature of relaxed ASM, which may facilitate a more accurate prediction of force responses in the continuous dynamic environment of the respiratory system. In addition, the single power-function response to length changes shows that the dynamics of cross-bridge cycling can be ignored in relaxed muscle. The similarity in response between relaxed and contracted states implies that the investigated passive dynamics play an important role in both states and should be taken into account.

Transabdominal cerclage: the significance of dual pathology and increased preterm delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Farquharson, Roy G; Topping, Joanne; Quenby, Siobhan M

2005-10-01

Transabdominal cerclage is a recognised treatment for cervical weakness with a history of recurrent mid-trimester loss and a failed elective vaginal suture. The emergence of dual pathology, such as antiphospholipid syndrome and bacterial vaginosis, is associated with an increased risk of preterm delivery (RR 2.34, 95% CI 1.15-5.8). The first 40 cases are described where strict adherence to an investigation protocol and consistent treatment plan has been implemented.

Significantly increased risk of carotid atherosclerosis with arsenic exposure and polymorphisms in arsenic metabolism genes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hsieh, Yi-Chen; Lien, Li-Ming; Chung, Wen-Ting; Hsieh, Fang-I; Hsieh, Pei-Fan; Wu, Meei-Maan; Tseng, Hung-Pin; Chiou, Hung-Yi; Chen, Chien-Jen

2011-01-01

Individual susceptibility to arsenic-induced carotid atherosclerosis might be associated with genetic variations in arsenic metabolism. The purpose of this study is to explore the interaction effect on risk of carotid atherosclerosis between arsenic exposure and risk genotypes of purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP), arsenic (+3) methyltransferase (As3MT), and glutathione S-transferase omega 1 (GSTO1) and omega 2 (GSTO2). A community-based case-control study was conducted in northeastern Taiwan to investigate the arsenic metabolic-related genetic susceptibility to carotid atherosclerosis. In total, 863 subjects, who had been genotyped and for whom the severity of carotid atherosclerosis had been determined, were included in the present study. Individual well water was collected and arsenic concentration determined using hydride generation combined with flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The result showed that a significant dose-response trend (P=0.04) of carotid atherosclerosis risk associated with increasing arsenic concentration. Non-significant association between genetic polymorphisms of PNP Gly51Ser, Pro57Pro, As3MT Met287Thr, GSTO1 Ala140Asp, and GSTO2 A-183G and the risk for development of carotid atherosclerosis were observed. However, the significant interaction effect on carotid atherosclerosis risk was found for arsenic exposure (>50 μg/l) and the haplotypes of PNP (p=0.0115). A marked elevated risk of carotid atherosclerosis was observed in subjects with arsenic exposure of >50 μg/l in drinking water and those who carried the PNP A-T haplotype and at least either of the As3MT risk polymorphism or GSTO risk haplotypes (OR, 6.43; 95% CI, 1.79-23.19). In conclusion, arsenic metabolic genes, PNP, As3MT, and GSTO, may exacerbate the formation of atherosclerosis in individuals with high levels of arsenic concentration in well water (>50 μg/l). - Highlights: →Arsenic metabolic genes might be associated with carotid atherosclerosis. → A case

Significantly increased risk of carotid atherosclerosis with arsenic exposure and polymorphisms in arsenic metabolism genes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hsieh, Yi-Chen [School of Public Health, College of Public Health and Nutrition, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wusing St., Taipei 11031, Taiwan (China); Lien, Li-Ming [Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan (China); School of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan (China); Department of Neurology, Shin Kong WHS Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan (China); Chung, Wen-Ting [Department of Neurology, Wanfang Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan (China); Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan (China); Hsieh, Fang-I; Hsieh, Pei-Fan [School of Public Health, College of Public Health and Nutrition, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wusing St., Taipei 11031, Taiwan (China); Wu, Meei-Maan [School of Public Health, College of Public Health and Nutrition, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wusing St., Taipei 11031, Taiwan (China); Graduate Institute of Basic Medicine, College of Medicine, Fu-Jen Catholic University, Taipei, Taiwan (China); Tseng, Hung-Pin [Department of Neurology, Lotung Poh-Ai Hospital, I-Lan, Taiwan (China); Chiou, Hung-Yi, E-mail: hychiou@tmu.edu.tw [School of Public Health, College of Public Health and Nutrition, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wusing St., Taipei 11031, Taiwan (China); Chen, Chien-Jen [Genomics Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan (China)

2011-08-15

Individual susceptibility to arsenic-induced carotid atherosclerosis might be associated with genetic variations in arsenic metabolism. The purpose of this study is to explore the interaction effect on risk of carotid atherosclerosis between arsenic exposure and risk genotypes of purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP), arsenic (+3) methyltransferase (As3MT), and glutathione S-transferase omega 1 (GSTO1) and omega 2 (GSTO2). A community-based case-control study was conducted in northeastern Taiwan to investigate the arsenic metabolic-related genetic susceptibility to carotid atherosclerosis. In total, 863 subjects, who had been genotyped and for whom the severity of carotid atherosclerosis had been determined, were included in the present study. Individual well water was collected and arsenic concentration determined using hydride generation combined with flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The result showed that a significant dose-response trend (P=0.04) of carotid atherosclerosis risk associated with increasing arsenic concentration. Non-significant association between genetic polymorphisms of PNP Gly51Ser, Pro57Pro, As3MT Met287Thr, GSTO1 Ala140Asp, and GSTO2 A-183G and the risk for development of carotid atherosclerosis were observed. However, the significant interaction effect on carotid atherosclerosis risk was found for arsenic exposure (>50 {mu}g/l) and the haplotypes of PNP (p=0.0115). A marked elevated risk of carotid atherosclerosis was observed in subjects with arsenic exposure of >50 {mu}g/l in drinking water and those who carried the PNP A-T haplotype and at least either of the As3MT risk polymorphism or GSTO risk haplotypes (OR, 6.43; 95% CI, 1.79-23.19). In conclusion, arsenic metabolic genes, PNP, As3MT, and GSTO, may exacerbate the formation of atherosclerosis in individuals with high levels of arsenic concentration in well water (>50 {mu}g/l). - Highlights: {yields}Arsenic metabolic genes might be associated with carotid atherosclerosis. {yields

Neurite outgrowth is significantly increased by the simultaneous presentation of Schwann cells and moderate exogenous electric fields

Science.gov (United States)

Koppes, Abigail N.; Seggio, Angela M.; Thompson, Deanna M.

2011-08-01

Axonal extension is influenced by a variety of external guidance cues; therefore, the development and optimization of a multi-faceted approach is probably necessary to address the intricacy of functional regeneration following nerve injury. In this study, primary dissociated neonatal rat dorsal root ganglia neurons and Schwann cells were examined in response to an 8 h dc electrical stimulation (0-100 mV mm-1). Stimulated samples were then fixed immediately, immunostained, imaged and analyzed to determine Schwann cell orientation and characterize neurite outgrowth relative to electric field strength and direction. Results indicate that Schwann cells are viable following electrical stimulation with 10-100 mV mm-1, and retain a normal morphology relative to unstimulated cells; however, no directional bias is observed. Neurite outgrowth was significantly enhanced by twofold following exposure to either a 50 mV mm-1 electric field (EF) or co-culture with unstimulated Schwann cells by comparison to neurons cultured alone. Neurite outgrowth was further increased in the presence of simultaneously applied cues (Schwann cells + 50 mV mm-1 dc EF), exhibiting a 3.2-fold increase over unstimulated control neurons, and a 1.2-fold increase over either neurons cultured with unstimulated Schwann cells or the electrical stimulus alone. These results indicate that dc electric stimulation in combination with Schwann cells may provide synergistic guidance cues for improved axonal growth relevant to nerve injuries in the peripheral nervous system.

Peptidoglycan crosslinking relaxation plays an important role in Staphylococcus aureus WalKR-dependent cell viability.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aurelia Delaune

Full Text Available The WalKR two-component system is essential for viability of Staphylococcus aureus, a major pathogen. We have shown that WalKR acts as the master controller of peptidoglycan metabolism, yet none of the identified regulon genes explain its requirement for cell viability. Transmission electron micrographs revealed cell wall thickening and aberrant division septa in the absence of WalKR, suggesting its requirement may be linked to its role in coordinating cell wall metabolism and cell division. We therefore tested whether uncoupling autolysin gene expression from WalKR-dependent regulation could compensate for its essential nature. Uncoupled expression of genes encoding lytic transglycosylases or amidases did not restore growth to a WalKR-depleted strain. We identified only two WalKR-regulon genes whose expression restored cell viability in the absence of WalKR: lytM and ssaA. Neither of these two genes are essential under our conditions and a ΔlytM ΔssaA mutant does not present any growth defect. LytM is a glycyl-glycyl endopeptidase, hydrolyzing the pentaglycine interpeptide crossbridge, and SsaA belongs to the CHAP amidase family, members of which such as LysK and LytA have been shown to have D-alanyl-glycyl endopeptidase activity, cleaving between the crossbridge and the stem peptide. Taken together, our results strongly suggest that peptidoglycan crosslinking relaxation through crossbridge hydrolysis plays a crucial role in the essential requirement of the WalKR system for cell viability.

Corruption Significantly Increases the Capital Cost of Power Plants in Developing Contexts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kumar Biswajit Debnath

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Emerging economies with rapidly growing population and energy demand, own some of the most expensive power plants in the world. We hypothesized that corruption has a relationship with the capital cost of power plants in developing countries such as Bangladesh. For this study, we analyzed the capital cost of 61 operational and planned power plants in Bangladesh. Initial comparison study revealed that the mean capital cost of a power plant in Bangladesh is twice than that of the global average. Then, the statistical analysis revealed a significant correlation between corruption and the cost of power plants, indicating that higher corruption leads to greater capital cost. The high up-front cost can be a significant burden on the economy, at present and in the future, as most are financed through international loans with extended repayment terms. There is, therefore, an urgent need for the review of the procurement and due diligence process of establishing power plants, and for the implementation of a more transparent system to mitigate adverse effects of corruption on megaprojects.

Depressed Frank-Starling mechanism in the left ventricular muscle of the knock-in mouse model of dilated cardiomyopathy with troponin T deletion mutation ΔK210.

Science.gov (United States)

Inoue, Takahiro; Kobirumaki-Shimozawa, Fuyu; Kagemoto, Tatsuya; Fujii, Teruyuki; Terui, Takako; Kusakari, Yoichiro; Hongo, Kenichi; Morimoto, Sachio; Ohtsuki, Iwao; Hashimoto, Kazuhiro; Fukuda, Norio

2013-10-01

It has been reported that the Frank-Starling mechanism is coordinately regulated in cardiac muscle via thin filament "on-off" equilibrium and titin-based lattice spacing changes. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that the deletion mutation ΔK210 in the cardiac troponin T gene shifts the equilibrium toward the "off" state and accordingly attenuate the sarcomere length (SL) dependence of active force production, via reduced cross-bridge formation. Confocal imaging in isolated hearts revealed that the cardiomyocytes were enlarged, especially in the longitudinal direction, in ΔK210 hearts, with striation patterns similar to those in wild type (WT) hearts, suggesting that the number of sarcomeres is increased in cardiomyocytes but the sarcomere length remains unaltered. For analysis of the SL dependence of active force, skinned muscle preparations were obtained from the left ventricle of WT and knock-in (ΔK210) mice. An increase in SL from 1.90 to 2.20μm shifted the mid-point (pCa50) of the force-pCa curve leftward by ~0.21pCa units in WT preparations. In ΔK210 muscles, Ca(2+) sensitivity was lower by ~0.37pCa units, and the SL-dependent shift of pCa50, i.e., ΔpCa50, was less pronounced (~0.11pCa units), with and without protein kinase A treatment. The rate of active force redevelopment was lower in ΔK210 preparations than in WT preparations, showing blunted thin filament cooperative activation. An increase in thin filament cooperative activation upon an increase in the fraction of strongly bound cross-bridges by MgADP increased ΔpCa50 to ~0.21pCa units. The depressed Frank-Starling mechanism in ΔK210 hearts is the result of a reduction in thin filament cooperative activation. © 2013.

Reduced memory skills and increased hair cortisol levels in recent Ecstasy/MDMA users: significant but independent neurocognitive and neurohormonal deficits.

Science.gov (United States)

Downey, Luke A; Sands, Helen; Jones, Lewis; Clow, Angela; Evans, Phil; Stalder, Tobias; Parrott, Andrew C

2015-05-01

The goals of this study were to measure the neurocognitive performance of recent users of recreational Ecstasy and investigate whether it was associated with the stress hormone cortisol. The 101 participants included 27 recent light users of Ecstasy (one to four times in the last 3 months), 23 recent heavier Ecstasy users (five or more times) and 51 non-users. Rivermead paragraph recall provided an objective measure for immediate and delayed recall. The prospective and retrospective memory questionnaire provided a subjective index of memory deficits. Cortisol levels were taken from near-scalp 3-month hair samples. Cortisol was significantly raised in recent heavy Ecstasy users compared with controls, whereas hair cortisol in light Ecstasy users was not raised. Both Ecstasy groups were significantly impaired on the Rivermead delayed word recall, and both groups reported significantly more retrospective and prospective memory problems. Stepwise regression confirmed that lifetime Ecstasy predicted the extent of these memory deficits. Recreational Ecstasy is associated with increased levels of the bio-energetic stress hormone cortisol and significant memory impairments. No significant relationship between cortisol and the cognitive deficits was observed. Ecstasy users did display evidence of a metacognitive deficit, with the strength of the correlations between objective and subjective memory performances being significantly lower in the Ecstasy users. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Pericellular colocalisation and interactive properties of type VI collagen and perlecan in the intervertebral disc

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

AJ Hayes

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to immunolocalise type VI collagen and perlecan and determine their interactive properties in the intervertebral disc (IVD. Confocal laser scanning microscopy co-localised perlecan with type VI collagen as pericellular components of IVD cells and translamellar cross-bridges in ovine and murine IVDs. These cross-bridges were significantly less abundant in the heparin sulphate deficient Hspg2 exon 3 null mouse IVD than in wild type. This association of type VI collagen with elastic components provides clues as to its roles in conveying elastic recoil properties to annular tissues. Perlecan and type VI collagen were highly interactive in plasmon resonance studies. Pericellular colocalisation of perlecan and type VI collagen provides matrix stabilisation and cell-matrix communication which allows IVD cells to perceive and respond to perturbations in their biomechanical microenvironment. Perlecan, at the cell surface, provides an adhesive interface between the cell and its surrounding extracellular matrix. Elastic microfibrillar structures regulate tensional connective tissue development and function. The 2010 Global Burden of Disease study examined 291 disorders and identified disc degeneration and associated low back pain as the leading global musculoskeletal disorder emphasising its massive socioeconomic impact and the need for more effective treatment strategies. A greater understanding of how the IVD achieves its unique biomechanical functional properties is of great importance in the development of such therapeutic measures.

Balance disorder and increased risk of falls in osteoporosis and kyphosis: significance of kyphotic posture and muscle strength.

Science.gov (United States)

Sinaki, Mehrsheed; Brey, Robert H; Hughes, Christine A; Larson, Dirk R; Kaufman, Kenton R

2005-08-01

This controlled trial was designed to investigate the influence of osteoporosis-related kyphosis (O-K) on falls. Twelve community-dwelling women with O-K (Cobb angle, 50-65 degrees measured from spine radiographs) and 13 healthy women serving as controls were enrolled. Mean age of the O-K group was 76 years (+/-5.1), height 158 cm (+/-5), and weight 61 kg (+/-7.9), and mean age of the control group was 71 years (+/-4.6), height 161 cm (+/-3.8), and weight 66 kg (+/-11.7). Quantitative isometric strength data were collected. Gait was monitored during unobstructed level walking and during stepping over an obstacle of four different heights randomly assigned (2.5%, 5%, 10%, and 15% of the subject's height). Balance was objectively assessed with computerized dynamic posturography consisting of the sensory organization test. Back extensor strength, grip strength, and all lower extremity muscle groups were significantly weaker in the O-K group than the control group (P controls for all conditions of unobstructed and obstructed level walking. Obstacle height had a significant effect on all center-of-mass variables. The O-K subjects had significantly greater balance abnormalities on computerized dynamic posturography than the control group (P =0.002). Data show that thoracic hyperkyphosis on a background of reduced muscle strength plays an important role in increasing body sway, gait unsteadiness, and risk of falls in osteoporosis.

Constrained parameterisation of photosynthetic capacity causes significant increase of modelled tropical vegetation surface temperature

Science.gov (United States)

Kattge, J.; Knorr, W.; Raddatz, T.; Wirth, C.

2009-04-01

Photosynthetic capacity is one of the most sensitive parameters of terrestrial biosphere models whose representation in global scale simulations has been severely hampered by a lack of systematic analyses using a sufficiently broad database. Due to its coupling to stomatal conductance changes in the parameterisation of photosynthetic capacity may potentially influence transpiration rates and vegetation surface temperature. Here, we provide a constrained parameterisation of photosynthetic capacity for different plant functional types in the context of the photosynthesis model proposed by Farquhar et al. (1980), based on a comprehensive compilation of leaf photosynthesis rates and leaf nitrogen content. Mean values of photosynthetic capacity were implemented into the coupled climate-vegetation model ECHAM5/JSBACH and modelled gross primary production (GPP) is compared to a compilation of independent observations on stand scale. Compared to the current standard parameterisation the root-mean-squared difference between modelled and observed GPP is substantially reduced for almost all PFTs by the new parameterisation of photosynthetic capacity. We find a systematic depression of NUE (photosynthetic capacity divided by leaf nitrogen content) on certain tropical soils that are known to be deficient in phosphorus. Photosynthetic capacity of tropical trees derived by this study is substantially lower than standard estimates currently used in terrestrial biosphere models. This causes a decrease of modelled GPP while it significantly increases modelled tropical vegetation surface temperatures, up to 0.8°C. These results emphasise the importance of a constrained parameterisation of photosynthetic capacity not only for the carbon cycle, but also for the climate system.

Factors associated with an increased risk of vertebral fracture in monoclonal gammopathies of undetermined significance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Piot, J M; Royer, M; Schmidt-Tanguy, A; Hoppé, E; Gardembas, M; Bourrée, T; Hunault, M; François, S; Boyer, F; Ifrah, N; Renier, G; Chevailler, A; Audran, M; Chappard, D; Libouban, H; Mabilleau, G; Legrand, E; Bouvard, B

2015-01-01

Monoclonal gammopathies of undetermined significance (MGUS) have been shown to be associated with an increased risk of fractures. This study describes prospectively the bone status of MGUS patients and determines the factors associated with vertebral fracture. We included prospectively 201 patients with MGUS, incidentally discovered, and with no known history of osteoporosis: mean age 66.6±12.5 years, 48.3% women, 51.7% immunoglobulin G (IgG), 33.3% IgM and 10.4% IgA. Light chain was kappa in 64.2% patients. All patients had spinal radiographs and bone mineral density measurement in addition to gammopathy assessment. At least one prevalent non-traumatic vertebral fracture was discovered in 18.4% patients and equally distributed between men and women. Fractured patients were older, had a lower bone density and had also more frequently a lambda light chain isotype. Compared with patients with κ light chain, the odds ratio of being fractured for patients with λ light chain was 4.32 (95% confidence interval 1.80–11.16; P=0.002). These results suggest a high prevalence of non-traumatic vertebral fractures in MGUS associated with lambda light chain isotype and not only explained by low bone density

Thixotropy of levator palpebrae as the cause of lagophthalmos after peripheral facial nerve palsy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aramideh, M.; Koelman, J. H. T. M.; Devriese, P. P.; Speelman, J. D.; Ongerboer de Visser, B. W.

2002-01-01

Patients with facial nerve palsy are at risk of developing corneal ulceration because of lagophthalmos (incomplete closure of the affected eyelid). Lagophthalmos could result from thixotropy of the levator palpebrae muscle-that is, the formation of tight crossbridges between the actin and myosin

A Prolonged Time Interval Between Trauma and Prophylactic Radiation Therapy Significantly Increases the Risk of Heterotopic Ossification

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mourad, Waleed F., E-mail: Waleed246@gmail.com [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS (United States); Department of Radiation Oncology, Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, NY (Israel); Packianathan, Satyaseelan [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS (United States); Shourbaji, Rania A. [Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS (United States); Zhang Zhen; Graves, Mathew [Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS (United States); Khan, Majid A. [Department of Radiology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS (United States); Baird, Michael C. [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS (United States); Russell, George [Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS (United States); Vijayakumar, Srinivasan [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS (United States)

2012-03-01

Purpose: To ascertain whether the time from injury to prophylactic radiation therapy (RT) influences the rate of heterotopic ossification (HO) after operative treatment of displaced acetabular fractures. Methods and Materials: This is a single-institution, retrospective analysis of patients referred for RT for the prevention of HO. Between January 2000 and January 2009, 585 patients with displaced acetabular fractures were treated surgically followed by RT for HO prevention. We analyzed the effect of time from injury on prevention of HO by RT. In all patients, 700 cGy was prescribed in a single fraction and delivered within 72 hours postsurgery. The patients were stratified into five groups according to time interval (in days) from the date of their accident to the date of RT: Groups A {<=}3, B {<=}7, C {<=}14, D {<=}21, and E >21days. Results: Of the 585 patients with displaced acetabular fractures treated with RT, (18%) 106 patients developed HO within the irradiated field. The risk of HO after RT increased from 10% for RT delivered {<=}3 days to 92% for treatment delivered >21 days after the initial injury. Wilcoxon test showed a significant correlation between the risk of HO and the length of time from injury to RT (p < 0.0001). Chi-square test and multiple logistic regression analysis showed no significant association between all other factors and the risk of HO (race, gender, cause and type of fracture, surgical approach, or the use of indomethacin). Conclusions: Our data suggest that there is higher incidence and risk of HO if prophylactic RT is significantly delayed after a displaced acetabular fracture. Thus, RT should be administered as early as clinically possible after the trauma. Patients undergoing RT >3 weeks from their displaced acetabular fracture should be informed of the higher risk (>90%) of developing HO despite prophylaxis.

Significance and prognostic value of increased serum direct bilirubin level for lymph node metastasis in Chinese rectal cancer patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Chun; Fang, Long; Li, Jing-Tao; Zhao, Hong-Chuan

2016-02-28

To determine the significance of increased serum direct bilirubin level for lymph node metastasis (LNM) in Chinese rectal cancer patients, after those with known hepatobiliary and pancreatic diseases were excluded. A cohort of 469 patients, who were treated at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Ministry of Health (Beijing, China), in the period from January 2003 to June 2011, and with a pathological diagnosis of rectal adenocarcinoma, were recruited. They included 231 patients with LNM (49.3%) and 238 patients without LNM. Follow-up for these patients was taken through to December 31, 2012. The baseline serum direct bilirubin concentration was (median/inter-quartile range) 2.30/1.60-3.42 μmol/L. Univariate analysis showed that compared with patients without LNM, the patients with LNM had an increased level of direct bilirubin (2.50/1.70-3.42 vs 2.10/1.40-3.42, P = 0.025). Multivariate analysis showed that direct bilirubin was independently associated with LNM (OR = 1.602; 95%CI: 1.098-2.338, P = 0.015). Moreover, we found that: (1) serum direct bilirubin differs between male and female patients; a higher concentration was associated with poor tumor classification; (2) as the baseline serum direct bilirubin concentration increased, the percentage of patients with LNM increased; and (3) serum direct bilirubin was associated with the prognosis of rectal cancer patients and higher values indicated poor prognosis. Higher serum direct bilirubin concentration was associated with the increased risk of LNM and poor prognosis in our rectal cancers.

Plucking the Golden Goose: Higher Royalty Rates on the Oil Sands Generate Significant Increases in Government Revenue

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kenneth J. McKenzie

2011-09-01

Full Text Available The Alberta government’s 2009 New Royalty Framework elicited resistance on the part of the energy industry, leading to subsequent reductions in the royalties imposed on natural gas and conventional oil. However, the oil sands sector, subject to different terms, quickly accepted the new arrangement with little complaint, recognizing it as win-win situation for industry and the government. Under the framework, Alberta recoups much more money in royalties — about $1 billion over the two year period of 2009 and 2010 — without impinging significantly on investment in the oil sands. This brief paper demonstrates that by spreading the financial risks and benefits to everyone involved, the new framework proves it’s possible to generate increased revenue without frightening off future investment. The same model could conceivably be applied to the conventional oil and natural gas sectors.

Energy capture and storage in asymmetrically multistable modular structures inspired by skeletal muscle

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Kidambi, Narayanan; Harne, Ryan L.; Wang, K. W.

2017-08-01

The remarkable versatility and adaptability of skeletal muscle that arises from the assembly of its nanoscale cross-bridges into micro-scale assemblies known as sarcomeres provides great inspiration for the development of advanced adaptive structures and material systems. Motivated by the capability of cross-bridges to capture elastic strain energy to improve the energetic efficiency of sudden movements and repeated motions, and by models of cross-bridge power stroke motions and sarcomere contractile behaviors that incorporate asymmetric, bistable potential energy landscapes, this research develops and studies modular mechanical structures that trap and store energy in higher-energy configurations. Modules exhibiting tailorable asymmetric bistability are first designed and fabricated, revealing how geometric parameters influence the asymmetry of the resulting double-well energy landscapes. These experimentally-observed characteristics are then investigated with numerical and analytical methods to characterize the dynamics of asymmetrically bistable modules. The assembly of such modules into greater structures generates complex, multi-well energy landscapes with stable system configurations exhibiting different quantities of stored elastic potential energy. Dynamic analyses illustrate the ability of these structures to capture a portion of the initial kinetic energy due to impulsive excitations as recoverable strain potential energy, and reveal how stiffness parameters, damping, and the presence of thermal noise in micro- and nano-scale applications influence energy capture behaviors. The insights gained could foster the development of advanced structural/material systems inspired by skeletal muscle, including actuators that effectively capture, store, and release energy, as well as adaptive, robust, and reusable armors and protective devices.

Rigor force responses of permeabilized fibres from fast and slow skeletal muscles of aged rats.

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Plant, D R; Lynch, G S

2001-09-01

1. Ageing is generally associated with a decline in skeletal muscle mass and strength and a slowing of muscle contraction, factors that impact upon the quality of life for the elderly. The mechanisms underlying this age-related muscle weakness have not been fully resolved. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the decrease in muscle force as a consequence of age could be attributed partly to a decrease in the number of cross-bridges participating during contraction. 2. Given that the rigor force is proportional to the approximate total number of interacting sites between the actin and myosin filaments, we tested the null hypothesis that the rigor force of permeabilized muscle fibres from young and old rats would not be different. 3. Permeabilized fibres from the extensor digitorum longus (fast-twitch; EDL) and soleus (predominantly slow-twitch) muscles of young (6 months of age) and old (27 months of age) male F344 rats were activated in Ca2+-buffered solutions to determine force-pCa characteristics (where pCa = -log(10)[Ca2+]) and then in solutions lacking ATP and Ca2+ to determine rigor force levels. 4. The rigor forces for EDL and soleus muscle fibres were not different between young and old rats, indicating that the approximate total number of cross-bridges that can be formed between filaments did not decline with age. We conclude that the age-related decrease in force output is more likely attributed to a decrease in the force per cross-bridge and/or decreases in the efficiency of excitation-contraction coupling.

Significance of increased lung thallium-201 activity on serial cardiac images after dipyridamole treatment in coronary heart disease

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okada, R.D.; Dai, Y.H.; Boucher, C.A.; Pohost, G.M.

1984-01-01

Increased lung thallium-201 (Tl-201) activity occurs in patients with severe coronary artery disease (CAD) on initial postexercise images. To determine the significance of assessing lung Tl-201 on serial imaging after dipyridamole therapy, initial and delayed (2 to 3 hours) Tl-201 imaging was performed in 40 patients with CAD and 26 normal control subjects. Lung Tl-201 activity was quantitated as a percentage of maximal myocardial activity for each imaging time (lung Tl-201 index). The mean initial lung Tl-201 activity was 42 +/- 2% (+/- standard error of the mean) in 26 control subjects, 56 +/- 2% in 25 patients with 2- or 3-vessel CAD (p less than 0.001) and 53 +/- 2% in 15 patients with 1-vessel CAD (p less than 0.005 compared with control subjects) (difference not significant between 1-vessel and multivessel CAD). Dipyridamole lung Tl-201 activity decreased relative to the myocardium from initial to delayed images (p less than 0.001) in patients with CAD but not in control subjects. When a dipyridamole lung Tl-201 index of 58% (mean +/- 2 standard deviations for control subjects) was chosen as the upper limit of normal, 14 of 40 of the CAD patients (35%) had abnormal values and all control patients had values within normal limits. These 14 patients with CAD and abnormal initial lung Tl-201 indexes had rest ejection fractions that were not significantly different from those in patients with CAD, and normal initial dipyridamole lung Tl-201 index (58 +/- 4% and 63 +/- 2%, respectively)

Final report of a randomized trial on altered-fractionated radiotherapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma prematurely terminated by significant increase in neurologic complications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Teo, Peter Man Lung; Leung, Sing Fai; Chan, Anthony Tak Cheung; Leung, Thomas Wai Tong; Choi, Peter Ho Keung; Kwan, Wing Hong; Lee, Wai Yee; Chau, Ricky Ming Chun; Yu, Peter Kau Wing; Johnson, Philip James

2000-01-01

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to compare the survival, local control and complications of conventional/accelerated-hyperfractionated radiotherapy and conventional radiotherapy in nonmetastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods and Materials: From February 1993 to October 1995, 159 patients with newly diagnosed nonmetastatic (M0) NPC with N0 or 4 cm or less N1 disease (Ho's N-stage classification, 1978) were randomized to receive either conventional radiotherapy (Arm I, n = 82) or conventional/accelerated-hyperfractionated radiotherapy (Arm II, n = 77). Stratification was according to the T stage. The biologic effective dose (10 Grays) to the primary and the upper cervical lymphatics were 75.0 and 73.1 for Arm I and 84.4 and 77.2 for Arm II, respectively. Results: With comparable distribution among the T stages between the two arms, the free from local failure rate at 5 years after radiotherapy was not significantly different between the two arms (85.3%; 95% confidence interval, 77.2-93.4% for Arm I; and 88.9%; 95% confidence interval, 81.7-96.2% for Arm II). The two arms were also comparable in overall survival, relapse-free survival, and rates of distant metastasis and regional relapse. Conventional/accelerated-hyperfractionated radiotherapy was associated with significantly increased radiation-induced damage to the central nervous system (including temporal lobe, cranial nerves, optic nerve/chiasma, and brainstem/spinal cord) in Arm II. Although insignificant, radiation-induced cranial nerve(s) palsy (typically involving VIII-XII), trismus, neck soft tissue fibrosis, and hypopituiturism and hypothyroidism occurred more often in Arm II. In addition, the complications occurred at significantly shorter intervals after radiotherapy in Arm II. Conclusion: Accelerated hyperfractionation when used in conjunction with a two-dimensional radiotherapy planning technique, in this case the Ho's technique, resulted in increased radiation damage to the central

Maternal undernutrition significantly impacts ovarian follicle number and increases ovarian oxidative stress in adult rat offspring.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Angelica B Bernal

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: We have shown recently that maternal undernutrition (UN advanced female pubertal onset in a manner that is dependent upon the timing of UN. The long-term consequence of this accelerated puberty on ovarian function is unknown. Recent findings suggest that oxidative stress may be one mechanism whereby early life events impact on later physiological functioning. Therefore, using an established rodent model of maternal UN at critical windows of development, we examined maternal UN-induced changes in offspring ovarian function and determined whether these changes were underpinned by ovarian oxidative stress. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Our study is the first to show that maternal UN significantly reduced primordial and secondary follicle number in offspring in a manner that was dependent upon the timing of maternal UN. Specifically, a reduction in these early stage follicles was observed in offspring born to mothers undernourished throughout both pregnancy and lactation. Additionally, antral follicle number was reduced in offspring born to all mothers that were UN regardless of whether the period of UN was restricted to pregnancy or lactation or both. These reductions were associated with decreased mRNA levels of genes critical for follicle maturation and ovulation. Increased ovarian protein carbonyls were observed in offspring born to mothers UN during pregnancy and/or lactation and this was associated with peroxiredoxin 3 hyperoxidation and reduced mRNA levels; suggesting compromised antioxidant defence. This was not observed in offspring of mothers UN during lactation alone. CONCLUSIONS: We propose that maternal UN, particularly at a time-point that includes pregnancy, results in reduced offspring ovarian follicle numbers and mRNA levels of regulatory genes and may be mediated by increased ovarian oxidative stress coupled with a decreased ability to repair the resultant oxidative damage. Together these data are suggestive of

Prognostic significance of increased bone marrow microcirculation in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma: results of a prospective DCE-MRI study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Merz, Maximilian; Hillengass, Jens [Department of Radiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg (Germany); University of Heidelberg, Department of Hematology, Oncology and Rheumatology, Heidelberg (Germany); Moehler, Thomas M.; Ritsch, Judith; Delorme, Stefan [Department of Radiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg (Germany); Baeuerle, Tobias [University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Department of Radiology, Erlangen (Germany); Zechmann, Christian M. [Rinecker Proton Therapy, Muenchen (Germany); Wagner, Barbara; Hose, Dirk [University of Heidelberg, Department of Hematology, Oncology and Rheumatology, Heidelberg (Germany); Jauch, Anna [University of Heidelberg, Institute of Human Genetics, Heidelberg (Germany); Kunz, Christina; Hielscher, Thomas [German Cancer Research Center, Department of Biostatistics, Heidelberg (Germany); Laue, Hendrik [Fraunhofer MEVIS, Bremen (Germany); Goldschmidt, Hartmut [University of Heidelberg, Department of Hematology, Oncology and Rheumatology, Heidelberg (Germany); National Center for Tumor Diseases, Heidelberg (Germany)

2016-05-15

Aim of this prospective study was to investigate prognostic significance of increased bone marrow microcirculation as detected by dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) for survival and local complications in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). We performed DCE-MRI of the lumbar spine in 131 patients with newly diagnosed MM and analysed data according to the Brix model to acquire amplitude A and exchange rate constant k{sub ep}. In 61 patients a second MRI performed after therapy was evaluated to assess changes in vertebral height and identify vertebral fractures. Correlation analysis revealed significant positive association between beta2-microglobulin as well as immunoparesis with DCE-MRI parameters A and k{sub ep}. Additionally, A was negatively correlated with haemoglobin levels and k{sub ep} was positively correlated with LDH levels. Higher baseline k{sub ep} values were associated with decreased vertebral height in a second MRI (P = 0.007) and A values were associated with new vertebral fractures in the lower lumbar spine (P = 0.03 for L4). Pre-existing lytic bone lesions or remission after therapy had no impact on the occurrence of vertebral fractures. Multivariate analysis revealed that amplitude A is an independent adverse risk factor for overall survival. DCE-MRI is a non-invasive tool with significance for systemic prognosis and vertebral complications. (orig.)

Expression of a bacterial catalase in a strictly anaerobic methanogen significantly increases tolerance to hydrogen peroxide but not oxygen

Science.gov (United States)

Jennings, Matthew E.; Schaff, Cody W.; Horne, Alexandra J.; Lessner, Faith H.

2014-01-01

Haem-dependent catalase is an antioxidant enzyme that degrades H2O2, producing H2O and O2, and is common in aerobes. Catalase is present in some strictly anaerobic methane-producing archaea (methanogens), but the importance of catalase to the antioxidant system of methanogens is poorly understood. We report here that a survey of the sequenced genomes of methanogens revealed that the majority of species lack genes encoding catalase. Moreover, Methanosarcina acetivorans is a methanogen capable of synthesizing haem and encodes haem-dependent catalase in its genome; yet, Methanosarcina acetivorans cells lack detectable catalase activity. However, inducible expression of the haem-dependent catalase from Escherichia coli (EcKatG) in the chromosome of Methanosarcina acetivorans resulted in a 100-fold increase in the endogenous catalase activity compared with uninduced cells. The increased catalase activity conferred a 10-fold increase in the resistance of EcKatG-induced cells to H2O2 compared with uninduced cells. The EcKatG-induced cells were also able to grow when exposed to levels of H2O2 that inhibited or killed uninduced cells. However, despite the significant increase in catalase activity, growth studies revealed that EcKatG-induced cells did not exhibit increased tolerance to O2 compared with uninduced cells. These results support the lack of catalase in the majority of methanogens, since methanogens are more likely to encounter O2 rather than high concentrations of H2O2 in the natural environment. Catalase appears to be a minor component of the antioxidant system in methanogens, even those that are aerotolerant, including Methanosarcina acetivorans. Importantly, the experimental approach used here demonstrated the feasibility of engineering beneficial traits, such as H2O2 tolerance, in methanogens. PMID:24222618

Breakup and then makeup: a predictive model of how cilia self-regulate hardness for posture control.

Science.gov (United States)

Bandyopadhyay, Promode R; Hansen, Joshua C

2013-01-01

Functioning as sensors and propulsors, cilia are evolutionarily conserved organelles having a highly organized internal structure. How a paramecium's cilium produces off-propulsion-plane curvature during its return stroke for symmetry breaking and drag reduction is not known. We explain these cilium deformations by developing a torsional pendulum model of beat frequency dependence on viscosity and an olivo-cerebellar model of self-regulation of posture control. The phase dependence of cilia torsion is determined, and a bio-physical model of hardness control with predictive features is offered. Crossbridge links between the central microtubule pair harden the cilium during the power stroke; this stroke's end is a critical phase during which ATP molecules soften the crossbridge-microtubule attachment at the cilium inflection point where torsion is at its maximum. A precipitous reduction in hardness ensues, signaling the start of ATP hydrolysis that re-hardens the cilium. The cilium attractor basin could be used as reference for perturbation sensing.

Exposure to Tumescent Solution Significantly Increases Phosphorylation of Perilipin in Adipocytes.

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Keskin, Ilknur; Sutcu, Mustafa; Eren, Hilal; Keskin, Mustafa

2017-02-01

Lidocaine and epinephrine could potentially decrease adipocyte viability, but these effects have not been substantiated. The phosphorylation status of perilipin in adipocytes may be predictive of cell viability. Perilipin coats lipid droplets and restricts access of lipases; phospho-perilipin lacks this protective function. The authors investigated the effects of tumescent solution containing lidocaine and epinephrine on the phosphorylation status of perilipin in adipocytes. In this in vitro study, lipoaspirates were collected before and after tumescence from 15 women who underwent abdominoplasty. Fat samples were fixed, sectioned, and stained for histologic and immunohistochemical analyses. Relative phosphorylation of perilipin was inferred from pixel intensities of immunostained adipocytes observed with confocal microscopy. For adipocytes collected before tumescent infiltration, 10.08% of total perilipin was phosphorylated. In contrast, 30.62% of total perilipin was phosphorylated for adipocytes collected from tumescent tissue (P < .01). The tumescent technique increases the relative phosphorylation of perilipin in adipocytes, making these cells more vulnerable to lipolysis. Tumescent solution applied for analgesia or hemostasis of the donor site should contain the lowest possible concentrations of lidocaine and epinephrine. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 5. © 2016 The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Inc. Reprints and permission: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Pressure sores significantly increase the risk of developing a Fournier's gangrene in patients with spinal cord injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Backhaus, M; Citak, M; Tilkorn, D-J; Meindl, R; Schildhauer, T A; Fehmer, T

2011-11-01

Retrospective chart review. The aim of our study was to evaluate the mortality rate and further specific risk factors for Fournier's gangrene in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). Division of Spinal Cord Injury, BG-University Hospital Bergmannsheil Bochum, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany. All patients with a SCI and a Fournier's gangrene treated in our hospital were enrolled in this study. Following parameters were taken form patients medical records: age, type of SCI, cause of Fournier's gangrene, number of surgical debridements, length of hospital and intensive care unit stay, co morbidity factors and mortality rate. In addition, laboratory parameter including the laboratory risk indicator for necrotizing fasciitis (LRINEC) score and microbiological findings were analyzed. Clinical diagnosis was made via histological examination. A total of 16 male patients (15 paraplegic and one tetraplegic) were included in the study. In 81% of all cases, the origin of Fournier's gangrene was a pressure sore. The median LRINEC score on admission was 6.5. In the vast majority of cases, a polybacterial infection was found. No patient died during the hospital stay. The mean number of surgical debridements before soft tissue closure was 1.9 and after a mean time interval of 39.1 days wound closure was performed in all patients. Pressure sores significantly increase the risk of developing Fournier's gangrene in patients with SCI. We reported the results of our patients to increase awareness among physicians and training staff working with patients with a SCI in order to expedite the diagnosis.

The contribution of human agricultural activities to increasing evapotranspiration is significantly greater than climate change effect over Heihe agricultural region.

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, Minzhong; Niu, Jun; Kang, Shaozhong; Li, Xiaolin; Lu, Hongna

2017-08-18

Evapotranspiration (ET) is a major component linking the water, energy, and carbon cycles. Understanding changes in ET and the relative contribution rates of human activity and of climate change at the basin scale is important for sound water resources management. In this study, changes in ET in the Heihe agricultural region in northwest China during 1984-2014 were examined using remotely-sensed ET data with the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). Correlation analysis identified the dominant factors that influence change in ET per unit area and those that influence change in total ET. Factor analysis identified the relative contribution rates of the dominant factors in each case. The results show that human activity, which includes factors for agronomy and irrigation, and climate change, including factors for precipitation and relative humidity, both contribute to increases in ET per unit area at rates of 60.93% and 28.01%, respectively. Human activity, including the same factors, and climate change, including factors for relative humidity and wind speed, contribute to increases in total ET at rates of 53.86% and 35.68%, respectively. Overall, in the Heihe agricultural region, the contribution of human agricultural activities to increased ET was significantly greater than that of climate change.

Prenatal prochloraz treatment significantly increases pregnancy length and reduces offspring weight but does not affect social-olfactory memory in rats

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dmytriyeva, Oksana; Klementiev, Boris; Berezin, Vladimir

2013-01-01

Metabolites of the commonly used imidazole fungicide prochloraz are androgen receptor antagonists. They have been shown to block androgen-driven development and compromise reproductive function. We tested the effect of prochloraz on cognitive behavior following exposure to this fungicide during...... the perinatal period. Pregnant Wistar rats were administered a 200mg/kg dose of prochloraz on gestational day (GD) 7, GD11, and GD15. The social recognition test (SRT) was performed on 7-week-old male rat offspring. We found an increase in pregnancy length and a significantly reduced pup weight on PND15 and PND...

Circulatory nucleosome levels are significantly increased in early and late-onset preeclampsia.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Xiao Yan; Gebhardt, Stefan; Hillermann, Renate; Tofa, Kashefa Carelse; Holzgreve, Wolfgang; Hahn, Sinuhe

2005-08-01

Elevations in circulatory DNA, as measured by real-time PCR, have been observed in pregnancies with manifest preeclampsia. Recent reports have indicated that circulatory nucleosome levels are elevated in the periphery of cancer patients. We have now examined whether circulatory nucleosome levels are similarly elevated in cases with preeclampsia. Maternal plasma samples were prepared from 17 cases with early onset preeclampsia (34 weeks gestation) with 10 matched normotensive controls. Levels of circulatory nucleosomes were quantified by commercial ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay). The level of circulatory nucleosomes was significantly elevated in both study preeclampsia groups, compared to the matched normotensive control group (p = 0.000 and p = 0.001, respectively). Our data suggests that preeclampsia is associated with the elevated presence of circulatory nucleosomes, and that this phenomenon occurs in both early- and late-onset forms of the disorder. Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Modern environmental health hazards: a public health issue of increasing significance in Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Nweke, Onyemaechi C; Sanders, William H

2009-06-01

Traditional hazards such as poor sanitation currently account for most of Africa's environmentally related disease burden. However, with rapid development absent appropriate safeguards for environment and health, modern environmental health hazards (MEHHs) may emerge as critical contributors to the continent's disease burden. We review recent evidence of human exposure to and health effects from MEHHs, and their occurrence in environmental media and consumer products. Our purpose is to highlight the growing significance of these hazards as African countries experience urbanization, industrial growth, and development. We reviewed published epidemiologic, exposure, and environmental studies of chemical agents such as heavy metals and pesticides. The body of evidence demonstrates ongoing environmental releases of MEHHs and human exposures sometimes at toxicologically relevant levels. Several sources of MEHHs in environmental media have been identified, including natural resource mining and processing and automobile exhaust. Biomonitoring studies provided direct evidence of human exposure to metals such as mercury and lead and pesticides such as p,p'-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and organophosphates. Land and water resource pollution and industrial air toxics are areas of significant data gaps, notwithstanding the presence of several emitting sources. Unmitigated MEHH releases and human exposure have implications for Africa's disease burden. For Africans encumbered by conditions such as malnutrition that impair resilience to toxicologic challenges, the burden may be higher. A shift in public health policy toward accommodating the emerging diversity in Africa's environmental health issues is necessary to successfully alleviate the burden of avoidable ill health and premature death for all its communities now and in the future.

Clinical significance of increased lung/heart ratio in 210Tl stress myocardial image

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Zaoli; Chang Fengqin; Zhang Fengge; Wang Xiaoyuan; Liu Liuhua

1990-01-01

230 cases were studied with 201 Tl stress image. The results showed that the lung/heart ratio closely correlated with the presence and severity of coronary heart disease (CHD). Among them, 18 cases (7.8%) showed significantly elevated lung/heart ratio (> 0.50). It was confirmed that all of the 18 cases have severe CHD with left ventricular insufficiency. The author emphasizes that measurement of the lung/heart ratio during 201 Tl stress myocardial image may be useful for the assessment of the severity, evalation of the left ventricular function and judgement of prognosis in CHD

Presence of gingivitis and periodontitis significantly increases hospital charges in patients undergoing heart valve surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Allareddy, Veerasathpurush; Elangovan, Satheesh; Rampa, Sankeerth; Shin, Kyungsup; Nalliah, Romesh P; Allareddy, Veerajalandhar

2015-01-01

To examine the prevalence and impact of gingivitis and periodontitis in patients having heart valve surgical procedures. Nationwide Inpatient Sample for the years 2004-2010 was used. All patients who had heart valve surgical procedures were selected. Prevalence of gingivitis/periodontitis was examined in these patients. Impact of gingivitis/periodontitis on hospital charges, length of stay, and infectious complications was examined. 596,190 patients had heart valve surgical procedures. Gingivitis/periodontitis was present in 0.2 percent. Outcomes included: median hospital charges ($175,418 with gingivitis/ periodontitis versus $149,353 without gingivitis/periodontitis) and median length of stay (14 days with gingivitis/periodontitis versus 8 days without gingivitis/periodontitis). After adjusting for the effects of patient- and hospital-level confounding factors, hospital charges and length of stay were significantly higher (p gingivitis/periodontitis compared to their counterparts. Further, patients with gingivitis/periodontitis had significantly higher odds for having bacterial infections (OR = 3.41, 95% CI = 2.33-4.98, p gingivitis/periodontitis. Presence of gingivitis and periodontitis is associated with higher risk for bacterial infections and significant hospital resource utilization.

Sunitinib significantly suppresses the proliferation, migration, apoptosis resistance, tumor angiogenesis and growth of triple-negative breast cancers but increases breast cancer stem cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Chinchar, Edmund; Makey, Kristina L; Gibson, John; Chen, Fang; Cole, Shelby A; Megason, Gail C; Vijayakumar, Srinivassan; Miele, Lucio; Gu, Jian-Wei

2014-01-01

The majority of triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) are basal-like breast cancers. However there is no reported study on anti-tumor effects of sunitinib in xenografts of basal-like TNBC (MDA-MB-468) cells. In the present study, MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-468, MCF-7 cells were cultured using RPMI 1640 media with 10% FBS. Vascular endothelia growth factor (VEGF) protein levels were detected using ELISA (R & D Systams). MDA-MB-468 cells were exposed to sunitinib for 18 hours for measuring proliferation (3H-thymidine incorporation), migration (BD Invasion Chamber), and apoptosis (ApopTag and ApoScreen Anuexin V Kit). The effect of sunitinib on Notch-1 expression was determined by Western blot in cultured MDA-MB-468 cells. 10(6) MDA-MB-468 cells were inoculated into the left fourth mammary gland fat pad in athymic nude-foxn1 mice. When the tumor volume reached 100 mm(3), sunitinib was given by gavage at 80 mg/kg/2 days for 4 weeks. Tumor angiogenesis was determined by CD31 immunohistochemistry. Breast cancer stem cells (CSCs) isolated from the tumors were determined by flow cytometry analysis using CD44(+)/CD24(-) or low. ELISA indicated that VEGF was much more highly expressed in MDA-MB-468 cells than MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells. Sunitinib significantly inhibited the proliferation, invasion, and apoptosis resistance in cultured basal like breast cancer cells. Sunitinib significantly increased the expression of Notch-1 protein in cultured MDA-MB-468 or MDA-MB-231 cells. The xenograft models showed that oral sunitinib significantly reduced the tumor volume of TNBCs in association with the inhibition of tumor angiogeneisis, but increased breast CSCs. These findings support the hypothesis that the possibility should be considered of sunitinib increasing breast CSCs though it inhibits TNBC tumor angiogenesis and growth/progression, and that effects of sunitinib on Notch expression and hypoxia may increase breast cancer stem cells. This work provides the groundwork for an

Significantly Increased Extreme Precipitation Expected in Europe and North America from Extratropical Storms

Science.gov (United States)

Hawcroft, M.; Hodges, K.; Walsh, E.; Zappa, G.

2017-12-01

For the Northern Hemisphere extratropics, changes in circulation are key to determining the impacts of climate warming. The mechanisms governing these circulation changes are complex, leading to the well documented uncertainty in projections of the future location of the mid-latitude storm tracks simulated by climate models. These storms are the primary source of precipitation for North America and Europe and generate many of the large-scale precipitation extremes associated with flooding and severe economic loss. Here, we show that in spite of the uncertainty in circulation changes, by analysing the behaviour of the storms themselves, we find entirely consistent and robust projections across an ensemble of climate models. In particular, we find that projections of change in the most intensely precipitating storms (above the present day 99th percentile) in the Northern Hemisphere are substantial and consistent across models, with large increases in the frequency of both summer (June-August, +226±68%) and winter (December-February, +186±34%) extreme storms by the end of the century. Regionally, both North America (summer +202±129%, winter +232±135%) and Europe (summer +390±148%, winter +318±114%) are projected to experience large increases in the frequency of intensely precipitating storms. These changes are thermodynamic and driven by surface warming, rather than by changes in the dynamical behaviour of the storms. Such changes in storm behaviour have the potential to have major impacts on society given intensely precipitating storms are responsible for many large-scale flooding events.

Unequivocal detection of ozone recovery in the Antarctic Ozone Hole through significant increases in atmospheric layers with minimum ozone

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de Laat, Jos; van Weele, Michiel; van der A, Ronald

2015-04-01

An important new landmark in present day ozone research is presented through MLS satellite observations of significant ozone increases during the ozone hole season that are attributed unequivocally to declining ozone depleting substances. For many decades the Antarctic ozone hole has been the prime example of both the detrimental effects of human activities on our environment as well as how to construct effective and successful environmental policies. Nowadays atmospheric concentrations of ozone depleting substances are on the decline and first signs of recovery of stratospheric ozone and ozone in the Antarctic ozone hole have been observed. The claimed detection of significant recovery, however, is still subject of debate. In this talk we will discuss first current uncertainties in the assessment of ozone recovery in the Antarctic ozone hole by using multi-variate regression methods, and, secondly present an alternative approach to identify ozone hole recovery unequivocally. Even though multi-variate regression methods help to reduce uncertainties in estimates of ozone recovery, great care has to be taken in their application due to the existence of uncertainties and degrees of freedom in the choice of independent variables. We show that taking all uncertainties into account in the regressions the formal recovery of ozone in the Antarctic ozone hole cannot be established yet, though is likely before the end of the decade (before 2020). Rather than focusing on time and area averages of total ozone columns or ozone profiles, we argue that the time evolution of the probability distribution of vertically resolved ozone in the Antarctic ozone hole contains a better fingerprint for the detection of ozone recovery in the Antarctic ozone hole. The advantages of this method over more tradition methods of trend analyses based on spatio-temporal average ozone are discussed. The 10-year record of MLS satellite measurements of ozone in the Antarctic ozone hole shows a

Modelling Ca2+ bound Troponin in Excitation Contraction Coupling

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Henry G. Zot

2016-09-01

Full Text Available To explain disparate decay rates of cytosolic Ca2+ and structural changes in the thin filaments during a twitch, we model the time course of Ca2+ bound troponin (Tn resulting from the free Ca2+ transient of fast skeletal muscle. In fibers stretched beyond overlap, the decay of Ca2+ as measured by a change in fluo 3 fluorescence is significantly slower than the intensity decay of the meridional 1/38.5 nm-1 reflection of Tn; this is not simply explained by considering only the Ca2+ binding properties of Tn alone (Matsuo, T., Iwamoto, H., and Yagi, N. (2010. Biophys. J. 99, 193-200. We apply a comprehensive model that includes the known Ca2+ binding properties of Tn in the context of the thin filament with and without cycling crossbridges. Calculations based on the model predict that the transient of Ca2+ bound Tn correlates with either the fluo 3 time course in muscle with overlapping thin and thick filaments or the intensity of the meridional 1/38.5 nm-1 reflection in overstretched muscle. Hence, cycling crossbridges delay the dissociation of Ca2+ from Tn. Correlation with the fluo 3 fluorescence change is not causal given that the transient of Ca2+ bound Tn depends on sarcomere length, whereas the fluo-3 fluorescence change does not. Transient positions of tropomyosin calculated from the time course of Ca2+ bound Tn are in reasonable agreement with the transient of measured perturbations of the Tn repeat in overlap and non-overlap muscle preparations.

Strong Selection Significantly Increases Epistatic Interactions in the Long-Term Evolution of a Protein.

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Aditi Gupta

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Epistatic interactions between residues determine a protein's adaptability and shape its evolutionary trajectory. When a protein experiences a changed environment, it is under strong selection to find a peak in the new fitness landscape. It has been shown that strong selection increases epistatic interactions as well as the ruggedness of the fitness landscape, but little is known about how the epistatic interactions change under selection in the long-term evolution of a protein. Here we analyze the evolution of epistasis in the protease of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1 using protease sequences collected for almost a decade from both treated and untreated patients, to understand how epistasis changes and how those changes impact the long-term evolvability of a protein. We use an information-theoretic proxy for epistasis that quantifies the co-variation between sites, and show that positive information is a necessary (but not sufficient condition that detects epistasis in most cases. We analyze the "fossils" of the evolutionary trajectories of the protein contained in the sequence data, and show that epistasis continues to enrich under strong selection, but not for proteins whose environment is unchanged. The increase in epistasis compensates for the information loss due to sequence variability brought about by treatment, and facilitates adaptation in the increasingly rugged fitness landscape of treatment. While epistasis is thought to enhance evolvability via valley-crossing early-on in adaptation, it can hinder adaptation later when the landscape has turned rugged. However, we find no evidence that the HIV-1 protease has reached its potential for evolution after 9 years of adapting to a drug environment that itself is constantly changing. We suggest that the mechanism of encoding new information into pairwise interactions is central to protein evolution not just in HIV-1 protease, but for any protein adapting to a changing

Significance of Increasing n-3 PUFA Content in Pork on Human Health.

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Ma, Xianyong; Jiang, Zongyong; Lai, Chaoqiang

2016-01-01

Evidence for the health-promoting effects of food rich in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) is reviewed. Pork is an important meat source for humans. According to a report by the US Department of Agriculture ( http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics ), the pork consumption worldwide in 2011 was about 79.3 million tons, much higher than that of beef (48.2 million tons). Pork also contains high levels of unsaturated fatty acids relative to ruminant meats (Enser, M., Hallett, K., Hewett, B., Fursey, G. A. J. and Wood, J. D. (1996) . Fatty acid content and composition of English beef, lamb, and pork at retail. Meat Sci. 44:443-458). The available literature indicates that the levels of eicosatetraenoic and docosahexaenoic in pork may be increased by fish-derived or linseed products, the extent of which being dependent on the nature of the supplementation. Transgenic pigs and plants show promise with high content of n-3 PUFA and low ratio of n-6/n-3 fatty acids in their tissues. The approaches mentioned for decreasing n-6/n-3 ratios have both advantages and disadvantages. Selected articles are critically reviewed and summarized.

Significantly increased lifetime of recent microchannel-plate photomultipliers

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Britting, Alexander; Eyrich, Wolfgang; Lehmann, Albert; Uhlig, Fred [Physikalisches Institut, Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg (Germany)

2013-07-01

Micro-channel plate photo multipliers (MCP-PMT) are the favored sensors for the DIRC detectors (Detection of Internally Reflected Cherenkov Light) of the PANDA experiment. The main reasons for this are their usability in high magnetic fields of up to 2 T, a time resolution of better than σ = 50 ps and a rate capability high enough to withstand a detected photon rate of about 200 kHz cm{sup -2} at the MCP-PMTs surface, which is anticipated at the average luminosity of 2 . 10{sup 32} cm{sup -2}s{sup -1} in PANDA. Moreover, for the reconstruction of the Cherenkov angle using the planned optics for the barrel DIRC a spatial resolution of about 5 mm at the focal plane is needed. Until recently the major drawback of MCP-PMTs was their limited lifetime which was by far not sufficient to stand the integrated anode charge, which is ∼ 5 C/cm{sup 2} for the Barrel-DIRC and even more for the Disc-DIRC. However, the latest MCP prototype devices show a hugh step forward in this respect. The results of these lifetime measurements are presented. The achieved values are meanwhile close to the PANDA requirements for the Barrel-DIRC.

Prenatal prochloraz treatment significantly increases pregnancy length and reduces offspring weight but does not affect social-olfactory memory in rats.

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Dmytriyeva, Oksana; Klementiev, Boris; Berezin, Vladimir; Bock, Elisabeth

2013-07-01

Metabolites of the commonly used imidazole fungicide prochloraz are androgen receptor antagonists. They have been shown to block androgen-driven development and compromise reproductive function. We tested the effect of prochloraz on cognitive behavior following exposure to this fungicide during the perinatal period. Pregnant Wistar rats were administered a 200 mg/kg dose of prochloraz on gestational day (GD) 7, GD11, and GD15. The social recognition test (SRT) was performed on 7-week-old male rat offspring. We found an increase in pregnancy length and a significantly reduced pup weight on PND15 and PND40 but no effect of prenatal prochloraz exposure on social investigation or acquisition of social-olfactory memory. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Increased Risk of Clinically Significant Gallstones following an Appendectomy: A Five-Year Follow-Up Study.

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Shiu-Dong Chung

Full Text Available Although the vermiform appendix is commonly considered a vestigial organ, adverse health consequences after an appendectomy have garnered increasing attention. In this study, we investigated the risks of gallstone occurrence during a 5-year follow-up period after an appendectomy, using a population-based dataset. We used data from the Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2005. The exposed cohort included 4916 patients who underwent an appendectomy. The unexposed cohort was retrieved by randomly selecting 4916 patients matched with the exposed cohort in terms of sex, age, and year. We individually tracked each patient for a 5-year period to identify those who received a diagnosis of gallstones during the follow-up period. Cox proportional hazard regressions were performed for the analysis. During the 5-year follow-up period, the incidence rate per 1000 person-years was 4.71 for patients who had undergone an appendectomy, compared to a rate of 2.59 for patients in the unexposed cohort (p<0.001. Patients who had undergone an appendectomy were independently associated with a 1.79 (95% CI = 1.29~2.48-fold increased risk of being diagnosed with gallstones during the 5-year follow-up period. We found that among female patients, the adjusted hazard ratio of gallstones was 2.25 (95% CI = 1.41~3.59 for patients who underwent an appendectomy compared to unexposed patients. However, for male patients, we failed to observe an increased hazard for gallstones among patients who underwent an appendectomy compared to unexposed patients. We found an increased risk of a subsequent gallstone diagnosis within 5 years after an appendectomy.

Effects of acute respiratory and metabolic acidosis on diaphragm muscle obtained from rats.

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Michelet, Pierre; Carreira, Serge; Demoule, Alexandre; Amour, Julien; Langeron, Olivier; Riou, Bruno; Coirault, Catherine

2015-04-01

Acute respiratory acidosis is associated with alterations in diaphragm performance. The authors compared the effects of respiratory acidosis and metabolic acidosis in the rat diaphragm in vitro. Diaphragmatic strips were stimulated in vitro, and mechanical and energetic variables were measured, cross-bridge kinetics calculated, and the effects of fatigue evaluated. An extracellular pH of 7.00 was obtained by increasing carbon dioxide tension (from 25 to 104 mmHg) in the respiratory acidosis group (n = 12) or lowering bicarbonate concentration (from 24.5 to 5.5 mM) in the metabolic acidosis group (n = 12) and the results compared with a control group (n = 12, pH = 7.40) after 20-min exposure. Respiratory acidosis induced a significant decrease in maximum shortening velocity (-33%, P Respiratory acidosis impaired more relaxation than contraction, as shown by impairment in contraction-relaxation coupling under isotonic (-26%, P acidosis group. In rat diaphragm, acute (20 min) respiratory acidosis induced a marked decrease in the diaphragm contractility, which was not observed in metabolic acidosis.

Continues administration of Nano-PSO significantly increased survival of genetic CJD mice.

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Binyamin, Orli; Keller, Guy; Frid, Kati; Larush, Liraz; Magdassi, Shlomo; Gabizon, Ruth

2017-12-01

We have shown previously that Nano-PSO, a nanodroplet formulation of pomegranate seed oil, delayed progression of neurodegeneration signs when administered for a designated period of time to TgMHu2ME199K mice, modeling for genetic prion disease. In the present work, we treated these mice with a self-emulsion formulation of Nano-PSO or a parallel Soybean oil formulation from their day of birth until a terminal disease stage. We found that long term Nano-PSO administration resulted in increased survival of TgMHu2ME199K lines by several months. Interestingly, initiation of treatment at day 1 had no clinical advantage over initiation at day 70, however cessation of treatment at 9months of age resulted in the rapid loss of the beneficial clinical effect. Pathological studies revealed that treatment with Nano-PSO resulted in the reduction of GAG accumulation and lipid oxidation, indicating a strong neuroprotective effect. Contrarily, the clinical effect of Nano-PSO did not correlate with reduction in the levels of disease related PrP, the main prion marker. We conclude that long term administration of Nano-PSO is safe and may be effective in the prevention/delay of onset of neurodegenerative conditions such as genetic CJD. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Clinical significance of anismus in encopresis.

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Catto-Smith, A G; Nolan, T M; Coffey, C M

1998-09-01

Treatments designed to relieve paradoxical contraction of the anal sphincters during defecation (anismus) have had limited success in children with encopresis. This has raised doubts as to the clinical relevance of this diagnosis in childhood as anorectal dysfunction. Our aim was to determine whether, in patients who had treatment-resistant encopresis, the presence of electromyographic anismus was associated with increased faecal retention. Sixty-eight children with soiling (mean age 8.7+/-2.06 years) were assessed by clinical examination, abdominal radiography and then with anorectal manometry. Patients with electromyographic anismus (n=32; 47%) had significantly increased radiographic rectal faecal retention and were significantly less likely to be able to defecate water-filled balloons. There were no significant differences in response to prior therapy, history of primary encopresis, behavioural adjustment or in sociodemographic data. Our results suggest that electromyographic anismus is associated with obstructed defecation and faecal retention.

The In Vitro Mass-Produced Model Mycorrhizal Fungus, Rhizophagus irregularis, Significantly Increases Yields of the Globally Important Food Security Crop Cassava

Science.gov (United States)

Ceballos, Isabel; Ruiz, Michael; Fernández, Cristhian; Peña, Ricardo

2013-01-01

The arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis is formed between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and plant roots. The fungi provide the plant with inorganic phosphate (P). The symbiosis can result in increased plant growth. Although most global food crops naturally form this symbiosis, very few studies have shown that their practical application can lead to large-scale increases in food production. Application of AMF to crops in the tropics is potentially effective for improving yields. However, a main problem of using AMF on a large-scale is producing cheap inoculum in a clean sterile carrier and sufficiently concentrated to cheaply transport. Recently, mass-produced in vitro inoculum of the model mycorrhizal fungus Rhizophagus irregularis became available, potentially making its use viable in tropical agriculture. One of the most globally important food plants in the tropics is cassava. We evaluated the effect of in vitro mass-produced R. irregularis inoculum on the yield of cassava crops at two locations in Colombia. A significant effect of R. irregularis inoculation on yield occurred at both sites. At one site, yield increases were observed irrespective of P fertilization. At the other site, inoculation with AMF and 50% of the normally applied P gave the highest yield. Despite that AMF inoculation resulted in greater food production, economic analyses revealed that AMF inoculation did not give greater return on investment than with conventional cultivation. However, the amount of AMF inoculum used was double the recommended dose and was calculated with European, not Colombian, inoculum prices. R. irregularis can also be manipulated genetically in vitro, leading to improved plant growth. We conclude that application of in vitro R. irregularis is currently a way of increasing cassava yields, that there is a strong potential for it to be economically profitable and that there is enormous potential to improve this efficiency further in the future. PMID:23950975

The in vitro mass-produced model mycorrhizal fungus, Rhizophagus irregularis, significantly increases yields of the globally important food security crop cassava.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Isabel Ceballos

Full Text Available The arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis is formed between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF and plant roots. The fungi provide the plant with inorganic phosphate (P. The symbiosis can result in increased plant growth. Although most global food crops naturally form this symbiosis, very few studies have shown that their practical application can lead to large-scale increases in food production. Application of AMF to crops in the tropics is potentially effective for improving yields. However, a main problem of using AMF on a large-scale is producing cheap inoculum in a clean sterile carrier and sufficiently concentrated to cheaply transport. Recently, mass-produced in vitro inoculum of the model mycorrhizal fungus Rhizophagus irregularis became available, potentially making its use viable in tropical agriculture. One of the most globally important food plants in the tropics is cassava. We evaluated the effect of in vitro mass-produced R. irregularis inoculum on the yield of cassava crops at two locations in Colombia. A significant effect of R. irregularis inoculation on yield occurred at both sites. At one site, yield increases were observed irrespective of P fertilization. At the other site, inoculation with AMF and 50% of the normally applied P gave the highest yield. Despite that AMF inoculation resulted in greater food production, economic analyses revealed that AMF inoculation did not give greater return on investment than with conventional cultivation. However, the amount of AMF inoculum used was double the recommended dose and was calculated with European, not Colombian, inoculum prices. R. irregularis can also be manipulated genetically in vitro, leading to improved plant growth. We conclude that application of in vitro R. irregularis is currently a way of increasing cassava yields, that there is a strong potential for it to be economically profitable and that there is enormous potential to improve this efficiency further in the future.

Marrying Step Feed with Secondary Clarifier Improvements to Significantly Increase Peak Wet Weather Treatment Capacity: An Integrated Methodology.

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Daigger, Glen T; Siczka, John S; Smith, Thomas F; Frank, David A; McCorquodale, J A

2017-08-01

  The need to increase the peak wet weather secondary treatment capacity of the City of Akron, Ohio, Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) provided the opportunity to test an integrated methodology for maximizing the peak wet weather secondary treatment capacity of activated sludge systems. An initial investigation, consisting of process modeling of the secondary treatment system and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of the existing relatively shallow secondary clarifiers (3.3 and 3.7 m sidewater depth in 30.5 m diameter units), indicated that a significant increase in capacity from 416 000 to 684 000 m3/d or more was possible by adding step feed capabilities to the existing bioreactors and upgrading the existing secondary clarifiers. One of the six treatment units at the WRF was modified, and an extensive 2-year testing program was conducted to determine the total peak wet weather secondary treatment capacity achievable. The results demonstrated that a peak wet weather secondary treatment capacity approaching 974 000 m3/d is possible as long as secondary clarifier solids and hydraulic loadings could be separately controlled using the step feed capability provided. Excellent sludge settling characteristics are routinely experienced at the City of Akron WRF, raising concerns that the identified peak wet weather secondary treatment capacity could not be maintained should sludge settling characteristics deteriorate for some reason. Computational fluid dynamics analysis indicated that the impact of the deterioration of sludge settling characteristics could be mitigated and the identified peak wet weather secondary treatment capacity maintained by further use of the step feed capability provided to further reduce secondary clarifier solids loading rates at the identified high surface overflow rates. The results also demonstrated that effluent limits not only for total suspended solids (TSS) and five-day carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand (cBOD5) could be

Low cell pH depresses peak power in rat skeletal muscle fibres at both 30 degrees C and 15 degrees C: implications for muscle fatigue.

Science.gov (United States)

Knuth, S T; Dave, H; Peters, J R; Fitts, R H

2006-09-15

Historically, an increase in intracellular H(+) (decrease in cell pH) was thought to contribute to muscle fatigue by direct inhibition of the cross-bridge leading to a reduction in velocity and force. More recently, due to the observation that the effects were less at temperatures closer to those observed in vivo, the importance of H(+) as a fatigue agent has been questioned. The purpose of this work was to re-evaluate the role of H(+) in muscle fatigue by studying the effect of low pH (6.2) on force, velocity and peak power in rat fast- and slow-twitch muscle fibres at 15 degrees C and 30 degrees C. Skinned fast type IIa and slow type I fibres were prepared from the gastrocnemius and soleus, respectively, mounted between a force transducer and position motor, and studied at 15 degrees C and 30 degrees C and pH 7.0 and 6.2, and fibre force (P(0)), unloaded shortening velocity (V(0)), force-velocity, and force-power relationships determined. Consistent with previous observations, low pH depressed the P(0) of both fast and slow fibres, less at 30 degrees C (4-12%) than at 15 degrees C (30%). However, the low pH-induced depressions in slow type I fibre V(0) and peak power were both significantly greater at 30 degrees C (25% versus 9% for V(0) and 34% versus 17% for peak power). For the fast type IIa fibre type, the inhibitory effect of low pH on V(0) was unaltered by temperature, while for peak power the inhibition was reduced at 30 degrees C (37% versus 18%). The curvature of the force-velocity relationship was temperature sensitive, and showed a higher a/P(0) ratio (less curvature) at 30 degrees C. Importantly, at 30 degrees C low pH significantly depressed the ratio of the slow type I fibre, leading to less force and velocity at peak power. These data demonstrate that the direct effect of low pH on peak power in both slow- and fast-twitch fibres at near-in vivo temperatures (30 degrees C) is greater than would be predicted based on changes in P(0), and that the

MaquiBright™ standardized maqui berry extract significantly increases tear fluid production and ameliorates dry eye-related symptoms in a clinical pilot trial.

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Hitoe, S; Tanaka, J; Shimoda, H

2014-09-01

Dry eye symptoms, resulting from insufficient tear fluid generation, represent a considerable burden for a largely underestimated number of people. We concluded from earlier pre-clinical investigations that the etiology of dry eyes encompasses oxidative stress burden to lachrymal glands and that antioxidant MaquiBright™ Aristotelia chilensis berry extract helps restore glandular activity. In this pilot trial we investigated 13 healthy volunteers with moderately dry eyes using Schirmer test, as well as a questionnaire which allows for estimating the impact of dry eyes on daily routines. Study participants were assigned to one of two groups, receiving MaquiBright™ at daily dosage of either 30 mg (N.=7) or 60 mg (N.=6) over a period of 60 days. Both groups presented with significantly (Peye dryness on daily routines was evaluated employing the "Dry Eye-related Quality of life Score" (DEQS), with values spanning from zero (impact) to a maximum score of 60. Participants had comparable baseline values of 41.0±7.7 (30 mg) and 40.2±6.3 (60 mg). With 30 mg treatment the score significantly decreased to 21.8±3.9 and 18.9±3.9, after 30 and 60 days, respectively. With 60 mg treatment the DEQS significantly decreased to 26.9±5.3 and 11.1±2.7, after 30 and 60 days, respectively. Blood was drawn for safety analyses (complete blood rheology and -chemistry) at all three investigative time points without negative findings. In conclusion, while daily supplementation with 30 mg MaquiBright™ is effective, the dosage of 60 significantly increased tear fluid volume at all investigative time points and decreased dry eye symptoms to almost a quarter from initial values after two months treatment.

Prognostic significance of repeat biopsy in lupus nephritis: Histopathologic worsening and a short time between biopsies is associated with significantly increased risk for end stage renal disease and death.

Science.gov (United States)

Arriens, Cristina; Chen, Sixia; Karp, David R; Saxena, Ramesh; Sambandam, Kamalanathan; Chakravarty, Eliza; James, Judith A; Merrill, Joan T

2017-12-01

histopathology had died compared to 2 (3.2%) of non-worsening patients. Biopsy worsening was associated with a significantly greater 15-year risk of ESRD (Hazard Ratio 4.2, p=0.0001) and death (Hazard Ratio 4.3, p=0.022), adjusting for age, gender, race, biopsy class, and treatment. Time between first and second biopsies was 5years in 28. Over a 15-year period, those with <1year between first and second biopsies (presumably enriched for patients with early clinical signs of progression) had a significantly greater risk of ESRD (Hazard Ratio 13.7, p<0.0001) and death (Hazard Ratio 16.9, p=0.0022) after adjusting for age, gender, race, biopsy class, and treatment. A repeat renal biopsy demonstrating worsening pathology increases the risk of ESRD and death more than four-fold compared to non-worsening patients. Given known potential mismatch between biopsy and clinical data, repeat biopsies may add important information and justify changes in treatment not considered on clinical grounds. Earlier detection of poor prognostic signs in those without early clinical deterioration might improve outcomes in enough patients to reconsider cost effectiveness of routine repeat biopsy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Editorial Commentary: Big Data Suggest That Because of a Significant Increased Risk of Postoperative Infection, Steroid Injection Is Not Recommended After Ankle Arthroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Brand, Jefferson C

2016-02-01

A recent study addressing infection rate after intra-articular steroid injection during ankle arthroscopy gives pause to this practice, with an odds ratio of 2.2 in the entire population that was injected with a steroid simultaneously with ankle arthroscopy compared with patients who did not receive an ankle injection. Big data, used in the study upon which the Editor comments here, suggest that because of a significant increased risk of postoperative infection, steroid injection is not recommended after ankle arthroscopy. Copyright © 2016 Arthroscopy Association of North America. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Software Tool for Significantly Increasing Airport Throughput, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — NASA's Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) Airportal effort seeks to optimize aircraft surface movements through approaches that could double or...

Scope and Significance of Eating Disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, James E.; Eckert, Elke D.

1987-01-01

Describes the increasing prevalence of anorexia nervosa and bulimia in many industrialized societies, and their association with significant morbidity and mortality. Discusses the genetic risks for the development of anorexia nervosa, and treatment strategies. Of these, pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy, particularly those incorporating…

In vivo topical application of acetyl aspartic acid increases fibrillin-1 and collagen IV deposition leading to a significant improvement of skin firmness.

Science.gov (United States)

Gillbro, J M; Merinville, E; Cattley, K; Al-Bader, T; Hagforsen, E; Nilsson, M; Mavon, A

2015-10-01

Acetyl aspartic acid (A-A-A) was discovered through gene array analysis with corresponding Cmap analysis. We found that A-A-A increased keratinocyte regeneration, inhibited dermal matrix metalloprotease (MMP) expression and relieved fibroblast stiffness through reduction of the fibroblast stiffness marker F-actin. Dermal absorption studies showed successful delivery to both the epidermal and dermal regions, and in-use trial demonstrated that 1% A-A-A was well tolerated. In this study, the aim was to investigate whether A-A-A could stimulate the synthesis of extracellular matrix supporting proteins in vivo and thereby improving the viscoelastic properties of human skin by conducting a dual histological and biophysical clinical study. Two separate double-blind vehicle-controlled in vivo studies were conducted using a 1% A-A-A containing oil-in-water (o/w) emulsion. In the histological study, 16 female volunteers (>55 years of age) exhibiting photodamaged skin on their forearm were included, investigating the effect of a 12-day treatment of A-A-A on collagen IV (COLIV) and fibrillin-1. In a subsequent pilot study, 0.1% retinol was used for comparison to A-A-A (1%). The biomechanical properties of the skin were assessed in a panel of 16 women (>45 years of age) using the standard Cutometer MPA580 after topical application of the test products for 28 days. The use of multiple suction enabled the assessment of F4, an area parameter specifically representing skin firmness. Twelve-day topical application of 1% A-A-A significantly increased COLIV and fibrillin with 13% and 6%, respectively, compared to vehicle. 1% A-A-A and 0.1% retinol were found to significantly reduce F4 after 28 days of treatment by 15.8% and 14.7%, respectively, in the pilot Cutometer study. No significant difference was found between retinol and A-A-A. However, only A-A-A exhibited a significant effect vs. vehicle on skin firmness which indicated the incremental benefit of A-A-A as a skin

Exploration of Self-Regulation in the Natural Swimming of the Paramecium’s Cilium

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-01

aquatic environments. These animals propel themselves, albeit with limited maneuverability, by the synchronous motion of numerous tiny cilia...microtubule pairs are the source of cilium hardness during the power stroke ; there is a critical phase near the end of the power stroke where one cross...return stroke ; therefore, in each beat cycle, there must be a reattachment process of the cross-bridge links and re-hardening of the cilium during the

TNFRSF14 aberrations in follicular lymphoma increase clinically significant allogeneic T-cell responses.

Science.gov (United States)

Kotsiou, Eleni; Okosun, Jessica; Besley, Caroline; Iqbal, Sameena; Matthews, Janet; Fitzgibbon, Jude; Gribben, John G; Davies, Jeffrey K

2016-07-07

Donor T-cell immune responses can eradicate lymphomas after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT), but can also damage healthy tissues resulting in harmful graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Next-generation sequencing has recently identified many new genetic lesions in follicular lymphoma (FL). One such gene, tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily 14 (TNFRSF14), abnormal in 40% of FL patients, encodes the herpes virus entry mediator (HVEM) which limits T-cell activation via ligation of the B- and T-lymphocyte attenuator. As lymphoma B cells can act as antigen-presenting cells, we hypothesized that TNFRSF14 aberrations that reduce HVEM expression could alter the capacity of FL B cells to stimulate allogeneic T-cell responses and impact the outcome of AHSCT. In an in vitro model of alloreactivity, human lymphoma B cells with TNFRSF14 aberrations had reduced HVEM expression and greater alloantigen-presenting capacity than wild-type lymphoma B cells. The increased immune-stimulatory capacity of lymphoma B cells with TNFRSF14 aberrations had clinical relevance, associating with higher incidence of acute GVHD in patients undergoing AHSCT. FL patients with TNFRSF14 aberrations may benefit from more aggressive immunosuppression to reduce harmful GVHD after transplantation. Importantly, this study is the first to demonstrate the impact of an acquired genetic lesion on the capacity of tumor cells to stimulate allogeneic T-cell immune responses which may have wider consequences for adoptive immunotherapy strategies. © 2016 by The American Society of Hematology.

Loading of the knee during 3.0 T MRI is associated with significantly increased medial meniscus extrusion in mild and moderate osteoarthritis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stehling, Christoph, E-mail: christoph.stehling@radiology.ucsf.edu [Musculoskeletal and Quantitative Imaging Group (MQIR), Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (United States); Department of Clinical Radiology, University of Muenster, Muenster (Germany); Souza, Richard B. [Musculoskeletal and Quantitative Imaging Group (MQIR), Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (United States); Graverand, Marie-Pierre Hellio Le; Wyman, Bradley T. [Pfizer Inc. New London, CT (United States); Li, Xiaojuan; Majumdar, Sharmila; Link, Thomas M. [Musculoskeletal and Quantitative Imaging Group (MQIR), Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (United States)

2012-08-15

Purpose: Standard knee MRI is performed under unloading (ULC) conditions and not much is known about changes of the meniscus, ligaments or cartilage under loading conditions (LC). The aim is to study the influence of loading of different knee structures at 3 Tesla (T) in subjects with osteoarthritis (OA) and normal controls. Materials and methods: 30 subjects, 10 healthy and 20 with radiographic evidence of OA (10 mild and 10 moderate) underwent 3 T MRI under ULC and LC at 50% body weight. All images were analyzed by two musculoskeletal radiologists identifying and grading cartilage, meniscal, ligamentous abnormalities. The changes between ULC and LC were assessed. For meniscus, cartilage and ligaments the changes of lesions, signal and shape were evaluated. In addition, for the meniscus changes in extrusion were examined. A multivariate regression model was used for correlations to correct the data for the impact of age, gender, BMI. A paired T-Test was performed to calculate the differences in meniscus extrusion. Results: Subjects with degenerative knee abnormalities demonstrated significantly increased meniscus extrusion under LC when compared to normal subjects (p = 0.0008-0.0027). Subjects with knee abnormalities and higher KL scores showed significantly more changes in lesion, signal and shape of the meniscus (80% (16/20) vs. 20% (2/10); p = 0.0025), ligaments and cartilage during LC. Conclusion: The study demonstrates that axial loading has an effect on articular cartilage, ligament, and meniscus morphology, which is more significant in subjects with degenerative disease and may serve as an additional diagnostic tool for disease diagnosis and assessing progression in subjects with knee OA.

Loading of the knee during 3.0 T MRI is associated with significantly increased medial meniscus extrusion in mild and moderate osteoarthritis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stehling, Christoph; Souza, Richard B.; Graverand, Marie-Pierre Hellio Le; Wyman, Bradley T.; Li, Xiaojuan; Majumdar, Sharmila; Link, Thomas M.

2012-01-01

Purpose: Standard knee MRI is performed under unloading (ULC) conditions and not much is known about changes of the meniscus, ligaments or cartilage under loading conditions (LC). The aim is to study the influence of loading of different knee structures at 3 Tesla (T) in subjects with osteoarthritis (OA) and normal controls. Materials and methods: 30 subjects, 10 healthy and 20 with radiographic evidence of OA (10 mild and 10 moderate) underwent 3 T MRI under ULC and LC at 50% body weight. All images were analyzed by two musculoskeletal radiologists identifying and grading cartilage, meniscal, ligamentous abnormalities. The changes between ULC and LC were assessed. For meniscus, cartilage and ligaments the changes of lesions, signal and shape were evaluated. In addition, for the meniscus changes in extrusion were examined. A multivariate regression model was used for correlations to correct the data for the impact of age, gender, BMI. A paired T-Test was performed to calculate the differences in meniscus extrusion. Results: Subjects with degenerative knee abnormalities demonstrated significantly increased meniscus extrusion under LC when compared to normal subjects (p = 0.0008–0.0027). Subjects with knee abnormalities and higher KL scores showed significantly more changes in lesion, signal and shape of the meniscus (80% (16/20) vs. 20% (2/10); p = 0.0025), ligaments and cartilage during LC. Conclusion: The study demonstrates that axial loading has an effect on articular cartilage, ligament, and meniscus morphology, which is more significant in subjects with degenerative disease and may serve as an additional diagnostic tool for disease diagnosis and assessing progression in subjects with knee OA.

Prognostic Significance of Creatinine Increases During an Acute Heart Failure Admission in Patients With and Without Residual Congestion: A Post Hoc Analysis of the PROTECT Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Metra, Marco; Cotter, Gad; Senger, Stefanie; Edwards, Christopher; Cleland, John G; Ponikowski, Piotr; Cursack, Guillermo C; Milo, Olga; Teerlink, John R; Givertz, Michael M; O'Connor, Christopher M; Dittrich, Howard C; Bloomfield, Daniel M; Voors, Adriaan A; Davison, Beth A

2018-05-01

The importance of a serum creatinine increase, traditionally considered worsening renal function (WRF), during admission for acute heart failure has been recently debated, with data suggesting an interaction between congestion and creatinine changes. In post hoc analyses, we analyzed the association of WRF with length of hospital stay, 30-day death or cardiovascular/renal readmission and 90-day mortality in the PROTECT study (Placebo-Controlled Randomized Study of the Selective A1 Adenosine Receptor Antagonist Rolofylline for Patients Hospitalized With Acute Decompensated Heart Failure and Volume Overload to Assess Treatment Effect on Congestion and Renal Function). Daily creatinine changes from baseline were categorized as WRF (an increase of 0.3 mg/dL or more) or not. Daily congestion scores were computed by summing scores for orthopnea, edema, and jugular venous pressure. Of the 2033 total patients randomized, 1537 patients had both available at study day 14. Length of hospital stay was longer and 30-day cardiovascular/renal readmission or death more common in patients with WRF. However, these were driven by significant associations in patients with concomitant congestion at the time of assessment of renal function. The mean difference in length of hospital stay because of WRF was 3.51 (95% confidence interval, 1.29-5.73) more days ( P =0.0019), and the hazard ratio for WRF on 30-day death or heart failure hospitalization was 1.49 (95% confidence interval, 1.06-2.09) times higher ( P =0.0205), in significantly congested than nonsignificantly congested patients. A similar trend was observed with 90-day mortality although not statistically significant. In patients admitted for acute heart failure, WRF defined as a creatinine increase of ≥0.3 mg/dL was associated with longer length of hospital stay, and worse 30- and 90-day outcomes. However, effects were largely driven by patients who had residual congestion at the time of renal function assessment. URL: https

Significant Lactic Acidosis from Albuterol

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Deborah Diercks

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Lactic acidosis is a clinical entity that demands rapid assessment and treatment to prevent significant morbidity and mortality. With increased lactate use across many clinical scenarios, lactate values themselves cannot be interpreted apart from their appropriate clinical picture. The significance of Type B lactic acidosis is likely understated in the emergency department (ED. Given the mortality that sepsis confers, a serum lactate is an important screening study. That said, it is with extreme caution that we should interpret and react to the resultant elevated value. We report a patient with a significant lactic acidosis. Though he had a high lactate value, he did not require aggressive resuscitation. A different classification scheme for lactic acidosis that focuses on the bifurcation of the “dangerous” and “not dangerous” causes of lactic acidosis may be of benefit. In addition, this case is demonstrative of the potential overuse of lactates in the ED.

Symmetric dimeric bisbenzimidazoles DBP(n reduce methylation of RARB and PTEN while significantly increase methylation of rRNA genes in MCF-7 cancer cells.

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Svetlana V Kostyuk

Full Text Available Hypermethylation is observed in the promoter regions of suppressor genes in the tumor cancer cells. Reactivation of these genes by demethylation of their promoters is a prospective strategy of the anticancer therapy. Previous experiments have shown that symmetric dimeric bisbenzimidazoles DBP(n are able to block DNA methyltransferase activities. It was also found that DBP(n produces a moderate effect on the activation of total gene expression in HeLa-TI population containing epigenetically repressed avian sarcoma genome.It is shown that DBP(n are able to penetrate the cellular membranes and accumulate in breast carcinoma cell MCF-7, mainly in the mitochondria and in the nucleus, excluding the nucleolus. The DBP(n are non-toxic to the cells and have a weak overall demethylation effect on genomic DNA. DBP(n demethylate the promoter regions of the tumor suppressor genes PTEN and RARB. DBP(n promotes expression of the genes RARB, PTEN, CDKN2A, RUNX3, Apaf-1 and APC "silent" in the MCF-7 because of the hypermethylation of their promoter regions. Simultaneously with the demethylation of the DNA in the nucleus a significant increase in the methylation level of rRNA genes in the nucleolus was detected. Increased rDNA methylation correlated with a reduction of the rRNA amount in the cells by 20-30%. It is assumed that during DNA methyltransferase activity inhibition by the DBP(n in the nucleus, the enzyme is sequestered in the nucleolus and provides additional methylation of the rDNA that are not shielded by DBP(n.It is concluded that DBP (n are able to accumulate in the nucleus (excluding the nucleolus area and in the mitochondria of cancer cells, reducing mitochondrial potential. The DBP (n induce the demethylation of a cancer cell's genome, including the demethylation of the promoters of tumor suppressor genes. DBP (n significantly increase the methylation of ribosomal RNA genes in the nucleoli. Therefore the further study of these compounds is needed

Force encoding in muscle spindles during stretch of passive muscle.

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Kyle P Blum

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Muscle spindle proprioceptive receptors play a primary role in encoding the effects of external mechanical perturbations to the body. During externally-imposed stretches of passive, i.e. electrically-quiescent, muscles, the instantaneous firing rates (IFRs of muscle spindles are associated with characteristics of stretch such as length and velocity. However, even in passive muscle, there are history-dependent transients of muscle spindle firing that are not uniquely related to muscle length and velocity, nor reproduced by current muscle spindle models. These include acceleration-dependent initial bursts, increased dynamic response to stretch velocity if a muscle has been isometric, and rate relaxation, i.e., a decrease in tonic IFR when a muscle is held at a constant length after being stretched. We collected muscle spindle spike trains across a variety of muscle stretch kinematic conditions, including systematic changes in peak length, velocity, and acceleration. We demonstrate that muscle spindle primary afferents in passive muscle fire in direct relationship to muscle force-related variables, rather than length-related variables. Linear combinations of whole muscle-tendon force and the first time derivative of force (dF/dt predict the entire time course of transient IFRs in muscle spindle Ia afferents during stretch (i.e., lengthening of passive muscle, including the initial burst, the dynamic response to lengthening, and rate relaxation following lengthening. Similar to acceleration scaling found previously in postural responses to perturbations, initial burst amplitude scaled equally well to initial stretch acceleration or dF/dt, though later transients were only described by dF/dt. The transient increase in dF/dt at the onset of lengthening reflects muscle short-range stiffness due to cross-bridge dynamics. Our work demonstrates a critical role of muscle cross-bridge dynamics in history-dependent muscle spindle IFRs in passive muscle

Force encoding in muscle spindles during stretch of passive muscle.

Science.gov (United States)

Blum, Kyle P; Lamotte D'Incamps, Boris; Zytnicki, Daniel; Ting, Lena H

2017-09-01

Muscle spindle proprioceptive receptors play a primary role in encoding the effects of external mechanical perturbations to the body. During externally-imposed stretches of passive, i.e. electrically-quiescent, muscles, the instantaneous firing rates (IFRs) of muscle spindles are associated with characteristics of stretch such as length and velocity. However, even in passive muscle, there are history-dependent transients of muscle spindle firing that are not uniquely related to muscle length and velocity, nor reproduced by current muscle spindle models. These include acceleration-dependent initial bursts, increased dynamic response to stretch velocity if a muscle has been isometric, and rate relaxation, i.e., a decrease in tonic IFR when a muscle is held at a constant length after being stretched. We collected muscle spindle spike trains across a variety of muscle stretch kinematic conditions, including systematic changes in peak length, velocity, and acceleration. We demonstrate that muscle spindle primary afferents in passive muscle fire in direct relationship to muscle force-related variables, rather than length-related variables. Linear combinations of whole muscle-tendon force and the first time derivative of force (dF/dt) predict the entire time course of transient IFRs in muscle spindle Ia afferents during stretch (i.e., lengthening) of passive muscle, including the initial burst, the dynamic response to lengthening, and rate relaxation following lengthening. Similar to acceleration scaling found previously in postural responses to perturbations, initial burst amplitude scaled equally well to initial stretch acceleration or dF/dt, though later transients were only described by dF/dt. The transient increase in dF/dt at the onset of lengthening reflects muscle short-range stiffness due to cross-bridge dynamics. Our work demonstrates a critical role of muscle cross-bridge dynamics in history-dependent muscle spindle IFRs in passive muscle lengthening conditions

Mining Significant Semantic Locations from GPS Data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cao, Xin; Cong, Gao; Jensen, Christian Søndergaard

2010-01-01

With the increasing deployment and use of GPS-enabled devices, massive amounts of GPS data are becoming available. We propose a general framework for the mining of semantically meaningful, significant locations, e.g., shopping malls and restaurants, from such data. We present techniques capable...... of extracting semantic locations from GPS data. We capture the relationships between locations and between locations and users with a graph. Significance is then assigned to locations using random walks over the graph that propagates significance among the locations. In doing so, mutual reinforcement between...

Mining significant semantic locations from GPS data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cao, Xin; Cong, Gao; Jensen, Christian S.

2010-01-01

With the increasing deployment and use of GPS-enabled devices, massive amounts of GPS data are becoming available. We propose a general framework for the mining of semantically meaningful, significant locations, e.g., shopping malls and restaurants, from such data. We present techniques capable...... of extracting semantic locations from GPS data. We capture the relationships between locations and between locations and users with a graph. Significance is then assigned to locations using random walks over the graph that propagates significance among the locations. In doing so, mutual reinforcement between...

Infections and mixed infections with the selected species of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex in Ixodes ricinus ticks collected in eastern Poland: a significant increase in the course of 5 years.

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Wójcik-Fatla, Angelina; Zając, Violetta; Sawczyn, Anna; Sroka, Jacek; Cisak, Ewa; Dutkiewicz, Jacek

2016-02-01

In the years 2008-2009 and 2013-2014, 1620 and 1500 questing Ixodes ricinus ticks, respectively, were examined on the territory of the Lublin province (eastern Poland). The presence of three pathogenic species causing Lyme disease was investigated: Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, B. afzelii and B. garinii. The proportion of I. ricinus ticks infected with B. burgdorferi sensu lato showed a highly significant increase between 2008-2009 and 2013-2014, from 6.0 to 15.3%. A significant increase was noted with regard to all types of infections with individual species: single (4.7-7.8%), dual (1.2-6.6%), and triple (0.1-0.9%). When expressed as the percent of all infections, the frequency of mixed infections increased from 21.4 to 49.2%. Statistical analysis performed with two methods (by calculating of odds ratios and by Fisher's exact test) showed that the frequencies of mixed infections in most cases proved to be significantly greater than expected. The strongest associations were found between B. burgdorferi s. s. and B. afzelii, and between B. burgdorferi s. s. and B. garinii. They appeared to be highly significant (P eastern Poland, and dramatic enhancement of mixed infections with individual species, which may result in mixed infections of humans and exacerbation of the clinical course of Lyme disease cases on the studied area.

Significance testing in ridge regression for genetic data

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De Iorio Maria

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Technological developments have increased the feasibility of large scale genetic association studies. Densely typed genetic markers are obtained using SNP arrays, next-generation sequencing technologies and imputation. However, SNPs typed using these methods can be highly correlated due to linkage disequilibrium among them, and standard multiple regression techniques fail with these data sets due to their high dimensionality and correlation structure. There has been increasing interest in using penalised regression in the analysis of high dimensional data. Ridge regression is one such penalised regression technique which does not perform variable selection, instead estimating a regression coefficient for each predictor variable. It is therefore desirable to obtain an estimate of the significance of each ridge regression coefficient. Results We develop and evaluate a test of significance for ridge regression coefficients. Using simulation studies, we demonstrate that the performance of the test is comparable to that of a permutation test, with the advantage of a much-reduced computational cost. We introduce the p-value trace, a plot of the negative logarithm of the p-values of ridge regression coefficients with increasing shrinkage parameter, which enables the visualisation of the change in p-value of the regression coefficients with increasing penalisation. We apply the proposed method to a lung cancer case-control data set from EPIC, the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. Conclusions The proposed test is a useful alternative to a permutation test for the estimation of the significance of ridge regression coefficients, at a much-reduced computational cost. The p-value trace is an informative graphical tool for evaluating the results of a test of significance of ridge regression coefficients as the shrinkage parameter increases, and the proposed test makes its production computationally feasible.

Functional requirements of a mathematical model of the heart.

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Palladino, Joseph L; Noordergraaf, Abraham

2009-01-01

Functional descriptions of the heart, especially the left ventricle, are often based on the measured variables pressure and ventricular outflow, embodied as a time-varying elastance. The fundamental difficulty of describing the mechanical properties of the heart with a time-varying elastance function that is set a priori is described. As an alternative, a new functional model of the heart is presented, which characterizes the ventricle's contractile state with parameters, rather than variables. Each chamber is treated as a pressure generator that is time and volume dependent. The heart's complex dynamics develop from a single equation based on the formation and relaxation of crossbridge bonds. This equation permits the calculation of ventricular elastance via E(v) = partial differentialp(v)/ partial differentialV(v). This heart model is defined independently from load properties, and ventricular elastance is dynamic and reflects changing numbers of crossbridge bonds. In this paper, the functionality of this new heart model is presented via computed work loops that demonstrate the Frank-Starling mechanism and the effects of preload, the effects of afterload, inotropic changes, and varied heart rate, as well as the interdependence of these effects. Results suggest the origin of the equivalent of Hill's force-velocity relation in the ventricle.

Clinical significance of increased gelatinolytic activity in the rectal mucosa during external beam radiation therapy of prostate cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hovdenak, Nils; Wang Junru; Sung, C.-C.; Kelly, Thomas; Fajardo, Luis F.; Hauer-Jensen, Martin

2002-01-01

Purpose: Rectal toxicity (proctitis) is a dose-limiting factor in pelvic radiation therapy. Mucosal atrophy, i.e., net extracellular matrix degradation, is a prominent feature of radiation proctitis, but the underlying mechanisms are not known. We prospectively examined changes in matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 (gelatinase A and B) in the rectal mucosa during radiation therapy of prostate cancer, as well as the relationships of these changes with symptomatic, structural, and cellular evidence of radiation proctitis. Methods and Materials: Seventeen patients scheduled for external beam radiation therapy for prostate cancer were prospectively enrolled. Symptoms of gastrointestinal toxicity were recorded, and endoscopy with biopsy of the rectal mucosa was performed before radiation therapy, as well as 2 and 6 weeks into the treatment course. Radiation proctitis was assessed by endoscopic scoring, quantitative histology, and quantitative immunohistochemistry. MMP-2 and MMP-9 were localized immunohistochemically, and activities were determined by gelatin zymography. Results: Symptoms, endoscopic scores, histologic injury, and mucosal macrophages and neutrophils increased from baseline to 2 weeks. Symptoms increased further from 2 weeks to 6 weeks, whereas endoscopic and cellular evidence of proctitis did not. Compared to pretreatment values, there was increased total gelatinolytic activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9 at 2 weeks (p=0.02 and p=0.004, respectively) and 6 weeks (p=0.006 and p=0.001, respectively). Active MMP-2 was increased at both time points (p=0.0001 and p=0.002). Increased MMP-9 and MMP-2 at 6 weeks was associated with radiation-induced diarrhea (p=0.007 and p=0.02, respectively) and with mucosal neutrophil infiltration (rho=0.62). Conclusions: Pelvic radiation therapy causes increased MMP-2 and MMP-9 activity in the rectal mucosa. These changes correlate with radiation-induced diarrhea and granulocyte infiltration and may contribute to abnormal

Addition of sodium caseinate to skim milk increases nonsedimentable casein and causes significant changes in rennet-induced gelation, heat stability, and ethanol stability.

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Lin, Yingchen; Kelly, Alan L; O'Mahony, James A; Guinee, Timothy P

2017-02-01

The protein content of skim milk was increased from 3.3 to 4.1% (wt/wt) by the addition of a blend of skim milk powder and sodium caseinate (NaCas), in which the weight ratio of skim milk powder to NaCas was varied from 0.8:0.0 to 0.0:0.8. Addition of NaCas increased the levels of nonsedimentable casein (from ∼6 to 18% of total casein) and calcium (from ∼36 to 43% of total calcium) and reduced the turbidity of the fortified milk, to a degree depending on level of NaCas added. Rennet gelation was adversely affected by the addition of NaCas at 0.2% (wt/wt) and completely inhibited at NaCas ≥0.4% (wt/wt). Rennet-induced hydrolysis was not affected by added NaCas. The proportion of total casein that was nonsedimentable on centrifugation (3,000 × g, 1 h, 25°C) of the rennet-treated milk after incubation for 1 h at 31°C increased significantly on addition of NaCas at ≥0.4% (wt/wt). Heat stability in the pH range 6.7 to 7.2 and ethanol stability at pH 6.4 were enhanced by the addition of NaCas. It is suggested that the negative effect of NaCas on rennet gelation is due to the increase in nonsedimentable casein, which upon hydrolysis by chymosin forms into small nonsedimentable particles that physically come between, and impede the aggregation of, rennet-altered para-casein micelles, and thereby inhibit the development of a gel network. Copyright © 2017 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Is contraction-stimulated glucose transport feedforward regulated by Ca²⁺?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Thomas Elbenhardt; Angin, Yeliz; Sylow, Lykke

2014-01-01

cell types. The literature is contrasted against our recent findings suggesting that SR Ca(2+) release is neither essential nor adequate to stimulate glucose transport in muscle. Instead, feedback signals through AMPK and mechanical stress are likely to account for most of contraction......In many cell types, Ca(2+) signals to increase the movement and surface membrane insertion of vesicles. In skeletal muscle, Ca(2+) is predominantly released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) to initiate contraction. Sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) release is widely believed to be a direct......-stimulated glucose transport. A revised working model is proposed, in which muscle glucose transport during contraction is not directly regulated by SR Ca(2+) release but rather responds exclusively to feedback signals activated secondary to cross-bridge cycling and tension development....

Gadolinium-enhanced cardiac MR exams of human subjects are associated with significant increases in the DNA repair marker 53BP1, but not the damage marker γH2AX.

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Jennifer S McDonald

Full Text Available Magnetic resonance imaging is considered low risk, yet recent studies have raised a concern of potential damage to DNA in peripheral blood leukocytes. This prospective Institutional Review Board-approved study examined potential double-strand DNA damage by analyzing changes in the DNA damage and repair markers γH2AX and 53BP1 in patients who underwent a 1.5 T gadolinium-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance (MR exam. Sixty patients were enrolled (median age 55 years, 39 males. Patients with history of malignancy or who were receiving chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or steroids were excluded. MR sequence data were recorded and blood samples obtained immediately before and after MR exposure. An automated immunofluorescence assay quantified γH2AX or 53BP1 foci number in isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Changes in foci number were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Clinical and MR procedural characteristics were compared between patients who had a >10% increase in γH2AX or 53BP1 foci numbers and patients who did not. The number of γH2AX foci did not significantly change following cardiac MR (median foci per cell pre-MR = 0.11, post-MR = 0.11, p = .90, but the number of 53BP1 foci significantly increased following MR (median foci per cell pre-MR = 0.46, post-MR = 0.54, p = .0140. Clinical and MR characteristics did not differ significantly between patients who had at least a 10% increase in foci per cell and those who did not. We conclude that MR exposure leads to a small (median 25% increase in 53BP1 foci, however the clinical relevance of this increase is unknown and may be attributable to normal variation instead of MR exposure.

Hydrogen peroxide modulates Ca2+-activation of single permeabilized fibres from fast- and slow-twitch skeletal muscles of rats.

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Plant, D R; Lynch, G S; Williams, D A

2000-01-01

We examined the effects of redox modulation on single membrane-permeabilized fibre segments from the fast-twitch extensor digitorum longus (EDL) and slow-twitch soleus muscles of adult rats to determine whether the contractile apparatus was the redox target responsible for the increased contractility of muscles exposed to low concentrations of H2O2. The effects of H2O2 on maximum Ca2+-activated force were dose-dependent with 30 min exposure to 5 mM H2O2 causing a progressive decrease by 22+/-3 and 13+/-2% in soleus and EDL permeabilized muscle fibres, respectively. Lower concentrations of exogenous H2O2 (100 microM and 1 mM) had no effect on maximum Ca2+-activated force. Subsequent exposure to the reductant dithiothreitol (DTT, 10 mM, 10 min) fully reversed the H2O2-induced depression of force in EDL, but not in soleus muscle fibres. Incubation with DTT alone for 10 min did not alter Ca2+-activated force in either soleus or EDL muscle fibres. The sensitivity of the contractile filaments to Ca2+ (pCa50) was not altered by exposure to any concentration of exogenous H2O2. However, all concentrations of H2O2 diminished the Hill coefficient in permeabilized fibres from the EDL muscle, indicating that the cooperativity of Ca2+ binding to troponin is altered. H2O2 (5 mM) did not affect rigor force, which indicates that the number of crossbridges participating in contraction was not reduced. In conclusion, H2O2 may reduce the maximum Ca2+ activated force production in skinned muscle fibres by decreasing the force per crossbridge.

Dephytinisation with Intrinsic Wheat Phytase and Iron Fortification Significantly Increase Iron Absorption from Fonio (Digitaria exilis) Meals in West African Women

Science.gov (United States)

Moretti, Diego; Schuth, Stephan; Egli, Ines; Zimmermann, Michael B.; Brouwer, Inge D.

2013-01-01

Low iron and high phytic acid content make fonio based meals a poor source of bioavailable iron. Phytic acid degradation in fonio porridge using whole grain cereals as phytase source and effect on iron bioavailability when added to iron fortified fonio meals were investigated. Grains, nuts and seeds collected in Mali markets were screened for phytic acid and phytase activity. We performed an iron absorption study in Beninese women (n = 16), using non-dephytinised fonio porridge (FFP) and dephytinised fonio porridge (FWFP; 75% fonio-25% wheat), each fortified with 57Fe or 58Fe labeled FeSO4. Iron absorption was quantified by measuring the erythrocyte incorporation of stable iron isotopes. Phytic acid varied from 0.39 (bambara nut) to 4.26 g/100 g DM (pumpkin seed), with oilseeds values higher than grains and nuts. Phytase activity ranged from 0.17±1.61 (fonio) to 2.9±1.3 phytase unit (PU) per g (whole wheat). Phytic acid was almost completely degraded in FWFP after 60 min of incubation (pH≈5.0, 50°C). Phytate∶iron molar ratios decreased from 23.7∶1 in FFP to 2.7∶1 in FWFP. Iron fortification further reduced phytate∶iron molar ratio to 1.9∶1 in FFP and 0.3∶1 in FWFP, respectively. Geometric mean (95% CI) iron absorption significantly increased from 2.6% (0.8–7.8) in FFP to 8.3% (3.8–17.9) in FWFP (Pphytase increased fractional iron absorption 3.2 times, suggesting it could be a possible strategy to decrease PA in cereal-based porridges. PMID:24124445

Development of Quantitative Framework for Event Significance Evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Durk Hun; Kim, Min Chull; Kim, Inn Seock

2010-01-01

There is an increasing trend in quantitative evaluation of the safety significance of operational events using Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) technique. An integrated framework for evaluation of event significance has been developed by Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), which consists of an assessment hierarchy and a number of matrices. The safety significance of various events, e.g., internal or external initiating events that occurred during at-power or shutdown conditions, can be quantitatively analyzed using this framework, and then, the events rated according to their significance. This paper briefly describes the basic concept of the integrated quantitative framework for evaluation of event significance, focusing on the assessment hierarchy

Increased Body Mass Index during Therapy for Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: A Significant and Underestimated Complication

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Helen C. Atkinson

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Objective & Design. We undertook a retrospective review of children diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL and treated with modern COG protocols (n=80 to determine longitudinal changes in body mass index (BMI and the prevalence of obesity compared with a healthy reference population. Results. At diagnosis, the majority of patients (77.5% were in the healthy weight category. During treatment, increases in BMI z-scores were greater for females than males; the prevalence of obesity increased from 10.3% to 44.8% (P<0.004 for females but remained relatively unchanged for males (9.8% to 13.7%, P=0.7. Longitudinal analysis using linear mixed-effects identified associations between BMI z-scores and time-dependent interactions with sex (P=0.0005, disease risk (P<0.0001, age (P=0.0001, and BMI z-score (P<0.0001 at diagnosis and total dose of steroid during maintenance (P=0.01. Predicted mean BMI z-scores at the end of therapy were greater for females with standard risk ALL irrespective of age at diagnosis and for males younger than 4 years of age at diagnosis with standard risk ALL. Conclusion. Females treated on standard risk protocols and younger males may be at greatest risk of becoming obese during treatment for ALL. These subgroups may benefit from intervention strategies to manage BMI during treatment for ALL.

Combining modularity, conservation, and interactions of proteins significantly increases precision and coverage of protein function prediction

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Sers Christine T

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background While the number of newly sequenced genomes and genes is constantly increasing, elucidation of their function still is a laborious and time-consuming task. This has led to the development of a wide range of methods for predicting protein functions in silico. We report on a new method that predicts function based on a combination of information about protein interactions, orthology, and the conservation of protein networks in different species. Results We show that aggregation of these independent sources of evidence leads to a drastic increase in number and quality of predictions when compared to baselines and other methods reported in the literature. For instance, our method generates more than 12,000 novel protein functions for human with an estimated precision of ~76%, among which are 7,500 new functional annotations for 1,973 human proteins that previously had zero or only one function annotated. We also verified our predictions on a set of genes that play an important role in colorectal cancer (MLH1, PMS2, EPHB4 and could confirm more than 73% of them based on evidence in the literature. Conclusions The combination of different methods into a single, comprehensive prediction method infers thousands of protein functions for every species included in the analysis at varying, yet always high levels of precision and very good coverage.

Among Metabolic Factors, Significance of Fasting and Postprandial Increases in Acyl and Desacyl Ghrelin and the Acyl/Desacyl Ratio in Obstructive Sleep Apnea before and after Treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Chihara, Yuichi; Akamizu, Takashi; Azuma, Masanori; Murase, Kimihiko; Harada, Yuka; Tanizawa, Kiminobu; Handa, Tomohiro; Oga, Toru; Mishima, Michiaki; Chin, Kazuo

2015-08-15

There are reports suggesting that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may itself cause weight gain. However, recent reports showed increases in body mass index (BMI) following continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatments. When considering weight changes, changes in humoral factors that have significant effects on appetite such as acyl (AG) and desacyl ghrelin (DAG), leptin, insulin, and glucose and their interactions, examples of which are AG/DAG and AG/insulin, are important. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that some appetite-related factors had a specific profile before and after CPAP treatment. Metabolic parameters were measured cross-sectionally while fasting and 30, 60, 90, and 120 min following breakfast in no or mild OSA (apnea-hypopnea index fasting and postprandial glucose, insulin, and leptin levels did not differ between no or mild OSA and moderate-to-severe OSA participants, AG and DAG, including AG/DAG and AG/insulin, under fasting and postprandial conditions were significantly increased in the moderate-to-severe OSA patients (p continuous changes in ghrelin secretion in OSA patients existed at least within 3 months of CPAP treatment. Methods to prevent OSA as well as treatment in its early stage may be recommended. © 2015 American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Significantly increased detection rate of drugs of abuse in urine following the introduction of new German driving licence re-granting guidelines.

Science.gov (United States)

Agius, Ronald; Nadulski, Thomas; Kahl, Hans-Gerhard; Dufaux, Bertin

2012-02-10

In this paper we present the first assessment of the new German driving licence re-granting medical and psychological assessment (MPA) guidelines by comparing over 3500 urine samples tested under the old MPA cut-offs to over 5000 samples tested under the new MPA cut-offs. Since the enzyme multiplied immunoassay technique (EMIT) technology used previously was not sensitive enough to screen for drugs at such low concentrations, as suggested by the new MPA guidelines, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) screening kits were used to screen for the drugs of abuse at the new MPA cut-offs. The above comparison revealed significantly increased detection rates of drug use or exposure during the rehabilitation period as follows: 1.61, 2.33, 3.33, and 7 times higher for 11-nor-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (THC-COOH), morphine, benzoylecgonine and amphetamine respectively. The present MPA guidelines seem to be more effective to detect non-abstinence from drugs of abuse and hence to detecting drivers who do not yet fulfil the MPA requirements to regain their revoked driving licence. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Oral Bioavailability of Trans-Resveratrol from a Grapevine-Shoot Extract in Healthy Humans is Significantly Increased by Micellar Solubilization.

Science.gov (United States)

Calvo-Castro, Laura A; Schiborr, Christina; David, Franziska; Ehrt, Heidi; Voggel, Jenny; Sus, Nadine; Behnam, Dariush; Bosy-Westphal, Anja; Frank, Jan

2018-05-01

Grapevine-shoot extract Vineatrol30 contains abundant resveratrol monomers and oligomers with health-promoting potential. However, the oral bioavailability of these compounds in humans is low (˂1-2%). The aim of this study was to improve the oral bioavailability of resveratrol from vineatrol by micellar solubilization. Twelve healthy volunteers (six women, six men) randomly ingested a single dose of 500 mg vineatrol (30 mg trans-resveratrol, 75 mg trans-ε-viniferin) as native powder or liquid micelles. Plasma and urine were collected at baseline and over 24 h after intake. Resveratrol and viniferin were analyzed by HPLC. The area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) and mean maximum plasma trans-resveratrol concentrations were 5.0-fold and 10.6-fold higher, respectively, after micellar supplementation relative to the native powder. However, no detectable amounts of trans-ε-viniferin were found in either plasma or urine. The transepithelial permeability of trans-resveratrol and trans-ε-viniferin across differentiated Caco-2 monolayers was consistent to the absorbed fractions in vivo. The oral bioavailability of trans-resveratrol from the grapevine-shoot extract Vineatrol30 was significantly increased using a liquid micellar formulation, without any treatment-related adverse effects, making it a suitable system for improved supplementation of trans-resveratrol. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis : Clinical significance and pathogenesis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Knegt, RJ

2001-01-01

Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a form of liver disease resembling alcoholic liver disease in a patient who does not consume significant amounts of alcohol. Since its first description in 1980 it has been recognized with increasing frequency. The natural course is relatively benign, but

Effective fiber hypertrophy in satellite cell-depleted skeletal muscle

Science.gov (United States)

McCarthy, John J.; Mula, Jyothi; Miyazaki, Mitsunori; Erfani, Rod; Garrison, Kelcye; Farooqui, Amreen B.; Srikuea, Ratchakrit; Lawson, Benjamin A.; Grimes, Barry; Keller, Charles; Van Zant, Gary; Campbell, Kenneth S.; Esser, Karyn A.; Dupont-Versteegden, Esther E.; Peterson, Charlotte A.

2011-01-01

An important unresolved question in skeletal muscle plasticity is whether satellite cells are necessary for muscle fiber hypertrophy. To address this issue, a novel mouse strain (Pax7-DTA) was created which enabled the conditional ablation of >90% of satellite cells in mature skeletal muscle following tamoxifen administration. To test the hypothesis that satellite cells are necessary for skeletal muscle hypertrophy, the plantaris muscle of adult Pax7-DTA mice was subjected to mechanical overload by surgical removal of the synergist muscle. Following two weeks of overload, satellite cell-depleted muscle showed the same increases in muscle mass (approximately twofold) and fiber cross-sectional area with hypertrophy as observed in the vehicle-treated group. The typical increase in myonuclei with hypertrophy was absent in satellite cell-depleted fibers, resulting in expansion of the myonuclear domain. Consistent with lack of nuclear addition to enlarged fibers, long-term BrdU labeling showed a significant reduction in the number of BrdU-positive myonuclei in satellite cell-depleted muscle compared with vehicle-treated muscle. Single fiber functional analyses showed no difference in specific force, Ca2+ sensitivity, rate of cross-bridge cycling and cooperativity between hypertrophied fibers from vehicle and tamoxifen-treated groups. Although a small component of the hypertrophic response, both fiber hyperplasia and regeneration were significantly blunted following satellite cell depletion, indicating a distinct requirement for satellite cells during these processes. These results provide convincing evidence that skeletal muscle fibers are capable of mounting a robust hypertrophic response to mechanical overload that is not dependent on satellite cells. PMID:21828094

Factoring local sequence composition in motif significance analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, Patrick; Keich, Uri

2008-01-01

We recently introduced a biologically realistic and reliable significance analysis of the output of a popular class of motif finders. In this paper we further improve our significance analysis by incorporating local base composition information. Relying on realistic biological data simulation, as well as on FDR analysis applied to real data, we show that our method is significantly better than the increasingly popular practice of using the normal approximation to estimate the significance of a finder's output. Finally we turn to leveraging our reliable significance analysis to improve the actual motif finding task. Specifically, endowing a variant of the Gibbs Sampler with our improved significance analysis we demonstrate that de novo finders can perform better than has been perceived. Significantly, our new variant outperforms all the finders reviewed in a recently published comprehensive analysis of the Harbison genome-wide binding location data. Interestingly, many of these finders incorporate additional information such as nucleosome positioning and the significance of binding data.

Development and functional significance of dorsal air bags in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Histological examination of the air bags showed that they were integumentary structures composed of an outer epidermis and an inner dermis. The air bags were not connected to the respiratory system. The body temperature (Tb) of Monteiro's Hornbill nestlings increased significantly with increasing age. Comparisons of ...

Measurements of recent microchannel-plate photomultipliers with significantly increased lifetime

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Uhlig, Fred; Eyrich, Wolfgang; Lehmann, Albert; Britting, Alexander [Universitaet Erlangen, Physikal. Institut IV (Germany); Collaboration: PANDA-Collaboration

2015-07-01

Microchannel-plate photomultipliers (MCP-PMTs) are the favored sensors for the DIRC detectors (Detection of Internally Reflected Cherenkov Light) of the PANDA experiment. They are usable in high magnetic fields of up to 2T and reach a time resolution of better than 50 ps (σ). The anticipated average luminosity of 2.10{sup 32} cm{sup -2} s{sup -1} in the detector requires a rate capability high enough to withstand a detected photon rate of about 200 kHz cm{sup -2} at the MCP-PMT surfaces. The major drawback until recently was the limited lifetime of MCP-PMTs, which appears to be solved for the latest generation of MCP-PMT prototype devices. The aging parameter is the quantum efficiency as a function of the integrated anode charge, which will be in the region of 5 C/cm{sup 2} for the Barrel- and the Disc-DIRC. We simultaneously measured the aging of several MCP-PMTs, which were treated with different methods to enhance the lifetime. Results of these measurements are presented.

Increased NMDA receptor inhibition at an increased Sevoflurane MAC

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brosnan Robert J

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Sevoflurane potently enhances glycine receptor currents and more modestly decreases NMDA receptor currents, each of which may contribute to immobility. This modest NMDA receptor antagonism by sevoflurane at a minimum alveolar concentration (MAC could be reciprocally related to large potentiation of other inhibitory ion channels. If so, then reduced glycine receptor potency should increase NMDA receptor antagonism by sevoflurane at MAC. Methods Indwelling lumbar subarachnoid catheters were surgically placed in 14 anesthetized rats. Rats were anesthetized with sevoflurane the next day, and a pre-infusion sevoflurane MAC was measured in duplicate using a tail clamp method. Artificial CSF (aCSF containing either 0 or 4 mg/mL strychnine was then infused intrathecally at 4 μL/min, and the post-infusion baseline sevoflurane MAC was measured. Finally, aCSF containing strychnine (either 0 or 4 mg/mL plus 0.4 mg/mL dizocilpine (MK-801 was administered intrathecally at 4 μL/min, and the post-dizocilpine sevoflurane MAC was measured. Results Pre-infusion sevoflurane MAC was 2.26%. Intrathecal aCSF alone did not affect MAC, but intrathecal strychnine significantly increased sevoflurane requirement. Addition of dizocilpine significantly decreased MAC in all rats, but this decrease was two times larger in rats without intrathecal strychnine compared to rats with intrathecal strychnine, a statistically significant (P  Conclusions Glycine receptor antagonism increases NMDA receptor antagonism by sevoflurane at MAC. The magnitude of anesthetic effects on a given ion channel may therefore depend on the magnitude of its effects on other receptors that modulate neuronal excitability.

Elicitor Mixtures Significantly Increase Bioactive Compounds, Antioxidant Activity, and Quality Parameters in Sweet Bell Pepper

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lina Garcia-Mier

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Sweet bell peppers are greatly appreciated for their taste, color, pungency, and aroma. Additionally, they are good sources of bioactive compounds with antioxidant activity, which can be improved by the use of elicitors. Elicitors act as metabolite-inducing factors (MIF by mimic stress conditions. Since plants rarely experience a single stress condition one by one but are more likely to be exposed to simultaneous stresses, it is important to evaluate the effect of elicitors on plant secondary metabolism as mixtures. Jasmonic acid (JA, hydrogen peroxide (HP, and chitosan (CH were applied to fruits and plants of bell pepper as mixtures. Bioactive compounds, antioxidant activity, and quality parameters were evaluated. The assessed elicitor cocktail leads to an increase in the variables evaluated (P ≤ 0.05 when applied to mature fruits after harvest, whereas the lowest values were observed in the treatment applied to immature fruits. Therefore, the application of the elicitor cocktail to harvested mature fruits is recommended in order to improve bioactive compounds and the antioxidant activity of sweet bell peppers.

Clinical significance of Phosphatidyl Inositol Synthase overexpression in oral cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaur, Jatinder; Sawhney, Meenakshi; DattaGupta, Siddartha; Shukla, Nootan K; Srivastava, Anurag; Ralhan, Ranju

2010-01-01

We reported increased levels of Phosphatidyl Inositol synthase (PI synthase), (enzyme that catalyses phosphatidyl inositol (PI) synthesis-implicated in intracellular signaling and regulation of cell growth) in smokeless tobacco (ST) exposed oral cell cultures by differential display. This study determined the clinical significance of PI synthase overexpression in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and premalignant lesions (leukoplakia), and identified the downstream signaling proteins in PI synthase pathway that are perturbed by smokeless tobacco (ST) exposure. Tissue microarray (TMA) Immunohistochemistry, Western blotting, Confocal laser scan microscopy, RT-PCR were performed to define the expression of PI synthase in clinical samples and in oral cell culture systems. Significant increase in PI synthase immunoreactivity was observed in premalignant lesions and OSCCs as compared to oral normal tissues (p = 0.000). Further, PI synthase expression was significantly associated with de-differentiation of OSCCs, (p = 0.005) and tobacco consumption (p = 0.03, OR = 9.0). Exposure of oral cell systems to smokeless tobacco (ST) in vitro confirmed increase in PI synthase, Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and cyclin D1 levels. Collectively, increased PI synthase expression was found to be an early event in oral cancer and a target for smokeless tobacco

Significance of Lead Residues in Mallard Tissues

Science.gov (United States)

Longcore, J.R.; Locke, L.N.; Bagley, George E.; Andrews, R.

1974-01-01

Tissues of adult, lead-dosed mallards that either died or were sacrificed were analyzed for lead. Lead levels in brains, tibiae, and breast muscle of ducks that died and in tibiae of ducks that were sacrificed increased significantly from dosage until death. Lead in the heart, lung, and blood from sacrificed ducks decreased significantly from dosage until death. Lead concentrations in tissues from ducks in the two groups were not significantly different except for the liver, kidney, and lung. Average lead levels in the livers and kidneys of ducks that died were significantly higher than those in ducks that were sacrificed. The mean concentration of lead in the lungs of the ducks sacrificed was significantly higher than the mean level in the lungs of ducks that died. Measurements of the lead concentrations in this study, when compared with lead levels reported in the literature for avian and non-avian species, showed that arbitrary diagnostic levels indicating lead poisoning could be set. In mallard ducks, lead levels exceeding 3 ppm in the brain, 6 to 20 ppm in the kidney or liver, or 10 ppm in clotted blood from the heart indicated acute exposure to lead.

Was there significant tax evasion after the 1999 50 cent per pack cigarette tax increase in California?

Science.gov (United States)

Emery, S; White, M; Gilpin, E; Pierce, J

2002-01-01

Objectives: Several states, including California, have implemented large cigarette excise tax increases, which may encourage smokers to purchase their cigarettes in other lower taxed states, or from other lower or non-taxed sources. Such tax evasion thwarts tobacco control objectives and may cost the state substantial tax revenues. Thus, this study investigates the extent of tax evasion in the 6–12 months after the implementation of California's $0.50/pack excise tax increase. Design and setting: Retrospective data analysis from the 1999 California Tobacco Surveys (CTS), a random digit dialled telephone survey of California households. Main outcome measures: Sources of cigarettes, average daily cigarette consumption, and reported price paid. Results: Very few (5.1 (0.7)% (±95% confidence limits)) of California smokers avoided the excise tax by usually purchasing cigarettes from non- or lower taxed sources, such as out-of-state outlets, military commissaries, or the internet. The vast majority of smokers purchased their cigarettes from the most convenient and expensive sources: convenience stores/gas (petrol) stations (45.0 (1.9)%), liquor/drug stores (16.4 (1.6)%), and supermarkets (8.8 (1.2)%). Conclusions: Despite the potential savings, tax evasion by individual smokers does not appear to pose a serious threat to California's excise tax revenues or its tobacco control objectives. PMID:12035006

A single amino acid change (Y318F) in the L-arabitol dehydrogenase (LadA) from Aspergillus niger results in a significant increase in affinity for D-sorbitol

Science.gov (United States)

2009-01-01

Background L-arabitol dehydrogenase (LAD) and xylitol dehydrogenase (XDH) are involved in the degradation of L-arabinose and D-xylose, which are among the most abundant monosaccharides on earth. Previous data demonstrated that LAD and XDH not only differ in the activity on their biological substrate, but also that only XDH has significant activity on D-sorbitol and may therefore be more closely related to D-sorbitol dehydrogenases (SDH). In this study we aimed to identify residues involved in the difference in substrate specificity. Results Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that LAD, XDH and SDH form 3 distinct groups of the family of dehydrogenases containing an Alcohol dehydrogenase GroES-like domain (pfam08240) and likely have evolved from a common ancestor. Modelling of LadA and XdhA of the saprobic fungus Aspergillus niger on human SDH identified two residues in LadA (M70 and Y318), that may explain the absence of activity on D-sorbitol. While introduction of the mutation M70F in LadA of A. niger resulted in a nearly complete enzyme inactivation, the Y318F resulted in increased activity for L-arabitol and xylitol. Moreover, the affinity for D-sorbitol was increased in this mutant. Conclusion These data demonstrates that Y318 of LadA contributes significantly to the substrate specificity difference between LAD and XDH/SDH. PMID:19674460

Determination of relative CMRO2 from CBF and BOLD changes: significant increase of oxygen consumption rate during visual stimulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kim, S.G.; Rostrup, Egill; Larsson, H.B.

1999-01-01

signal changes were measured simultaneously using the flow-sensitive alternating inversion recovery (FAIR) technique. During hypercapnia established by an end-tidal CO2 increase of 1.46 kPa, CBF in the visual cortex increased by 47.3 +/- 17.3% (mean +/- SD; n = 9), and deltaR2* was -0.478 +/- 0.147 sec......The blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) effect in functional magnetic resonance imaging depends on at least partial uncoupling between cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO2) changes. By measuring CBF and BOLD simultaneously, the relative change in CMRO2 can...

Biological, ecological and agronomic significance of plant phenolic ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Our understanding of some phenolic compounds in the last few decades has greatly improved. However, their biological, ecological and agronomical significance in the rhizosphere of most symbiotic legumes is much less clear. Further understanding of these biomolecules will increase our knowledge of their contribution in ...

The energetic significance of cooking.

Science.gov (United States)

Carmody, Rachel N; Wrangham, Richard W

2009-10-01

While cooking has long been argued to improve the diet, the nature of the improvement has not been well defined. As a result, the evolutionary significance of cooking has variously been proposed as being substantial or relatively trivial. In this paper, we evaluate the hypothesis that an important and consistent effect of cooking food is a rise in its net energy value. The pathways by which cooking influences net energy value differ for starch, protein, and lipid, and we therefore consider plant and animal foods separately. Evidence of compromised physiological performance among individuals on raw diets supports the hypothesis that cooked diets tend to provide energy. Mechanisms contributing to energy being gained from cooking include increased digestibility of starch and protein, reduced costs of digestion for cooked versus raw meat, and reduced energetic costs of detoxification and defence against pathogens. If cooking consistently improves the energetic value of foods through such mechanisms, its evolutionary impact depends partly on the relative energetic benefits of non-thermal processing methods used prior to cooking. We suggest that if non-thermal processing methods such as pounding were used by Lower Palaeolithic Homo, they likely provided an important increase in energy gain over unprocessed raw diets. However, cooking has critical effects not easily achievable by non-thermal processing, including the relatively complete gelatinisation of starch, efficient denaturing of proteins, and killing of food borne pathogens. This means that however sophisticated the non-thermal processing methods were, cooking would have conferred incremental energetic benefits. While much remains to be discovered, we conclude that the adoption of cooking would have led to an important rise in energy availability. For this reason, we predict that cooking had substantial evolutionary significance.

Statistical significance of cis-regulatory modules

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Smith Andrew D

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background It is becoming increasingly important for researchers to be able to scan through large genomic regions for transcription factor binding sites or clusters of binding sites forming cis-regulatory modules. Correspondingly, there has been a push to develop algorithms for the rapid detection and assessment of cis-regulatory modules. While various algorithms for this purpose have been introduced, most are not well suited for rapid, genome scale scanning. Results We introduce methods designed for the detection and statistical evaluation of cis-regulatory modules, modeled as either clusters of individual binding sites or as combinations of sites with constrained organization. In order to determine the statistical significance of module sites, we first need a method to determine the statistical significance of single transcription factor binding site matches. We introduce a straightforward method of estimating the statistical significance of single site matches using a database of known promoters to produce data structures that can be used to estimate p-values for binding site matches. We next introduce a technique to calculate the statistical significance of the arrangement of binding sites within a module using a max-gap model. If the module scanned for has defined organizational parameters, the probability of the module is corrected to account for organizational constraints. The statistical significance of single site matches and the architecture of sites within the module can be combined to provide an overall estimation of statistical significance of cis-regulatory module sites. Conclusion The methods introduced in this paper allow for the detection and statistical evaluation of single transcription factor binding sites and cis-regulatory modules. The features described are implemented in the Search Tool for Occurrences of Regulatory Motifs (STORM and MODSTORM software.

Timescales for detecting a significant acceleration in sea level rise.

Science.gov (United States)

Haigh, Ivan D; Wahl, Thomas; Rohling, Eelco J; Price, René M; Pattiaratchi, Charitha B; Calafat, Francisco M; Dangendorf, Sönke

2014-04-14

There is observational evidence that global sea level is rising and there is concern that the rate of rise will increase, significantly threatening coastal communities. However, considerable debate remains as to whether the rate of sea level rise is currently increasing and, if so, by how much. Here we provide new insights into sea level accelerations by applying the main methods that have been used previously to search for accelerations in historical data, to identify the timings (with uncertainties) at which accelerations might first be recognized in a statistically significant manner (if not apparent already) in sea level records that we have artificially extended to 2100. We find that the most important approach to earliest possible detection of a significant sea level acceleration lies in improved understanding (and subsequent removal) of interannual to multidecadal variability in sea level records.

PARP-1 depletion in combination with carbon ion exposure significantly reduces MMPs activity and overall increases TIMPs expression in cultured HeLa cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghorai, Atanu; Sarma, Asitikantha; Chowdhury, Priyanka; Ghosh, Utpal

2016-01-01

Hadron therapy is an innovative technique where cancer cells are precisely killed leaving surrounding healthy cells least affected by high linear energy transfer (LET) radiation like carbon ion beam. Anti-metastatic effect of carbon ion exposure attracts investigators into the field of hadron biology, although details remain poor. Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) inhibitors are well-known radiosensitizer and several PARP-1 inhibitors are in clinical trial. Our previous studies showed that PARP-1 depletion makes the cells more radiosensitive towards carbon ion than gamma. The purpose of the present study was to investigate combining effects of PARP-1 inhibition with carbon ion exposure to control metastatic properties in HeLa cells. Activities of matrix metalloproteinases-2, 9 (MMP-2, MMP-9) were measured using the gelatin zymography after 85 MeV carbon ion exposure or gamma irradiation (0- 4 Gy) to compare metastatic potential between PARP-1 knock down (HsiI) and control cells (H-vector - HeLa transfected with vector without shRNA construct). Expression of MMP-2, MMP-9, tissue inhibitor of MMPs such as TIMP-1, TIMP-2 and TIMP-3 were checked by immunofluorescence and western blot. Cell death by trypan blue, apoptosis and autophagy induction were studied after carbon ion exposure in each cell-type. The data was analyzed using one way ANOVA and 2-tailed paired-samples T-test. PARP-1 silencing significantly reduced MMP-2 and MMP-9 activities and carbon ion exposure further diminished their activities to less than 3 % of control H-vector. On the contrary, gamma radiation enhanced both MMP-2 and MMP-9 activities in H-vector but not in HsiI cells. The expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in H-vector and HsiI showed different pattern after carbon ion exposure. All three TIMPs were increased in HsiI, whereas only TIMP-1 was up-regulated in H-vector after irradiation. Notably, the expressions of all TIMPs were significantly higher in HsiI than H-vector at 4 Gy. Apoptosis was

Thalidomide has a significant effect in patients with thalassemia intermedia.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, YunShuan; Ren, Quan; Zhou, Yali; Li, Pingping; Lin, Wanhua; Yin, Xiaolin

2018-01-01

To investigate the effect of thalidomide in patients with thalassemia intermedia. We observed the effect of thalidomide in seven patients with thalassemia intermedia requiring blood transfusion. Four of the patients were transfusion-independent, and three patients were transfusion-dependent. For the four transfusion-independent patients, hemoglobin concentration increased significantly (≥2 g/dl) in three and moderately (1-2 g/dl) in one. After 3 months of treatment, hemoglobin concentration increased 3.2 ± 1.2 g/dl compared to pretreatment. Among the three transfusion-dependent patients, transfusion was terminated after one month of treatment in one patient and decreased >50% in the other two patients, accompanied by an increase in the average hemoglobin concentration. Thalidomide had a significant effect in patients with thalassemia intermedia. Further studies of a larger scale and more rigorous design are warranted.

Identification of sequence motifs significantly associated with antisense activity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peek Andrew S

2007-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Predicting the suppression activity of antisense oligonucleotide sequences is the main goal of the rational design of nucleic acids. To create an effective predictive model, it is important to know what properties of an oligonucleotide sequence associate significantly with antisense activity. Also, for the model to be efficient we must know what properties do not associate significantly and can be omitted from the model. This paper will discuss the results of a randomization procedure to find motifs that associate significantly with either high or low antisense suppression activity, analysis of their properties, as well as the results of support vector machine modelling using these significant motifs as features. Results We discovered 155 motifs that associate significantly with high antisense suppression activity and 202 motifs that associate significantly with low suppression activity. The motifs range in length from 2 to 5 bases, contain several motifs that have been previously discovered as associating highly with antisense activity, and have thermodynamic properties consistent with previous work associating thermodynamic properties of sequences with their antisense activity. Statistical analysis revealed no correlation between a motif's position within an antisense sequence and that sequences antisense activity. Also, many significant motifs existed as subwords of other significant motifs. Support vector regression experiments indicated that the feature set of significant motifs increased correlation compared to all possible motifs as well as several subsets of the significant motifs. Conclusion The thermodynamic properties of the significantly associated motifs support existing data correlating the thermodynamic properties of the antisense oligonucleotide with antisense efficiency, reinforcing our hypothesis that antisense suppression is strongly associated with probe/target thermodynamics, as there are no enzymatic

Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with tumor necrosis factor inhibitors may predispose to significant increase in tuberculosis risk: a multicenter active-surveillance report.

Science.gov (United States)

Gómez-Reino, Juan J; Carmona, Loreto; Valverde, Vicente Rodríguez; Mola, Emilio Martín; Montero, Maria Dolores

2003-08-01

The long-term safety of therapeutic agents that neutralize tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is uncertain. Recent evidence based on spontaneous reporting shows an association with active tuberculosis (TB). We undertook this study to determine and describe the long-term safety of 2 of these agents, infliximab and etanercept, in rheumatic diseases based on a national active-surveillance system following the commercialization of the drugs. We analyzed the safety data actively collected in the BIOBADASER (Base de Datos de Productos Biológicos de la Sociedad Española de Reumatología) database, which was launched in February 2000 by the Spanish Society of Rheumatology. For the estimation of TB risk, the annual incidence rate in patients treated with these agents was compared with the background rate and with the rate in a cohort of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) assembled before the era of anti-TNF treatment. Seventy-one participating centers sent data on 1,578 treatments with infliximab (86%) or etanercept (14%) in 1,540 patients. Drug survival rates (reported as the cumulative percentage of patients still receiving medication) for infliximab and etanercept pooled together were 85% and 81% at 1 year and 2 years, respectively. Instances of discontinuation were essentially due to adverse events. Seventeen cases of TB were found in patients treated with infliximab. The estimated incidence of TB associated with infliximab in RA patients was 1,893 per 100,000 in the year 2000 and 1,113 per 100,000 in the year 2001. These findings represent a significant increased risk compared with background rates. In the first 5 months of 2002, after official guidelines were established for TB prevention in patients treated with biologics, only 1 new TB case was registered (in January). Therapy with infliximab is associated with an increased risk of active TB. Proper measures are needed to prevent and manage this adverse event.

FTY720-loaded poly(DL-lactide-co-glycolide) electrospun scaffold significantly increases microvessel density over 7 days in streptozotocin-induced diabetic C57b16/J mice: preliminary results.

Science.gov (United States)

Bowers, D T; Chhabra, P; Langman, L; Botchwey, E A; Brayman, K L

2011-11-01

Nanofiber scaffolds could improve islet transplant success by physically mimicking the shape of extracellular matrix and by acting as a drug-delivery vehicle. Scaffolds implanted in alternate transplant sites must be prevascularized or very quickly vascularized following transplantation to prevent hypoxia-induced islet necrosis. The local release of the S1P prodrug FTY720 induces diameter enlargement and increases in length density. The objective of this preliminary study was to evaluate length and diameter differences between diabetic and nondiabetic animals implanted with FTY720-containing electrospun scaffolds using intravital imaging of dorsal skinfold window chambers. Electrospun mats of randomly oriented fibers we created from polymer solutions of PLAGA (50:50 LA:GA) with and without FTY720 loaded at a ratio of 1:200 (FTY720:PLAGA by wt). The implanted fiber mats were 4 mm in diameter and ∼0.2 mm thick. Increases in length density and vessel diameter were assessed by automated analysis of images over 7 days in RAVE, a Matlab program. Image analysis of repeated measures of microvessel metrics demonstrated a significant increase in the length density from day 0 to day 7 in the moderately diabetic animals of this preliminary study (P < .05). Furthermore, significant differences in length density at day 0 and day 3 were found between recently STZ-induced moderately diabetic and nondiabetic animals in response to FTY720 local release (P < .05, Student t test). Driving the islet revascularization process using local release of factors, such as FTY720, from biodegradable polymers makes an attractive system for the improvement of islet transplant success. Preliminary study results suggest that a recently induced moderately diabetic state may potentiate the mechanism by which local release of FTY720 from polymer fibers increases length density of microvessels. Therefore, local release of S1P receptor-targeted drugs is under further investigation for improvement of

Cross-Bridge Kelvin Resistor (CBKR) structures for silicide-semiconductor junctions characterization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stavitski, N.; van Dal, M.J.H.; Klootwijk, J.H.; Wolters, Robertus A.M.; Kovalgin, Alexeij Y.; Schmitz, Jurriaan

2006-01-01

Analyzing the contact geometry factors for the conventional CBKR structures, it appeared that the contact geometries conventionally used for the metal-to-silicide contact resistance measurements were not always satisfactory to reveal the specific contact resistance values. To investigate these

Comparative Statistical Mechanics of Muscle and Non-Muscle Contractile Systems: Stationary States of Near-Equilibrium Systems in A Linear Regime

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yves Lecarpentier

2017-10-01

Full Text Available A. Huxley’s equations were used to determine the mechanical properties of muscle myosin II (MII at the molecular level, as well as the probability of the occurrence of the different stages in the actin–myosin cycle. It was then possible to use the formalism of statistical mechanics with the grand canonical ensemble to calculate numerous thermodynamic parameters such as entropy, internal energy, affinity, thermodynamic flow, thermodynamic force, and entropy production rate. This allows us to compare the thermodynamic parameters of a non-muscle contractile system, such as the normal human placenta, with those of different striated skeletal muscles (soleus and extensor digitalis longus as well as the heart muscle and smooth muscles (trachea and uterus in the rat. In the human placental tissues, it was observed that the kinetics of the actin–myosin crossbridges were considerably slow compared with those of smooth and striated muscular systems. The entropy production rate was also particularly low in the human placental tissues, as compared with that observed in smooth and striated muscular systems. This is partly due to the low thermodynamic flow found in the human placental tissues. However, the unitary force of non-muscle myosin (NMII generated by each crossbridge cycle in the myofibroblasts of the human placental tissues was similar in magnitude to that of MII in the myocytes of both smooth and striated muscle cells. Statistical mechanics represents a powerful tool for studying the thermodynamics of all contractile muscle and non-muscle systems.

Prolonged continuous intravenous infusion of the dipeptide L-alanine- L-glutamine significantly increases plasma glutamine and alanine without elevating brain glutamate in patients with severe traumatic brain injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Nägeli, Mirjam; Fasshauer, Mario; Sommerfeld, Jutta; Fendel, Angela; Brandi, Giovanna; Stover, John F

2014-07-02

Low plasma glutamine levels are associated with worse clinical outcome. Intravenous glutamine infusion dose- dependently increases plasma glutamine levels, thereby correcting hypoglutaminemia. Glutamine may be transformed to glutamate which might limit its application at a higher dose in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). To date, the optimal glutamine dose required to normalize plasma glutamine levels without increasing plasma and cerebral glutamate has not yet been defined. Changes in plasma and cerebral glutamine, alanine, and glutamate as well as indirect signs of metabolic impairment reflected by increased intracranial pressure (ICP), lactate, lactate-to-pyruvate ratio, electroencephalogram (EEG) activity were determined before, during, and after continuous intravenous infusion of 0.75 g L-alanine-L-glutamine which was given either for 24 hours (group 1, n = 6) or 5 days (group 2, n = 6) in addition to regular enteral nutrition. Lab values including nitrogen balance, urea and ammonia were determined daily. Continuous L-alanine-L-glutamine infusion significantly increased plasma and cerebral glutamine as well as alanine levels, being mostly sustained during the 5 day infusion phase (plasma glutamine: from 295 ± 62 to 500 ± 145 μmol/ l; brain glutamine: from 183 ± 188 to 549 ± 120 μmol/ l; plasma alanine: from 327 ± 91 to 622 ± 182 μmol/ l; brain alanine: from 48 ± 55 to 89 ± 129 μmol/ l; p alanine-L-glutamine infusion (0.75 g/ kg/ d up to 5 days) increased plasma and brain glutamine and alanine levels. This was not associated with elevated glutamate or signs of potential glutamate-mediated cerebral injury. The increased nitrogen load should be considered in patients with renal and hepatic dysfunction. Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02130674. Registered 5 April 2014.

Computation of spatial significance of mountain objects extracted from multiscale digital elevation models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sathyamoorthy, Dinesh

2014-01-01

The derivation of spatial significance is an important aspect of geospatial analysis and hence, various methods have been proposed to compute the spatial significance of entities based on spatial distances with other entities within the cluster. This paper is aimed at studying the spatial significance of mountain objects extracted from multiscale digital elevation models (DEMs). At each scale, the value of spatial significance index SSI of a mountain object is the minimum number of morphological dilation iterations required to occupy all the other mountain objects in the terrain. The mountain object with the lowest value of SSI is the spatially most significant mountain object, indicating that it has the shortest distance to the other mountain objects. It is observed that as the area of the mountain objects reduce with increasing scale, the distances between the mountain objects increase, resulting in increasing values of SSI. The results obtained indicate that the strategic location of a mountain object at the centre of the terrain is more important than its size in determining its reach to other mountain objects and thus, its spatial significance

Significance and radioimmunoassay of gastric inhibitory polypeptide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zheng Ping; Zeng Minde; Yuan Jimin

1995-01-01

We have established the GIP Radioimmunoassay which has high sensitivity and specificity by labelling with iodogen and purified with HPLC. Using this method, the plasma GIP level was measured in 64 cases of which there are 10 normal individuals, 25 cases of diabetes and 29 cases of liver cirrhosis . The results showed that the plasma GIP level was significantly increased in patients with liver cirrhosis and correlated to degree of glucose tolerance damage

Single-source dual-energy spectral multidetector CT of pancreatic adenocarcinoma: Optimization of energy level viewing significantly increases lesion contrast

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patel, B.N.; Thomas, J.V.; Lockhart, M.E.; Berland, L.L.; Morgan, D.E.

2013-01-01

V was 31 ± 25 HU (p = 0.007). Conclusion: Significantly increased pancreatic lesion contrast was noted at lower viewing energies using spectral MDCT. Individual patient CNR-optimized energy level images have the potential to improve lesion conspicuity.

α-Synuclein may cross-bridge v-SNARE and acidic phospholipids to facilitate SNARE-dependent vesicle docking.

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Lou, Xiaochu; Kim, Jaewook; Hawk, Brenden J; Shin, Yeon-Kyun

2017-06-06

Misfolded α-synuclein (A-syn) is widely recognized as the primal cause of neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. The normal cellular function of A-syn has, however, been elusive. There is evidence that A-syn plays multiple roles in the exocytotic pathway in the neuron, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are unclear. A-syn has been known to interact with negatively charged phospholipids and with vesicle SNARE protein VAMP2. Using single-vesicle docking/fusion assays, we find that A-syn promotes SNARE-dependent vesicles docking significantly at 2.5 µM. When phosphatidylserine (PS) is removed from t-SNARE-bearing vesicles, the docking enhancement by A-syn disappears and A-syn instead acts as an inhibitor for docking. In contrast, subtraction of PS from the v-SNARE-carrying vesicles enhances vesicle docking even further. Moreover, when we truncate the C-terminal 45 residues of A-syn that participates in interacting with VAMP2, the promotion of vesicle docking is abrogated. Thus, the results suggest that the A-syn's interaction with v-SNARE through its C-terminal tail and its concurrent interaction with PS in trans through its amphipathic N-terminal domain facilitate SNARE complex formation, whereby A-syn aids SNARE-dependent vesicle docking. © 2017 The Author(s); published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society.

Muscle contraction and force

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brüggemann, Dagmar Adeline; Risbo, Jens; Pierzynowski, Stefan G.

2008-01-01

Muscle contraction studies often focus solely on myofibres and the proteins known to be involved in the processes of sarcomere shortening and cross-bridge cycling, but skeletal muscle also comprises a very elaborate ancillary network of capillaries, which not only play a vital role in terms...... of nutrient delivery and waste product removal, but are also tethered to surrounding fibres by collagen "wires". This paper therefore addresses aspects of the ancillary network of skeletal muscle at both a microscopic and functional level in order to better understand its role holistically as a considerable...

Step-function increase of significance of waste form in RWM strategy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roy, R.

1979-01-01

Radioactive waste management on the technical side is composed of four subsystems: storage, radionuclide immobilization, isolation, and post-emplacement. Thus far, emphasis has been on the isolation subsystem, with the assumption that all the radionuclides placed in the geological formation would be released. Findings by a committee of the National Academy of Science on the types of solid forms for radioactive wastes are summarized. The most important research findings of the last two or three years are evaluated, findings which impinge on the role of the newly developed radionuclide immobilization subsystems. 24 refs

Long-term use of amiodarone before heart transplantation significantly reduces early post-transplant atrial fibrillation and is not associated with increased mortality after heart transplantation

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Rivinius R

2016-02-01

group (P=0.0123. There was no statistically significant difference between patients with and without long-term use of amiodarone prior to HTX in 1-year (P=0.8596, 2-year (P=0.8620, 5-year (P=0.2737, or overall follow-up mortality after HTX (P=0.1049. Moreover, Kaplan–Meier survival analysis showed no statistically significant difference in overall survival (P=0.1786.Conclusion: Long-term use of amiodarone in patients before HTX significantly reduces early post-transplant AF and is not associated with increased mortality after HTX. Keywords: amiodarone, atrial fibrillation, heart failure, heart transplantation, mortality

Understanding the Sampling Distribution and Its Use in Testing Statistical Significance.

Science.gov (United States)

Breunig, Nancy A.

Despite the increasing criticism of statistical significance testing by researchers, particularly in the publication of the 1994 American Psychological Association's style manual, statistical significance test results are still popular in journal articles. For this reason, it remains important to understand the logic of inferential statistics. A…

Clinical significance of determination of serum C-peptide levels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Guohong; Xu Ruiji; Zhang Zhongshu; Wang Xiaoji

2006-01-01

Objective: To study the clinical meanings of changes of serum C-peptide levels and insulin/C-peptide ratio. Methods: Serum insulin and C-peptide levels were determined with RIA in 171 patients with DM-2 of all ages (31-50, n= 50, 51-60, n=60, over 60, n=61) and 50 patients with renal insufficiency. The insulin/C-peptide ratio were calculated. Results: The serum C-peptide and insulin levels in patients with renal insufficiency were significantly higher than those in diabetics of all age groups and the insulin/C-peptide ratio were significantly lower than those in diabetics (P 0.05), but the serum C-peptide levels increased as the age of patients increased with decrease of insulin/C-peptide ratio (P<0.01). Conclusion: Abnormal changes of C-peptide levels and insulin/C-peptide ratio in diabetics (the age-factor corrected) might reflect renal dysfunction. (authors)

Experimentally-induced immune activation in natural hosts of SIV induces significant increases in viral replication and CD4+ T cell depletion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ribeiro, Ruy M [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2008-01-01

Chronically SIVagm-infected African green monkeys (AGMs) have a remarkably stable non-pathogenic disease course, with levels of immune activation in chronic SIVagm infection similar to those observed in uninfected monkeys and stable viral loads (VLs) for long periods of time. In vivo administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or an IL-2/diphtheria toxin fusion protein (Ontak) to chronically SIVagm-infected AGMs triggered increases in immune activation and subsequently of viral replication and depletion of intestinal CD4{sup +} T cells. Our study indicates that circulating microbial products can increase viral replication by inducing immune activation and increasing the number of viral target cells, thus demonstrating that immune activation and T cell prolifeation are key factors in AIDS pathogenesis.

Increased superior frontal gyrus activation during working memory processing in psychosis: Significant relation to cumulative antipsychotic medication and to negative symptoms.

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Vogel, Tobias; Smieskova, Renata; Schmidt, André; Walter, Anna; Harrisberger, Fabienne; Eckert, Anne; Lang, Undine E; Riecher-Rössler, Anita; Graf, Marc; Borgwardt, Stefan

2016-08-01

Impairment in working memory (WM) is a core symptom in schizophrenia. However, little is known about how clinical features influence functional brain activity specific to WM processing during the development of first-episode psychosis (FEP) to schizophrenia (SZ). We compared functional WM-specific brain activity in FEP and SZ patients, including the effects of the duration of illness, psychopathological factors and antipsychotic medication. Cross-sectional study of male FEP (n=22) and SZ (n=20) patients performing an n-back task when undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Clinical features were collected by semi-structured interviews and medical records. The SZ group performed significantly worse than the FEP group in the 2-back condition. The SZ group also showed significantly higher activation in the left superior frontal gyrus in the 2-back versus 0-back condition (2-back>0-back). This frontal activation correlated positively with negative symptoms and with cumulative antipsychotic medication during the year before the fMRI examination. There were no significant correlations between activation and duration of illness. There was greater frontal neural activation in SZ than in FEP. This indicated differences in WM processing, and was significantly related to cumulative antipsychotic exposure and negative symptoms, but not to the duration of illness. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Modifications resulting in significant increases in the beam usage time of a 60 keV electron beam welder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zielinski, R.E.; Harrison, J.L.

1976-01-01

Short beam usage times were encountered using a 60 keV electron beam welder. These short times were the direct result of a buildup of a reaction product (WO 2 . 90 ) that occurred on graphite washers which housed the tungsten emitter plate. While it was not possible to prevent the reaction product, its growth rate was sufficiently altered by changing graphite materials and minor design changes of the washers. With these modifications beam usage times increased from an original 40 min to approximately 675 min

Zinc release from Schaffer collaterals and its significance.

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Takeda, Atsushi; Nakajima, Satoko; Fuke, Sayuri; Sakurada, Naomi; Minami, Akira; Oku, Naoto

2006-02-15

On the basis of the evidence that approximately 45% of Schaffer collateral boutons are zinc-positive, zinc release from Schaffer collaterals and its action were examined in hippocampal slices. When zinc release from Schaffer collaterals was examined using ZnAF-2, a membrane-impermeable zinc indicator, ZnAF-2 signal in the stratum radiatum of the CA1 was increased by tetanic stimuli at 100 Hz for 1s, suggesting that zinc is released from Schaffer collaterals in a calcium- and impulse-dependent manner. An in vivo microdialysis experiment indicated that the perfusion with 10 microM zinc significantly decreases extracellular glutamate concentration in the CA1. When tetanic stimuli at 100 Hz for 5s were delivered to the dentate granule cells, the increase in calcium signal in the stratum radiatum of the CA1, as well as in the stratum lucidum of the CA3, was attenuated by addition of 10 microM zinc, while enhanced by addition of 1mM CaEDTA, a membrane-impermeable zinc chelator. The increase in calcium signal in the CA1, in which Schaffer collateral synapses exist, during delivery of tetanic stimuli at 100 Hz for 1s to the Schaffer collateral-commissural pathway was also significantly enhanced by addition of 1mM CaEDTA. These results suggest that zinc released from Schaffer collaterals suppressively modulates presynaptic and postsynaptic calcium signaling in the CA1, followed by the suppression of glutamate release.

pancreatic steatosis: diagnosis and clinical significance

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Murat Daðdeviren

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Pancreatic steatosis (PS, with increased use of abdominal imaging in recent years generally appears as incidental. But it is a condition that is often overlooked. The reason for this is not yet fully demonstrated the clinical significance of PS while. However, in recent years, there are some studies conducted on the relationship with ps and other disease such as diabetes, metabolic syndrome, acute and chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. In this review, the etiology, diagnosis, treatment and clinical characteristics of ps were evaluated in the light of recent literature and current approaches. [J Contemp Med 2017; 7(1.000: 107-112

Single-source dual-energy spectral multidetector CT of pancreatic adenocarcinoma: optimization of energy level viewing significantly increases lesion contrast.

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, B N; Thomas, J V; Lockhart, M E; Berland, L L; Morgan, D E

2013-02-01

.007). Significantly increased pancreatic lesion contrast was noted at lower viewing energies using spectral MDCT. Individual patient CNR-optimized energy level images have the potential to improve lesion conspicuity. Copyright © 2012 The Royal College of Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION

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Jadranka Zlomislić

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to explore the influence of education and additional factors influencing students’ awareness of intercultural differences. For the purposes of this research assessment was carried out with regard to their role in promoting cultural awareness and facing cross-cultural challenges posed by unfamiliar cross-cultural contexts. Cultural education is presumed to be a key factor for achieving a significant increase of cultural sensitivity and cultural awareness in order to ensure successful cross-cultural communication and increase mobility of students/working professionals. For this study, it was assumed that the cultural awareness of students increases due to the courses they take and their overall study experience. A special questionnaire was developed for the purposes of this research, and the obtained results were statistically analyzed with the help of descriptive statistics, the non-parametric chi-square test, and the Mann-Whitney test. The research has shown that intercultural competence has a statistically significant positive effect on the readiness of students to participate in study and work programs abroad. Thus, it is mandatory that foreign language competence as well as intercultural competence be a priority of the curriculum if we are to increase the number of highly educated experts who will be capable to compete successfully as students or professionals in all fields and all cultural areas. If we recognize that globalization has made the world a global village, we all need the intercultural competence to successfully live in it.

How significant is the ‘significant other’? Associations between significant others’ health behaviors and attitudes and young adults’ health outcomes

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Berge Jerica M

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Having a significant other has been shown to be protective against physical and psychological health conditions for adults. Less is known about the period of emerging young adulthood and associations between significant others’ weight and weight-related health behaviors (e.g. healthy dietary intake, the frequency of physical activity, weight status. This study examined the association between significant others’ health attitudes and behaviors regarding eating and physical activity and young adults’ weight status, dietary intake, and physical activity. Methods This study uses data from Project EAT-III, a population-based cohort study with emerging young adults from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds (n = 1212. Logistic regression models examining cross-sectional associations, adjusted for sociodemographics and health behaviors five years earlier, were used to estimate predicted probabilities and calculate prevalence differences. Results Young adult women whose significant others had health promoting attitudes/behaviors were significantly less likely to be overweight/obese and were more likely to eat ≥ 5 fruits/vegetables per day and engage in ≥ 3.5 hours/week of physical activity, compared to women whose significant others did not have health promoting behaviors/attitudes. Young adult men whose significant other had health promoting behaviors/attitudes were more likely to engage in ≥ 3.5 hours/week of physical activity compared to men whose significant others did not have health promoting behaviors/attitudes. Conclusions Findings suggest the protective nature of the significant other with regard to weight-related health behaviors of young adults, particularly for young adult women. Obesity prevention efforts should consider the importance of including the significant other in intervention efforts with young adult women and potentially men.

Age-related functional changes and susceptibility to eccentric contraction-induced damage in skeletal muscle cell.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Seung-Jun

2016-09-01

Depending upon external loading conditions, skeletal muscles can either shorten, lengthen, or remain at a fixed length as they produce force. Fixed-end or isometric contractions stabilize joints and allow muscles to act as active struts during locomotion. Active muscles dissipate energy when they are lengthened by an external force that exceeds their current force producing capacity. These unaccustomed eccentric activities often lead to muscle weakness, soreness, and inflammation. During aging, the ability to produce force under these conditions is reduced and appears to be due to not only reductions in muscle mass but also to alterations in the basic mechanisms of contraction. These alterations include impairments in the excitation-contraction process, and the action of the cross-bridges. Also, it is well known that age-related skeletal muscle atrophy is characterized by a preferential atrophy of fast fibers, and increased susceptibility to fast muscle fiber when aged muscles are exposed to eccentric contraction followed by the impaired recovery process has been reported. Taken together, the selective loss of fast muscle fiber in aged muscle could be affected by eccentric-induced muscle damage, which has significant implication to identify the etiology of the age-related functional changes. Therefore, in this review the alteration of age-related muscle function and its impact to/of eccentric induced muscle damage and recovery will be addressed in detail.

Age-related functional changes and susceptibility to eccentric contraction-induced damage in skeletal muscle cell

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seung-Jun Choi

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Depending upon external loading conditions, skeletal muscles can either shorten, lengthen, or remain at a fixed length as they produce force. Fixed-end or isometric contractions stabilize joints and allow muscles to act as active struts during locomotion. Active muscles dissipate energy when they are lengthened by an external force that exceeds their current force producing capacity. These unaccustomed eccentric activities often lead to muscle weakness, soreness, and inflammation. During aging, the ability to produce force under these conditions is reduced and appears to be due to not only reductions in muscle mass but also to alterations in the basic mechanisms of contraction. These alterations include impairments in the excitation–contraction process, and the action of the cross-bridges. Also, it is well known that age-related skeletal muscle atrophy is characterized by a preferential atrophy of fast fibers, and increased susceptibility to fast muscle fiber when aged muscles are exposed to eccentric contraction followed by the impaired recovery process has been reported. Taken together, the selective loss of fast muscle fiber in aged muscle could be affected by eccentric-induced muscle damage, which has significant implication to identify the etiology of the age-related functional changes. Therefore, in this review the alteration of age-related muscle function and its impact to/of eccentric induced muscle damage and recovery will be addressed in detail.

Love is the triumph of the imagination: Daydreams about significant others are associated with increased happiness, love and connection.

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Poerio, Giulia L; Totterdell, Peter; Emerson, Lisa-Marie; Miles, Eleanor

2015-05-01

Social relationships and interactions contribute to daily emotional well-being. The emotional benefits that come from engaging with others are known to arise from real events, but do they also come from the imagination during daydreaming activity? Using experience sampling methodology with 101 participants, we obtained 371 reports of naturally occurring daydreams with social and non-social content and self-reported feelings before and after daydreaming. Social, but not non-social, daydreams were associated with increased happiness, love and connection and this effect was not solely attributable to the emotional content of the daydreams. These effects were only present when participants were lacking in these feelings before daydreaming and when the daydream involved imagining others with whom the daydreamer had a high quality relationship. Findings are consistent with the idea that social daydreams may function to regulate emotion: imagining close others may serve the current emotional needs of daydreamers by increasing positive feelings towards themselves and others. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Increasing diversity in radiologic technology.

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Carwile, Laura

2003-01-01

Diversity is increasingly important in the radiologic technology workplace. For significant changes to occur in work force diversity, educators must first recruit and retain students from a wide variety of backgrounds. This article examines personality, race and gender as factors affecting career choice and how educators can use these factors to increase diversity in their programs. An overview of the ASRT's efforts to improve diversity within the profession is presented, along with suggestions for developing effective recruitment and retention plans to increase diversity.

Manipulation of Ovarian Function Significantly Influenced Sarcopenia in Postreproductive-Age Mice

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Rhett L. Peterson

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Previously, transplantation of ovaries from young cycling mice into old postreproductive-age mice increased life span. We anticipated that the same factors that increased life span could also influence health span. Female CBA/J mice received new (60 d ovaries at 12 and 17 months of age and were evaluated at 16 and 25 months of age, respectively. There were no significant differences in body weight among any age or treatment group. The percentage of fat mass was significantly increased at 13 and 16 months of age but was reduced by ovarian transplantation in 16-month-old mice. The percentages of lean body mass and total body water were significantly reduced in 13-month-old control mice but were restored in 16- and 25-month-old recipient mice by ovarian transplantation to the levels found in six-month-old control mice. In summary, we have shown that skeletal muscle mass, which is negatively influenced by aging, can be positively influenced or restored by reestablishment of active ovarian function in aged female mice. These findings provide strong incentive for further investigation of the positive influence of young ovaries on restoration of health in postreproductive females.

Australasian disasters of national significance: an epidemiological analysis, 1900-2012.

Science.gov (United States)

Bradt, David A; Bartley, Bruce; Hibble, Belinda A; Varshney, Kavita

2015-04-01

A regional epidemiological analysis of Australasian disasters in the 20th century to present was undertaken to examine trends in disaster epidemiology; to characterise the impacts on civil society through disaster policy, practice and legislation; and to consider future potential limitations in national disaster resilience. A surveillance definition of disaster was developed conforming to the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) criteria (≥10 deaths, ≥100 affected, or declaration of state emergency or appeal for international assistance). The authors then applied economic and legislative inclusion criteria to identify additional disasters of national significance. The surveillance definition yielded 165 disasters in the period, from which 65 emerged as disasters of national significance. There were 38 natural disasters, 22 technological disasters, three offshore terrorist attacks and two domestic mass shootings. Geographic analysis revealed that states with major population centres experienced the vast majority of disasters of national significance. Timeline analysis revealed an increasing incidence of disasters since the 1980s, which peaked in the period 2005-2009. Recent seasonal bushfires and floods have incurred the highest death toll and economic losses in Australasian history. Reactive hazard-specific legislation emerged after all terrorist acts and after most disasters of national significance. Timeline analysis reveals an increasing incidence in natural disasters over the past 15 years, with the most lethal and costly disasters occurring in the past 3 years. Vulnerability to disaster in Australasia appears to be increasing. Reactive legislation is a recurrent feature of Australasian disaster response that suggests legislative shortsightedness and a need for comprehensive all-hazards model legislation in the future. © 2015 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine.

The significance of eosinophilia during external irradiation for uterine cervix cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kikuchi, Yuzo; Washizuka, Norio; Kishiyama, Kazutaka; Yamada, Ryuichi; Hasegawa, Tenmatsu

1980-01-01

To study the mechanism of eosinophilia, correlation between immunological skin test including DNCB, PHA and PPD test, the grade of diarrhea were evaluated 32 cases of uterine cancer which received external irradiation. Also the comparison of eosinophilia and diarrhea among the three fraction group and each score group of skin test were done. The maximum value of absolute eosinophils and multiple increase in eosinophils increased more significantly in 4750 rads/20f/5 weeks group than in other group, but did'nt correlate among each score group of skin test. Also eosinophilia did'nt correlate significantly to skin test and the grade of diarrhea. (author)

Significant increase in cultivation of Gardnerella vaginalis, Alloscardovia omnicolens, Actinotignum schaalii, and Actinomyces spp. in urine samples with total laboratory automation.

Science.gov (United States)

Klein, Sabrina; Nurjadi, Dennis; Horner, Susanne; Heeg, Klaus; Zimmermann, Stefan; Burckhardt, Irene

2018-04-13

While total laboratory automation (TLA) is well established in laboratory medicine, only a few microbiological laboratories are using TLA systems. Especially in terms of speed and accuracy, working with TLA is expected to be superior to conventional microbiology. We compared in total 35,564 microbiological urine cultures with and without incubation and processing with BD Kiestra TLA for a 6-month period each retrospectively. Sixteen thousand three hundred thirty-eight urine samples were analyzed in the pre-TLA period and 19,226 with TLA. Sixty-two percent (n = 10,101/16338) of the cultures processed without TLA and 68% (n = 13,102/19226) of the cultures processed with TLA showed growth. There were significantly more samples with two or more species per sample and with low numbers of colony forming units (CFU) after incubation with TLA. Regarding the type of bacteria, there were comparable amounts of Enterobacteriaceae in the samples, slightly less non-fermenting Gram-negative bacteria, but significantly more Gram-positive cocci, and Gram-positive rods. Especially Alloscardivia omnicolens, Gardnerella vaginalis, Actinomyces spp., and Actinotignum schaalii were significantly more abundant in the samples incubated and processed with TLA. The time to report was significantly lower in the TLA processed samples by 1.5 h. We provide the first report in Europe of a large number of urine samples processed with TLA. TLA showed enhanced growth of non-classical and rarely cultured bacteria from urine samples. Our findings suggest that previously underestimated bacteria may be relevant pathogens for urinary tract infections. Further studies are needed to confirm our findings.

Significance of heel pad confinement for the shock absorption at heel strike.

Science.gov (United States)

Jørgensen, U; Ekstrand, J

1988-12-01

Shock absorption (SA) is a simple way to reduce the body load and can be used in the prevention and treatment of injuries. The heel pad is the most important shock absorber in the shoe heel complex. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the SA at heel strike can be increased by heel support in people and shoes with high or low SA. The impact forces at heel strike were measured on an AMTI (R) force platform. Fourteen legs were tested in seven persons (nine with normal and five with low heel pad SA) in gait analysis and in human drop tests. The tests were performed barefooted, and in a soccer and a running shoe (selected by shoe drop test), with and without the distal 2 cm of the heel counter. The heel pad confinement produced by the heel counter (the heel counter effect) increased the SA in both shoe types significantly in both impact situations. The mean increase in SA was 8.8% (range 5.8%-15.5%). The heel counter effect was in all situations significantly higher in persons with low heel pad shock absorbency (LHPSA) than in those with normal heel pads. The barefoot impact peak force per kg body weight was significantly higher (6% mean) on the side with LHPSA. The running shoe provided the significantly greatest SA compared with the soccer shoe. It is concluded that the shock absorbency at heel strike can be increased significantly by heel support, with highest effect in persons with LHPSA, both in shoes with high and low SA.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Surface water change as a significant contributor to global evapotranspiration change

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Zhan, S.; Song, C.

2017-12-01

Water comprises a critical component of global/regional hydrological and biogeochemical cycles and is essential to all organisms including humans. In the past several decades, climate change has intensified the hydrological cycle, with significant implications for ecosystem services and feedback to regional and global climate. Evapotranspiration (ET) as a linking mechanism between land surface and atmosphere is central to the water cycle and an excellent indicator of the intensity of water cycle. Knowledge of the temporal changes of ET is crucial for accurately estimating global or regional water budgets and better understanding climate and hydrological interactions. While studies have examined changes in global ET, they were conducted using a constant land and surface water (SW) area. However, as many studies have found that global SW is very dynamic and their surface areas have generally been increasing since the 1980s. The conversion from land to water and vice versa significantly changes the local ET since water bodies evaporate at a rate that can be much higher than that of the land. Here, we quantify the global changes in ET caused by such land-water conversion using remotely-sensed SW area and various ET and potential ET products. New SW and lost SW between circa-1985 and circa-2015 were derived from remote sensing and were used to modify the local ET estimates. We found an increase in ET in all continents as consistent with the net increase in SW area. The increasing SW area lead to a global increase in ET by 30.38 ± 5.28 km3/yr. This is a significant contribution when compared to the 92.95 km3/yr/yr increase in ET between 1982-1997 and 103.43 km3/yr/yr decrease between 1998-2008 by Jung et al., (2010) assuming a constant SW. The results enhance our understanding of the water fluxes between the land and atmosphere and supplement land water budget estimates. We conclude that changes in SW lead to a significant change in global ET that cannot be neglected in

Functional significance of cardiac reinnervation in heart transplant recipients.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwaiblmair, M; von Scheidt, W; Uberfuhr, P; Ziegler, S; Schwaiger, M; Reichart, B; Vogelmeier, C

1999-09-01

There is accumulating evidence of structural sympathetic reinnervation after human cardiac transplantation. However, the functional significance of reinnervation in terms of exercise capacity has not been established as yet; we therefore investigated the influence of reinnervation on cardiopulmonary exercise testing. After orthotopic heart transplantation 35 patients (mean age, 49.1 +/- 8.4 years) underwent positron emission tomography with scintigraphically measured uptake of C11-hydroxyephedrine (HED), lung function testing, and cardiopulmonary exercise testing. Two groups were defined based on scintigraphic findings, indicating a denervated group (n = 15) with a HED uptake of 5.45%/min and a reinnervated group (n = 20) with a HED uptake of 10.59%/min. The two study groups did not show significant differences with regard to anthropometric data, number of rejection episodes, preoperative hemodynamics, and postoperative lung function data. The reinnervated group had a significant longer time interval from transplantation (1625 +/- 1069 versus 800 +/- 1316 days, p exercise (137 +/- 15 versus 120 +/- 20 beats/min, p = .012), peak oxygen uptake (21.0 +/- 4 versus 16.1 +/- 5 mL/min/kg, p = .006), peak oxygen pulse (12.4 +/- 2.9 versus 10.2 +/- 2.7 mL/min/beat, p = .031), and anaerobic threshold (11.2 +/- 1.8 versus 9.5 +/- 2.1 mL/min, p = .046) were significantly increased in comparison to denervated transplant recipients. Additionally, a decreased functional dead space ventilation (0.24 +/- 0.05 versus 0.30 +/- 0.05, p = .004) was observed in the reinnervated group. Our study results support the hypothesis that partial sympathetic reinnervation after cardiac transplantation is of functional significance. Sympathetic reinnervation enables an increased peak oxygen uptake. This is most probably due to partial restoration of the chronotropic and inotropic competence of the heart as well as an improved oxygen delivery to the exercising muscles and a reduced ventilation

Isoflurane increases cardiorespiratory coordination in rats

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Kabir, Muammar M.; Beig, Mirza I.; Nalivaiko, Eugene; Abbott, Derek; Baumert, Mathias

2008-12-01

Anesthetics such as isoflurane adversely affect heart rate. In this study we analysed the interaction between heart rhythm and respiration at different concentrations of isoflurane and ventilation rates. In two rats, the electrocardiogram (ECG) and respiratory signals were recorded under the influence of isoflurane. For the assessment of cardiorespiratory coordination, we analysed the phase locking between heart rate, computed from the R-R intervals of body surface ECG, and respiratory rate, computed from impedance changes, using Hilbert transform. The changes in heart rate, percentage of synchronization and duration of synchronized epochs at different isoflurane concentrations and ventilation rates were assessed using linear regression model. From this study it appears that the amount of phase locking between cardiac and respiratory rates increases with the increase in concentration of isoflurane. Heart rate and duration of synchronized epochs increased significantly with the increase in the level of isoflurane concentration while respiratory rate was not significantly affected. Cardiorespiratory coordination also showed a considerable increase at the ventilation rates of 50- 55 cpm in both the rats, suggesting that the phase-locking between the cardiac and respiratory oscillators can be increased by breathing at a particular respiratory frequency.

Unconventional Imaging Methods to Capture Transient Structures during Actomyosin Interaction

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Eisaku Katayama

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Half a century has passed since the cross-bridge structure was recognized as the molecular machine that generates muscle tension. Despite various approaches by a number of scientists, information on the structural changes in the myosin heads, particularly its transient configurations, remains scant even now, in part because of their small size and rapid stochastic movements during the power stroke. Though progress in cryo-electron microscopy is eagerly awaited as the ultimate means to elucidate structural details, the introduction of some unconventional methods that provide high-contrast raw images of the target protein assemblies is quite useful, if available, to break the current impasse. Quick-freeze deep–etch–replica electron microscopy coupled with dedicated image analysis procedures, and high-speed atomic-force microscopy are two such candidates. We have applied the former to visualize actin-associated myosin heads under in vitro motility assay conditions, and found that they take novel configurations similar to the SH1–SH2-crosslinked myosin that we characterized recently. By incorporating biochemical and biophysical results, we have revised the cross-bridge mechanism to involve the new conformer as an important main player. The latter “microscopy” is unique and advantageous enabling continuous observation of various protein assemblies as they function. Direct observation of myosin-V’s movement along actin filaments revealed several unexpected behaviors such as foot-stomping of the leading head and unwinding of the coiled-coil tail. The potential contribution of these methods with intermediate spatial resolution is discussed.

Occult pneumothoraces in Chinese patients with significant blunt chest trauma: radiological classification and proposed clinical significance.

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Lee, Ryan K L; Graham, Colin A; Yeung, Janice H H; Ahuja, Anil T; Rainer, Timothy H

2012-12-01

An occult pneumothorax (OP) is a pneumothorax not seen on a supine chest X-ray (CXR) but detected on abdominal or thoracic computed tomography (CT) scanning. With the increasing use of CT in the management of significantly injured trauma patients, more OPs are being detected. The aim of this study was to classify OPs diagnosed on thoracic CT (TCT) and correlate them with their clinical significance. Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected trauma registry data. Total 36 (N=36) consecutive significantly injured trauma patients admitted through the emergency department (ED) who sustained blunt chest trauma and underwent TCT between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2008 were included. OP was defined as the identification (by a consultant radiologist) of a pneumothorax on TCT that had not been detected on supine CXR. OPs were classified by laterality (unilateral/bilateral) and location (apical, basal, non apical/basal). The size of pneumothoraces, severity of injury [including number of associated thoracic injuries and injury severity score (ISS)], length of hospital stay and mortality were compared between groups. The need for tube thoracostomy and clinical outcome were also analysed. Patients with bilateral OPs (N=8) had significantly more associated thoracic injuries (median: 2 vs. 1, p=0.01), higher ISS (median: 35 vs. 23, p=0.02) and longer hospital stay (median: 20 days vs. 11 days, p=0.01) than those with a unilateral OP (N=28). Basal OPs (N=7) were significantly larger than apical (N=10) and non-apical/basal Ops (N=11). Basal OPs were associated with significantly more associated thoracic injuries (median: 2 vs. 1, p=0.01), higher ISS (median: 35 vs. 25, p=0.04) and longer hospital stays (median: 23 days vs. 17 days, p=0.02) than apical Ops, which had higher ISS (median: 35 vs. 25, p=0.04) and longer hospital stays (median: 23 days vs. 15 days, p=0.02) than non-apical/basal OPs. Non-apical/basal OPs were associated with more related injuries (median: 2

Significant association between parathyroid hormone and uric acid level in men

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Chin KY

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Kok-Yong Chin,1 Soelaiman Ima Nirwana,1 Wan Zurinah Wan Ngah21Department of Pharmacology, 2Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaBackground: Previous reports of patients undergoing parathyroidectomy and of patients receiving teriparatide as antiosteoporotic treatment have suggested a plausible relationship between parathyroid hormone (PTH and uric acid. However, similar data at population level were lacking. The current study aimed to determine the relationship between PTH and uric acid in a group of apparently healthy Malaysian men.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 380 Malay and Chinese men aged 20 years and above, residing in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. Their body anthropometry was measured, and their fasting blood samples were collected for biochemical analysis. The relationship between PTH and uric acid was analyzed using regression analysis.Results: Increased serum PTH level was significantly associated with increased serum uric acid level (β=0.165; P=0.001. Increased PTH level was also significantly associated with the condition of hyperuricemia in the study population (odds ratio [OR], 1.045; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.017–1.075; P=0.002. All analyses were adjusted for age, body mass index, vitamin D, total calcium, inorganic phosphate, blood urea nitrogen and creatinine levels.Conclusion: There is a significant positive relationship between PTH level and uric acid level in Malaysian men. This relationship and its clinical significance should be further investigated in a larger longitudinal study. Keywords: hyperuricemia, Asian, cross-sectional study, uric acid, urate

Bayesian approaches for detecting significant deterioration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roed, Willy; Aven, Terje

2009-01-01

Risk indicators can provide useful input to risk management processes and are given increased attention in the Norwegian petroleum industry. Examples include indicators expressing the proportion of test failures of safety and barrier systems. Such indicators give valuable information about the performance of the systems and provide a basis for trend evaluations. Early warning of a possible deterioration is essential due to the importance of the systems in focus, but what should be the basis for the warning criterion? This paper presents and discusses several Bayesian approaches for the establishment of a warning criterion to disclose significant deterioration. The Norwegian petroleum industry is the starting point for this paper, but the study is relevant for other application areas as well

Eosinophilic pleural effusion: incidence, etiology and prognostic significance.

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Ferreiro, Lucía; San José, Esther; González-Barcala, Francisco Javier; Alvarez-Dobaño, José Manuel; Golpe, Antonio; Gude, Francisco; Anchorena, Christian; Pereyra, Marco F; Zamarrón, Carlos; Valdés, Luis

2011-10-01

Eosinophilic pleural effusion (EPE) has been associated with less risk for malignancy with a potential causal relationship with the presence of air and/or blood in the pleural space. However, these theories have fallen by the wayside in the light of recent publications. To determine the incidence and etiology of EPE and to observe whether the eosinophils in the pleural liquid (PL) increase in successive thoracocenteses. We analyzed 730 PL samples from 605 patients hospitalized between January 2004 and December 2010. We identified 55 samples with EPE from 50 patients (8.3%). The most frequent etiologies of EPE were: unknown (36%) and neoplasm (30%). There were no significant differences in the incidence of neoplasms between the non-eosinophilic pleural effusions (non-EPE) (25.9%) and the EPE (30%) (p=0.533). One hundred patients (16.5%) underwent a second thoracocentesis. Out of the 9 who had EPE in the first, 6 maintained EPE in the second. Out of the 91 with non-EPE in the first thoracocentesis, 8 (8.8%) had EPE in the repeat thoracocentesis. The percentage of eosinophils did not increase in the successive thoracocenteses (p=0.427). In the EPE, a significant correlation was found between the number of hematites and eosinophils in the PL (r=0.563; p=0.000). An EPE cannot be considered an indicator of benignancy, therefore it should be studied as any other pleural effusion. The number of eosinophils does not seem to increase with the of repetition of thoracocentesis and, lastly, the presence of blood in the PL could explain the existence of EPE. Copyright © 2011 SEPAR. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

'Knowledge for better health' revisited - the increasing significance of health research systems: a review by departing Editors-in-Chief.

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Hanney, Stephen R; González-Block, Miguel A

2017-10-02

How can nations organise research investments to obtain the best bundle of knowledge and the maximum level of improved health, spread as equitably as possible? This question was the central focus of a major initiative from WHO led by Prof Tikki Pang, which resulted in a range of developments, including the publication of a conceptual framework for national health research systems - Knowledge for better health - in 2003, and in the founding of the journal Health Research Policy and Systems (HARPS). As Editors-in-Chief of the journal since 2006, we mark our retirement by tracking both the progress of the journal and the development of national health research systems. HARPS has maintained its focus on a range of central themes that are key components of a national health research system in any country. These include building capacity to conduct and use health research, identifying appropriate priorities, securing funds and allocating them accountably, producing scientifically valid research outputs, promoting the use of research in polices and practice in order to improve health, and monitoring and evaluating the health research system. Some of the themes covered in HARPS are now receiving increased attention and, for example, with the assessment of research impact and development of knowledge translation platforms, the journal has covered their progress throughout that expansion of interest. In addition, there is increasing recognition of new imperatives, including the importance of promoting gender equality in health research if benefits are to be maximised. In this Editorial, we outline some of the diverse and developing perspectives considered within each theme, as well as considering how they are held together by the growing desire to build effective health research systems in all countries.From 2003 until mid-June 2017, HARPS published 590 articles on the above and related themes, with authors being located in 76 countries. We present quantitative data tracing

The Significance of Barriers to Entry in the Construction Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gerard de Valence

2012-11-01

Full Text Available This research looks at the significance of barriers that firms considering entry into the construction industry might face. Drawing on the microeconomic characteristics of imperfectly competitive and oligopolistic markets the analysis finds that there are a dozen barriers to entry that affect the industry, but their significance depends on the product type. The discussion covers the question of product homogeneity in construction and evidence for the existence of barriers to entry in concentration levels. Barriers to entry specific to construction are then identified, which leads to an analysis of how they operate and their significance (high, medium or low in different market types, thus increasing our understanding of construction industry dynamics.

Electronic prompts significantly increase response rates to postal questionnaires: a randomized trial within a randomized trial and meta-analysis.

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Clark, Laura; Ronaldson, Sarah; Dyson, Lisa; Hewitt, Catherine; Torgerson, David; Adamson, Joy

2015-12-01

To assess the effectiveness of sending electronic prompts to randomized controlled trial participants to return study questionnaires. A "trial within a trial" embedded within a study determining the effectiveness of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (DOC) screening on smoking cessation. Those participants taking part in DOC who provided a mobile phone number and/or an electronic mail address were randomized to either receive an electronic prompt or no electronic prompt to return a study questionnaire. The results were combined with two previous studies in a meta-analysis. A total of 437 participants were randomized: 226 to the electronic prompt group and 211 to the control group. A total of 285 (65.2%) participants returned the follow-up questionnaire: 157 (69.5%) in the electronic prompt group and 128 (60.7%) in the control group [difference 8.8%; 95% confidence interval (CI): -0.11%, 17.7%; P = 0.05]. The mean time to response was 23 days in the electronic prompt group and 33 days in the control group (hazard ratio = 1.27; 95% CI: 1.105, 1.47). The meta-analysis of all three studies showed an increase in response rate of 7.1% (95% CI: 0.8%, 13.3%). The use of electronic prompts increased response rates and reduces the time to response. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Detecting Novelty and Significance

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Ferrari, Vera; Bradley, Margaret M.; Codispoti, Maurizio; Lang, Peter J.

2013-01-01

Studies of cognition often use an “oddball” paradigm to study effects of stimulus novelty and significance on information processing. However, an oddball tends to be perceptually more novel than the standard, repeated stimulus as well as more relevant to the ongoing task, making it difficult to disentangle effects due to perceptual novelty and stimulus significance. In the current study, effects of perceptual novelty and significance on ERPs were assessed in a passive viewing context by presenting repeated and novel pictures (natural scenes) that either signaled significant information regarding the current context or not. A fronto-central N2 component was primarily affected by perceptual novelty, whereas a centro-parietal P3 component was modulated by both stimulus significance and novelty. The data support an interpretation that the N2 reflects perceptual fluency and is attenuated when a current stimulus matches an active memory representation and that the amplitude of the P3 reflects stimulus meaning and significance. PMID:19400680

Clinical significance of quantitative analysis of facial nerve enhancement on MRI in Bell's palsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Mee Hyun; Kim, Jinna; Jeon, Ju Hyun; Cho, Chang Il; Yoo, Eun Hye; Lee, Won-Sang; Lee, Ho-Ki

2008-11-01

Quantitative analysis of the facial nerve on the lesion side as well as the normal side, which allowed for more accurate measurement of facial nerve enhancement in patients with facial palsy, showed statistically significant correlation with the initial severity of facial nerve inflammation, although little prognostic significance was shown. This study investigated the clinical significance of quantitative measurement of facial nerve enhancement in patients with Bell's palsy by analyzing the enhancement pattern and correlating MRI findings with initial severity of facial palsy and clinical outcome. Facial nerve enhancement was measured quantitatively by using the region of interest on pre- and postcontrast T1-weighted images in 44 patients diagnosed with Bell's palsy. The signal intensity increase on the lesion side was first compared with that of the contralateral side and then correlated with the initial degree of facial palsy and prognosis. The lesion side showed significantly higher signal intensity increase compared with the normal side in all of the segments except for the mastoid segment. Signal intensity increase at the internal auditory canal and labyrinthine segments showed correlation with the initial degree of facial palsy but no significant difference was found between different prognostic groups.

The prognostic significance of angina pectoris experienced during the first month following acute myocardial infarction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jespersen, C M

1997-01-01

BACKGROUND: Angina pectoris accompanied by transient ST-segment changes during the in-hospital phase of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a well established marker of subsequent cardiac death and reinfarction. HYPOTHESIS: This study was undertaken to record the prognostic significance of angina...... on study treatment 1 month after discharge. Of these patients, 311 (39%) reported chest pain during the first month following discharge. RESULTS: Patients with angina pectoris had a significantly increased risk of reinfarction [hazard 1.71; 95%-confidence limit (CL): 1.09, 2.69] and increased mortality...... risk which, however, only reached borderline statistical significance (hazard 1.52; 95%-CL: 0.96, 2.40). When patients were subdivided according to both angina pectoris and heart failure, those with one or both of these risk markers had significantly increased mortality (p 0.03) and reinfarction (p 0...

The stage-classified matrix models project a significant increase in biomass carbon stocks in China's forests between 2005 and 2050.

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Hu, Huifeng; Wang, Shaopeng; Guo, Zhaodi; Xu, Bing; Fang, Jingyun

2015-06-25

China's forests are characterized by young age, low carbon (C) density and a large plantation area, implying a high potential for increasing C sinks in the future. Using data of provincial forest area and biomass C density from China's forest inventories between 1994 and 2008 and the planned forest coverage of the country by 2050, we developed a stage-classified matrix model to predict biomass C stocks of China's forests from 2005 to 2050. The results showed that total forest biomass C stock would increase from 6.43 Pg C (1 Pg = 10(15) g) in 2005 to 9.97 Pg C (95% confidence interval: 8.98 ~ 11.07 Pg C) in 2050, with an overall net C gain of 78.8 Tg C yr(-1) (56.7 ~ 103.3 Tg C yr(-1); 1 Tg = 10(12) g). Our findings suggest that China's forests will be a large and persistent biomass C sink through 2050.

Assessing Clinical Significance: Does it Matter which Method we Use?

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Atkins, David C.; Bedics, Jamie D.; Mcglinchey, Joseph B.; Beauchaine, Theodore P.

2005-01-01

Measures of clinical significance are frequently used to evaluate client change during therapy. Several alternatives to the original method devised by N. S. Jacobson, W. C. Follette, & D. Revenstorf (1984) have been proposed, each purporting to increase accuracy. However, researchers have had little systematic guidance in choosing among…

Antibiotic resistance increases with local temperature

Science.gov (United States)

MacFadden, Derek R.; McGough, Sarah F.; Fisman, David; Santillana, Mauricio; Brownstein, John S.

2018-06-01

Bacteria that cause infections in humans can develop or acquire resistance to antibiotics commonly used against them1,2. Antimicrobial resistance (in bacteria and other microbes) causes significant morbidity worldwide, and some estimates indicate the attributable mortality could reach up to 10 million by 20502-4. Antibiotic resistance in bacteria is believed to develop largely under the selective pressure of antibiotic use; however, other factors may contribute to population level increases in antibiotic resistance1,2. We explored the role of climate (temperature) and additional factors on the distribution of antibiotic resistance across the United States, and here we show that increasing local temperature as well as population density are associated with increasing antibiotic resistance (percent resistant) in common pathogens. We found that an increase in temperature of 10 °C across regions was associated with an increases in antibiotic resistance of 4.2%, 2.2%, and 2.7% for the common pathogens Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus. The associations between temperature and antibiotic resistance in this ecological study are consistent across most classes of antibiotics and pathogens and may be strengthening over time. These findings suggest that current forecasts of the burden of antibiotic resistance could be significant underestimates in the face of a growing population and climate change4.

Significance of insulin for glucose metabolism in skeletal muscle during contractions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hespel, P; Vergauwen, Lieven; Vandenberghe, K

1996-01-01

is essentially effected via increased blood flow, significantly contributes to stimulate glucose uptake. Again, however, increased glucose delivery appears to be a more potent stimulus of muscle glucose uptake as the circulating insulin level is increased. Furthermore, contractions and elevated flow prove...... is effected primarily via mechanisms exerted within the muscle cell related to the contractile activity per se. Yet contractions become a more potent stimulus of muscle glucose uptake as the plasma insulin level is increased. In addition, enhanced glucose delivery to muscle, which during exercise...... to be additive stimuli of muscle glucose uptake at any plasma insulin level. In conclusion, the extent to which muscle glucose uptake is stimulated during exercise depends on various factors, including 1) the intensity of the contractile activity, 2) the magnitude of the exercise-associated increase in muscle...

Role and significance of total phenols during rooting of Protea ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The high total phenol content was associated with significantly higher rooting percentage and increased the number of roots formed. Blanching reduced the time needed for the cuttings to root sufficiently to be transplanted to the field by 30 days. Analyses of different parts of cuttings throughout the entire rooting period ...

Detection and significance of serum inflammatory factors and oxidative stress indicators in diabetic retinopathy

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Wei Gao; Jing Wang; Chao Zhang; Ping Qin

2017-01-01

Objective:To determine the serum inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress parameters of diabetic retinopathy (DR) patients to explore their possible role in the DR.Methods: 116 cases of type 2 diabetic patients were selected from June 2015 to June 2016 in our hospital as research subjects, divided into diabetic Diabetes without retinopathy (NDR group,n = 63) and diabetic with retinopathy patients (DR group,n = 53). And 60 cases of healthy check-ups of the same period in our hospital medical center were selected as normal control group (NC). The VEGF, IL-6, TNF-α , MDA and SOD levels of three groups of patients were detected. Results:The IL-6 levels of NC group, NDR group and DR group were increased gradually, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The TNF-α levels of NC group, NDR group and DR group were increased gradually, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The VEGF levels of NC group, NDR group and DR group were increased gradually, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The malondialdehyde (MDA) levels of NC group, NDR group and DR group increased gradually, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels of NC group, NDR group and DR group were decreased gradually, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusions: DR patients express high levels of IL-6, TNF-α and VEGF, and there exists significant oxidative stress in DR, which shows that the inflammation occurrence and oxidative stress state play an important role in the development of DR.

Meeting increased demand.

Science.gov (United States)

Blair, Andrew

2004-07-01

New Zealand is a little country with a little economy but with a population that's rapidly aging. New Zealand's population is only 4.3 million people. It's GDP is only $US58.6 billion (2002). New Zealand's expenditure on health as a percentage of GDP is not out of line with that of other countries. As a nation we have been increasing expenditure on health over recent years. In 1990 we spent 7% of GDP on health. In 1995 that increased to 7.65% and is now 8.3%. However, in per capita terms our expenditure on health does not compare so well with like countries. The size of New Zealand's economy is restricting what our country spends on health. Health is already the second highest demand on the New Zealand tax dollar. The tolerance of New Zealanders would be challenged if a Government attempted to increase taxes further to meet the growing demands for expenditure on health, but at the same time the population's expectations are increasing. This is the challenging situation we face today. What lies ahead? Like all industrialized countries New Zealand is facing an aging population. The population below age 40 is decreasing, but it is increasing significantly over that age. 16% of the population is currently aged over 60. By 2051 this proportion will almost double to just over 31%. Coupled with the aging population is increased awareness and expectations, as access to options for treatment and technology becomes readily accessible to the population through such media as the internet. The extent of the impact of the aging population can be clearly represented by focusing on one specialty such as orthopaedics. The New Zealand Orthopaecic Association undertook a study in July 2003 which concluded (among other things) that as a result of the projected aging of the population, over the next 50 years: Musculo-skeletal operations will increase by over 30%. The number of hip replacements will nearly double. The incidence of osteoporosis will increase by a massive 201%. The number

Increased intracranial volume in Parkinson's disease

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krabbe, Katja; Karlsborg, Merete; Hansen, Andreas

2005-01-01

segmentation and outlining of regions in order to identify regional volume changes that might be useful in the diagnosis of the two diseases. RESULTS: Patients with PD had significantly larger intracranial volumes (ICVs) and significantly smaller putaminal and sustantia nigra volumes than controls. MSA...... patients had significantly smaller substantia nigra and caudate volumes than controls but normal intracranial volume. In both patient groups there was a further trend towards smaller amygdala volumes. DISCUSSION: Increased ICV in PD patients is a new finding that may be explained by genetic factors...

Barnacle geese achieve significant energetic savings by changing posture.

Science.gov (United States)

Tickle, Peter G; Nudds, Robert L; Codd, Jonathan R

2012-01-01

Here we report the resting metabolic rate in barnacle geese (Branta leucopsis) and provide evidence for the significant energetic effect of posture. Under laboratory conditions flow-through respirometry together with synchronous recording of behaviour enabled a calculation of how metabolic rate varies with posture. Our principal finding is that standing bipedally incurs a 25% increase in metabolic rate compared to birds sitting on the ground. In addition to the expected decrease in energy consumption of hindlimb postural muscles when sitting, we hypothesise that a change in breathing mechanics represents one potential mechanism for at least part of the observed difference in energetic cost. Due to the significant effect of posture, future studies of resting metabolic rates need to take into account and/or report differences in posture.

One arm exercise induces significant interarm diastolic blood pressure difference.

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Hong, Dezhi; Wang, Jiwei; Su, Hai; Xu, Jingsong; Liu, Yanna; Peng, Qiang; Wang, Lijuan

2011-06-01

This study is designed to investigate the inducing effect of one arm exercise on interarm difference (IAD) in the blood pressure (BP). Fifty healthy young participants were included in the study. Three-minute exercises of the right arm elbow flexion and extension were performed. The bilateral brachial BP was simultaneously measured with two automatic BP measurement devices before (basic) and immediately 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 min after exercise. The absolute difference in the systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) between the left and right BP of at least 10 mmHg was recognized as sIAD and dIAD. The baseline data of the SBP and DBP in left and right arms revealed no significant difference (SBP: 110 ± 10 vs. 111 ± 11 mmHg; DBP: 66 ± 8 vs. 66 ± 9 mmHg, both not significant). The prevalence of dIAD was 2% at the baseline. However, this prevalence increased to 80% at 0 min, as right arm exercise induced the right DBP decrease and left DBP increase, and then the prevalence decreased gradually within a 30-min recovery period. The prevalence of sIAD was zero at the baseline and the maximal prevalence was 8% during the 20-min postexercise period. One arm exercise can lead to a significant IAD in DBP. Any arm exercise should be avoided before BP measurement.

Effects of increasing age, dosage, and duration of PTH treatment on BMD increase--a meta-analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schwarz, Peter; Jorgensen, Niklas Rye; Mosekilde, Leif

2012-01-01

were included. By metaregression analysis, we found that the increase in spine BMD (Z-score) after PTH treatment was blunted by increasing age (R (2) = 0.27; 2p = 0.01, slope -0.023 Z-scores per year, 11 studies). By increasing PTH dosage (μg/d), spine BMD increased significantly (2p = 0.......002) with a slope of +0.011 Z-scores/μg/d of teriparatide. Furthermore, the duration of treatment was positively correlated to spine BMD (P ......We studied the effects of increasing age, dosage, and duration of parathyroid hormone (PTH) treatment on changes in bone mineral density (BMD). Randomized placebo controlled trials on PTH treatment in men or women were retrieved from PubMed (1951 to present), Web of Science (1945 to present...

Is increase in bone mineral content caused by increase in skeletal muscle mass/strength in adult patients with GH-treated GH deficiency?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Klefter, Oliver; Feldt-Rasmussen, Ulla

2009-01-01

to a muscle modulating effect, and if treatment with GH would primarily increase muscle mass and strength with a secondary increase in BMD/BMC, thus supporting the present physiological concept that mass and strength of bones are mainly determined by dynamic loads from the skeletal muscles. METHOD: We...... performed a systematic literature analysis, including 51 clinical trials published between 1996 and 2008, which had studied the development in muscle mass, muscle strength, BMD, and/or BMC in GH-treated adult GHD patients. RESULTS: GH therapy had an anabolic effect on skeletal muscle. The largest increase...... in muscle mass occurred during the first 12 months of therapy. Most trials measuring BMD/BMC reported significant increases from baseline values. The significant increases in BMD/BMC occurred after 12-18 months of treatment, i.e. usually later than the increases in muscle parameters. Only seven trials...

The significance of postangiographic CT for differentiation of hepatic masses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jae Kyo; Chang, Jae Chun; Chang, You Song

1994-01-01

To identify the long term hemodynamics of various hepatic masses and to determine any differential findings by using postangiograpic CT performed with increased amount of contrast media and time than conventional contrast CT. 50 confirmed masses consisted of 22 hepatocellular carcinoma, 10 cholangiocarcinoma, 9 metastasis, and 9 cavernous hemangioma were included. The changes of the density of internal viable tumor portion relative to surrounding normal liver parenchyma in postangiograhic CT from that in conventional CT were classified as 3 patients; no specific changes, increase, or decrease. In 22 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma, six cases showed no relative density change, four cases increase, and twelve cases decrease. In ten cases of cholangiocacinoma, one case showed no change, nine cases increase. In nine cases of metastasis, four cases showed no change, five cases increase. In nine cases of hemangioma, all cases showed increase. In postangiographic CT which emphasize the significance of postequilibrium and delayed phase, other hemodynamic changes undetected in angiography could more easily be comprehended. Considering the differing amount of consumed contrast media and time duration, and with reference of other imaging modalities, differential diagnosis of hepatic masses based on long term hemodynamics could easily be made

The Intriguing Dual Lattices of the Myosin Filaments in Vertebrate Striated Muscles: Evolution and Advantage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pradeep K. Luther

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Myosin filaments in vertebrate striated muscle have a long roughly cylindrical backbone with cross-bridge projections on the surfaces of both halves except for a short central bare zone. In the middle of this central region the filaments are cross-linked by the M-band which holds them in a well-defined hexagonal lattice in the muscle A-band. During muscular contraction the M-band-defined rotation of the myosin filaments around their long axes influences the interactions that the cross-bridges can make with the neighbouring actin filaments. We can visualise this filament rotation by electron microscopy of thin cross-sections in the bare-region immediately adjacent to the M-band where the filament profiles are distinctly triangular. In the muscles of teleost fishes, the thick filament triangular profiles have a single orientation giving what we call the simple lattice. In other vertebrates, for example all the tetrapods, the thick filaments have one of two orientations where the triangles point in opposite directions (they are rotated by 60° or 180° according to set rules. Such a distribution cannot be developed in an ordered fashion across a large 2D lattice, but there are small domains of superlattice such that the next-nearest neighbouring thick filaments often have the same orientation. We believe that this difference in the lattice forms can lead to different contractile behaviours. Here we provide a historical review, and when appropriate cite recent work related to the emergence of the simple and superlattice forms by examining the muscles of several species ranging back to primitive vertebrates and we discuss the functional differences that the two lattice forms may have.

In vitro studies of the physical interactions between neurofilaments, microtubules and mitochondria isolated from the central nervous system

Science.gov (United States)

Leterrier, Jean-François; Eyer, Joël; Weiss, Dieter G.; Lindén, Monica

1991-05-01

In order to explore the molecular nature and the regulation of dense cytomatrix which interconnects MT, NF and membranous organelles in neurons (9), the interactions between NF, MT and each of these cytoskelatal elements with brain mitochondria were investigated in vitro using biochemical and viophysical methods. From these studies, the following conclusions were drawn: 1- Pure NF form in vitro a highly viscous gel, dependent upon the phosphorylation state of the side arms of the NF-H and M subunits which might participate directly to the interactions since antibodies specific of these phosphorylated sites inhibited efficiently the NF gelation. This process is modulated by both ATP hydrolysis and soluble molecules from nervous tissue and it might reflect the highly controled organization of NF bundles in axons. 2- In contrast with NF, low viscosity levels were detected in MT suspensions. However, the occurrence of weak interactions between MT were deduced from studies with taxol, ATP, AMP-PNP and Mg ions, which affected the viscosity and the organization of MT in vitro, possibly through MAPs mediated interactions. 3- Mitochondria associated permanently in vitro to few MT through cross-bridges involving MAPs, which bind to specific sites on the outer membrane (17). In addition, brain mitochondria (and not liver mitochondria) interact with NF in an ATP-dependent manner, through thin cross-bridges possibly involving the NF-H and M subunits since these molecules, when purified, compete efficiently with MAPs for the binding to membrane sites. These results suggest the participation of structure MAPs and of NF-H and M subunits in the spatial organization MT and NF and in anchoring mitochondria to the cytomatrix.

Significance of a diagnosis of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance for Papanicolaou smears in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women.

Science.gov (United States)

Keating, J T; Wang, H H

2001-04-25

The current study was conducted to determine the significance of a diagnosis of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women. The reports for all Papanicolaou (Pap) smears viewed in the study institution's cytology laboratory over a 6-month period were reviewed. Women were divided into premenopausal (age ages 46-54 years), and postmenopausal (age > or = 55 years) categories. Slide review and 2-year follow-up were obtained for selected cases diagnosed as ASCUS. ASCUS cases among the perimenopausal women were compared with an age-matched control group. The total number of abnormal Pap smears in the premenopausal, perimenopausal, and postmenopausal categories were 770 (6.8%), 104 (4.3%), and 67 (2.9%), with 482, 83, and 41 diagnoses of ASCUS, respectively. The ratio of ASCUS to squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL) was 2.2 overall and 1.9, 7.5, and 4.1, respectively, for each group (P ASCUS cases appeared to have a higher percentage of nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio increase and nuclear membrane irregularities compared with the other categories (P = 0.03 and P = 0.02, respectively) and the perimenopausal group was found to have more ASCUS in metaplastic cells (P = 0.03). In perimenopausal women, slides diagnosed as ASCUS demonstrated more air-drying artifact than the control group (P = 0.004) but had less obvious atrophy (P = 0.01). Despite a decreased abnormality rate with increasing age, the results of the current study show that the perimenopausal and postmenopausal groups appear to have elevated ASCUS-to-SIL ratios. ASCUS appears to have a particularly low positive predictive value for SIL in perimenopausal women, and therefore most likely is overcalled in this age group. This may be attributable in part to air-drying artifact and subtle atrophic changes.

Creating a Middle Grades Environment that Significantly Improves Student Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

L'Esperance, Mark E.; Lenker, Ethan; Bullock, Ann; Lockamy, Becky; Mason, Cathy

2013-01-01

This article offers an overview of the framework that Sampson County Public Schools (North Carolina) used to critically reflect on the current state of their middle grades schools. The article also highlights the changes that resulted from the district-wide analysis and the ways in which these changes led to a significant increase in the academic…

Barnacle Geese Achieve Significant Energetic Savings by Changing Posture

OpenAIRE

Tickle, Peter G.; Nudds, Robert L.; Codd, Jonathan R.

2012-01-01

Here we report the resting metabolic rate in barnacle geese (Branta leucopsis) and provide evidence for the significant energetic effect of posture. Under laboratory conditions flow-through respirometry together with synchronous recording of behaviour enabled a calculation of how metabolic rate varies with posture. Our principal finding is that standing bipedally incurs a 25% increase in metabolic rate compared to birds sitting on the ground. In addition to the expected decrease in energy con...

Medical Significance of Microorganisms in Spacecraft Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Pierson, Duane L.; Ott, C. Mark

2007-01-01

Microorganisms can spoil food supplies, contaminate drinking water, release noxious volatile compounds, initiate allergic responses, contaminate the environment, and cause infectious diseases. International acceptability limits have been established for bacterial and fungal contaminants in air and on surfaces, and environmental monitoring is conducted to ensure compliance. Allowable levels of microorganism in water and food have also been established. Environmental monitoring of the space shuttle, the Mir, and the ISS have allowed for some general conclusions. Generally, the bacteria found in air and on interior surfaces are largely of human origin such as Staphylococcus spp., Micrococcus spp. Common environmental genera such as Bacillus spp. are the most commonly isolated bacteria from all spacecraft. Yeast species associated with humans such as Candida spp. are commonly found. Aspergillus spp., Penicillium spp., and Cladosporium spp. are the most commonly isolated filamentous fungi. Microbial levels in the environment differ significantly depending upon humidity levels, condensate accumulation, and availability of carbon sources. However, human "normal flora" of bacteria and fungi can result in serious, life-threatening diseases if human immunity is compromised. Disease incidence is expected to increase as mission duration increases.

farmers'perception on the strategies for increasing tomato ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

thinkexploitsint'l

Nigeria in the year 2013 to assess the farmers' perception on the strategies for increasing ... In Nigeria the high demand for fresh and processed tomato calls for a significant improvement in production technology to ensure increase.

Barnacle geese achieve significant energetic savings by changing posture.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter G Tickle

Full Text Available Here we report the resting metabolic rate in barnacle geese (Branta leucopsis and provide evidence for the significant energetic effect of posture. Under laboratory conditions flow-through respirometry together with synchronous recording of behaviour enabled a calculation of how metabolic rate varies with posture. Our principal finding is that standing bipedally incurs a 25% increase in metabolic rate compared to birds sitting on the ground. In addition to the expected decrease in energy consumption of hindlimb postural muscles when sitting, we hypothesise that a change in breathing mechanics represents one potential mechanism for at least part of the observed difference in energetic cost. Due to the significant effect of posture, future studies of resting metabolic rates need to take into account and/or report differences in posture.

Clinical significance of the VEGF level in urinary bladder carcinoma.

Science.gov (United States)

Sankhwar, Monica; Sankhwar, Satya Narayan; Abhishek, Amar; Rajender, Singh

2015-01-01

To investigate the correlation of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) and micro-vessel density (MVD) with urinary bladder tumor and its stage. The study was conducted between January 2010 and December 2012. The study included screening of 122 patients at elevated risk for bladder cancer, of which 35 patients were finally enrolled in the study. Diagnosis was made on the basis of urine cytology, radiological investigation (ultrasound KUB, and CT-scan) and histopathology. Thirty-five normal cancer-free individuals were enrolled as controls. Human VEGF levels were measured using an enzyme linked immunoassay and protein content (pg/mg protein) by Lowry method. SPSS for Windows version 10.0.7 (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA) was used for statistical analysis of the data. Mean urine VEGF level in the cases was significantly higher in comparison to the control group. There was a direct correlation between VEGF level and tumor stage. Mean urine VEGF values were minimum in the control group (22.75 ± 15.41 pg/mg creatinine) and maximum in stage IV patients (180.15 ± 75.93 pg/mg creatinine). Tissue VEGF levels also showed a similar trend of increase with increase in stage. Urine VEGF level also showed a correlation with tissue VEGF level. Similarly, MVD showed a significant increase with increase in tumor stage. A correlation between bladder cancer and MVD and VEGF suggest that the latter can serve as markers for therapeutic guidance. This is the first study from India on clinical and pathological correlation among urine VEGF, tumor tissue VEGF levels, and Micro Vessel Density (MVD) in urinary bladder cancer patients.

Comparison of concentric and eccentric bench press repetitions to failure.

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Stephen B; Brown, Lee E; Hooker, Steven P; Swan, Pamela D; Buman, Matthew P; Alvar, Brent A; Black, Laurie E

2015-04-01

Eccentric muscle actions (ECC) are characterized by muscle lengthening, despite actin-myosin crossbridge formation. Muscles acting eccentrically are capable of producing higher levels of force compared with muscles acting concentrically. The purpose of this study was to determine whether ECC bench press yields greater strength than concentric (CON) as determined by 1 repetition maximum (1RM). Additionally, a comparison was made examining differences in the number of repetitions to failure at different relative intensities of 1RM. Thirty healthy men (age = 24.63 ± 5.6 years) were tested for 1RM in CON and ECC bench press and the number of repetitions completed at 60, 70, 80, and 90% 1RM. For CON repetitions, the weight was mechanically lowered to the chest, and the participant pressed it up until the elbows were fully extended. The ECC bench press consisted of lowering a barbell from a fully extended elbow position to the chest in a continuous controlled manner for 3 seconds as determined by electronic metronome. Paired t-tests showed that ECC 1RM (115.99 ± 31.08 kg) was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) greater than CON 1RM (93.56 ± 26.56 kg), and the number of repetitions completed at 90% 1RM was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) greater in ECC (7.67 ± 3.24) as compared with CON (4.57 ± 2.21). There were no significant differences in number of completed repetitions during CON and ECC bench press at 60, 70, and 80% 1RM. These data indicate that ECC actions yield increased force capabilities (∼120%) as compared with CON in the bench press and may be less prone to fatigue, especially at higher intensities. These differences suggest a need to develop unique strategies for training eccentrically.

Significant Tsunami Events

Science.gov (United States)

Dunbar, P. K.; Furtney, M.; McLean, S. J.; Sweeney, A. D.

2014-12-01

Tsunamis have inflicted death and destruction on the coastlines of the world throughout history. The occurrence of tsunamis and the resulting effects have been collected and studied as far back as the second millennium B.C. The knowledge gained from cataloging and examining these events has led to significant changes in our understanding of tsunamis, tsunami sources, and methods to mitigate the effects of tsunamis. The most significant, not surprisingly, are often the most devastating, such as the 2011 Tohoku, Japan earthquake and tsunami. The goal of this poster is to give a brief overview of the occurrence of tsunamis and then focus specifically on several significant tsunamis. There are various criteria to determine the most significant tsunamis: the number of deaths, amount of damage, maximum runup height, had a major impact on tsunami science or policy, etc. As a result, descriptions will include some of the most costly (2011 Tohoku, Japan), the most deadly (2004 Sumatra, 1883 Krakatau), and the highest runup ever observed (1958 Lituya Bay, Alaska). The discovery of the Cascadia subduction zone as the source of the 1700 Japanese "Orphan" tsunami and a future tsunami threat to the U.S. northwest coast, contributed to the decision to form the U.S. National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program. The great Lisbon earthquake of 1755 marked the beginning of the modern era of seismology. Knowledge gained from the 1964 Alaska earthquake and tsunami helped confirm the theory of plate tectonics. The 1946 Alaska, 1952 Kuril Islands, 1960 Chile, 1964 Alaska, and the 2004 Banda Aceh, tsunamis all resulted in warning centers or systems being established.The data descriptions on this poster were extracted from NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) global historical tsunami database. Additional information about these tsunamis, as well as water level data can be found by accessing the NGDC website www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazard/

In Vivo Imaging Reveals Significant Tumor Vascular Dysfunction and Increased Tumor Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-1α Expression Induced by High Single-Dose Irradiation in a Pancreatic Tumor Model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maeda, Azusa [Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario (Canada); Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario (Canada); Chen, Yonghong; Bu, Jiachuan; Mujcic, Hilda [Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario (Canada); Wouters, Bradly G. [Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario (Canada); Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario (Canada); Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario (Canada); DaCosta, Ralph S., E-mail: rdacosta@uhnres.utoronto.ca [Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario (Canada); Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario (Canada); Techna Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario (Canada)

2017-01-01

Purpose: To investigate the effect of high-dose irradiation on pancreatic tumor vasculature and microenvironment using in vivo imaging techniques. Methods and Materials: A BxPC3 pancreatic tumor xenograft was established in a dorsal skinfold window chamber model and a subcutaneous hind leg model. Tumors were irradiated with a single dose of 4, 12, or 24 Gy. The dorsal skinfold window chamber model was used to assess tumor response, vascular function and permeability, platelet and leukocyte adhesion to the vascular endothelium, and tumor hypoxia for up to 14 days after 24-Gy irradiation. The hind leg model was used to monitor tumor size, hypoxia, and vascularity for up to 65 days after 24-Gy irradiation. Tumors were assessed histologically to validate in vivo observations. Results: In vivo fluorescence imaging revealed temporary vascular dysfunction in tumors irradiated with a single dose of 4 to 24 Gy, but most significantly with a single dose of 24 Gy. Vascular functional recovery was observed by 14 days after irradiation in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, irradiation with 24 Gy caused platelet and leukocyte adhesion to the vascular endothelium within hours to days after irradiation. Vascular permeability was significantly higher in irradiated tumors compared with nonirradiated controls 14 days after irradiation. This observation corresponded with increased expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α in irradiated tumors. In the hind leg model, irradiation with a single dose of 24 Gy led to tumor growth delay, followed by tumor regrowth. Conclusions: Irradiation of the BxPC3 tumors with a single dose of 24 Gy caused transient vascular dysfunction and increased expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α. Such biological changes may impact tumor response to high single-dose and hypofractionated irradiation, and further investigations are needed to better understand the clinical outcomes of stereotactic body radiation therapy.

Test Structures For Bumpy Integrated Circuits

Science.gov (United States)

Buehler, Martin G.; Sayah, Hoshyar R.

1989-01-01

Cross-bridge resistors added to comb and serpentine patterns. Improved combination of test structures built into integrated circuit used to evaluate design rules, fabrication processes, and quality of interconnections. Consist of meshing serpentines and combs, and cross bridge. Structures used to make electrical measurements revealing defects in design or fabrication. Combination of test structures includes three comb arrays, two serpentine arrays, and cross bridge. Made of aluminum or polycrystalline silicon, depending on material in integrated-circuit layers evaluated. Aluminum combs and serpentine arrays deposited over steps made by polycrystalline silicon and diffusion layers, while polycrystalline silicon versions of these structures used to cross over steps made by thick oxide layer.

Ebselen increases cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration, stimulates glutamate release and increases GFAP content in rat hippocampal astrocytes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salazar, Miguel; Pariente, Jose Antonio; Salido, Gines Maria; Gonzalez, Antonio

2008-01-01

We have investigated the effect of the seleno-organic compound and radical scavenger ebselen on rat hippocampal astrocytes in culture. Throughout our study we carried out determinations of [Ca 2+ ] c in fura-2-loaded cells by single cell imaging, glutamate secretion employing an enzymatic-based assay and GFAP expression, which was monitorized by immunocytochemistry and confocal microscopy. Our results show that ebselen (1-20 μM) dose dependently increases [Ca 2+ ] c , stimulates glutamate release and increases GFAP content, a hallmark of astrocyte reactivity. Ebselen did not alter significantly cell viability as assayed by determination of LDH release into the extracellular medium. Ebselen-evoked glutamate release and increase in GFAP content were Ca 2+ -dependent, because incubation of astrocytes in the absence of extracellular Ca 2+ (medium containing 0.5 mM EGTA) and in the presence of the intracellular Ca 2+ chelator BAPTA (10 μM) significantly reduced ebselen-evoked changes in these parameters. The effects of ebselen we have observed may underline various signalling pathways which are important for cell proliferation, differentiation and function. However, aberrations in astroglial physiology could significantly compromise brain function, due to their role as modulators of neuron activity. Therefore, we consider that careful attention should be paid when employing ebselen as a prophylactic agent against brain damage

Meaning and significance of

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ph D Student Roman Mihaela

2011-05-01

Full Text Available The concept of "public accountability" is a challenge for political science as a new concept in this area in full debate and developement ,both in theory and practice. This paper is a theoretical approach of displaying some definitions, relevant meanings and significance odf the concept in political science. The importance of this concept is that although originally it was used as a tool to improve effectiveness and eficiency of public governance, it has gradually become a purpose it itself. "Accountability" has become an image of good governance first in the United States of America then in the European Union.Nevertheless,the concept is vaguely defined and provides ambiguous images of good governance.This paper begins with the presentation of some general meanings of the concept as they emerge from specialized dictionaries and ancyclopaedies and continues with the meanings developed in political science. The concept of "public accontability" is rooted in economics and management literature,becoming increasingly relevant in today's political science both in theory and discourse as well as in practice in formulating and evaluating public policies. A first conclusin that emerges from, the analysis of the evolution of this term is that it requires a conceptual clarification in political science. A clear definition will then enable an appropriate model of proving the system of public accountability in formulating and assessing public policies, in order to implement a system of assessment and monitoring thereof.

Socioeconomic significance of mangroves for coastal people of India: A changing scenario

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Untawale, A.G.; Jagtap, T.G.

Mangrove Protected Areas (MPA), ecotourism, aquaculture and agriculture have shown great significance. Although the economic grains for coastal people have increased through these activities, the mangrove ecosystem itself has become endangered in certain...

Increased brain dopamine and dopamine receptors in schizophrenia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mackay, A.V.; Iversen, L.L.; Rossor, M.; Spokes, E.; Bird, E.; Arregui, A.; Creese, I.; Synder, S.H.

1982-01-01

In postmortem samples of caudate nucleus and nucleus accumbens from 48 schizophrenic patients, there were significant increases in both the maximum number of binding sites (Bmax) and the apparent dissociation constant (KD) for tritiated spiperone. The increase in apparent KD probably reflects the presence of residual neuroleptic drugs, but changes in Bmax for tritiated spiperone reflect genuine changes in receptor numbers. The increases in receptors were seen only in patients in whom neuroleptic medication had been maintained until the time of death, indicating that they may be entirely iatrogenic. Dopamine measurements for a larger series of schizophrenic and control cases (n greater than 60) show significantly increased concentrations in both the nucleus accumbens and caudate nucleus. The changes in dopamine were not obviously related to neuroleptic medication and, unlike the receptor changes, were most severe in younger patients

Hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor but not neurotrophin-3 increases more in mice selected for increased voluntary wheel running.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, R A; Rhodes, J S; Jeffrey, S L; Garland, T; Mitchell, G S

2003-01-01

Voluntary wheel running in rats increases hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression, a neurochemical important for neuronal survival, differentiation, connectivity and synaptic plasticity. Here, we report the effects of wheel running on BDNF and neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) protein levels in normal control mice, and in mice selectively bred (25 generations) for increased voluntary wheel running. We hypothesized that increased voluntary wheel running in selected (S) mice would increase CNS BDNF and NT-3 protein levels more than in control (C) mice. Baseline hippocampal BDNF levels (mice housed without running wheels) were similar in S and C mice. Following seven nights of running, hippocampal BDNF increased significantly more in S versus C mice, and levels were correlated with distance run (considering C and S mice together). Spinal and cerebellar BDNF and hippocampal NT-3 levels were not significantly affected by wheel running in any group, but there was a small, positive correlation between spinal C3-C6 BDNF levels and distance run (considering C and S mice together). This is the first study to demonstrate that mice which choose to run more have greater elevations in hippocampal BDNF, suggesting enhanced potential for exercise-induced hippocampal neuroplasticity.

Engaging Youth with and without Significant Disabilities in Inclusive Service Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Carter, Erik W.; Swedeen, Beth; Moss, Colleen K.

2012-01-01

Service learning is an effective curricular approach to increase instructional relevance and engagement for all students. For students with significant disabilities in transition, meaningful service can be an especially useful avenue for exploring career interests, gaining and practicing important life skills, and connecting to the community in…

Shopper marketing nutrition interventions: Social norms on grocery carts increase produce spending without increasing shopper budgets☆

Science.gov (United States)

Payne, Collin R.; Niculescu, Mihai; Just, David R.; Kelly, Michael P.

2015-01-01

Objectives We assessed the efficacy of an easy-to-implement shopper marketing nutrition intervention in a pilot and two additional studies to increase produce demand without decreasing store profitability or increasing shopper budgets. Methods We created grocery cart placards that detailed the number of produce items purchased (i.e., descriptive norm) at particular stores (i.e., provincial norm). The effect of these placards on produce spending was assessed across 971,706 individual person grocery store transactions aggregated by day. The pilot study designated a baseline period (in both control and intervention store) followed by installation of grocery cart placards (in the intervention store) for two weeks. The pilot study was conducted in Texas in 2012. In two additional stores, we designated baseline periods followed by 28 days of the same grocery cart placard intervention as in the pilot. Additional interventions were conducted in New Mexico in 2013. Results The pilot study resulted in a significant difference between average produce spending per day per person across treatment periods (i.e., intervention versus same time period in control) (16%) and the difference between average produce spending per day per person across stores in the control periods (4%); Furthermore, the same intervention in two additional stores resulted in significant produce spending increases of 12.4% and 7.5% per day per person respectively. In all stores, total spending did not change. Conclusions Descriptive and provincial social norm messages (i.e., on grocery cart placards) may be an overlooked tool to increase produce demand without decreasing store profitability and increasing shopper budgets. PMID:26844084

Global warming: the significance of methane

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dessus, B.; Le Treut, H.; Laponche, B.

2008-01-01

increase in atmospheric concentrations of CH 4 which was significant following the onset of the industrial revolution, has slowed down in the last few years for reasons that are still being debated, a renewed sharp increase in the event of the Arctic region melting, for example, remains quite possible. It is thus important, now that the most recent IPCC report points to the consequences of climate change in the medium term, that GHG emission reduction policies be defined individually for each GHG: both CH 4 and N 2 O, on the basis of their real emissions, consistent with the scenarios used by climate experts and depending on the concentration levels they recommend be achieved at given time horizons. Purely economic and financial considerations linked to the emissions trading markets must not mask the importance of robust policies aimed at non CO 2 GHGs. Specifically, in addition to the vital CO 2 emissions reduction effort, greater attention must be paid to short-term reductions of CH 4 emissions whose impacts are significant at a time horizon of a few decades. Climate experts and policy-makers should make the most of the two-year negotiating period on the post 2012 regime, officially launched at the recent Bali Climate Conference, to give thought to this issue

Swiss solar power statistics 2007 - Significant expansion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hostettler, T.

2008-01-01

This article presents and discusses the 2007 statistics for solar power in Switzerland. A significant number of new installations is noted as is the high production figures from newer installations. The basics behind the compilation of the Swiss solar power statistics are briefly reviewed and an overview for the period 1989 to 2007 is presented which includes figures on the number of photovoltaic plant in service and installed peak power. Typical production figures in kilowatt-hours (kWh) per installed kilowatt-peak power (kWp) are presented and discussed for installations of various sizes. Increased production after inverter replacement in older installations is noted. Finally, the general political situation in Switzerland as far as solar power is concerned are briefly discussed as are international developments.

Significant prognosticators after primary radiotherapy in 903 nondisseminated nasopharyngeal carcinoma evaluated by computer tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Teo, P.; Yu, P.; Lee, W.Y.; Leung, S.F.; Kwan, W.H.; Yu, K.H.; Choi, P.; Johnson, P.J.

1996-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate the significant prognosticators in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods and Materials: From 1984 to 1989, 903 treatment-naive nondisseminated (MO) NPC were given primary radical radiotherapy to 60-62.5 Gy in 6 weeks. All patients had computed tomographic (CT) and endoscopic evaluation of the primary tumor. Potentially significant parameters (the patient's age and sex, the anatomical structures infiltrated by the primary lesion, the cervical nodal characteristics, the tumor histological subtypes, and various treatment variables were analyzed by both monovariate and multivariate methods for each of the five clinical endpoints: actuarial survival, disease-free survival, free from distant metastasis, free from local failure, and free from regional failure. Results: The significant prognosticators predicting for an increased risk of distant metastases and poorer survival included male sex, skull base and cranial nerve(s) involvement, advanced Ho's N level, and presence of fixed or partially fixed nodes or nodes contralateral to the side of the bulk of the nasopharyngeal primary. Advanced patient age led to significantly worse survival and poorer local tumor control. Local and regional failures were both increased by tumor infiltrating the skull base and/or the cranial nerves. In addition, regional failure was increased significantly by advancing Ho's N level. Parapharyngeal tumor involvement was the strongest independent prognosticator that determined distant metastasis and survival rates in the absence of the overriding prognosticators of skull base infiltration, cranial nerve(s) palsy, and cervical nodal metastasis. Conclusions: The significant prognosticators are delineated after the advent of CT and these should form the foundation of the modern stage classification for NPC

Increased levels of IL-6 in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with chronic schizophrenia — significance for activation of the kynurenine pathway

Science.gov (United States)

Schwieler, Lilly; Larsson, Markus K.; Skogh, Elisabeth; Kegel, Magdalena E.; Orhan, Funda; Abdelmoaty, Sally; Finn, Anja; Bhat, Maria; Samuelsson, Martin; Lundberg, Kristina; Dahl, Marja-Liisa; Sellgren, Carl; Schuppe-Koistinen, Ina; Svensson, Camilla I.; Erhardt, Sophie; Engberg, Göran

2015-01-01

Background Accumulating evidence indicates that schizophrenia is associated with brain immune activation. While a number of reports suggest increased cytokine levels in patients with schizophrenia, many of these studies have been limited by their focus on peripheral cytokines or confounded by various antipsychotic treatments. Here, well-characterized patients with schizophrenia, all receiving olanzapine treatment, and healthy volunteers were analyzed with regard to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of cytokines. We correlated the CSF cytokine levels to previously analyzed metabolites of the kynurenine (KYN) pathway. Methods We analyzed the CSF from patients and controls using electrochemiluminescence detection with regard to cytokines. Cell culture media from human cortical astrocytes were analyzed for KYN and kynurenic acid (KYNA) using high-pressure liquid chromatography or liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. Results We included 23 patients and 37 controls in our study. Patients with schizophrenia had increased CSF levels of interleukin (IL)-6 compared with healthy volunteers. In patients, we also observed a positive correlation between IL-6 and the tryptophan:KYNA ratio, indicating that IL-6 activates the KYN pathway. In line with this, application of IL-6 to cultured human astrocytes increased cell medium concentration of KYNA. Limitations The CSF samples had been frozen and thawed twice before analysis of cytokines. Median age differed between patients and controls. When appropriate, all present analyses were adjusted for age. Conclusion We have shown that IL-6, KYN and KYNA are elevated in patients with chronic schizophrenia, strengthening the idea of brain immune activation in patients with this disease. Our concurrent cell culture and clinical findings suggest that IL-6 induces the KYN pathway, leading to increased production of the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonist KYNA in patients with schizophrenia. PMID:25455350

Increasing socioeconomic disparities in adolescent obesity

OpenAIRE

Frederick, Carl B.; Snellman, Kaisa; Putnam, Robert D.

2014-01-01

Childhood and youth obesity represent significant US public health challenges. Recent findings that the childhood obesity ‘‘epidemic’’ may have slightly abated have been met with relief from health professionals and popular media. However, we document that the overall trend in youth obesity rates masks a significant and growing class gap between youth from upper and lower socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. Until 2002, obesity rates increased at similar rates for all adolescents, but sinc...

Significance of serum and urine β2-MG abnormality for diabetes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu Fengling; Zhang Qiliang; Feng Zhixu; Hou Xiangzhen

1995-01-01

Levels of serum and urine β 2 -MG are determined in 114 patients with diabetes. It is found that levels of serum and urine β 2 -MG in diabetes are significantly higher than that of normal contrasts (P 2 -MG are increased with diabetes progress, especially urine β 2 -MG. There is no difference in levels of serum and urine β 2 -MG between non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) and insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM, P>0.05). Urine β 2 -MG levels of diabetes are relatively increased with the increase of serum β 2 -MG levels. Both are obviously positive correlation. While diabetes progressing, both are gradually increased. It can be shown that the longer diabetes process, the more renal function was damaged. Therefore, determination of β 2 -MG is very important for early diagnosing, preventing and treating diabetic nephropathy

A tutorial on hunting statistical significance by chasing N

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denes Szucs

2016-09-01

Full Text Available There is increasing concern about the replicability of studies in psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Hidden data dredging (also called p-hacking is a major contributor to this crisis because it substantially increases Type I error resulting in a much larger proportion of false positive findings than the usually expected 5%. In order to build better intuition to avoid, detect and criticise some typical problems, here I systematically illustrate the large impact of some easy to implement and so, perhaps frequent data dredging techniques on boosting false positive findings. I illustrate several forms of two special cases of data dredging. First, researchers may violate the data collection stopping rules of null hypothesis significance testing by repeatedly checking for statistical significance with various numbers of participants. Second, researchers may group participants post-hoc along potential but unplanned independent grouping variables. The first approach 'hacks' the number of participants in studies, the second approach ‘hacks’ the number of variables in the analysis. I demonstrate the high amount of false positive findings generated by these techniques with data from true null distributions. I also illustrate that it is extremely easy to introduce strong bias into data by very mild selection and re-testing. Similar, usually undocumented data dredging steps can easily lead to having 20-50%, or more false positives.

Clinical significance of perceptible fetal motion.

Science.gov (United States)

Rayburn, W F

1980-09-15

The monitoring of fetal activity during the last trimester of pregnancy has been proposed to be useful in assessing fetal welfare. The maternal perception of fetal activity was tested among 82 patients using real-time ultrasonography. All perceived fetal movements were visualized on the scanner and involved motion of the lower limbs. Conversely, 82% of all visualized motions of fetal limbs were perceived by the patients. All combined motions of fetal trunk with limbs were preceived by the patients and described as strong movements, whereas clusters of isolated, weak motions of the fetal limbs were less accurately perceived (56% accuracy). The number of fetal movements perceived during the 15-minute test period was significantly (p fetal motion was present (44 of 45 cases) than when it was absent (five of 10 cases). These findings reveal that perceived fetal motion is: (1) reliable; (2) related to the strength of lower limb motion; (3) increased with ruptured amniotic membranes; and (4) reassuring if considered to be active.

Antenatal breastfeeding education for increasing breastfeeding duration

Science.gov (United States)

Lumbiganon, Pisake; Martis, Ruth; Laopaiboon, Malinee; Festin, Mario R; Ho, Jacqueline J; Hakimi, Mohammad

2014-01-01

Background Breastfeeding (BF) is well recognised as the best food for infants. The impact of antenatal BF education on the duration of BF has not been evaluated. Objectives To evaluate the effectiveness of antenatal BF education for increasing BF initiation and duration. Search methods We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group’s Trials Register (21 April 2010), CENTRAL (The Cochrane Library 2010, Issue 2), MEDLINE (1966 to April 2010) and SCOPUS (January 1985 to April 2010). We contacted experts and searched reference lists of retrieved articles. We updated the search of the Pregnancy and Childbirth Group’s Trials Register on 28 September 2011 and added the results to the awaiting classification section of the review. Selection criteria All identified published, unpublished and ongoing randomised controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the effect of formal antenatal BF education or comparing two different methods of formal antenatal BF education, on duration of BF. We excluded RCTs that also included intrapartum or postpartum BF education. Data collection and analysis We assessed all potential studies identified as a result of the search strategy. Two review authors extracted data from each included study using the agreed form and assessed risk of bias. We resolved discrepancies through discussion. Main results We included 17 studies with 7131 women in the review and 14 studies involving 6932 women contributed data to the analyses. We did not do any meta-analysis because there was only one study for each comparison. Five studies compared a single method of BF education with routine care. Peer counselling significantly increased BF initiation. Three studies compared one form of BF education versus another. No intervention was significantly more effective than another intervention in increasing initiation or duration of BF. Seven studies compared multiple methods versus a single method of BF education. Combined BF educational interventions were not

Cross-sectional area of the murine aorta linearly increases with increasing core body temperature.

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Crouch, A Colleen; Manders, Adam B; Cao, Amos A; Scheven, Ulrich M; Greve, Joan M

2017-11-06

The cardiovascular (CV) system plays a vital role in thermoregulation. To date, the response of core vasculature to increasing core temperature has not been adequately studied in vivo. Our objective was to non-invasively quantify the arterial response in murine models due to increases in body temperature, with a focus on core vessels of the torso and investigate whether responses were dependent on sex or age. Male and female, adult and aged mice were anaesthetised and underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Data were acquired from the circle of Willis (CoW), heart, infrarenal aorta and peripheral arteries at core temperatures of 35, 36, 37 and 38 °C (±0.2 °C). Vessels in the CoW did not change. Ejection fraction decreased and cardiac output (CO) increased with increasing temperature in adult female mice. Cross-sectional area of the aorta increased significantly and linearly with temperature for all groups, but at a diminished rate for aged animals (p temperature are biologically important because they may affect conductive and convective heat transfer. Leveraging non-invasive methodology to quantify sex and age dependent vascular responses due to increasing core temperature could be combined with bioheat modelling in order to improve understanding of thermoregulation.

The stage-classified matrix models project a significant increase in biomass carbon stocks in China’s forests between 2005 and 2050

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Huifeng; Wang, Shaopeng; Guo, Zhaodi; Xu, Bing; Fang, Jingyun

2015-01-01

China’s forests are characterized by young age, low carbon (C) density and a large plantation area, implying a high potential for increasing C sinks in the future. Using data of provincial forest area and biomass C density from China’s forest inventories between 1994 and 2008 and the planned forest coverage of the country by 2050, we developed a stage-classified matrix model to predict biomass C stocks of China’s forests from 2005 to 2050. The results showed that total forest biomass C stock would increase from 6.43 Pg C (1 Pg = 1015 g) in 2005 to 9.97 Pg C (95% confidence interval: 8.98 ~ 11.07 Pg C) in 2050, with an overall net C gain of 78.8 Tg C yr−1 (56.7 ~ 103.3 Tg C yr−1; 1 Tg = 1012 g). Our findings suggest that China’s forests will be a large and persistent biomass C sink through 2050. PMID:26110831

Mechanics of arterial subfailure with increasing loading rate.

Science.gov (United States)

Stemper, Brian D; Yoganandan, Narayan; Pintar, Frank A

2007-01-01

Arterial subfailure leads to delayed symptomatology and high morbidity and mortality rates, particularly for the thoracic aorta and carotid arteries. Although arterial injuries occur during high-velocity automotive collisions, previous studies of arterial subfailure focused on quasi-static loading. This investigation subjected aortic segments to increasing loading rates to quantify effects on elastic, subfailure, and ultimate vessel mechanics. Sixty-two specimens were axially distracted, and 92% demonstrated subfailure before ultimate failure. With increasing loading rate, stress at initial subfailure and ultimate failure significantly increased, and strain at initial subfailure and ultimate failure significantly decreased. Present results indicate increased susceptibility for arterial subfailure and/or dissection under higher-rate extension. According to the present results, automotive occupants are at greater risk of arterial injury under higher velocity impacts due to greater body segment motions in addition to decreased strain tolerance to subfailure and catastrophic failure.

Increased river alkalinization in the Eastern U.S.

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Kaushal, Sujay S; Likens, Gene E; Utz, Ryan M; Pace, Michael L; Grese, Melissa; Yepsen, Metthea

2013-09-17

The interaction between human activities and watershed geology is accelerating long-term changes in the carbon cycle of rivers. We evaluated changes in bicarbonate alkalinity, a product of chemical weathering, and tested for long-term trends at 97 sites in the eastern United States draining over 260,000 km(2). We observed statistically significant increasing trends in alkalinity at 62 of the 97 sites, while remaining sites exhibited no significant decreasing trends. Over 50% of study sites also had statistically significant increasing trends in concentrations of calcium (another product of chemical weathering) where data were available. River alkalinization rates were significantly related to watershed carbonate lithology, acid deposition, and topography. These three variables explained ~40% of variation in river alkalinization rates. The strongest predictor of river alkalinization rates was carbonate lithology. The most rapid rates of river alkalinization occurred at sites with highest inputs of acid deposition and highest elevation. The rise of alkalinity in many rivers throughout the Eastern U.S. suggests human-accelerated chemical weathering, in addition to previously documented impacts of mining and land use. Increased river alkalinization has major environmental implications including impacts on water hardness and salinization of drinking water, alterations of air-water exchange of CO2, coastal ocean acidification, and the influence of bicarbonate availability on primary production.

Significance of the S100A4 protein in psoriasis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zibert, John R; Skov, Lone; Thyssen, Jacob P

2010-01-01

the expression and significance of S100A4 in psoriasis. We found significant upregulation of S100A4 in the dermis of psoriatic skin compared with normal skin. This pattern of S100A4 expression differs considerably from that of other S100 proteins, S100A7 and S100A8/9, with predominant expression in the epidermis...... of psoriasis. Furthermore, we revealed a massive release of the biologically active forms of S100A4 from psoriatic skin. Interestingly, we found stabilization (increase) of p53 in the basal layer of epidermis in close proximity to cells expressing S100A4. To examine the possible implication of S100A4...... in the pathogenesis of psoriasis, we analyzed the effect of S100A4 blocking antibodies in a human psoriasis xenograft SCID mouse model and observed a significant reduction of the epidermal thickness and impairment in cell proliferation and dermal vascularization. In conclusion, we showed strong upregulation...

Antistreptolysin O titer in health and disease: levels and significance

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Alyaa Amal Kotby

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Over diagnosis of acute rheumatic fever (ARF based on a raised antistreptolysin O titer (ASOT is not uncommon in endemic areas. In this study, 660 children (aged 9.2 ±1.7 years were recruited consecutively and classified as: G1 (control group, n=200 healthy children, G2 (n=20 with ARF 1st attack, G3 (n=40 with recurrent ARF, G4 (n=100 with rheumatic heart disease (RHD on long acting penicillin (LAP, G5 (n=100 with acute follicular tonsillitis, and G6 (n=200 healthy children with history of repeated follicular tonsillitis more than three times a year. Serum ASOT was measured by latex agglutination. Upper limit of normal (ULN ASOT (80th percentile was 400 IU in G1, 200 IU in G4, and 1600 IU in G6. Significantly high levels were seen in ARF 1st attack when compared to groups 1 and 5 (P<0.001 and P<0.05, respectively. ASOT was significantly high in children over ten years of age, during winter and in those with acute rheumatic carditis. ASOT showed significant direct correlation with the number of attacks of tonsillitis (P<0.05. Egyptian children have high ULN ASOT reaching 400 IU. This has to be taken into consideration when interpreting its values in suspected ARF. A rise in ASOT is less prominent in recurrent ARF compared to 1st attack, and acute and recurrent tonsillitis. Basal levels of ASOT increase with age but the pattern of increase during infection is not age dependent

Hygienic significance of radiostability as measures of adaptive feasibilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kudritskij, Yu.K.

1987-01-01

An attempt is made to substantiate hygienic significance of radiostability analysis as measures of adaptive feasibilities variation under the low dose ionizing radiation effect (IR). Examples of this substantiation are presented. Not only biological radiation effects but social adaptivity problems may be analysed. With more information adaptive feasibilities of human body to radiation factor are extended, its radiostability increases. Analysis of the state of adaptive feasibilities and their development estimation are vital problems of radiation hygiene, the basis for regulation and normalization of radiation factor

Delayed peripheral nerve repair: methods, including surgical ?cross-bridging? to promote nerve regeneration

OpenAIRE

Gordon, Tessa; Eva, Placheta; Borschel, Gregory H.

2015-01-01

Despite the capacity of Schwann cells to support peripheral nerve regeneration, functional recovery after nerve injuries is frequently poor, especially for proximal injuries that require regenerating axons to grow over long distances to reinnervate distal targets. Nerve transfers, where small fascicles from an adjacent intact nerve are coapted to the nerve stump of a nearby denervated muscle, allow for functional return but at the expense of reduced numbers of innervating nerves. A 1-hour per...

Impact significance determination-Back to basics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lawrence, David P.

2007-01-01

Impact significance determination is widely recognized as a vital and critical EIA activity. But impact significance related concepts are poorly understood. And the quality of approaches for impact significance determination in EIA practice remains highly variable. This article seeks to help establish a sound and practical conceptual foundation for formulating and evaluating impact significance determination approaches. It addresses the nature (what is impact significance?), the core characteristics (what are the major properties of significance determination?), the rationale (why are impact significance determinations necessary?), the procedural and substantive objectives (what do impact significance determinations seek to achieve?), and the process for making impact significance judgments (how is impact significance determination conducted?). By identifying fundamental attributes and key distinctions associated with impact significance determinations, a basis is provided for designing and evaluating impact significance determination procedures at both the regulatory and applied levels

Increased parathyroid expression of klotho in uremic rats

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hofman-Bang, J.; Martuseviciene, G.; Santini, M.A.

2010-01-01

/6 nephrectomy rat model of secondary hyperparathyroidism. Parathyroid klotho gene expression and protein were significantly increased in severely uremic hyperphosphatemic rats, but not affected by moderate uremia and normal serum phosphorus. Calcitriol suppressed klotho gene and protein expression in severe...... secondary hyperparathyroidism, despite a further increase in plasma phosphate. Both FGFR1 IIIC and Na+/K+-ATPase gene expression were significantly elevated in severe secondary hyperparathyroidism. Parathyroid gland klotho expression and the plasma calcium ion concentration were inversely correlated. Thus......, our study suggests that klotho may act as a positive regulator of PTH expression and secretion in secondary hyperparathyroidism....

Plant Explants Grown on Medium Supplemented with Fe3O4 Nanoparticles Have a Significant Increase in Embryogenesis

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Inese Kokina

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Development of nanotechnology leads to the increasing release of nanoparticles in the environment that results in accumulation of different NPs in living organisms including plants. This can lead to serious changes in plant cultures which leads to genotoxicity. The aims of the present study were to detect if iron oxide NPs pass through the flax cell wall, to compare callus morphology, and to estimate the genotoxicity in Linum usitatissimum L. callus cultures induced by different concentrations of Fe3O4 nanoparticles. Two parallel experiments were performed: experiment A, where flax explants were grown on medium supplemented with 0.5 mg/l, 1 mg/l, and 1.5 mg/l Fe3O4 NPs for callus culture obtaining, and experiment B, where calluses obtained from basal MS medium were transported into medium supplemented with concentrations of NPs identical to experiment A. Obtained results demonstrate similarly in both experiments that 25 nm Fe3O4 NPs pass into callus cells and induce low toxicity level in the callus cultures. Nevertheless, calluses from experiment A showed 100% embryogenesis in comparison with experiment B where 100% rhizogenesis was noticed. It could be associated with different stress levels and adaptation time for explants and calluses that were transported into medium with Fe3O4 NPs supplementation.

Reinnervation of Vastus lateralis is increased significantly in seniors (70-years old with a lifelong history of high-level exercise

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Simone Mosole

2013-12-01

Full Text Available It has long been recognized that histological changes observed in aging muscle suggest that denervation contributes to muscle deterioration and that disuse accelerates the process while running activity, sustained for decades, protects against age-related loss of motor units. Here we show at the histological level that lifelong increased physical activity promotes reinnervation of muscle fibers. In muscle biopsies from 70-year old men with a lifelong history of high-level physical activity, we observed a considerable increase in fiber-type groupings (almost exclusively of the slow type in comparison to sedentary seniors, revealing a large population of reinnervated muscle fibers in the sportsmen. Slow-type transformation by reinnervation in senior sportsmen seems to be a clinically relevant mechanism: the muscle biopsies fluctuate from those with scarce fiber-type transformation and groupings to almost fully transformed muscle, going through a process in which isolated fibers co-expressing fast and slow MHCs seems to fill the gaps. Taken together, our results suggest that, beyond the direct effects of aging on the muscle fibers, changes occurring in skeletal muscle tissue appear to be largely, although not solely, a result of sparse denervation. Our data suggest that lifelong exercise allows the body to adapt to the consequences of the age-related denervation and to preserve muscle structure and function by saving otherwise lost muscle fibers through recruitment to different, mainly slow, motor units. These beneficial effects on motoneurons and, subsequently on muscle fibers, serve to maintain size, structure and function of muscle fibers, delaying the functional decline and loss of independence that are commonly seen in late aging.

Significant Electronic Thermal Transport in the Conducting Polymer Poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Weathers, Annie; Khan, Zia Ullah; Brooke, Robert

2015-01-01

Suspended microdevices are employed to measure the in-plane electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and Seebeck coefficient of suspended poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) thin films. The measured thermal conductivity is higher than previously reported for PEDOT and generally increases...... with the electrical conductivity. The increase exceeds that predicted by the Wiedemann–Franz law for metals and can be explained by significant electronic thermal transport in PEDOT....

Clinical significance of stress-related increase in blood pressure: current evidence in office and out-of-office settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Munakata, Masanori

2018-05-29

High blood pressure is the most significant risk factor of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases worldwide. Blood pressure and its variability are recognized as risk factors. Thus, hypertension control should focus not only on maintaining optimal levels but also on achieving less variability in blood pressure. Psychosocial stress is known to contribute to the development and worsening of hypertension. Stress is perceived by the brain and induces neuroendocrine responses in either a rapid or long-term manner. Moreover, endothelial dysfunction and inflammation might be further involved in the modulation of blood pressure elevation associated with stress. White-coat hypertension, defined as high clinic blood pressure but normal out-of-office blood pressure, is the most popular stress-related blood pressure response. Careful follow-up is necessary for this type of hypertensive patients because some show organ damage or a worse prognosis. On the other hand, masked hypertension, defined as high out-of-office blood pressure but normal office blood pressure, has received considerable interest as a poor prognostic condition. The cause of masked hypertension is complex, but evidence suggests that chronic stress at the workplace or home could be involved. Chronic psychological stress could be associated with distorted lifestyle and mental distress as well as long-lasting allostatic load, contributing to the maintenance of blood pressure elevation. Stress issues are common in patients in modern society. Considering psychosocial stress as the pathogenesis of blood pressure elevation is useful for achieving an individual-focused approach and 24-h blood pressure control.

Stimulation of Suicidal Erythrocyte Death by Increased Extracellular Phosphate Concentrations

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Jakob Voelkl

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Background/Aim: Anemia in renal insufficiency results in part from impaired erythrocyte formation due to erythropoietin and iron deficiency. Beyond that, renal insufficiency enhances eryptosis, the suicidal erythrocyte death characterized by phosphatidylserine-exposure at the erythrocyte surface. Eryptosis may be stimulated by increase of cytosolic Ca2+-activity ([Ca2+]i. Several uremic toxins have previously been shown to stimulate eryptosis. Renal insufficiency is further paralleled by increase of plasma phosphate concentration. The present study thus explored the effect of phosphate on erythrocyte death. Methods: Cell volume was estimated from forward scatter, phosphatidylserine-exposure from annexin V binding, and [Ca2+]i from Fluo3-fluorescence. Results: Following a 48 hours incubation, the percentage of phosphatidylserine exposing erythrocytes markedly increased as a function of extracellular phosphate concentration (from 0-5 mM. The exposure to 2 mM or 5 mM phosphate was followed by slight but significant hemolysis. [Ca2+]i did not change significantly up to 2 mM phosphate but significantly decreased at 5 mM phosphate. The effect of 2 mM phosphate on phosphatidylserine exposure was significantly augmented by increase of extracellular Ca2+ to 1.7 mM, and significantly blunted by nominal absence of extracellular Ca2+, by additional presence of pyrophosphate as well as by presence of p38 inhibitor SB203580. Conclusion: Increasing phosphate concentration stimulates erythrocyte membrane scrambling, an effect depending on extracellular but not intracellular Ca2+ concentration. It is hypothesized that suicidal erythrocyte death is triggered by complexed CaHPO4.

Increasing organ donation after cardiac death in trauma patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Joseph, Bellal; Khalil, Mazhar; Pandit, Viraj; Orouji Jokar, Tahereh; Cheaito, Ali; Kulvatunyou, Narong; Tang, Andrew; O'Keeffe, Terence; Vercruysse, Gary; Green, Donald J; Friese, Randall S; Rhee, Peter

2015-09-01

Organ donation after cardiac death (DCD) is not optimal but still remains a valuable source of organ donation in trauma donors. The aim of this study was to assess national trends in DCD from trauma patients. A 12-year (2002 to 2013) retrospective analysis of the United Network for Organ Sharing database was performed. Outcome measures were the following: proportion of DCD donors over the years and number and type of solid organs donated. DCD resulted in procurement of 16,248 solid organs from 8,724 donors. The number of organs donated per donor remained unchanged over the study period (P = .1). DCD increased significantly from 3.1% in 2002 to 14.6% in 2013 (P = .001). There was a significant increase in the proportion of kidney (2002: 3.4% vs 2013: 16.3%, P = .001) and liver (2002: 1.6% vs 2013: 5%, P = .041) donation among DCD donors over the study period. DCD from trauma donors provides a significant source of solid organs. The proportion of DCD donors increased significantly over the last 12 years. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The significance of the European beaver (Castor fibre activity for the process of renaturalization of river valleys in the era of increasing

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Kusztal Piotr

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Changes in the environment that are caused by the activity of beavers bring numerous advantages. They affect the increase in biodiversity, contribute to improving the condition of cleanliness of watercourses, improve local water relations and restore the natural landscape of river valleys.

Estimating significances of differences between slopes: A new methodology and software

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Vasco M. N. C. S. Vieira

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Determining the significance of slope differences is a common requirement in studies of self-thinning, ontogeny and sexual dimorphism, among others. This has long been carried out testing for the overlap of the bootstrapped 95% confidence intervals of the slopes. However, the numerical random re-sampling with repetition favours the occurrence of re-combinations yielding largely diverging slopes, widening the confidence intervals and thus increasing the chances of overlooking significant differences. To overcome this problem a permutation test simulating the null hypothesis of no differences between slopes is proposed. This new methodology, when applied both to artificial and factual data, showed an enhanced ability to differentiate slopes.

Co-downregulation of the hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA:shikimate hydroxycinnamoyl transferase and coumarate 3-hydroxylase significantly increases cellulose content in transgenic alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.).

Science.gov (United States)

Tong, Zongyong; Li, Heng; Zhang, Rongxue; Ma, Lei; Dong, Jiangli; Wang, Tao

2015-10-01

Lignin is a component of the cell wall that is essential for growth, development, structure and pathogen resistance in plants, but high lignin is an obstacle to the conversion of cellulose to ethanol for biofuel. Genetically modifying lignin and cellulose contents can be a good approach to overcoming that obstacle. Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is rich in lignocellulose biomass and used as a model plant for the genetic modification of lignin in this study. Two key enzymes in the lignin biosynthesis pathway-hydroxycinnamoyl -CoA:shikimate hydroxycinnamoyl transferase (HCT) and coumarate 3-hydroxylase (C3H)-were co-downregulated. Compared to wild-type plants, the lignin content in the modified strain was reduced by 38%, cellulose was increased by 86.1%, enzyme saccharification efficiency was increased by 10.9%, and cell wall digestibility was increased by 13.0%. The modified alfalfa exhibited a dwarf phenotype, but normal above ground biomass. This approach provides a new strategy for reducing lignin and increasing cellulose contents and creates a new genetically modified crop with enhanced value for biofuel. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Are studies reporting significant results more likely to be published?

Science.gov (United States)

Koletsi, Despina; Karagianni, Anthi; Pandis, Nikolaos; Makou, Margarita; Polychronopoulou, Argy; Eliades, Theodore

2009-11-01

Our objective was to assess the hypothesis that there are variations of the proportion of articles reporting a significant effect, with a higher percentage of those articles published in journals with impact factors. The contents of 5 orthodontic journals (American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, Angle Orthodontist, European Journal of Orthodontics, Journal of Orthodontics, and Orthodontics and Craniofacial Research), published between 2004 and 2008, were hand-searched. Articles with statistical analysis of data were included in the study and classified into 4 categories: behavior and psychology, biomaterials and biomechanics, diagnostic procedures and treatment, and craniofacial growth, morphology, and genetics. In total, 2622 articles were examined, with 1785 included in the analysis. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were applied with statistical significance as the dependent variable, and whether the journal had an impact factor, the subject, and the year were the independent predictors. A higher percentage of articles showed significant results relative to those without significant associations (on average, 88% vs 12%) for those journals. Overall, these journals published significantly more studies with significant results, ranging from 75% to 90% (P = 0.02). Multivariate modeling showed that journals with impact factors had a 100% increased probability of publishing a statistically significant result compared with journals with no impact factor (odds ratio [OR], 1.99; 95% CI, 1.19-3.31). Compared with articles on biomaterials and biomechanics, all other subject categories showed lower probabilities of significant results. Nonsignificant findings in behavior and psychology and diagnosis and treatment were 1.8 (OR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.51-2.67) and 3.5 (OR, 3.50; 95% CI, 2.27-5.37) times more likely to be published, respectively. Journals seem to prefer reporting significant results; this might be because of authors

Mechanics of collective unfolding

Science.gov (United States)

Caruel, M.; Allain, J.-M.; Truskinovsky, L.

2015-03-01

Mechanically induced unfolding of passive crosslinkers is a fundamental biological phenomenon encountered across the scales from individual macro-molecules to cytoskeletal actin networks. In this paper we study a conceptual model of athermal load-induced unfolding and use a minimalistic setting allowing one to emphasize the role of long-range interactions while maintaining full analytical transparency. Our model can be viewed as a description of a parallel bundle of N bistable units confined between two shared rigid backbones that are loaded through a series spring. We show that the ground states in this model correspond to synchronized, single phase configurations where all individual units are either folded or unfolded. We then study the fine structure of the wiggly energy landscape along the reaction coordinate linking the two coherent states and describing the optimal mechanism of cooperative unfolding. Quite remarkably, our study shows the fundamental difference in the size and the structure of the folding-unfolding energy barriers in the hard (fixed displacements) and soft (fixed forces) loading devices which persists in the continuum limit. We argue that both, the synchronization and the non-equivalence of the mechanical responses in hard and soft devices, have their origin in the dominance of long-range interactions. We then apply our minimal model to skeletal muscles where the power-stroke in acto-myosin crossbridges can be interpreted as passive folding. A quantitative analysis of the muscle model shows that the relative rigidity of myosin backbone provides the long-range interaction mechanism allowing the system to effectively synchronize the power-stroke in individual crossbridges even in the presence of thermal fluctuations. In view of the prototypical nature of the proposed model, our general conclusions pertain to a variety of other biological systems where elastic interactions are mediated by effective backbones.

Alanine increases blood pressure during hypotension

Science.gov (United States)

Conlay, L. A.; Maher, T. J.; Wurtman, R. J.

1990-01-01

The effect of L-alanine administration on blood pressure (BP) during haemorrhagic shock was investigated using anesthetized rats whose left carotid arteries were cannulated for BP measurement, blood removal, and drug administration. It was found that L-alanine, in doses of 10, 25, 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg, increased the systolic BP of hypotensive rats by 38 to 80 percent (while 100 mg/kg pyruvate increased BP by only 9.4 mmhg, not significantly different from saline). The results suggest that L-alanine might influence cardiovascular function.

Acute whole-body vibration increases reciprocal inhibition.

Science.gov (United States)

Ritzmann, Ramona; Krause, Anne; Freyler, Kathrin; Gollhofer, Albert

2018-06-26

Based on previous evidence that whole-body vibration (WBV) affects pathways involved in disynaptic reciprocal inhibition (DRI), the present hypothesis-driven experiment aimed to assess the acute effects of WBV on DRI and co-contraction. DRI from ankle dorsiflexors to plantar flexors was investigated during submaximal dorsiflexion before and after 1 min of WBV. With electromyography, musculus soleus (SOL) H-reflex depression following a conditioning stimulation of the peroneal nerve (1.1x motor threshold for the musculus tibialis anterior, TA) was assessed and co-contraction was calculated. After WBV, DRI was significantly increased (+4%, p < 0.05). SOL (-13%, p < 0.05) and TA (-6%, p < 0.05) activities were significantly reduced; co-contraction tended to be diminished (-8%, p = 0.05). Dorsiflexion torque remained unchanged. After WBV, DRI increased during submaximal isometric contraction in healthy subjects. The simultaneous SOL relaxation and TA contraction indicate that a more economic movement execution is of functional significance for WBV application in clinical and athletic treatment. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Significant Improvement of Catalytic Efficiencies in Ionic Liquids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Choong Eui; Yoon, Mi Young; Choi, Doo Seong

2005-01-01

The use of ionic liquids as reaction media can confer many advantages upon catalytic reactions over reactions in organic solvents. In ionic liquids, catalysts having polar or ionic character can easily be immobilized without additional structural modification and thus the ionic solutions containing the catalyst can easily be separated from the reagents and reaction products, and then, be reused. More interestingly, switching from an organic solvent to an ionic liquid often results in a significant improvement in catalytic performance (e.g., rate acceleration, (enantio)selectivity improvement and an increase in catalyst stability). In this review, some recent interesting results which can nicely demonstrate these positive 'ionic liquid effect' on catalysis are discussed

The significance of human factors in nuclear activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weil, L.; Berg, H.P.

1999-01-01

Human factors is an aspect increasingly investigated in the last few years in efforts and programmes for enhancing the operational safety of nuclear systems. Methodology has been elaborated for analysis and evaluation of human reliability, or development of instruments supporting the decisions to be taken by the operators at the man-control room interface of nuclear installations, as well as initial approaches to introduce organisational factors which may influence the man-machine function allocation, and thus are an element of the safety culture concept. The significance of human factors in nuclear activities, as well as activities at the national and international level for optimisation of the man-machine interface and the man-organisation interface are discussed. (orig./CB) [de

Creating knowledge structures in the pharmaceutical industry: the increasing significance of virtual organisation.

Science.gov (United States)

Salazar, A; Howells, J

2000-01-01

This paper explores the specific trend and challenges facing the pharmaceutical industry regarding the exploitation of Internet e-commerce technology and virtual organisation to develop and maintain competitive advantage. There are two important facets of the current trend. One is the rapid development of a complex network of alliances between the established pharmaceutical companies and the specialised biotechnology company start-ups. The other is the rapid growth of internet e-commerce companies dedicated to developing specialised technological platforms for acquiring and selling genetic and biochemical knowledge. The underlying challenge is how big pharmaceutical companies can emulate some of the innovation processes of smaller biotechnology company start-ups, and how they can appropriate and applied new technological knowledge on the development of new drugs. Pharmaceutical companies in order to retain competitive advantage need to continuously monitor all aspects of knowledge management with regard to the R&D and manufacturing process (as well as customer management and marketing). Technological change and organisational restructuring should be aimed at boosting the capacity of large firms to innovate rapidly.

Assessment of significant psychological distress at the end of pregnancy and associated factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Lorén-Guerrero, L; Gascón-Catalán, A; Pasierb, D; Romero-Cardiel, M A

2018-06-01

The aim of this study is to study the prevalence of mental distress at the end of pregnancy and after birth and the impact of selected socio-demographic and obstetric factors. This is a cross-sectional study. The sample is consisted of 351 puerperal women at the age of 18 and over. Sociodemographic, obstetric variables were collected to detect significant psychological distress; the instrument used was General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28). Logistic multivariable regressions were used to investigate associations. The prevalence of significant mental distress amounted to 81.2%, mostly related to social relationship and anxiety. The women who affirmed having more stress during pregnancy had too significantly increased emotional distress before the birth as well as during early puerperium, increasing somatic symptoms (p Psychological distress at the end of a full-term pregnancy and in the postpartum period occurs frequently and was associated mainly with stress experienced during pregnancy and parity. It is advisable to perform proper assessment of stress and significant psychological distress at the early stage of pregnancy and repeatedly later on until delivery. Information and support from professionals can help to decrease and prevent their negative impact on maternal and fetal health, as observed in the current evidence.

Environmental tipping points significantly affect the cost−benefit assessment of climate policies

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Yongyang; Judd, Kenneth L.; Lenton, Timothy M.; Lontzek, Thomas S.; Narita, Daiju

2015-01-01

Most current cost−benefit analyses of climate change policies suggest an optimal global climate policy that is significantly less stringent than the level required to meet the internationally agreed 2 °C target. This is partly because the sum of estimated economic damage of climate change across various sectors, such as energy use and changes in agricultural production, results in only a small economic loss or even a small economic gain in the gross world product under predicted levels of climate change. However, those cost−benefit analyses rarely take account of environmental tipping points leading to abrupt and irreversible impacts on market and nonmarket goods and services, including those provided by the climate and by ecosystems. Here we show that including environmental tipping point impacts in a stochastic dynamic integrated assessment model profoundly alters cost−benefit assessment of global climate policy. The risk of a tipping point, even if it only has nonmarket impacts, could substantially increase the present optimal carbon tax. For example, a risk of only 5% loss in nonmarket goods that occurs with a 5% annual probability at 4 °C increase of the global surface temperature causes an immediate two-thirds increase in optimal carbon tax. If the tipping point also has a 5% impact on market goods, the optimal carbon tax increases by more than a factor of 3. Hence existing cost−benefit assessments of global climate policy may be significantly underestimating the needs for controlling climate change. PMID:25825719

Environmental tipping points significantly affect the cost-benefit assessment of climate policies.

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Yongyang; Judd, Kenneth L; Lenton, Timothy M; Lontzek, Thomas S; Narita, Daiju

2015-04-14

Most current cost-benefit analyses of climate change policies suggest an optimal global climate policy that is significantly less stringent than the level required to meet the internationally agreed 2 °C target. This is partly because the sum of estimated economic damage of climate change across various sectors, such as energy use and changes in agricultural production, results in only a small economic loss or even a small economic gain in the gross world product under predicted levels of climate change. However, those cost-benefit analyses rarely take account of environmental tipping points leading to abrupt and irreversible impacts on market and nonmarket goods and services, including those provided by the climate and by ecosystems. Here we show that including environmental tipping point impacts in a stochastic dynamic integrated assessment model profoundly alters cost-benefit assessment of global climate policy. The risk of a tipping point, even if it only has nonmarket impacts, could substantially increase the present optimal carbon tax. For example, a risk of only 5% loss in nonmarket goods that occurs with a 5% annual probability at 4 °C increase of the global surface temperature causes an immediate two-thirds increase in optimal carbon tax. If the tipping point also has a 5% impact on market goods, the optimal carbon tax increases by more than a factor of 3. Hence existing cost-benefit assessments of global climate policy may be significantly underestimating the needs for controlling climate change.

The significance of relative density for particle damage in loaded and sheared gravels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fityus Stephen

2017-01-01

Full Text Available For granular assemblages of strong particles, an increase in the relative density usually leads to a significant increase in shear strength, which is evident as a peak strength, accompanied by significant dilation as the peak strength is attained. This paper describes an experimental study of shearing in assemblages of weak particles, where particle breakage offsets dilation for all but the lowest of confining stresses. In such materials, prone to particle breakage, the shear strengths of loose and dense assemblages rapidly converge to similar values as confining stress increases, and any benefit of greater relative density is lost. This is attributed to the densification effect associated with the loading under a high stress prior to shearing, which is characterised by widespread particle breakage and the formation of smaller particles to occupy space between coarser ones. Interestingly, under both low and high stresses, there was a tendency for greater particle breakage in the loose samples, as a result of both shearing and compression. This result suggests that, despite the denser assemblage having its particles more rigidly constrained and less able to rearrange to avoid direct loading, the influence of greater load-spreading capacity afforded by an increased number of particle contacts in a denser sample, is more dominant in controlling breakage.

Do increases in cigarette prices lead to increases in sales of cigarettes with high tar and nicotine yields?

Science.gov (United States)

Farrelly, Matthew C; Loomis, Brett R; Mann, Nathan H

2007-10-01

We used scanner data on cigarette prices and sales collected from supermarkets across the United States from 1994 to 2004 to test the hypothesis that cigarette prices are positively correlated with sales of cigarettes with higher tar and nicotine content. During this period the average inflation-adjusted price for menthol cigarettes increased 55.8%. Price elasticities from multivariate regression models suggest that this price increase led to an increase of 1.73% in sales-weighted average tar yields and a 1.28% increase in sales-weighted average nicotine yields for menthol cigarettes. The 50.5% price increase of nonmenthol varieties over the same period yielded an estimated increase of 1% in tar per cigarette but no statistically significant increase in nicotine yields. An ordered probit model of the impact of cigarette prices on cigarette strength (ultra-light, light, full flavor, unfiltered) offers an explanation: As cigarette prices increase, the probability that stronger cigarette types will be sold increases. This effect is larger for menthol than for nonmenthol cigarettes. Our results are consistent with earlier population-based cross-sectional and longitudinal studies showing that higher cigarette prices and taxes are associated with increasing consumption of higher-yield cigarettes by smokers.

SALICYLATE INCREASES THE GAIN OF THE CENTRAL AUDITORY SYSTEM

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, W.; Lu, J.; Stolzberg, D.; Gray, L.; Deng, A.; Lobarinas, E.; Salvi, R. J.

2009-01-01

High doses of salicylate, the anti-inflammatory component of aspirin, induce transient tinnitus and hearing loss. Systemic injection of 250 mg/kg of salicylate, a dose that reliably induces tinnitus in rats, significantly reduced the sound evoked output of the rat cochlea. Paradoxically, salicylate significantly increased the amplitude of the sound-evoked field potential from the auditory cortex (AC) of conscious rats, but not the inferior colliculus (IC). When rats were anesthetized with isoflurane, which increases GABA-mediated inhibition, the salicylate-induced AC amplitude enhancement was abolished, whereas ketamine, which blocks N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors, further increased the salicylate-induced AC amplitude enhancement. Direct application of salicylate to the cochlea, however, reduced the response amplitude of the cochlea, IC and AC, suggesting the AC amplitude enhancement induced by systemic injection of salicylate does not originate from the cochlea. To identify a behavioral correlate of the salicylate-induced AC enhancement, the acoustic startle response was measured before and after salicylate treatment. Salicylate significantly increased the amplitude of the startle response. Collectively, these results suggest that high doses of salicylate increase the gain of the central auditory system, presumably by down-regulating GABA-mediated inhibition, leading to an exaggerated acoustic startle response. The enhanced startle response may be the behavioral correlate of hyperacusis that often accompanies tinnitus and hearing loss. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of IBRO. PMID:19154777

Visual Impairment/Increased Intracranial Pressure (VIIP): Layman's Summary

Science.gov (United States)

Fogarty, Jennifer

2011-01-01

To date NASA has documented that seven long duration astronauts have experienced in-flight and post-flight changes in vision and eye anatomy including degraded distant vision, swelling of the back of the eye, and changes in the shape of the globe. We have also documented in a few of these astronauts post-flight, increases in the pressure of the fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. This is referred to as increased intracranial pressure (ICP). The functional and anatomical changes have varied in severity and duration. In the post-flight time period, some individuals have experienced a return to a pre-flight level of visual function while others have experienced changes that remain significantly altered compared to pre-flight. In addition, the increased ICP also persists in the post-flight time period. Currently, the underlying cause or causes of these changes is/are unknown but the spaceflight community at NASA suspects that the shift of blood toward the head and the changes in physiology that accompany it, such as increased intracranial pressure, play a significant role.

Increased nitrogen availability counteracts climatic change feedback from increased temperature on boreal forest soil organic matter degradation

Science.gov (United States)

Erhagen, Bjorn; Nilsson, Mats; Oquist, Mats; Ilstedt, Ulrik; Sparrman, Tobias; Schleucher, Jurgen

2014-05-01

Over the last century, the greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere have increased dramatically, greatly exceeding pre-industrial levels that had prevailed for the preceding 420 000 years. At the same time the annual anthropogenic contribution to the global terrestrial nitrogen cycle has increased and currently exceeds natural inputs. Both temperature and nitrogen levels have profound effects on the global carbon cycle including the rate of organic matter decomposition, which is the most important biogeochemical process that returns CO2 to the atmosphere. Here we show for the first time that increasing the availability of nitrogen not only directly affects the rate of organic matter decomposition but also significantly affects its temperature dependence. We incubated litter and soil organic matter from a long-term (40 years) nitrogen fertilization experiment in a boreal Scots pine (Pinus silvestris L.) forest at different temperatures and determined the temperature dependence of the decomposition of the sample's organic matter in each case. Nitrogen fertilization did not affect the temperature sensitivity (Q10) of the decomposition of fresh plant litter but strongly reduced that for humus soil organic matter. The Q10 response of the 0-3 cm soil layer decreased from 2.5±0.35 to an average of 1.9±0.21 over all nitrogen treatments, and from 2.2±0.19 to 1.6±0.16 in response to the most intense nitrogen fertilization treatment in the 4-7 cm soil layer. Long-term nitrogen additions also significantly affected the organic chemical composition (as determined by 13C CP-MAS NMR spectroscopy) of the soil organic matter. These changes in chemical composition contributed significantly (p<0.05) to the reduced Q10 response. These new insights into the relationship between nitrogen availability and the temperature sensitivity of organic matter decomposition will be important for understanding and predicting how increases in global temperature and rising anthropogenic

Neurofilaments Function as Shock Absorbers: Compression Response Arising from Disordered Proteins

Science.gov (United States)

Kornreich, Micha; Malka-Gibor, Eti; Zuker, Ben; Laser-Azogui, Adi; Beck, Roy

2016-09-01

What can cells gain by using disordered, rather than folded, proteins in the architecture of their skeleton? Disordered proteins take multiple coexisting conformations, and often contain segments which act as random-walk-shaped polymers. Using x-ray scattering we measure the compression response of disordered protein hydrogels, which are the main stress-responsive component of neuron cells. We find that at high compression their mechanics are dominated by gaslike steric and ionic repulsions. At low compression, specific attractive interactions dominate. This is demonstrated by the considerable hydrogel expansion induced by the truncation of critical short protein segments. Accordingly, the floppy disordered proteins form a weakly cross-bridged hydrogel, and act as shock absorbers that sustain large deformations without failure.

Nerve Regeneration: Understanding Biology and Its Influence on Return of Function After Nerve Transfers.

Science.gov (United States)

Gordon, Tessa

2016-05-01

Poor functional outcomes are frequent after peripheral nerve injuries despite the regenerative support of Schwann cells. Motoneurons and, to a lesser extent, sensory neurons survive the injuries but outgrowth of axons across the injury site is slow. The neuronal regenerative capacity and the support of regenerating axons by the chronically denervated Schwann cells progressively declines with time and distance of the injury from the denervated targets. Strategies, including brief low-frequency electrical stimulation that accelerates target reinnervation and functional recovery, and the insertion of cross-bridges between a donor nerve and a recipient denervated nerve stump, are effective in promoting functional outcomes after complete and incomplete injuries. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Clinically significant change in stroke volume in pulmonary hypertension.

Science.gov (United States)

van Wolferen, Serge A; van de Veerdonk, Marielle C; Mauritz, Gert-Jan; Jacobs, Wouter; Marcus, J Tim; Marques, Koen M J; Bronzwaer, Jean G F; Heymans, Martijn W; Boonstra, Anco; Postmus, Pieter E; Westerhof, Nico; Vonk Noordegraaf, Anton

2011-05-01

Stroke volume is probably the best hemodynamic parameter because it reflects therapeutic changes and contains prognostic information in pulmonary hypertension (PH). Stroke volume directly reflects right ventricular function in response to its load, without the correction of compensatory increased heart rate as is the case for cardiac output. For this reason, stroke volume, which can be measured noninvasively, is an important hemodynamic parameter to monitor during treatment. However, the extent of change in stroke volume that constitutes a clinically significant change is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the minimal important difference (MID) in stroke volume in PH. One hundred eleven patients were evaluated at baseline and after 1 year of follow-up with a 6-min walk test (6MWT) and cardiac MRI. Using the anchor-based method with 6MWT as the anchor, and the distribution-based method, the MID of stroke volume change could be determined. After 1 year of treatment, there was, on average, a significant increase in stroke volume and 6MWT. The change in stroke volume was related to the change in 6MWT. Using the anchor-based method, an MID of 10 mL in stroke volume was calculated. The distribution-based method resulted in an MID of 8 to 12 mL. Both methods showed that a 10-mL change in stroke volume during follow-up should be considered as clinically relevant. This value can be used to interpret changes in stroke volume during clinical follow-up in PH.

Implementation of standardized follow-up care significantly reduces peritonitis in children on chronic peritoneal dialysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Neu, Alicia M; Richardson, Troy; Lawlor, John; Stuart, Jayne; Newland, Jason; McAfee, Nancy; Warady, Bradley A

2016-06-01

The Standardizing Care to improve Outcomes in Pediatric End stage renal disease (SCOPE) Collaborative aims to reduce peritonitis rates in pediatric chronic peritoneal dialysis patients by increasing implementation of standardized care practices. To assess this, monthly care bundle compliance and annualized monthly peritonitis rates were evaluated from 24 SCOPE centers that were participating at collaborative launch and that provided peritonitis rates for the 13 months prior to launch. Changes in bundle compliance were assessed using either a logistic regression model or a generalized linear mixed model. Changes in average annualized peritonitis rates over time were illustrated using the latter model. In the first 36 months of the collaborative, 644 patients with 7977 follow-up encounters were included. The likelihood of compliance with follow-up care practices increased significantly (odds ratio 1.15, 95% confidence interval 1.10, 1.19). Mean monthly peritonitis rates significantly decreased from 0.63 episodes per patient year (95% confidence interval 0.43, 0.92) prelaunch to 0.42 (95% confidence interval 0.31, 0.57) at 36 months postlaunch. A sensitivity analysis confirmed that as mean follow-up compliance increased, peritonitis rates decreased, reaching statistical significance at 80% at which point the prelaunch rate was 42% higher than the rate in the months following achievement of 80% compliance. In its first 3 years, the SCOPE Collaborative has increased the implementation of standardized follow-up care and demonstrated a significant reduction in average monthly peritonitis rates. Copyright © 2016 International Society of Nephrology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Worldwide trends show oropharyngeal cancer rates increasing

Science.gov (United States)

NCI scientists report that the incidence of oropharyngeal cancer significantly increased during the period 1983-2002 among people in countries that are economically developed. Oropharyngeal cancer occurs primarily in the middle part of the throat behind t

Significance assessment of small-medium sized reactors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kanno, Minoru [Japan Atomic Power Co., Research and Development Dept., Tokyo (Japan)

2002-12-01

Preliminary assessment for deployment of small-medium sized reactor (S and M reactor) as a future option has been conducted at the JAPCO (Japan Atomic Power Company) under the cooperation with the CRIERI (Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry). Significance of the S and M reactor introduction is listed as follows; lower investment cost, possible siting near demand side, enlarged freedom of siting, shorter transmission line, good compatibility with slow increase of demand and plain explanation of safety using simpler system such as integral type vessel without piping, natural convection core cooling and passive safety system. The deployment of simpler plant system, modular shop fabrication, ship-shell structured building and longer operation period can assure economics comparable with that of a large sized reactor, coping with scale-demerit. Also the S and M reactor is preferable in size for the nuclear heat utilization such as hydrogen production. (T. Tanaka)

Regional and global significance of nuclear energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schilling, H.D.

1995-01-01

Measures to combat poverty and improve the standard of living in countries of the Third World will inevitably boost global demand for energy, and energy conservation measures will not be able to offset this increase. Nuclear energy will regain significance in the framework of approaches adopted to resolve the energy problem, which primarily is an ecologic problem created by an extremely large flow of materials. The extraordinarily high energy density of nuclear fuels can contribute to markedly reduce the flow of materials; and at that, electric energy is an efficient substitute for primary energy forms. Thus nuclear electricity generation is of double benefit to the ecology. Engineering goals in nuclear technology thus gain a service aspect, with progress in power plant engineering and design aiming not only at enhanced engineered safety, but also at regaining public acceptance of and confidence in nuclear power plant technology. (orig./UA) [de

Older persons' existential loneliness, as interpreted by their significant others - an interview study.

Science.gov (United States)

Larsson, Helena; Rämgård, Margareta; Bolmsjö, Ingrid

2017-07-10

In order to better understand people in demanding medical situations, an awareness of existential concerns is important. Studies performed over the last twenty years conclude that when dying and death come closer, as in the case with older people who are stricken by infirmity and diseases, existential concerns will come to the fore. However, studies concerning experiences of existential loneliness (EL) are sparse and, in addition, there is no clear definition of EL. EL is described as a complex phenomenon and referred to as a condition of life, an experience, and a process of inner growth. Listening to someone who knows the older person well, as significant others often do, may be one way of learning more about EL. This study is part of a larger research project on EL, the LONE study, where EL is explored through interviews with frail older people, their significant others and health care professionals. The aim of this study was to explore frail older (>75) persons' EL, as interpreted by their significant others. The study is qualitative and based on eighteen narrative interviews with nineteen significant others of older persons. The data was analysed using Hsieh and Shannon's conventional content analysis. According to the interpretation of significant others, the older persons experience EL (1) when they are increasingly limited in body and space, (2) when they are in a process of disconnecting, and (3) when they are disconnected from the outside world. The result can be understood as if the frail older person is in a process of letting go of life. This process involves the body, in that the older person is increasingly limited in his/her physical abilities. The older person's long-term relationships are gradually lost, and finally the process entails the older person's increasingly withdrawing into him- or herself and turning off the outside world. The result of this study is consistent with previous research that has shown that EL is a complex phenomenon, but

Significance of acceleration period in a dynamic strength testing study.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, W L; Su, F C; Chou, Y L

1994-06-01

The acceleration period that occurs during isokinetic tests may provide valuable information regarding neuromuscular readiness to produce maximal contraction. The purpose of this study was to collect the normative data of acceleration time during isokinetic knee testing, to calculate the acceleration work (Wacc), and to determine the errors (ERexp, ERwork, ERpower) due to ignoring Wacc during explosiveness, total work, and average power measurements. Seven male and 13 female subjects attended the test by using the Cybex 325 system and electronic stroboscope machine for 10 testing speeds (30-300 degrees/sec). A three-way ANOVA was used to assess gender, direction, and speed factors on acceleration time, Wacc, and errors. The results indicated that acceleration time was significantly affected by speed and direction; Wacc and ERexp by speed, direction, and gender; and ERwork and ERpower by speed and gender. The errors appeared to increase when testing the female subjects, during the knee flexion test, or when speed increased. To increase validity in clinical testing, it is important to consider the acceleration phase effect, especially in higher velocity isokinetic testing or for weaker muscle groups.

Numerical simulations of significant orographic precipitation in Madeira island

Science.gov (United States)

Couto, Flavio Tiago; Ducrocq, Véronique; Salgado, Rui; Costa, Maria João

2016-03-01

High-resolution simulations of high precipitation events with the MESO-NH model are presented, and also used to verify that increasing horizontal resolution in zones of complex orography, such as in Madeira island, improve the simulation of the spatial distribution and total precipitation. The simulations succeeded in reproducing the general structure of the cloudy systems over the ocean in the four periods considered of significant accumulated precipitation. The accumulated precipitation over the Madeira was better represented with the 0.5 km horizontal resolution and occurred under four distinct synoptic situations. Different spatial patterns of the rainfall distribution over the Madeira have been identified.

The significant effects of puberty on the genetic diathesis of binge eating in girls.

Science.gov (United States)

Klump, Kelly L; Culbert, Kristen M; O'Connor, Shannon; Fowler, Natasha; Burt, S Alexandra

2017-08-01

Recent data show significant phenotypic and genetic associations between ovarian hormones and binge eating in adulthood. Theories of hormonal risk focus on puberty and the possibility that hormone activation induces changes in genetic effects that then lead to differential risk for binge eating in postpuberty and adulthood. Although this theory is difficult to test in humans, an indirect test is to examine whether genetic influences on binge eating increase during the pubertal period in girls. Prior work has shown pubertal increases in genetic influences on overall disordered eating symptoms, but no study to date has examined binge eating. The present study was the first to examine these increases for binge eating. Participants included 1,568 female twins (aged 8-25 years) from the Michigan State University Twin Registry. Binge eating and pubertal development were assessed with self-report questionnaires. Twin moderation models showed significant linear increases in genetic effects from prepuberty (5%) to postpuberty (42%), even after controlling for the effects of age and body mass index. Results provide critical support for increased genetic influences on binge eating during puberty. Additional studies are needed to identify hormonal mechanisms and fully test contemporary models of ovarian hormone risk. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Identification of significant process variables for a flow-through supercritical water oxidation reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rossi, R.E.

1992-05-01

The effects of four process variables on the destruction efficiency of a flow-through supercritical water oxidation reactor were investigated. These process variables included: (1) reactor throughput (GPH), (2) concentration of the surrogate waste (% acetone), (3) maximum reactor tube-wall temperature (OC), and (4) applied stoichiometric oxygen. The analysis was conducted utilizing two-level factorial experiments, steepest ascent methods, and central composite designs. This experimental protocol assures efficient experimentation and allows for an empirical response surface model of the system to be developed. This experimentation identified a significant positive effect for stoichiometric oxygen applied and temperature variations between 400 to 500 degrees C. The increase in destruction efficiency due to stoichiometric 0 2 provides strong evidence that supercritical water oxidations are catalyzed by excess oxygen, and the strong temperature effect is a result of large increases in the kinetic rates for this temperature range. However, increasing temperature between 550 to 650 degrees C does not provide substantial increases in destruction efficiency. In addition, destruction efficiency is significantly unproved by increasing the Reynolds number and residence time. The destruction efficiency of the reactor is also dependent upon the initial concentration of surrogate waste. This concentration dependence may indicate first-order supercritical CO kinetics is inadequate for describing all waste types and reactor configurations. Alternatively, it may indicate reactant mixing, caused by local turbulence at the oxidation fronts of these higher concentration waste streams, results in higher destruction efficiencies

Increased resting heart rate following radiofrequency catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nilsson, Brian; Chen, Xu; Pehrson, Steen

2005-01-01

the procedure. RESULTS: Following PV isolation, the mean HR significantly increased from 58 +/- 10 bpm at baseline to 67 +/- 12 bpm at one month, 71 +/- 13 bpm at three months, 69 +/- 12 bpm at six months, 69 +/- 13 at nine months, and 70 +/- 13 at 12 months follow-up. The ablation success significantly...... correlated with the increase in HR at one month follow-up. In three patients the mean HR increased > 25 bpm resulting in symptoms necessitating therapy with rate-controlling drugs. CONCLUSION: PV isolation in patients with AF may result in increased HR, which positively correlated with the ablation success...

Pregnancy Exercise Increase Enzymatic Antioxidant In Pregnant Women

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wagey Freddy Wagey

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Pregnancy is a vulnerable condition to all kinds of "stress", resulting in changes of physiological and metabolic functions. This research aims to determine effect of exercise during pregnancy in increasing enzymatic antioxidant marked by increase of superoxide dismutase (SOD, gluthation peroxidase (GSHPx, and catalase (CAT levels. Methods: Randomized pre and posttest control group design was employed in this study. A number of 66 pregnant women were recruited in this study and grouped into two groups, i.e 30 of them as control group and the rest as treatment group. Pregnancy exercise was performed to all 36 pregnant women from 20 weeks gestation on treatment group. The exercise was performed in the morning for about 30 minutes, twice a weeks. On the other hand, daily activities was sugested for control group. Student’s t-test was then applied to determine the mean different of treatment and control group with 5 % of significant value. Results: This study reveals that there were significantly higher increase of (superoxide dismutase (SOD, gluthation peroxidase (GSHPx, and catalse (CAT levels of treatment group compare to control group. These enzymatic antioxidant increase among these two group were around 1.36 mg/gHb for SOD; 1.14 IU/gHb for GSHPx; and 0.97 IU/gHb for CAT, (p < 0.05.  Clinical outcomes, such as strengten of pelvic muscle and quality of life of treatment group were significantly better compared to control group (p < 0.05. Conclusions: This means that exercise during pregnancy ages of 20 weeks increase enzymatic antioxidant levels SOD, GSHPx, and CAT higher compare to control group without exercise.  

Pregnancy Exercise Increase Enzymatic Antioxidant In Pregnant Women

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wagey Freddy Wagey

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Pregnancy is a vulnerable condition to all kinds of "stress", resulting in changes of physiological and metabolic functions. This research aims to determine effect of exercise during pregnancy in increasing enzymatic antioxidant marked by increase of superoxide dismutase (SOD, gluthation peroxidase (GSHPx, and catalase (CAT levels. Methods: Randomized pre and posttest control group design was employed in this study. A number of 66 pregnant women were recruited in this study and grouped into two groups, i.e 30 of them as control group and the rest as treatment group. Pregnancy exercise was performed to all 36 pregnant women from 20 weeks gestation on treatment group. The exercise was performed in the morning for about 30 minutes, twice a weeks. On the other hand, daily activities was sugested for control group. Student’s t-test was then applied to determine the mean different of treatment and control group with 5 % of significant value. Results: This study reveals that there were significantly higher increase of (superoxide dismutase (SOD, gluthation peroxidase (GSHPx, and catalse (CAT levels of treatment group compare to control group. These enzymatic antioxidant increase among these two group were around 1.36 mg/gHb for SOD; 1.14 IU/gHb for GSHPx; and 0.97 IU/gHb for CAT, (p < 0.05. Clinical outcomes, such as strengten of pelvic muscle and quality of life of treatment group were significantly better compared to control group (p < 0.05. Conclusions: This means that exercise during pregnancy ages of 20 weeks increase enzymatic antioxidant levels SOD, GSHPx, and CAT higher compare to control group without exercise.

Statistical significance of epidemiological data. Seminar: Evaluation of epidemiological studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weber, K.H.

1993-01-01

In stochastic damages, the numbers of events, e.g. the persons who are affected by or have died of cancer, and thus the relative frequencies (incidence or mortality) are binomially distributed random variables. Their statistical fluctuations can be characterized by confidence intervals. For epidemiologic questions, especially for the analysis of stochastic damages in the low dose range, the following issues are interesting: - Is a sample (a group of persons) with a definite observed damage frequency part of the whole population? - Is an observed frequency difference between two groups of persons random or statistically significant? - Is an observed increase or decrease of the frequencies with increasing dose random or statistically significant and how large is the regression coefficient (= risk coefficient) in this case? These problems can be solved by sttistical tests. So-called distribution-free tests and tests which are not bound to the supposition of normal distribution are of particular interest, such as: - χ 2 -independence test (test in contingency tables); - Fisher-Yates-test; - trend test according to Cochran; - rank correlation test given by Spearman. These tests are explained in terms of selected epidemiologic data, e.g. of leukaemia clusters, of the cancer mortality of the Japanese A-bomb survivors especially in the low dose range as well as on the sample of the cancer mortality in the high background area in Yangjiang (China). (orig.) [de

Standard filtration practices may significantly distort planktonic microbial diversity estimates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cory Cruz Padilla

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Fractionation of biomass by filtration is a standard method for sampling planktonic microbes. It is unclear how the taxonomic composition of filtered biomass changes depending on sample volume. Using seawater from a marine oxygen minimum zone, we quantified the 16S rRNA gene composition of biomass on a prefilter (1.6 μm pore-size and a downstream 0.2 μm filter over sample volumes from 0.05 to 5 L. Significant community shifts occurred in both filter fractions, and were most dramatic in the prefilter community. Sequences matching Vibrionales decreased from ~40-60% of prefilter datasets at low volumes (0.05-0.5 L to less than 5% at higher volumes, while groups such at the Chromatiales and Thiohalorhabdales followed opposite trends, increasing from minor representation to become the dominant taxa at higher volumes. Groups often associated with marine particles, including members of the Deltaproteobacteria, Planctomycetes and Bacteroidetes, were among those showing the greatest increase with volume (4 to 27-fold. Taxon richness (97% similarity clusters also varied significantly with volume, and in opposing directions depending on filter fraction, highlighting potential biases in community complexity estimates. These data raise concerns for studies using filter fractionation for quantitative comparisons of aquatic microbial diversity, for example between free-living and particle-associated communities.

Increasing fruits and vegetables in midlife women: a feasibility study.

Science.gov (United States)

Gunn, Caroline A; Weber, Janet L; Coad, Jane; Kruger, Marlena C

2013-07-01

The positive link between bone health and fruit/vegetable consumption has been attributed to the lower renal acid load of a diet high in alkaline-forming fruit/vegetables. Other important dietary determinants of bone health include micronutrients and bioactives found in fruit/vegetables. We hypothesized that increased intake of fruit/vegetables to 9 or more servings a day would lower net endogenous acid production (NEAP) significantly (~20 mEq/d) and increase urine pH (0.5 pH units). This 8-week feasibility study investigated if 21 midlife women (age, 40-65 years) currently consuming 5 or less servings a day of fruit/vegetables could increase their intake to 9 or more servings a day to substantially lower NEAP and include specific vegetables daily. Three-day diet diaries were completed at baseline and the end of the study and assessed for NEAP (estimated) and number of servings from all food groups. Urine pH dipsticks were provided for the participants to assess and record their fasting urine pH daily (second void). Seventy-six percent of women achieved the study aim, which was to increase to 9 or more servings of fruit/vegetables for at least 5 d/wk. There was a reduction in the number of bread/cereal servings. Net endogenous acid production (estimated) was reduced significantly, with a mean urine pH increase of 0.68 pH units (95% confidence interval, 0.46-1.14); however, daily urine pH measures showed high variability. This study demonstrated that a group of midlife women can change their diet for 8 weeks by significantly increasing fruit/vegetable servings and include specific "bone friendly" vegetables daily, resulting in a significant decrease in estimated dietary NEAP and an increase in urine pH. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Increased mitochondrial content in remyelinated axons: implications for multiple sclerosis

Science.gov (United States)

Zambonin, Jessica L.; Zhao, Chao; Ohno, Nobuhiko; Campbell, Graham R.; Engeham, Sarah; Ziabreva, Iryna; Schwarz, Nadine; Lee, Sok Ee; Frischer, Josa M.; Turnbull, Doug M.; Trapp, Bruce D.; Lassmann, Hans; Franklin, Robin J. M.

2011-01-01

Mitochondrial content within axons increases following demyelination in the central nervous system, presumably as a response to the changes in energy needs of axons imposed by redistribution of sodium channels. Myelin sheaths can be restored in demyelinated axons and remyelination in some multiple sclerosis lesions is extensive, while in others it is incomplete or absent. The effects of remyelination on axonal mitochondrial content in multiple sclerosis, particularly whether remyelination completely reverses the mitochondrial changes that follow demyelination, are currently unknown. In this study, we analysed axonal mitochondria within demyelinated, remyelinated and myelinated axons in post-mortem tissue from patients with multiple sclerosis and controls, as well as in experimental models of demyelination and remyelination, in vivo and in vitro. Immunofluorescent labelling of mitochondria (porin, a voltage-dependent anion channel expressed on all mitochondria) and axons (neurofilament), and ultrastructural imaging showed that in both multiple sclerosis and experimental demyelination, mitochondrial content within remyelinated axons was significantly less than in acutely and chronically demyelinated axons but more numerous than in myelinated axons. The greater mitochondrial content within remyelinated, compared with myelinated, axons was due to an increase in density of porin elements whereas increase in size accounted for the change observed in demyelinated axons. The increase in mitochondrial content in remyelinated axons was associated with an increase in mitochondrial respiratory chain complex IV activity. In vitro studies showed a significant increase in the number of stationary mitochondria in remyelinated compared with myelinated and demyelinated axons. The number of mobile mitochondria in remyelinated axons did not significantly differ from myelinated axons, although significantly greater than in demyelinated axons. Our neuropathological data and findings in

Ibuprofen therapy resulted in significantly decreased tissue bacillary loads and increased survival in a new murine experimental model of active tuberculosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Vilaplana, Cristina; Marzo, Elena; Tapia, Gustavo; Diaz, Jorge; Garcia, Vanesa; Cardona, Pere-Joan

2013-07-15

C3HeB/FeJ mice infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis were used in an experimental animal model mimicking active tuberculosis in humans to evaluate the effect of antiinflammatory agents. No other treatment but ibuprofen was given, and it was administered when the animals' health started to deteriorate. Animals treated with ibuprofen had statistically significant decreases in the size and number of lung lesions, decreases in the bacillary load, and improvements in survival, compared with findings for untreated animals. Because antiinflammatory agents are already on the market, further clinical trials should be done to evaluate this effect in humans as soon as possible, to determine their suitability as coadjuvant tuberculosis treatment.

Novel perspectives on diagnosis and clinical significance of the post-thrombotic syndrome in children.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Sophie; Newall, Fiona; Monagle, Paul

2016-10-01

Given the increase in venous thromboembolic events (VTE) in children, the incidence, diagnosis and management of post thrombotic syndrome (PTS) in children is of increasing interest. Current challenges facing clinicians caring for children with VTE is the limited evidence of the long-term outcomes for this cohort; specifically the significance and potential functional impairment associated with PTS. This paper reviews the current evidence to elucidate the risk factors for PTS in children, methods for diagnosis and management of PTS in children (aged less than 18 years). Medline, Cinahl and PsycINFO database searches were undertaken using key search terms. Priority areas in need of further research are highlighted. Expert commentary: The two paediatric PTS assessment tools currently in use have been acknowledged to overcall the incidence of mild PTS in children. A PTS tool's ability to distinguish between clinically significant PTS and mild PTS is crucial. Variation in how PTS has been reported in children across the literature suggests that the real incidence of moderate and /or clinically significant PTS in children is unknown. Furthermore, evidence is lacking about the functional impairment experienced by children with clinically significant PTS and what this means for their long-term health.

Functional significance and structure–activity relationship of food-derived α-glucosidase inhibitors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stefano, Di Elisa; Oliviero, Teresa; Udenigwe, Chibuike C.

2018-01-01

The ageing population, together with unhealthy diets, physical inactivity and obesity are the main drivers of the increased prevalence of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Apart from pharmacological treatments, the food industries can play a significant role in the management of T2DM. One of the main

Increasing trends of herpes zoster in Australia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raina MacIntyre

Full Text Available Increasing trends in incidence of herpes zoster (HZ have been reported in Australia and internationally. This may reflect the impact of childhood VZV vaccination programs introduced universally in Australia in late 2005. The objective of this study was to evaluate changes in incidence of HZ and PHN in Australia over time, and associated healthcare resource utilisation.Australian data on general practice (GP encounters for HZ, specific antiviral prescribing data from the pharmaceutical benefits scheme, emergency department presentations from the states of NSW and Victoria and national hospitalisation data for HZ were analysed for time trends using regression models. Two time periods (2000-2006 and 2006-2013 were compared which correspond broadly with the pre- and post- universal VZV vaccination period.All data sources showed increasing rates of HZ with age and over time. The GP database showed a significant annual increase in encounters for HZ of 2.5 per 100,000 between 1998 and 2013, and the rates of prescriptions for HZ increased by 4.2% per year between 2002 and 2012. In the 60+ population HZ incidence was estimated to increase from 11.9 to 15.4 per 1,000 persons using GP data or from 12.8 to 14.2 per 1,000 persons using prescription data (p<0.05, between the two periods. Hospitalisation data did not show the same increasing trend over time, except for the age group ≥80 years. Most emergency visits for HZ were not admitted, and showed significant increases over time.The burden of HZ in Australia is substantial, and continues to increase over time. This increase is seen both pre- and post-universal VZV vaccination in 2005, and is most prominent in the older population. The substantial burden of HZ, along with ageing of the Australian population and the importance of healthy ageing, warrants consideration of HZ vaccination for the elderly.

Impact significance determination-Pushing the boundaries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lawrence, David P.

2007-01-01

Impact significance determination practice tends to be highly variable. Too often insufficient consideration is given to good practice insights. Also, impact significance determinations are frequently narrowly defined addressing, for example, only individual, negative impacts, focusing on bio-physical impacts, and not seeking to integrate either the Precautionary Principle or sustainability. This article seeks to extend the boundaries of impact significance determination practice by providing an overview of good general impact significance practices, together with stakeholder roles and potential methods for addressing significance determination challenges. Relevant thresholds, criteria, contextual considerations and support methods are also highlighted. The analysis is then extended to address how impact significance determination practices change for positive as compared with negative impacts, for cumulative as compared with individual impacts, for socio-economic as compared with bio-physical impacts, when the Precautionary Principle is integrated into the process, and when sustainability contributions drive the EIA process and related impact significance determinations. These refinements can assist EIA practitioners in ensuring that the scope and nature of impact significance determinations reflect the broadened scope of emerging EIA requirements and practices. Suggestions are included for further refining and testing of the proposed changes to impact significance determination practice

A systematic experimental investigation of significant parameters affecting model tire hydroplaning

Science.gov (United States)

Wray, G. A.; Ehrlich, I. R.

1973-01-01

The results of a comprehensive parametric study of model and small pneumatic tires operating on a wet surface are presented. Hydroplaning inception (spin down) and rolling restoration (spin up) are discussed. Conclusions indicate that hydroplaning inception occurs at a speed significantly higher than the rolling restoration speed. Hydroplaning speed increases considerably with tread depth, surface roughness and tire inflation pressure of footprint pressure, and only moderately with increased load. Water film thickness affects spin down speed only slightly. Spin down speed varies inversely as approximately the one-sixth power of film thickness. Empirical equations relating tire inflation pressure, normal load, tire diameter and water film thickness have been generated for various tire tread and surface configurations.

Is increase in bone mineral content caused by increase in skeletal muscle mass/strength in adult patients with GH-treated GH deficiency? A systematic literature analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Klefter, O.; Feldt-Rasmussen, U.

2009-01-01

to a muscle modulating effect, and if treatment with GH would primarily increase muscle mass and strength with a secondary increase in BMD/BMC, thus supporting the present physiological concept that mass and strength of bones are mainly determined by dynamic loads from the skeletal muscles. METHOD: We...... performed a systematic literature analysis, including 51 clinical trials published between 1996 and 2008, which had studied the development in muscle mass, muscle strength, BMD, and/or BMC in GH-treated adult GHD patients. RESULTS: GH therapy had an anabolic effect on skeletal muscle. The largest increase...... in muscle mass occurred during the first 12 months of therapy. Most trials measuring BMD/BMC reported significant increases from baseline values. The significant increases in BMD/BMC occurred after 12-18 months of treatment, i.e. usually later than the increases in muscle parameters. Only seven trials...

Multiple Sclerosis Increases Fracture Risk: A Meta-Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guixian Dong

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The association between multiple sclerosis (MS and fracture risk has been reported, but results of previous studies remain controversial and ambiguous. To assess the association between MS and fracture risk, a meta-analysis was performed. Method. Based on comprehensive searches of the PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science, we identified outcome data from all articles estimating the association between MS and fracture risk. The pooled risk ratios (RRs with 95% confidence intervals (CIs were calculated. Results. A significant association between MS and fracture risk was found. This result remained statistically significant when the adjusted RRs were combined. Subgroup analysis stratified by the site of fracture suggested significant associations between MS and tibia fracture risk, femur fracture risk, hip fracture risk, pelvis fracture risk, vertebrae fracture risk, and humerus fracture risk. In the subgroup analysis by gender, female MS patients had increased fracture risk. When stratified by history of drug use, use of antidepressants, hypnotics/anxiolytics, anticonvulsants, and glucocorticoids increased the risk of fracture risk in MS patients. Conclusions. This meta-analysis demonstrated that MS was significantly associated with fracture risk.

Increased thyrotropin binding in hyperfunctioning thyroid nodules.

Science.gov (United States)

Müller-Gärtner, H W; Schneider, C; Bay, V; Tadt, A; Rehpenning, W; de Heer, K; Jessel, M

1987-08-01

The object of this study was to investigate TSH receptors in hyperfunctioning thyroid nodules (HFN). In HFN, obtained from seven patients, 125-I-TSH binding as determined by equilibrium binding analysis on particulate membrane preparations, was found to be significantly increased as compared with normal thyroid tissues (five patients; P less than 0.001). Scatchard analysis of TSH-binding revealed two kinds of binding sites for both normal thyroid tissue and HFN, and displayed significantly increased association constants of high- and low-affinity binding sites in HFN (Ka = 11.75 +/- 6.8 10(9) M-1, P less than 0.001 and Ka = 2.1 +/- 1.0 10(7) M-1, P less than 0.025; x +/- SEM) as compared with normal thyroid tissue (Ka = 0.25 +/- 0.06 10(9) M-1, Ka = 0.14 +/- 0.03 10(7) M-1; x +/- SEM). The capacity of the high-affinity binding sites in HFN was found to be decreased (1.8 +/- 1.1 pmol/mg protein, x +/- SEM) in comparison with normal thyroid tissue (4.26 +/- 1.27 pmol/mg protein; x +/- SEM). TSH-receptor autoradiography applied to cryostatic tissue sections confirmed increased TSH binding of the follicular epithelium in HFN. These data suggest that an increased affinity of TSH-receptor sites in HFN in iodine deficient areas may be an important event in thyroid autonomy.

High Dose Atorvastatin Associated with Increased Risk of Significant Hepatotoxicity in Comparison to Simvastatin in UK GPRD Cohort.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alan T Clarke

Full Text Available Occasional risk of serious liver dysfunction and autoimmune hepatitis during atorvastatin therapy has been reported. We compared the risk of hepatotoxicity in atorvastatin relative to simvastatin treatment.The UK GPRD identified patients with a first prescription for simvastatin [164,407] or atorvastatin [76,411] between 1997 and 2006, but with no prior record of liver disease, alcohol-related diagnosis, or liver dysfunction. Incident liver dysfunction in the following six months was identified by biochemical value and compared between statin groups by Cox regression model adjusting for age, sex, year treatment started, dose, alcohol consumption, smoking, body mass index and comorbid conditions.Moderate to severe hepatotoxicity [bilirubin >60μmol/L, AST or ALT >200U/L or alkaline phosphatase >1200U/L] developed in 71 patients on atorvastatin versus 101 on simvastatin. Adjusted hazard ratio [AHR] for all atorvastatin relative to simvastatin was 1.9 [95% confidence interval 1.4-2.6]. High dose was classified as 40-80mg daily and low dose 10-20mg daily. Hepatotoxicity occurred in 0.44% of 4075 patients on high dose atorvastatin [HDA], 0.07% of 72,336 on low dose atorvastatin [LDA], 0.09% of 44,675 on high dose simvastatin [HDS] and 0.05% of 119,732 on low dose simvastatin [LDS]. AHRs compared to LDS were 7.3 [4.2-12.7] for HDA, 1.4 [0.9-2.0] for LDA and 1.5 [1.0-2.2] for HDS.The risk of hepatotoxicity was increased in the first six months of atorvastatin compared to simvastatin treatment, with the greatest difference between high dose atorvastatin and low dose simvastatin. The numbers of events in the analyses were small.

High Dose Atorvastatin Associated with Increased Risk of Significant Hepatotoxicity in Comparison to Simvastatin in UK GPRD Cohort

Science.gov (United States)

Clarke, Alan T.; Johnson, Paul C. D.; Hall, Gillian C.; Ford, Ian; Mills, Peter R.

2016-01-01

Background & Aims Occasional risk of serious liver dysfunction and autoimmune hepatitis during atorvastatin therapy has been reported. We compared the risk of hepatotoxicity in atorvastatin relative to simvastatin treatment. Methods The UK GPRD identified patients with a first prescription for simvastatin [164,407] or atorvastatin [76,411] between 1997 and 2006, but with no prior record of liver disease, alcohol-related diagnosis, or liver dysfunction. Incident liver dysfunction in the following six months was identified by biochemical value and compared between statin groups by Cox regression model adjusting for age, sex, year treatment started, dose, alcohol consumption, smoking, body mass index and comorbid conditions. Results Moderate to severe hepatotoxicity [bilirubin >60μmol/L, AST or ALT >200U/L or alkaline phosphatase >1200U/L] developed in 71 patients on atorvastatin versus 101 on simvastatin. Adjusted hazard ratio [AHR] for all atorvastatin relative to simvastatin was 1.9 [95% confidence interval 1.4–2.6]. High dose was classified as 40–80mg daily and low dose 10–20mg daily. Hepatotoxicity occurred in 0.44% of 4075 patients on high dose atorvastatin [HDA], 0.07% of 72,336 on low dose atorvastatin [LDA], 0.09% of 44,675 on high dose simvastatin [HDS] and 0.05% of 119,732 on low dose simvastatin [LDS]. AHRs compared to LDS were 7.3 [4.2–12.7] for HDA, 1.4 [0.9–2.0] for LDA and 1.5 [1.0–2.2] for HDS. Conclusions The risk of hepatotoxicity was increased in the first six months of atorvastatin compared to simvastatin treatment, with the greatest difference between high dose atorvastatin and low dose simvastatin. The numbers of events in the analyses were small. PMID:26983033

Clinical significance of serum neuropeptide Y levels changes in chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jin Yuanhong; Pan Jiongwei; Cao Zhuo; Ji Naijun

2004-01-01

Objective: To study the clinical significance of serum neuropeptide Y level changes in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD). Methods: The serum neuropeptide Y levels were determined by radioimmunoassay in 40 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) and 30 patients without COPD. Results: Mean serum neuropeptide Y level in patients with COPD was significantly higher than that in patients without COPD (130.36 ± 20.58 pg/ml vs 86.62 ± 13.02 pg/ml; t=10.201, p<0.01). Moreover, the levels in patients of the different stages (I, II, III) of COPD were significantly different from one another (F=20.334, p<0.01). Conclusion: the serum neuropeptide Y levels increased significantly in patients with COPD and were correlated to the different disease stages

The radioecological significance of semi-natural ecosystems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Howard, B.J.; Howard, D.C.

1997-01-01

The transfer of radiocaesium to many food products either produced in or harvested from semi-natural ecosystems is high compared with intensive agricultural areas. Radiocaesium contamination levels in semi-natural foods are highly variable and difficult to predict. Spatial analysis may help to explain some of the variability and give improved estimates of the total output of radiocaesium in food products produced or harvested from semi-natural ecosystems. Consumption of foodstuffs from semi-natural ecosystems can contribute significantly to radiocaesium ingestion by humans. The long effective half-lives that occur for some semi-natural products lead to an increase with time in their importance compared with agricultural products. In determining the importance of semi-natural food products, the diet needs to be considered for both the average population and for special groups who utilize these environments to a greater extent than normal. Effective countermeasures have been developed to reduce radiocaesium levels in some semi-natural products. (author)

Cold-knife conisation and large loop excision of transformation zone significantly increase the risk for spontaneous preterm birth: a population-based cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Jančar, Nina; Mihevc Ponikvar, Barbara; Tomšič, Sonja

2016-08-01

Our aim was to explore the association between cold-knife conisation and large loop excision of transformation zone (LLETZ) with spontaneous preterm birth in a large 10-year national sample. We wanted to explore further the association of these procedures with preterm birth according to gestation. We conducted a population based retrospective cohort study, using data from national Medical Birth Registry. The study population consisted of all women giving birth to singletons in the period 2003-2012 in Slovenia, excluding all induced labors and elective cesarean sections before 37 weeks of gestation (N=192730). We compared the prevalence of spontaneous preterm births (before 28 weeks, before 32 weeks, before 34 weeks and before 37 weeks of gestation) in women with cold-knife conisation or LLETZ compared to women without history of conisation, calculating odds ratios (OR), adjusted for potential confounders. Chi-square test was used for descriptive analysis. Logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate crude odds ratio (OR) and adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) with two-sided probability (p) values. A total of 8420 (4.4%) women had a preterm birth before 37 weeks of gestation, 2250 (1.2%) before 34 weeks of gestation, 1333 (0.7%) before 32 weeks of gestation and 603 (0.3%) before 28 weeks of gestation. A total of 4580 (2.4%) women had some type of conisation in their medical history: 2083 (1.1%) had cold-knife conisation and 2498 (1.3%) had LLETZ. In women with history of cold-knife conisation, the adjusted OR for preterm birth before 37 weeks of gestation was 3.13 (95% CI; 2.74-3.57) and for preterm birth before 28 weeks of gestation 5.96 (95% CI; 4.3-8.3). In women with history of LLETZ, the adjusted OR was 1.95 (95% CI; 1.68-2.25) and 2.88 (95% CI; 1.87-4.43), respectively. Women with cervical excision procedure of any kind have significantly increased odds for preterm birth, especially for preterm birth before 28

Increased bone radiotracer uptake in renal osteodystrophy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

de Graaf, P.; Schicht, I.M.; de Graeff, J.; te Velde, J.; Kleiverda, K.; Pauwels, E.K.J.

1982-04-01

Bone radiotracer uptake in renal osteodystrophy was investigated in 35 dialysis patients by correlating the results of quantitative bone scintigraphy with those of biochemical and bone morphometric studies. There were highly significant correlations (P < 0.001) between the total skeletal activity and the biochemical (iPTH and alkaline phosphatase), and histologic parameters of hyperparathyroidism. These clinical results strongly suggest that increased bone turnover i.e. hyperparathyroidism, rather than osteomalacia is the major cause of increased skeletal uptake in renal osteodystrophy.

Temperature increase beneath etched dentin discs during composite polymerization.

Science.gov (United States)

Karaarslan, Emine Sirin; Secilmis, Asli; Bulbul, Mehmet; Yildirim, Cihan; Usumez, Aslihan

2011-01-01

The purpose of this in vitro study was to measure the temperature increase during the polymerization of a composite resin beneath acid-etched or laser-etched dentin discs. The irradiation of dentin with an Er:YAG laser may have a positive effect on the thermal conductivity of dentin. This technique has not been studied extensively. Forty dentin discs (5 mm in diameter and 0.5 or 1 mm in height) were prepared from extracted permanent third molars. These dentin discs were etched with 20% orthophosphoric acid or an Er:YAG laser, and were then placed on an apparatus developed to measure temperature increases. The composite resin was polymerized with a high-intensity quartz tungsten halogen (HQTH) or light-emitting diode unit (LED). The temperature increase was measured under the dentin disc with a J-type thermocouple wire that was connected to a data logger. Five measurements were made for each dentin disc, curing unit, and etching system combination. Differences between the initial and the highest temperature readings were taken, and the five calculated temperature changes were averaged to determine the value of the temperature increase. Statistical analysis was performed with a three-way ANOVA and Tukey HSD tests at a 0.05 level of significance. Further SEM examinations were performed. The temperature increase values varied significantly, depending on etching systems (p < 0.05), dentin thicknesses (p < 0.05), and curing units (p < 0.05). Temperature increases measured beneath laser-etched discs were significantly higher than those for acid-etched dentin discs (p < 0.05). The HQTH unit induced significantly higher temperature increases than the LED unit (p < 0.05). The LED unit induced the lowest temperature change (5.2°C) in the 1-mm, acid-etched dentin group. The HQTH unit induced the highest temperature change (10.4°C) for the 0.5-mm, laser-etched dentin group. The risk of heat-induced pulpal damage should be taken into consideration

Increased heart rate variability during nondirective meditation.

Science.gov (United States)

Nesvold, Anders; Fagerland, Morten W; Davanger, Svend; Ellingsen, Øyvind; Solberg, Erik E; Holen, Are; Sevre, Knut; Atar, Dan

2012-08-01

Meditation practices are in use for relaxation and stress reduction. Some studies indicate beneficial cardiovascular health effects of meditation. The effects on the autonomous nervous system seem to vary among techniques. The purpose of the present study was to identify autonomic nerve activity changes during nondirective meditation. Heart rate variability (HRV), blood pressure variability (BPV), and baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) were monitored in 27 middle-aged healthy participants of both genders, first during 20 min regular rest with eyes closed, thereafter practising Acem meditation for 20 min. Haemodynamic and autonomic data were collected continuously (beat-to-beat) and non-invasively. HRV and BPV parameters were estimated by power spectral analyses, computed by an autoregressive model. Spontaneous activity of baroreceptors were determined by the sequence method. Primary outcomes were changes in HRV, BPV, and BRS between rest and meditation. HRV increased in the low-frequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF) bands during meditation, compared with rest (p = 0.014, 0.013, respectively). Power spectral density of the RR-intervals increased as well (p = 0.012). LF/HF ratio decreased non-significantly, and a reduction of LF-BPV power was observed during meditation (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in BRS. Respiration and heart rates remained unchanged. Blood pressure increased slightly during meditation. There is an increased parasympathetic and reduced sympathetic nerve activity and increased overall HRV, while practising the technique. Hence, nondirective meditation by the middle aged may contribute towards a reduction of cardiovascular risk.

Physiological significance, structure and isolation of α-lactalbumin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katarina Lisak Jakopović

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Along with the constant increase in the cheese milk production, the world whey production is increasing constantly too (>2 % per year. The excellent nutritional properties attributed to whey are mainly conditioned by the presence of highly valuable proteins with wide range of biological and functional properties. The main whey proteins are β-lactoglobulin (β-Lg and α-lactalbumin (α-La which are extensively used in functional foods and beverages, infant formulas, sport diets, but are a very good source of bioactive peptides too. Along with casein, β-Lg is most commonly made responsible for causing food allergies, especially in infants whose digestion system isn’t completely developed. Hence, there is a great interest for removing β-Lg prior to whey utilization in certain products. At the same time α-La was recognized as the nutritionally most valuable protein and might be regarded as an ideal ingredient for infant formulas. Thus, the aim of the present paper was to give an overview of the currently available methods for α-La isolation, and to highlight their advantages and disadvantages as well. Also, this paper reviews the most recent insights related to the structure and physiological significance of α-La.

Altered myofilament structure and function in dogs with Duchenne muscular dystrophy cardiomyopathy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ait Mou, Younss; Lacampagne, Alain; Irving, Thomas; Scheuermann, Valérie; Blot, Stéphane; Ghaleh, Bijan; de Tombe, Pieter P.; Cazorla, Olivier

2018-01-01

Aim Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is associated with progressive depressed left ventricular (LV) function. However, DMD effects on myofilament structure and function are poorly understood. Golden Retriever Muscular Dystrophy (GRMD) is a dog model of DMD recapitulating the human form of DMD. Objective The objective of this study is to evaluate myofilament structure and function alterations in GRMD model with spontaneous cardiac failure. Methods and results We have employed synchrotron X-rays diffraction to evaluate myofilament lattice spacing at various sarcomere lengths (SL) on permeabilized LV myocardium. We found a negative correlation between SL and lattice spacing in both sub-epicardium (EPI) and sub-endocardium (ENDO) LV layers in control dog hearts. In the ENDO of GRMD hearts this correlation is steeper due to higher lattice spacing at short SL (1.9 μm). Furthermore, cross-bridge cycling indexed by the kinetics of tension redevelopment (ktr) was faster in ENDO GRMD myofilaments at short SL. We measured post-translational modifications of key regulatory contractile proteins. S-glutathionylation of cardiac Myosin Binding Protein-C (cMyBP-C) was unchanged and PKA dependent phosphorylation of the cMyBP-C was significantly reduced in GRMD ENDO tissue and more modestly in EPI tissue. Conclusions We found a gradient of contractility in control dogs' myocardium that spreads across the LV wall, negatively correlated with myofilament lattice spacing. Chronic stress induced by dystrophin deficiency leads to heart failure that is tightly associated with regional structural changes indexed by increased myofilament lattice spacing, reduced phosphorylation of regulatory proteins and altered myofilament contractile properties in GRMD dogs.

Human-directed social behaviour in dogs shows significant heritability.

Science.gov (United States)

Persson, M E; Roth, L S V; Johnsson, M; Wright, D; Jensen, P

2015-04-01

Through domestication and co-evolution with humans, dogs have developed abilities to attract human attention, e.g. in a manner of seeking assistance when faced with a problem solving task. The aims of this study were to investigate within breed variation in human-directed contact seeking in dogs and to estimate its genetic basis. To do this, 498 research beagles, bred and kept under standardized conditions, were tested in an unsolvable problem task. Contact seeking behaviours recorded included both eye contact and physical interactions. Behavioural data was summarized through a principal component analysis, resulting in four components: test interactions, social interactions, eye contact and physical contact. Females scored significantly higher on social interactions and physical contact and age had an effect on eye contact scores. Narrow sense heritabilities (h(2) ) of the two largest components were estimated at 0.32 and 0.23 but were not significant for the last two components. These results show that within the studied dog population, behavioural variation in human-directed social behaviours was sex dependent and that the utilization of eye contact seeking increased with age and experience. Hence, heritability estimates indicate a significant genetic contribution to the variation found in human-directed social interactions, suggesting that social skills in dogs have a genetic basis, but can also be shaped and enhanced through individual experiences. This research gives the opportunity to further investigate the genetics behind dogs' social skills, which could also play a significant part into research on human social disorders such as autism. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society.

Total sleep deprivation does not significantly degrade semantic encoding.

Science.gov (United States)

Honn, K A; Grant, D A; Hinson, J M; Whitney, P; Van Dongen, Hpa

2018-01-17

Sleep deprivation impairs performance on cognitive tasks, but it is unclear which cognitive processes it degrades. We administered a semantic matching task with variable stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) and both speeded and self-paced trial blocks. The task was administered at the baseline and 24 hours later after 30.8 hours of total sleep deprivation (TSD) or matching well-rested control. After sleep deprivation, the 20% slowest response times (RTs) were significantly increased. However, the semantic encoding time component of the RTs remained at baseline level. Thus, the performance impairment induced by sleep deprivation on this task occurred in cognitive processes downstream of semantic encoding.

Significant NRC Enforcement Actions

Data.gov (United States)

Nuclear Regulatory Commission — This dataset provides a list of Nuclear Regulartory Commission (NRC) issued significant enforcement actions. These actions, referred to as "escalated", are issued by...

Increased serum estrone and estradiol following spironolactone administration in hypertensive men

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Miyatake, A; Noma, K; Nakao, K; Morimoto, Y; Yamamura, Y [Osaka Univ. (Japan). Faculty of Medicine

1978-12-01

This study was undertaken to evaluate long-term effects of spironolactone on basal serum estrone, estradiol, testosterone, LH and prolactin concentrations in hypertensive male patients. Serum prolactin response to TRH was also evaluated. There were two groups, (a) six males with essential hypertension given 75 - 150 mg spironolactone daily for 12 weeks, and (b) two males with idiopathic hyperaldosteronism given 300 mg daily for over 40 weeks. In the conventional-dosage group, serum estrone concentrations significantly increased (P < 0.01) at 12 weeks serum estradiol gradually increased but not statistically significantly (P < 0,2). Basal serum testosterone, LH and prolactin concentrations did not show significant changes. There was no increase in serum prolactin response to TRH. In the high-dosage group, serum estrone levels remained high, and serum estradiol increased with the development of gynaecomastia. Serum testosterone, LH and prolactin concentrations showed no marked changes. The elevations in circulating oestrogens could well explain the oestrogenic side-effects of spironolactone treatment.

Increased serum oestrone and oestradiol following spironolactone administration in hypertensive men

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyatake, A.; Noma, K.; Nakao, K.; Morimoto, Y.; Yamamura, Y.

1978-01-01

This study was undertaken to evaluate long-term effects of spironolactone on basal serum oestrone, oestradiol, testosterone, LH and prolactin concentrations in hypertensive male patients. Serum prolactin response to TRH was also evaluated. There were two groups, (a) six males with essential hypertension given 75 - 150 mg spironolactone daily for 12 weeks, and (b) two males with idiopathic hyperaldosteronism given 300 mg daily for over 40 weeks. In the conventional-dosage group, serum oestrone concentrations significantly increased (P < 0.01) at 12 weeks serum oestradiol gradually increased but not statistically significantly (P < 0,2). Basal serum testosterone, LH and prolactin concentrations did not show significant changes. There was no increase in serum prolactin response to TRH. In the high-dosage group, serum oestrone levels remained high, and serum oestradiol increased with the development of gynaecomastia. Serum testosterone, LH and prolactin concentrations showed no marked changes. The elevations in circulating oestrogens could well explain the oestrogenic side-effects of spironolactone treatment. (author)

The significant human-animal bond: Pets with cancer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weller, R.E.

1994-03-01

Veterinarians have responsibilities to both the animal and its owner. In the past several years there has been an increased awareness and concern about human-animal bonds. As a result, we have begun to appreciate the nature, strength, and significance of bonds that develop between humans and companion animals. It is typical for a pet to be perceived as and treated as a member of the family and as a result, animals provide special and beneficial relationships for many years. It is partly because of this role of the pet in promoting human health and happiness that we as veterinarians have an obligation to assist both owner and animal. The mark of the good practitioner concerns not only the ability to diagnose and treat accurately, but also the ability to show understanding and compassionate judgement.

Optimum value engineering and integrated design methods for reducing the cost of R-2000 houses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Proskiw, G. [Proskiw Engineering Ltd., Winnipeg, MB (Canada); Parekh, A. [Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada)

2009-07-01

Opportunities exist to reduce the incremental cost of R-2000 construction by using optimum value engineering (OVE) and integrated design (ID) techniques. OVE is a construction philosophy in which components and systems are designed to meet their intended purposes without excessive or unnecessary use of resources. This paper summarized a study that was designed to identify opportunities for reducing the costs of R-2000 houses while improving their performance. These included detailed energy and cost analysis of various OVE/ID options which were then applied to a sample of 18 representative new home designs from British Columbia, Manitoba, and New Brunswick. The paper described the OVE/ID measures studied, cost analysis, measure utilization and energy analysis. It also included a detailed discussion of individual OVE/ID measures. Examples of some of these measures were the elimination of floor system cross-bridging; support of non-load bearing partition walls; engineered wood beams; drywall clips at corners; and non-load bearing partition walls. It was concluded that significant opportunities exist to reduce the incremental cost of R-2000 houses through careful application of OVE and ID practices. 5 refs., 4 tabs., 1 fig.

Irrigation Is Significantly Associated with an Increased Prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in Produce Production Environments in New York State.

Science.gov (United States)

Weller, Daniel; Wiedmann, Martin; Strawn, Laura K

2015-06-01

Environmental (i.e., meteorological and landscape) factors and management practices can affect the prevalence of foodborne pathogens in produce production environments. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes, Listeria species (including L. monocytogenes), Salmonella, and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in produce production environments and to identify environmental factors and management practices associated with their isolation. Ten produce farms in New York State were sampled during a 6-week period in 2010, and 124 georeferenced samples (80 terrestrial, 33 water, and 11 fecal) were collected. L. monocytogenes, Listeria spp., Salmonella, and STEC were detected in 16, 44, 4, and 5% of terrestrial samples, 30, 58, 12, and 3% of water samples, and 45, 45, 27, and 9% of fecal samples, respectively. Environmental factors and management practices were evaluated for their association with terrestrial samples positive for L. monocytogenes or other Listeria species by univariate logistic regression; analysis was not conducted for Salmonella or STEC because the number of samples positive for these pathogens was low. Although univariate analysis identified associations between isolation of L. monocytogenes or Listeria spp. from terrestrial samples and various water-related factors (e.g., proximity to wetlands and precipitation), multivariate analysis revealed that only irrigation within 3 days of sample collection was significantly associated with isolation of L. monocytogenes (odds ratio = 39) and Listeria spp. (odds ratio = 5) from terrestrial samples. These findings suggest that intervention at the irrigation level may reduce the risk of produce contamination.

Serotonin increases synaptic activity in olfactory bulb glomeruli.

Science.gov (United States)

Brill, Julia; Shao, Zuoyi; Puche, Adam C; Wachowiak, Matt; Shipley, Michael T

2016-03-01

Serotoninergic fibers densely innervate olfactory bulb glomeruli, the first sites of synaptic integration in the olfactory system. Acting through 5HT2A receptors, serotonin (5HT) directly excites external tufted cells (ETCs), key excitatory glomerular neurons, and depolarizes some mitral cells (MCs), the olfactory bulb's main output neurons. We further investigated 5HT action on MCs and determined its effects on the two major classes of glomerular interneurons: GABAergic/dopaminergic short axon cells (SACs) and GABAergic periglomerular cells (PGCs). In SACs, 5HT evoked a depolarizing current mediated by 5HT2C receptors but did not significantly impact spike rate. 5HT had no measurable direct effect in PGCs. Serotonin increased spontaneous excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs and sIPSCs) in PGCs and SACs. Increased sEPSCs were mediated by 5HT2A receptors, suggesting that they are primarily due to enhanced excitatory drive from ETCs. Increased sIPSCs resulted from elevated excitatory drive onto GABAergic interneurons and augmented GABA release from SACs. Serotonin-mediated GABA release from SACs was action potential independent and significantly increased miniature IPSC frequency in glomerular neurons. When focally applied to a glomerulus, 5HT increased MC spontaneous firing greater than twofold but did not increase olfactory nerve-evoked responses. Taken together, 5HT modulates glomerular network activity in several ways: 1) it increases ETC-mediated feed-forward excitation onto MCs, SACs, and PGCs; 2) it increases inhibition of glomerular interneurons; 3) it directly triggers action potential-independent GABA release from SACs; and 4) these network actions increase spontaneous MC firing without enhancing responses to suprathreshold sensory input. This may enhance MC sensitivity while maintaining dynamic range. Copyright © 2016 the American Physiological Society.

Physiological hypercortisolemia increases proteolysis, glutamine, and alanine production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Darmaun, D.; Matthews, D.E.; Bier, D.M.

1988-01-01

Physiological elevations of plasma cortisol levels, as are encountered in stress and severe trauma, were produced in six normal subjects by infusing them with hydrocortisone for 64 h. Amino acid kinetics were measured in the postabsorptive state using three 4-h infusions of L-[1- 13 C]leucine, L-phenyl[ 2 H 5 ]phenylalanine, L-[2- 15 N]glutamine, and L-[1- 13 C]alanine tracers (1) before, (2) at 12 h, and (3) at 60 h of cortisol infusion. Before and throughout the study, the subjects ate a normal diet of adequate protein and energy intake. The cortisol infusion raised plasma cortisol levels significantly from 10 ± 1 to 32 ± 4 μg/dl, leucine flux from 83 ± 3 to 97 ± 3 μmol·kg -1 ·h -1 , and phenylalanine flux from 34 ± 1 to 39 ± 1 (SE) μmol·kg -1 ·h -1 after 12 h of cortisol infusion. These increases were maintained until the cortisol infusion was terminated. These nearly identical 15% increases in two different essential amino acid appearance rates are reflective of increased whole body protein breakdown. Glutamine flux rose by 12 h of cortisol infusion and remained elevated at the same level at 64 h. The increase in flux was primarily due to a 55% increase in glutamine de novo synthesis. Alanine flux increased with acute hypercortisolemia and increased further at 60 h of cortisol infusion, a result primarily of increased alanine de novo synthesis. Insulin, alanine, and lactate plasma levels responded similarly with significant rises between the acute and chronic periods of cortisol infusion. Thus hypercortisolemia increases both protein breakdown and the turnover of important nonessential amino acids for periods of up to 64 h

Prognostic significance of lymphovascular invasion in radical prostatectomy specimens.

Science.gov (United States)

Yee, David S; Shariat, Shahrokh F; Lowrance, William T; Maschino, Alexandra C; Savage, Caroline J; Cronin, Angel M; Scardino, Peter T; Eastham, James A

2011-08-01

Study Type - Prognosis (case series). 4. What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? The reported incidence of lymphovascular invasion (LVI) in radical prostatectomy specimens ranges from 5% to 53%. Although LVI has a strong and significant association with adverse clinicopathologic features, it has almost uniformly not been found to be a predictor of biochemical recurrence (BR) on multivariate analysis. This study confirms that LVI is associated with features of aggressive disease and is an independent predictor of BCR. Given that LVI may play a role in the metastatic process, it may be useful in clinical decision-making regarding adjuvant therapy for patients treated with RP. To determine whether lymphovascular invasion (LVI) in radical prostatectomy (RP) specimens has prognostic significance. The study examined whether LVI is associated with clinicopathological characteristics and biochemical recurrence (BCR). LVI was evaluated based on routine pathology reports on 1298 patients treated with RP for clinically localized prostate cancer between 2004 and 2007. LVI was defined as the unequivocal presence of tumour cells within an endothelium-lined space. The association between LVI and clinicopathological features was assessed with univariate logistic regression. Cox regression was used to test the association between LVI and BCR. LVI was identified in 10% (129/1298) of patients. The presence of LVI increased with advancing pathological stage: 2% (20/820) in pT2N0 patients, 16% (58/363) in pT3N0 patients and 17% (2/12) in pT4N0 patients; and was highest in patients with pN1 disease (52%; 49/94). Univariate analysis showed an association between LVI and higher preoperative prostate-specific antigen levels and Gleason scores, and a greater likelihood of extraprostatic extension, seminal vesicle invasion, lymph node metastasis and positive surgical margins (all P < 0.001). With a median follow-up of 27 months, LVI was significantly associated with an

Affective picture modulation: valence, arousal, attention allocation and motivational significance.

Science.gov (United States)

Leite, Jorge; Carvalho, Sandra; Galdo-Alvarez, Santiago; Alves, Jorge; Sampaio, Adriana; Gonçalves, Oscar F

2012-03-01

The present study analyses the modulatory effects of affective pictures in the early posterior negativity (EPN), the late positive potential (LPP) and the human startle response on both the peripheral (eye blink EMG) and central neurophysiological levels (Probe P3), during passive affective pictures viewing. The affective pictures categories were balanced in terms of valence (pleasant; unpleasant) and arousal (high; low). The data shows that EPN may be sensitive to specific stimulus characteristics (affective relevant pictures versus neutral pictures) associated with early stages of attentional processing. In later stages, the heightened attentional resource allocation as well as the motivated significance of the affective stimuli was found to elicit enhanced amplitudes of slow wave processes thought to be related to enhanced encoding, namely LPP,. Although pleasant low arousing pictures were effective in engaging the resources involved in the slow wave processes, the highly arousing affective stimuli (pleasant and unpleasant) were found to produce the largest enhancement of the LPP, suggesting that high arousing stimuli may are associated with increased motivational significance. Additionally the response to high arousing stimuli may be suggestive of increased motivational attention, given the heightened attentional allocation, as expressed in the P3 probe, especially for the pleasant pictures. The hedonic valence may then serve as a mediator of the attentional inhibition to the affective priming, potentiating or inhibiting a shift towards defensive activation, as measured by the startle reflex. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Increased Circulating Anti-inflammatory Cells in Marathon-trained Runners.

Science.gov (United States)

Rehm, K; Sunesara, I; Marshall, G D

2015-10-01

Exercise training can alter immune function. Marathon training has been associated with an increased susceptibility to infectious diseases and an increased activity of inflammatory-based diseases, but the precise mechanisms are unknown. The purpose of this study was to compare levels of circulating CD4+  T cell subsets in the periphery of marathon-trained runners and matched non-marathon controls. 19 recreational marathoners that were 4 weeks from running a marathon and 19 demographically-matched healthy control subjects had the percentage of CD4+ T cell subpopulations (T helper 1, T helper 2, T helper 1/T helper 2 ratio, regulatory T cells, CD4+ IL10+, and CD4+ TGFβ+ (Transforming Growth Factor-beta) measured by flow cytometry. Marathon-trained runners had significantly less T helper 1 and regulatory T cells and significantly more T helper 2, CD4+ IL10+, and TGFβ+ cells than the control subjects. The alterations in the percentage of T helper 1 and T helper 2 cells led to a significantly lower T helper 1/T helper 2 ratio in the marathon-trained runners. These data suggest that endurance-based training can increase the number of anti-inflammatory cells. This may be a potential mechanism for the increased incidence of both infectious and inflammatory diseases observed in endurance athletes. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Evidence for the functional significance of diazotroph community structure in soil.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Shi-Fang; Buckley, Daniel H

2009-01-01

Microbial ecologists continue to seek a greater understanding of the factors that govern the ecological significance of microbial community structure. Changes in community structure have been shown to have functional significance for processes that are mediated by a narrow spectrum of organisms, such as nitrification and denitrification, but in some cases, functional redundancy in the community seems to buffer microbial ecosystem processes. The functional significance of microbial community structure is frequently obscured by environmental variation and is hard to detect in short-term experiments. We examine the functional significance of free-living diazotrophs in a replicated long-term tillage experiment in which extraneous variation is minimized and N-fixation rates can be related to soil characteristics and diazotroph community structure. Soil characteristics were found to be primarily impacted by tillage management, whereas N-fixation rates and diazotroph community structure were impacted by both biomass management practices and interactions between tillage and biomass management. The data suggest that the variation in diazotroph community structure has a greater impact on N-fixation rates than do soil characteristics at the site. N-fixation rates displayed a saturating response to increases in diazotroph community diversity. These results show that the changes in the community structure of free-living diazotrophs in soils can have ecological significance and suggest that this response is related to a change in community diversity.

Microwave Energy Increases Fatty Acid Methyl Ester Yield in Human Whole Blood Due to Increased Sphingomyelin Transesterification.

Science.gov (United States)

Metherel, Adam H; Aristizabal Henao, Juan J; Ciobanu, Flaviu; Taha, Ameer Y; Stark, Ken D

2015-09-01

Dried blood spots (DBS) by fingertip prick collection for fatty acid profiling are becoming increasingly popular due to ease of collection, minimal invasiveness and its amenability to high-throughput analyses. Herein, we assess a microwave-assisted direct transesterification method for the production of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) from DBS. Technical replicates of human whole blood were collected and 25-μL aliquots were applied to chromatography strips prior to analysis by a standard 3-h transesterification method or microwave-assisted direct transesterification method under various power (variable vs constant), time (1-5 min) and reagent (1-10% H2SO4 in methanol) conditions. In addition, a standard method was compared to a 5-min, 30-W power microwave in 1% H2SO4 method for FAME yield from whole blood sphingomyelin, and sphingomyelin standards alone and spiked in whole blood. Microwave-assisted direct transesterification yielded no significant differences in both quantitative (nmol/100 µL) and qualitative (mol%) fatty acid assessments after as little as 1.5- and 1-min reaction times, respectively, using the variable power method and 5% H2SO4 in methanol. However, 30-W power for 5 min increased total FAME yield of the technical replicates by 14%. This increase appears largely due to higher sphingomyelin-derived FAME yield of up to 109 and 399% compared to the standard method when determined from whole blood or pure standards, respectively. In conclusion, microwave-assisted direct transesterification of DBS achieved in as little as 1-min, and 5-min reaction times increase total fatty acids primarily by significantly improving sphingomyelin-derived fatty acid yield.

Requests for body computed tomography: increasing workload, increasing indications and increasing age

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toms, A.P.; Cash, C.J.C.; Dixon, A.K.; Linton, S.J.

2001-01-01

Increasing numbers of increasingly elderly patients were being examined in our Body CT department. At the same time, some of our clinical colleagues perceived that their patients might be discriminated against on the basis of their age when allocating CT time. We therefore studied the population trends in our department over a 10-year period. The ages of patients attending the Body CT department were collected from the hospital's computer information system from 1995 to 2000 and from handwritten logbooks for the months of September 1988 and 1998. Comparison was made with population trends within the hospital and local demographic data. There has been an average increase of 11% per annum in the number of examinations performed in the Body CT unit. The average age of patients examined increased from 52.7 years in 1988 to 58.9 years in 1998. The largest increase occurred in the over 75-year population (18% rise per annum). Hospital and local demographic population profiles changed little during the same period. We are performing increasing numbers of body CT examinations on increasingly elderly patients. This is probably due to an increased willingness to investigate and treat elderly patients, rather than changes in the local population. There is no evidence of a general discriminatory policy on the basis of age. (orig.)

Effects of the administration of 2,3-butanedione monoxime during conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation on ischaemic contracture and resuscitability in a pig model of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Byung Kook; Jeung, Kyung Woon; Choi, Sung Soo; Park, Sang Wook; Yun, Seong Woo; Lee, Sung Min; Kim, Nan Yeol; Heo, Tag; Min, Yong Il

2015-02-01

Ischaemic contracture compromises the haemodynamic effectiveness of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and resuscitability. 2,3-Butanedione monoxime (BDM) reduced ischaemic contracture by inhibiting actin-myosin crossbridge formation in an isolated heart model. We investigated the effects of BDM on ischaemic contracture and resuscitation outcomes in a pig model of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). After 15min of untreated ventricular fibrillation, followed by 8min of basic life support, 16 pigs were randomised to receive either 2mlkg(-1) of BDM solution (25gl(-1)) or 2mlkg(-1) of saline during advanced cardiac life support (ACLS). During the ACLS, the control group showed an increase in left ventricular (LV) wall thickness from 10.0mm (10.0-10.8) to 13.0mm (13.0-13.0) and a decrease in LV chamber area from 8.13cm(2) (7.59-9.29) to 7.47cm(2) (5.84-8.43). In contrast, the BDM group showed a decrease in the LV wall thickness from 10mm (9.0-10.8) to 8.5mm (7.0-9.8) and an increase in the LV chamber area from 9.86cm(2) (7.22-12.39) to 12.15 cm(2) (8.02-14.40). Mixed model analyses of the LV wall thickness and LV chamber area revealed significant group effects and group-time interactions. Spontaneous circulation was restored in four (50%) animals in the control group and in eight (100%) animals in the BDM group (p=0.077). All the resuscitated animals survived during an intensive care period of 4h. BDM administered during cardiopulmonary resuscitation reversed ischaemic contracture in a pig model of OHCA. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Osteoinductive potential of demineralized rat bone increases with increasing donor age from birth to adulthood

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pinholt, E M; Solheim, E

1998-01-01

Demineralized allogenic bone implanted in the subcutis or muscle of rodents causes formation of heterotopic bone by osteoinduction. The osteoinductive response may be weaker in primates than in rodents. It was suggested that the osteoinductive response of demineralized bone for clinical use could...... be enhanced by using young donors, because studies have indicated that the osteoinductive response is reduced in demineralized bone of old versus young donors. However, these findings may not represent a gradual decline in the osteoinductive property of bone matrix throughout the life span. We evaluated...... quantitatively, by uptake of strontium 85, the osteoinductive effect of demineralized bone matrix from newborn, 8-week-old (adolescent), and 8-month-old (adult) male Wistar rats implanted in the abdominal muscles of 8-week-old male Wistar rats. The osteoinductive response increased significantly with increasing...

A significant increase in the pepsinogen I/II ratio is a reliable biomarker for successful Helicobacter pylori eradication.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hiroki Osumi

Full Text Available Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori eradication is usually assessed using the 13C-urea breath test (UBT, anti-H. pylori antibody and the H. pylori stool antigen test. However, a few reports have used pepsinogen (PG, in particular, the percentage change in the PG I/II ratio. Here, we evaluated the usefulness of the percentage changes in serum PG I/II ratios for determining the success of eradication therapy for H. pylori.In total, 650 patients received eradication therapy from October 2008 to March 2013 in our Cancer Institute Hospital. We evaluated the relationship between H. pylori eradication and percentage changes in serum PG I/II ratios before and 3 months after treatment with CLEIA® (FUJIREBIO Inc, Tokyo, Japan. The gold standard of H. pylori eradication was defined as negative by the UBT performed 3 months after completion of eradication treatment. Cut-off values for percentage changes in serum PG I/II ratios were set as +40, +25 and +10% when the serum PG I/II ratio before treatment was below 3.0, above 3.0 but below 5.0 and 5.0 or above, respectively.Serum PG I and PG II levels were measured in 562 patients with H. pylori infection before and after eradication therapy. Eradication of H. pylori was achieved in 433 patients studied (77.0%. The ratios of first, second, third-line and penicillin allergy eradication treatment were 73.8% (317/429, 88.3% (99/112, 75% (12/16 and 100% (5/5, respectively. An increasing percentage in the serum levels of the PG I/II ratios after treatment compared with the values before treatment clearly distinguished success from failure of eradication (108.2±57.2 vs. 6.8±30.7, p<0.05. Using the above cut-off values, the sensitivity, specificity and validity for determination of H. pylori were 93.1, 93.8 and 93.2%, respectively.In conclusion, the percentage changes in serum PG I/II ratios are useful as evaluation criteria for assessing the success of eradication therapy for H. pylori.

Increased carboxyhemoglobin level during liver resection with inflow occlusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Godai, Kohei; Hasegawa-Moriyama, Maiko; Kuniyoshi, Tamotsu; Matsunaga, Akira; Kanmura, Yuichi

2013-04-01

Controlling stress responses associated with ischemic changes due to bleeding and ischemia/reperfusion injury is essential for anesthetic management. Endogenous carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) is produced in the oxidative degradation of heme proteins by the stress-response enzyme heme oxygenase. Although the COHb level is elevated in critically ill patients, changes in endogenous COHb during anesthesia have not been well investigated. Therefore, we evaluated changes in endogenous COHb levels in patients undergoing liver resections with inflow occlusion. Levels of COHb were significantly increased after the Pringle maneuver. The inflow occlusion time in patients with increased COHb after the Pringle maneuver (∆COHb > 0.3 %) was significantly longer than in patients without increased COHb (∆COHb < 0.3 %) (P = 0.01). In addition, COHb changes were correlated with inflow occlusion time (P = 0.005, R(2) = 0.21). Neither total blood loss, transfusion volume of packed red blood cells, operation time, nor anesthetic time differed between patients with and without increased COHb. The results indicated that endogenous COHb levels were increased by inflow occlusion in patients undergoing liver resections, which suggests that changes in COHb may correlate with hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury induced by inflow occlusion.

Atrial natriuretic factor increases vascular permeability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lockette, W.; Brennaman, B.

1990-01-01

An increase in central blood volume in microgravity may result in increased plasma levels of atrial natriuretic factor (ANF). Since elevations in plasma ANF are found in clinical syndromes associated with edema, and since space motion sickness induced by microgravity is associated with an increase in central blood volume and facial edema, we determined whether ANF increases capillary permeability to plasma protein. Conscious, bilaterally nephrectomized male rats were infused with either saline, ANF + saline, or hexamethonium + saline over 2 h following bolus injections of 125I-albumin and 14C-dextran of similar molecular size. Blood pressure was monitored and serial determinations of hematocrits were made. Animals infused with 1.0 micrograms.kg-1.min-1 ANF had significantly higher hematocrits than animals infused with saline vehicle. Infusion of ANF increased the extravasation of 125I-albumin, but not 14C-dextran from the intravascular compartment. ANF also induced a depressor response in rats, but the change in blood pressure did not account for changes in capillary permeability to albumin; similar depressor responses induced by hexamethonium were not accompanied by increased extravasation of albumin from the intravascular compartment. ANF may decrease plasma volume by increasing permeability to albumin, and this effect of ANF may account for some of the signs and symptoms of space motion sickness

Genome-wide identification of significant aberrations in cancer genome.

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Xiguo; Yu, Guoqiang; Hou, Xuchu; Shih, Ie-Ming; Clarke, Robert; Zhang, Junying; Hoffman, Eric P; Wang, Roger R; Zhang, Zhen; Wang, Yue

2012-07-27

Somatic Copy Number Alterations (CNAs) in human genomes are present in almost all human cancers. Systematic efforts to characterize such structural variants must effectively distinguish significant consensus events from random background aberrations. Here we introduce Significant Aberration in Cancer (SAIC), a new method for characterizing and assessing the statistical significance of recurrent CNA units. Three main features of SAIC include: (1) exploiting the intrinsic correlation among consecutive probes to assign a score to each CNA unit instead of single probes; (2) performing permutations on CNA units that preserve correlations inherent in the copy number data; and (3) iteratively detecting Significant Copy Number Aberrations (SCAs) and estimating an unbiased null distribution by applying an SCA-exclusive permutation scheme. We test and compare the performance of SAIC against four peer methods (GISTIC, STAC, KC-SMART, CMDS) on a large number of simulation datasets. Experimental results show that SAIC outperforms peer methods in terms of larger area under the Receiver Operating Characteristics curve and increased detection power. We then apply SAIC to analyze structural genomic aberrations acquired in four real cancer genome-wide copy number data sets (ovarian cancer, metastatic prostate cancer, lung adenocarcinoma, glioblastoma). When compared with previously reported results, SAIC successfully identifies most SCAs known to be of biological significance and associated with oncogenes (e.g., KRAS, CCNE1, and MYC) or tumor suppressor genes (e.g., CDKN2A/B). Furthermore, SAIC identifies a number of novel SCAs in these copy number data that encompass tumor related genes and may warrant further studies. Supported by a well-grounded theoretical framework, SAIC has been developed and used to identify SCAs in various cancer copy number data sets, providing useful information to study the landscape of cancer genomes. Open-source and platform-independent SAIC software is

Was an increase in cocaine use among injecting drug users in New South Wales, Australia, accompanied by an increase in violent crime?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Conroy Elizabeth

2005-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A sharp reduction in heroin supply in Australia in 2001 was followed by a large but transient increase in cocaine use among injecting drug users (IDU in Sydney. This paper assesses whether the increase in cocaine use among IDU was accompanied by increased rates of violent crime as occurred in the United States in the 1980s. Specifically, the paper aims to examine the impact of increased cocaine use among Sydney IDU upon police incidents of robbery with a weapon, assault and homicide. Methods Data on cocaine use among IDU was obtained from the Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS. Monthly NSW Police incident data on arrests for cocaine possession/use, robbery offences, homicides, and assaults, were obtained from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. Time series analysis was conducted on the police data series where possible. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives from law enforcement and health agencies about the impacts of cocaine use on crime and policing. Results There was a significant increase in cocaine use and cocaine possession offences in the months immediately following the reduction in heroin supply. There was also a significant increase in incidents of robbery where weapons were involved. There were no increases in offences involving firearms, homicides or reported assaults. Conclusion The increased use of cocaine among injecting drug users following the heroin shortage led to increases in violent crime. Other States and territories that also experienced a heroin shortage but did not show any increases in cocaine use did not report any increase in violent crimes. The violent crimes committed did not involve guns, most likely because of its stringent gun laws, in contrast to the experience of American cities that have experienced high rates of cocaine use and violent crime.

Prevalence and prognostic significance of malnutrition in chronic renal insufficiency.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawson, J A; Lazarus, R; Kelly, J J

2001-01-01

Malnutrition is present in a significant proportion of patients commencing dialysis. However, the prevalence and prognostic significance of malnutrition within the chronic renal insufficiency (CRI) population before the initiation of dialysis is poorly characterized. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and prognostic significance of malnutrition in an unselected group of patients with CRI. Cohort analytic study. Ambulatory care practice of a university teaching hospital. Fifty patients with CRI (serum creatinine concentration > or = 1.7 mg/dL) were enrolled. Patients with a recent acute illness, nephrotic syndrome, intercurrent steroid therapy, gastrointestinal disease, or other severe organ failure that may have independently influenced nutritional status were excluded. At baseline, patients had a nutritional assessment consisting of subjective global assessment (SGA), measurement of body mass index (BMI), midarm circumference (MAC), serum albumin concentration, total lymphocyte count, and single frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis. Patients received standard medical care and were followed prospectively at quarterly intervals for 12 months. At baseline assessment, 28% of patients had evidence of malnutrition by SGA criteria. The malnourished group of patients had a significantly lower creatinine clearance (18.9 +/- 9.8 v 36.5 +/- 14.0 mL/min/1.73 m(2), mean +/- SD, P renal failure. These data suggest that SGA provides a useful means of assessing nutritional status and is helpful in identifying patients with increased risk of morbidity and mortality in the setting of CRI.

Is Increased Low-dose somatic Radiosensitivity Associated with Increased Transgenerational Germline Mutation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brenner, David J.

2008-01-01

Using single-molecule polymerase chain reaction, the frequency of spontaneous and radiation-induced mutation at an expanded simple tandem repeat (ESTR) locus was studied in DNA samples extracted from sperm and bone marrow of Atm knockout (Atm+/-) heterozygous male mice. The frequency of spontaneous mutation in sperm and bone marrow in Atm+/- males did not significantly differ from that in wild-type BALB/c mice. Acute gamma-ray exposure did not affect ESTR mutation frequency in bone marrow and resulted in similar increases in sperm samples taken from Atm+/- and BALB/c males. Taken together, these results suggest that the Atm haploinsufficiency analyzed in our study does not affect spontaneous and radiation-induced ESTR mutation frequency in mice

Significance evaluation in factor graphs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Tobias; Hobolth, Asger; Jensen, Jens Ledet

2017-01-01

in genomics and the multiple-testing issues accompanying them, accurate significance evaluation is of great importance. We here address the problem of evaluating statistical significance of observations from factor graph models. Results Two novel numerical approximations for evaluation of statistical...... significance are presented. First a method using importance sampling. Second a saddlepoint approximation based method. We develop algorithms to efficiently compute the approximations and compare them to naive sampling and the normal approximation. The individual merits of the methods are analysed both from....... Conclusions The applicability of saddlepoint approximation and importance sampling is demonstrated on known models in the factor graph framework. Using the two methods we can substantially improve computational cost without compromising accuracy. This contribution allows analyses of large datasets...

Increased iron availability resulting from increased CO2 enhances carbon and nitrogen metabolism in the economical marine red macroalga Pyropia haitanensis (Rhodophyta).

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Binbin; Zou, Dinghui; Yang, Yufeng

2017-04-01

Ocean acidification caused by rising CO 2 is predicted to increase the concentrations of dissolved species of Fe(II) and Fe(III), leading to the enhanced photosynthetic carbon sequestration in some algal species. In this study, the carbon and nitrogen metabolism in responses to increased iron availability under two CO 2 levels (390 μL L -1 and 1000 μL L -1 ), were investigated in the maricultivated macroalga Pyropia haitanensis (Rhodophyta). The results showed that, elevated CO 2 increased soluble carbonhydrate (SC) contents, resulting from enhanced photosynthesis and photosynthetic pigment synthesis in this algae, but declined its soluble protein (SP) contents, resulting in increased ratio of SC/SP. This enhanced photosynthesis performance and carbon accumulation was more significant under iron enrichment condition in seawater, with higher iron uptake rate at high CO 2 level. As a key essential biogenic element for algae, Fe-replete functionally contributed to P. haitanensis photosynthesis. Increased SC fundamentally provided carbon skeletons for nitrogen assimilation. The significant increase of carbon and nitrogen assimilation finally contributed to enhanced growth in this alga. This was also intuitively reflected by respiration that provided energy for cellular metabolism and algal growth. We propose that, in the predicted scenario of rising atmospheric CO 2 , P. haitanensis is capable to adjust its physiology by increasing its carbon and nitrogen metabolism to acclimate the acidified seawater, at the background of global climate change and simultaneously increased iron concentration due to decreased pH levels. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exposure of rat hippocampal astrocytes to Ziram increases oxidative stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Matei, Ann-Marie; Trombetta, Louis D

2016-04-01

Pesticides have been shown in several studies to be the leading candidates of environmental toxins and may contribute to the pathogenesis of several neurodegenerative diseases. Ziram (zinc-bis(dimethyldithiocarbamate)) is an agricultural dithiocarbamate fungicide that is used to treat a variety of plant diseases. In spite of their generally acknowledged low toxicity, dithiocarbamates are known to cause a wide range of neurobehavioral effects as well as neuropathological changes in the brain. Astrocytes play a key role in normal brain physiology and in the pathology of the nervous system. This investigation studied the effects of 1.0 µM Ziram on rat hippocampal astrocytes. The thiobarbituric acid reactive substance assay performed showed a significant increase in malondialdehyde, a product of lipid peroxidation, in the Ziram-treated cells. Biochemical analysis also revealed a significant increase in the induction of 70 kDa heat shock and heme oxygenase 1 stress proteins. In addition, an increase of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and a significant increase in oxidized glutathione (GSSG) were observed in the Ziram-treated cells. The ratio GSH to GSSG calculated from the treated cells was also decreased. Light and transmission electron microscopy supported the biochemical findings in Ziram-treated astrocytes. This data suggest that the cytotoxic effects observed with Ziram treatments may be related to the increase of oxidative stress. © The Author(s) 2013.

Potassium and zinc increase tolerance to salt stress in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.).

Science.gov (United States)

Jan, Amin Ullah; Hadi, Fazal; Midrarullah; Nawaz, Muhammad Asif; Rahman, Khaista

2017-07-01

Potassium and zinc are essential elements in plant growth and metabolism and plays a vital role in salt stress tolerance. To investigate the physiological mechanism of salt stress tolerance, a pot experiment was conducted. Potassium and zinc significantly minimize the oxidative stress and increase root, shoot and spike length in wheat varieties. Fresh and dry biomass were significantly increased by potassium followed by zinc as compared to control C. The photosynthetic pigment and osmolyte regulator (proline, total phenolic, and total carbohydrate) were significantly enhanced by potassium and zinc. Salt stress increases MDA content in wheat varieties while potassium and zinc counteract the adverse effect of salinity and significantly increased membrane stability index. Salt stress decreases the activities of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase and ascorbate peroxidase) while the exogenous application of potassium and zinc significantly enhanced the activities of these enzymes. A significant positive correlation was found of spike length with proline (R 2  = 0.966 ∗∗∗ ), phenolic (R 2  = 0.741 ∗ ) and chlorophyll (R 2  = 0.853 ∗∗ ). The MDA content showed significant negative correlation (R 2  = 0.983 ∗∗∗ ) with MSI. It is concluded that potassium and zinc reduced toxic effect of salinity while its combine application showed synergetic effect and significantly enhanced salt tolerance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

HVDC Transmission an Outlook and Significance for Pakistani Power Sector

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmad, Muhammad; Wang, Zhixin; Wang, Jinjian; Baloach, Mazhar H.; Longxin, Bao; Hua, Qing

2018-04-01

Recently a paradigm shift in the power sector is observed, i.e., countries across the globe have deviated their attention to distributed generation rather than conventional centralized bulk generation. Owing to the above narrative, distributed energy resources e.g., wind and PV have gained the adequate attention of governments and researchers courtesy to their eco-friendly nature. On the contrary, the increased infiltration of distributed generation to the power system has introduced many technical and economical glitches such as long-distance transmission, transmission lines efficiency, control capability and cost etc. To mitigate these complications, the utility of high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission has emerged as a possible solution. In this context, this paper includes a brief discussion on the fundamentals HVDC and its significance in Pakistani power sector. Furthermore, the potential of distributed energy resources for Pakistan is also the subject matter of this paper, so that significance of HVDC transmission can effectively be deliberated.

Seasonal differences in human responses to increasing temperatures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kitazawa, Sachie; Andersen, Rune Korsholm; Wargocki, Pawel

2014-01-01

to be sleepier. Heart rate slightly increased during exposure, and SpO2 and ETCO2 began to decrease while core temperature started to increase. Performance of Tsai-partington test and addition test improved during exposures due to learning though lesser in winter. Results show negative effects of the temperature......Experiments were conducted in late summer and winter with 80 young and elderly Danish subjects exposed for 3.5 hours in a climate chamber to the temperature increasing from 24°C to 35.2°C at a rate of 3.7K/h. Psychological and physiological measurements were performed during exposure and subjects...... assessed comfort and acute health symptoms. Thermal sensation increased with increasing chamber temperature and did not differ during late summer and winter exposures. Skin temperature increased with increasing temperature and was slightly but significantly higher in the late summer in the first half...

23 CFR 630.1010 - Significant projects.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 23 Highways 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Significant projects. 630.1010 Section 630.1010 Highways... PRECONSTRUCTION PROCEDURES Work Zone Safety and Mobility § 630.1010 Significant projects. (a) A significant project is one that, alone or in combination with other concurrent projects nearby is anticipated to cause...

Omega-3 fatty acid therapy dose-dependently and significantly decreased triglycerides and improved flow-mediated dilation, however, did not significantly improve insulin sensitivity in patients with hypertriglyceridemia.

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Pyung Chun; Koh, Kwang Kon; Sakuma, Ichiro; Lim, Soo; Lee, Yonghee; Lee, Seungik; Lee, Kyounghoon; Han, Seung Hwan; Shin, Eak Kyun

2014-10-20

Experimental studies demonstrate that higher intake of omega-3 fatty acids (n-3 FA) improves insulin sensitivity, however, we reported that n-3 FA 2g therapy, most commonly used dosage did not significantly improve insulin sensitivity despite reducing triglycerides by 21% in patients. Therefore, we investigated the effects of different dosages of n-3 FA in patients with hypertriglyceridemia. This was a randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel study. Age, sex, and body mass index were matched among groups. All patients were recommended to maintain a low fat diet. Forty-four patients (about 18 had metabolic syndrome/type 2 diabetes mellitus) in each group were given placebo, n-3 FA 1 (O1), 2 (O2), or 4 g (O4), respectively daily for 2 months. n-3 FA therapy dose-dependently and significantly decreased triglycerides and triglycerides/HDL cholesterol and improved flow-mediated dilation, compared with placebo (by ANOVA). However, each n-3 FA therapy did not significantly decrease high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and fibrinogen, compared with placebo. O1 significantly increased insulin levels and decreased insulin sensitivity (determined by QUICKI) and O2 significantly decreased plasma adiponectin levels relative to baseline measurements. Of note, when compared with placebo, each n-3 FA therapy did not significantly change insulin, glucose, adiponectin, glycated hemoglobin levels and insulin sensitivity (by ANOVA). We observed similar results in a subgroup of patients with the metabolic syndrome. n-3 FA therapy dose-dependently and significantly decreased triglycerides and improved flow-mediated dilation. Nonetheless, n-3 FA therapy did not significantly improve acute-phase reactants and insulin sensitivity in patients with hypertriglyceridemia, regardless of dosages. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

[Expression and clinical significance of KIAA1199 in primary hepatocellular carcinoma].

Science.gov (United States)

Gu, C J; Ni, Q C; Ni, K; Zhang, S; Qian, H X

2018-05-29

Objective: To investigate the expression and clinical significance of KIAA1199 in primary hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods: A total of 136 cases of primary hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and paired adjacent tissues were collected. Immunohistochemistry and Western blot were used to detect the expression of KIAA1199 in primary hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and paired adjacent tissues. The relationship between KIAA1199 and clinicopathological parameter of primary hepatocellular carcinoma was analyzed. Results: The positive rate of KIAA1199 in primary hepatocellular carcinoma was 82.3% (112/136), which was higher than that in paired para-cancerous tissues (14.7%, 20/136). High expression of KIAA1199 was significantly correlated with age, cirrhosis history, tumor size, tumor number, degree of differentiation, TNM staging and microvenous invasion (MVI) ( P 0.05). The Kaplan-Meier survival curves indicated that high KIAA1199 expression was associated with poor survival ( P hepatocellular carcinoma, which is significantly correlated with the clinicopathological features and prognosis, high expression of KIAA1199 increased the risk of death in patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma.

Increased oxidative stress in patients with familial Mediterranean ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

0.05) comparing to HC group. However, there were no statistically significant differences between the groups in terms of antioxidant vitamin levels. Conclusions: Our study demonstrated increased oxidative stress in patients with FMF during AP.

Creating Significant Learning Experiences across Disciplines

Science.gov (United States)

Levine, Laura E.; Fallahi, Carolyn R.; Nicoll-Senft, Joan M.; Tessier, Jack T.; Watson, Cheryl L.; Wood, Rebecca M.

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study was to use Fink's (2003) taxonomy of significant learning to redesign courses and assess student learning. Significant improvements were found across the semester for students in the six courses, but there were differences in which taxa showed improvement in each course. The meta-analysis showed significant, positive…

ISLAMIC CARING MODEL ON INCREASE PATIENT SATISFACTION

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Muh. Abdurrouf

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Patient satisfaction was important aspect that must be considered by health service providers, patients who were not satisfied will leave the hospital and be a competitor's customers so be able caused a decrease in sales of products/services and in turn could reduce and even loss of profit, therefore, the hospital must provided the best service so that it could increase patient satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to exams the effect of Islamic caring model on increase patient satisfaction.. Method: This study was used pre-experimental design, the respondents were 31 patients in the treatment group assigned Islamic caring and 31 patients with a kontrol group that were not given Islamic caring Inpatient Surgical Sultan Agung Islamic Hospital Semarang by using consecutive sampling techniques, patient satisfaction data collected through questionnaires and analyzed with Mann-Whitney test, as for finding out the Islamic caring for patient satisfaction were analyzed with spearmen's rho test. Result: The results showed that there was a significant influence of Islamic caring for perceived disconfirmation (p=0,000 there was a perceived disconfirmation influence on patient satisfaction significantly (p=0,000, there was a significant influence of Islamic caring for patient satisfaction in the treatment group with a kontrol group (p=0.001. Discussion: Discussion of this study was Islamic caring model effect on the increase perceived disconfirmation and patient satisfaction, Perceived disconfirmation effect on patient satisfaction, patient satisfaction who given Islamic caring was increase, patients given Islamic caring had higher satisfaction levels than patients who not given Islamic caring. Suggestions put forward based on the results of the study of Islamic caring model could be applied in Sultan Agung Islamic Hospital as a model of nursing care, Islamic caring behavior can be learned and improved through training and commitment and

Changes and significance of plasma neuropeptide Y in patients with unstable angina pectoris

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Xiaozhou; Yang Yongqing

2001-01-01

Objective: To observe changes of plasma neuropeptide Y(NPY) in patients with unstable angina pectoris (UaP), select patients with stable angina pectoris (SAP) and normal subjects as the controls, and recognize their significance. Methods: Immunoradiometric assay was used to measure the plasma NPY levels in 15 UAP patients, 20 SAP patients and 20 normal subjects: Results: It was found that the plasma NPY levels in patients with UAP, SAP and normal subjects were 202.12 +- 35.34, 164.45 +- 24.27 and 156.35 +- 21.84 pg/ml. The NPY levels in UAP patients were significantly higher than that in the others, but down to 159.66 +- 18.75 pg/ml after treatment for 2 weeks. There was a significant difference between pretreatment and post-treatment (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The plasma NPY levels of UAP patients increases significantly during fit. NPY takes part in the process of AP

Expression and significance of Axin2 in pancreatic cancer cells

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ZHANG Tao

2016-05-01

Full Text Available ObjectiveTo investigate the expression of Axin2 in pancreatic cancer cells, and to observe the influence of Axin2 on the proliferation, invasion, and migration of human pancreatic cancer cells (PANC-1. MethodsQuantitative real-time PCR was used to measure the expression of Axin2 in pancreatic cancer cell lines with different invasive abilities (PANC-1, Mia PaCa-2, and BxPC-3 and immortalized normal pancreatic cells (H6C7. PANC-1 cells with low expression were transfected with over-expressed Axin2 plasmid by transient transfection. MTT assay, Transwell assay, and scratch assay were used to determine the proliferation, invasion, and migration of cells transfected with over-expressed Axin2. One-way analysis of variance was used for comparison between multiple groups, and SNK-q test was used for comparison between any two groups. ResultsThe relative expression levels of Axin2 in PANC-1, BxPC-3, Mia PaCa-2, and H6C7 cells were 0.13±0.01, 0.42±0.05, 0.24±0.011, and 1.00±0.00, respectively, and PANC-1 cells had the lowest expression level of Axin2, with significant differences compared with the other cells (all P＜0.05. When PANC-1 cells were transfected with over-expressed Axin2 plasmid, the cells in the over-expression group had a significant increase in the expression level of Axin2 compared with those in the blank group and the negative control group (both P＜0.05. Compared with those in the non-transfection group and the blank group, PANC-1 cells in the over-expression group showed significant reductions in the proliferation, invasion, and migration abilities. ConclusionThe expression of Axin2 is down-regulated in pancreatic cancer cell lines and decreases with the increasing invasion ability, suggesting the role of tumor suppressor gene. High expression of Axin2 can reduce the proliferation, invasion, and migration abilities of PANC-1 cells.

Leukoaraiosis significantly worsens driving performance of ordinary older drivers.

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Kimihiko Nakano

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Leukoaraiosis is defined as extracellular space caused mainly by atherosclerotic or demyelinated changes in the brain tissue and is commonly found in the brains of healthy older people. A significant association between leukoaraiosis and traffic crashes was reported in our previous study; however, the reason for this is still unclear. METHOD: This paper presents a comprehensive evaluation of driving performance in ordinary older drivers with leukoaraiosis. First, the degree of leukoaraiosis was examined in 33 participants, who underwent an actual-vehicle driving examination on a standard driving course, and a driver skill rating was also collected while the driver carried out a paced auditory serial addition test, which is a calculating task given verbally. At the same time, a steering entropy method was used to estimate steering operation performance. RESULTS: The experimental results indicated that a normal older driver with leukoaraiosis was readily affected by external disturbances and made more operation errors and steered less smoothly than one without leukoaraiosis during driving; at the same time, their steering skill significantly deteriorated. CONCLUSIONS: Leukoaraiosis worsens the driving performance of older drivers because of their increased vulnerability to distraction.

Theoretical basis for convective invigoration due to increased aerosol concentration

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Z. J. Lebo

2011-06-01

Full Text Available The potential effects of increased aerosol loading on the development of deep convective clouds and resulting precipitation amounts are studied by employing the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF model as a detailed high-resolution cloud resolving model (CRM with both detailed bulk and bin microphysics schemes. Both models include a physically-based activation scheme that incorporates a size-resolved aerosol population. We demonstrate that the aerosol-induced effect is controlled by the balance between latent heating and the increase in condensed water aloft, each having opposing effects on buoyancy. It is also shown that under polluted conditions, increases in the CCN number concentration reduce the cumulative precipitation due to the competition between the sedimentation and evaporation/sublimation timescales. The effect of an increase in the IN number concentration on the dynamics of deep convective clouds is small and the resulting decrease in domain-averaged cumulative precipitation is shown not to be statistically significant, but may act to suppress precipitation. It is also shown that even in the presence of a decrease in the domain-averaged cumulative precipitation, an increase in the precipitation variance, or in other words, andincrease in rainfall intensity, may be expected in more polluted environments, especially in moist environments.

A significant difference exists between the predictions based on the bin and bulk microphysics schemes of precipitation and the influence of aerosol perturbations on updraft velocity within the convective core. The bulk microphysics scheme shows little change in the latent heating rates due to an increase in the CCN number concentration, while the bin microphysics scheme demonstrates significant increases in the latent heating aloft with increasing CCN number concentration. This suggests that even a detailed two-bulk microphysics scheme, coupled to a detailed activation scheme, may not be

Why has reversal of the actin-myosin cross-bridge cycle not been observed experimentally?

KAUST Repository

Loiselle, D. S.; Tran, K.; Crampin, E. J.; Curtin, N. A.

2010-01-01

We trace the history of attempts to determine whether the experimentally observed diminution of metabolic energy expenditure when muscles lengthen during active contraction is consistent with reversibility of biochemical reactions and, in particular

Prognostic significance of serum bilirubin in stroke

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arslan, A.; Ismail, M.; Khan, F.; Khan, A.; Khattak, M.B.; Anwar, M.J.

2011-01-01

Background: Oxidative injury is an important cause of the neurologic lesion in stroke. Serum bilirubin is considered a natural antioxidant that may affect the prognosis of stroke. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic significance of bilirubin in stroke patients. Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted in Medical Units of Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar. Inpatients admitted with acute attack of stroke were included in this study. Data regarding serum bilirubin and concurrent cerebrovascular risk factors were collected. National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) were used to analyse stroke's severity and functional outcomes, respectively. Results: Hypertension, diabetes mellitus and heart diseases were the most common risk factors. Patients were divided into 3 groups on the basis of serum bilirubin, i.e., =0.6 mg/dl (Group-1), 0.7-0.9 mg/dl (Group-2), and =1.0 mg/dl (Group-3). The mean pre-hospitalisation NIHSS score for Groups 1, 2 and 3 was 5.62, 11.66 and 25.33, respectively; and post-hospitalisation score was 0.875, 3.76 and 16.26, respectively. The pre-hospitalisation mRS score was 4 for Group-1, 4.52 for Group-2 and 4.93 for Group-3; while post-hospitalisation Mrs Score was 1.50, 2.38 and 4.26, respectively. Average serum bilirubin level was significantly higher in patients with poor outcomes as compared with good outcomes (p<0.01). Conclusions: This study suggests that higher serum bilirubin levels were associated with increased stroke severity, longer hospitalisation and poor prognosis. (author)

Increased risk of hyperthyroidism among patients hospitalized with bipolar disorder

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomsen, Anders F; Kessing, Lars V

2005-01-01

OBJECTIVES: Hyperthyroidism has been associated with affective disorder in many cross-sectional studies, but longitudinal studies in this connection are scarce. We assessed whether hospitalization with depressive disorder or bipolar disorder was a risk factor for development of hyperthyroidism....... METHODS: We conducted a historical cohort study using the Danish register data. The observational period was 1977--99. Three study cohorts were identified: all patients with a first hospital admission with resulting index discharge diagnoses of depression, bipolar disorder, or osteoarthritis. The risks...... with depressive disorder did not have an increased risk of hyperthyroidism, whereas patients with bipolar disorder had an increased of risk on the margin of statistical significance, when compared to patients with osteoarthritis. Patients with bipolar disorder had a significantly increased risk of hyperthyroidism...

Osteoblast-targeted overexpression of TAZ increases bone mass in vivo.

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Jae-Yeon Yang

Full Text Available Osteoblasts are derived from mesenchymal progenitors. Differentiation to osteoblasts and adipocytes is reciprocally regulated. Transcriptional coactivator with a PDZ-binding motif (TAZ is a transcriptional coactivator that induces differentiation of mesenchymal cells into osteoblasts while blocking differentiation into adipocytes. To investigate the role of TAZ on bone metabolism in vivo, we generated transgenic mice that overexpress TAZ under the control of the procollagen type 1 promoter (Col1-TAZ. Whole body bone mineral density (BMD of 6- to 19-week-old Col-TAZ mice was 4% to 7% higher than that of their wild-type (WT littermates, whereas no difference was noticed in Col.1-TAZ female mice. Microcomputed tomography analyses of proximal tibiae at 16 weeks of age demonstrated a significant increase in trabecular bone volume (26.7% and trabecular number (26.6% with a reciprocal decrease in trabecular spacing (14.2% in Col1-TAZ mice compared with their WT littermates. In addition, dynamic histomorphometric analysis of the lumbar spine revealed increased mineral apposition rate (42.8% and the serum P1NP level was also significantly increased (53% in Col.1-TAZ mice. When primary calvaria cells were cultured in osteogenic medium, alkaline phosphatase (ALP activity was significantly increased and adipogenesis was significantly suppressed in Col1-TAZ mice compared with their WT littermates. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analyses showed that expression of collagen type 1, bone sialoprotein, osteocalcin, ALP, osterix, and Runx2 was significantly increased in calvaria cells from Col1-TAZ mice compared to their WT littermates. In vitro, TAZ enhanced Runx2-mediated transcriptional activity while suppressing the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma signaling pathway. TAZ also enhanced transcriptional activity from 3TP-Lux, which reflects transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β-mediated signaling. In addition, TAZ enhanced TGF

Predator Exclosures Enhance Reproductive Success but Increase Adult Mortality of Piping Plovers (Charadrius melodus

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Colleen Barber

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Piping Plovers (Charadrius melodus are listed as endangered throughout Canada and the United States Great Lakes region. Most attempts to increase their numbers have focused on enhancing reproductive success. Using 22 years of data collected by Parks Canada in Prince Edward Island National Park of Canada, we examined whether predator exclosures installed around Piping Plover nests increased nest success and hatching and fledging success when compared to nests without exclosures. Nests with exclosures were significantly more likely to hatch at least one egg than nests without exclosures, and they hatched a significantly greater number of young. The greater reproductive success observed in exclosed nests is likely due to the increased protection from predators that the exclosures conferred; significantly fewer exclosed nests were depredated than nonexclosed nests. However, significantly more exclosed than nonexclosed nests were abandoned by adults, and they had significantly greater adult mortality. Whether benefits of increased reproductive success from exclosures outweigh costs of increased abandonment and adult mortality remains unknown, but must be considered.

A shift from significance test to hypothesis test through power analysis in medical research.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, G

2006-01-01

Medical research literature until recently, exhibited substantial dominance of the Fisher's significance test approach of statistical inference concentrating more on probability of type I error over Neyman-Pearson's hypothesis test considering both probability of type I and II error. Fisher's approach dichotomises results into significant or not significant results with a P value. The Neyman-Pearson's approach talks of acceptance or rejection of null hypothesis. Based on the same theory these two approaches deal with same objective and conclude in their own way. The advancement in computing techniques and availability of statistical software have resulted in increasing application of power calculations in medical research and thereby reporting the result of significance tests in the light of power of the test also. Significance test approach, when it incorporates power analysis contains the essence of hypothesis test approach. It may be safely argued that rising application of power analysis in medical research may have initiated a shift from Fisher's significance test to Neyman-Pearson's hypothesis test procedure.

Increased sternocleidomastoid, but not trapezius, muscle activity in response to increased chewing load.

Science.gov (United States)

Häggman-Henrikson, Birgitta; Nordh, Erik; Eriksson, Per-Olof

2013-10-01

Previous findings, during chewing, that boluses of larger size and harder texture result in larger amplitudes of both mandibular and head-neck movements suggest a relationship between increased chewing load and incremental recruitment of jaw and neck muscles. The present report evaluated jaw (masseter and digastric) and neck [sternocleidomastoid (SCM) and trapezius] muscle activity during the chewing of test foods of different sizes and textures by 10 healthy subjects. Muscle activity was recorded by surface electromyography and simultaneous mandibular and head movements were recorded using an optoelectronic technique. Each subject performed continuous jaw-opening/jaw-closing movements whilst chewing small and large boluses of chewing gum and rubber silicone (Optosil). For jaw opening/jaw closing without a bolus, SCM activity was recorded for jaw opening concomitantly with digastric activity. During chewing, SCM activity was recorded for jaw closing concomitantly with masseter activity. Trapezius activity was present in some, but not all, cycles. For the masseter and SCM muscles, higher activity was seen with larger test foods, suggesting increased demand and recruitment of these muscles in response to an increased chewing load. This result reinforces the previous notion of a close functional connection between the jaw and the neck motor systems in jaw actions and has scientific and clinical significance for studying jaw function and dysfunction. © 2013 Eur J Oral Sci.

Increased Resistance to osmotic lysis of sickled erythrocytes ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

treated with CNw had significantly reduced osmotic lysis when compared with the untreated set (P<0.05, respectively) at various hypotonic NaCl concentrations. Various Hb genotypes exhibited a graded increase in osmotic pressure lysis in ...

Inulin significantly improves serum magnesium levels in proton pump inhibitor-induced hypomagnesaemia.

Science.gov (United States)

Hess, M W; de Baaij, J H F; Broekman, M; Bisseling, T M; Haarhuis, B; Tan, A; Te Morsche, R; Hoenderop, J G J; Bindels, R J M; Drenth, J P H

2016-06-01

Proton pump inhibitors (PPI) are among the most widely prescribed drugs to treat gastric acid-related disorders. PPI-induced hypomagnesaemia, a defect in intestinal absorption of Mg(2+) , can be a severe side effect of chronic PPI use. To restore serum Mg(2+) concentrations in PPI-induced hypomagnesaemia patients by dietary supplementation with inulin fibres. Eleven patients with PPI-induced hypomagnesaemia and 10 controls were treated with inulin (20 g/day). Each trial consisted of two cycles of 14-day inulin treatment followed by a washout period of 14 days. Patients continued to use their PPI. Serum Mg(2+) levels served as the primary endpoint. Inulin significantly enhanced serum Mg(2+) levels from 0.60 to 0.68 mmol/L in PPI-induced hypomagnesaemia patients, and from 0.84 to 0.93 mmol/L in controls. As a consequence 24 h urinary Mg(2+) excretion was significantly increased in patients with PPI-induced hypomagnesaemia (0.3-2.2 mmol/day). Symptoms related to hypomagnesaemia, including muscle cramps and paraesthesia, were reduced during intervention with inulin. Inulin increases serum Mg(2+) concentrations under PPI maintenance in patients with PPI-induced hypomagnesaemia. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

An Increase in the Omega-6/Omega-3 Fatty Acid Ratio Increases the Risk for Obesity

Science.gov (United States)

Simopoulos, Artemis P.

2016-01-01

In the past three decades, total fat and saturated fat intake as a percentage of total calories has continuously decreased in Western diets, while the intake of omega-6 fatty acid increased and the omega-3 fatty acid decreased, resulting in a large increase in the omega-6/omega-3 ratio from 1:1 during evolution to 20:1 today or even higher. This change in the composition of fatty acids parallels a significant increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity. Experimental studies have suggested that omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids elicit divergent effects on body fat gain through mechanisms of adipogenesis, browning of adipose tissue, lipid homeostasis, brain-gut-adipose tissue axis, and most importantly systemic inflammation. Prospective studies clearly show an increase in the risk of obesity as the level of omega-6 fatty acids and the omega-6/omega-3 ratio increase in red blood cell (RBC) membrane phospholipids, whereas high omega-3 RBC membrane phospholipids decrease the risk of obesity. Recent studies in humans show that in addition to absolute amounts of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acid intake, the omega-6/omega-3 ratio plays an important role in increasing the development of obesity via both AA eicosanoid metabolites and hyperactivity of the cannabinoid system, which can be reversed with increased intake of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). A balanced omega-6/omega-3 ratio is important for health and in the prevention and management of obesity. PMID:26950145

An Increase in the Omega-6/Omega-3 Fatty Acid Ratio Increases the Risk for Obesity

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Artemis P. Simopoulos

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In the past three decades, total fat and saturated fat intake as a percentage of total calories has continuously decreased in Western diets, while the intake of omega-6 fatty acid increased and the omega-3 fatty acid decreased, resulting in a large increase in the omega-6/omega-3 ratio from 1:1 during evolution to 20:1 today or even higher. This change in the composition of fatty acids parallels a significant increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity. Experimental studies have suggested that omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids elicit divergent effects on body fat gain through mechanisms of adipogenesis, browning of adipose tissue, lipid homeostasis, brain-gut-adipose tissue axis, and most importantly systemic inflammation. Prospective studies clearly show an increase in the risk of obesity as the level of omega-6 fatty acids and the omega-6/omega-3 ratio increase in red blood cell (RBC membrane phospholipids, whereas high omega-3 RBC membrane phospholipids decrease the risk of obesity. Recent studies in humans show that in addition to absolute amounts of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acid intake, the omega-6/omega-3 ratio plays an important role in increasing the development of obesity via both AA eicosanoid metabolites and hyperactivity of the cannabinoid system, which can be reversed with increased intake of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA. A balanced omega-6/omega-3 ratio is important for health and in the prevention and management of obesity.

Prognostic significance of radionuclide-assessed diastolic function in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chikamori, T.; Dickie, S.; Poloniecki, J.D.; Myers, M.J.; Lavender, J.P.; McKenna, W.J.

1990-01-01

To evaluate the prognostic significance of diastolic function in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HC), technetium-99m gated equilibrium radionuclide angiography, acquired in list mode, was performed in 161 patients. Five diastolic indexes were calculated. During 3.0 +/- 1.9 years, 13 patients had disease-related deaths. With univariate analysis, these patients were younger (29 +/- 20 vs 42 +/- 16 years; p less than 0.05), had a higher incidence of syncope (p less than 0.025), dyspnea (p less than 0.001), reduced peak filling rate (2.9 +/- 0.9 vs 3.4 +/- 1.0 end-diastolic volume/s; p = 0.09) with increased relative filling volume during the rapid filling period (80 +/- 7 vs 75 +/- 12%; p = 0.06) and decreased atrial contribution (17 +/- 7 vs 22 +/- 11%; p = 0.07). Stepwise discriminant analysis revealed that young age at diagnosis, syncope at diagnosis, reduced peak ejection rate, positive family history, reduced peak filling rate, increased relative filling volume by peak filling rate and concentric left ventricular hypertrophy were the most statistically significant (p = 0.0001) predictors of disease-related death (sensitivity 92%, specificity 76%, accuracy 77%, positive predictive value 25%). Discriminant analysis excluding the diastolic indexes, however, showed similar predictability (sensitivity 92%, specificity 76%, accuracy 78%, positive predictive value 26%). To obtain more homogeneous groups for analysis, patients were classified as survivors or electrically unstable, including sudden death, out-of-hospital ventricular fibrillation and nonsustained ventricular tachycardia during 48-hour ambulatory electrocardiography, and heart failure death or cardiac transplant

SIGNIFICANT INFLUENCES OF VIOLIN EXTRACURRICULAR ACHIEVEMENT TO EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

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Nafik

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This research aims to find out (1 whether there is an influence between student’s achievements of learning violin toward their emotional intelligence, (2 whether there is a correlation between student’s achievement of learning violin and their emotional intelligence, and (3 how much contribution of student’s achievement of learning violin to their emotional intelligence. It is a qualitative research which is defined as a research method based on positivism philosophy which is used to study particular sample and population. The sample and population are drawn randomly using research instruments to collect data, and the data are analyzed statistically. This aims to examine the hypothesis defined. The finding shows that there is a significant influence between student’s achievement of learning violin and their emotional intelligence about 76.1%, while the rest of it 23.9% is influenced by other factors which are not studied in this research. It proves that learning violin influences student’s emotional intelligence very much and emotional intelligence is influential in increasing student’s achievement. From the data, it shows that most of the students participating in violin extracurricular are able to increase their learning achievement.

EXPERIMENTAL AND CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF RENAL FUNCTIONAL RESERVE DETERMINATION

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Jernej Pajek

2002-07-01

Full Text Available Background. Renal functional reserve (RFR is defined as the temporary increase in glomerular filtration rate (GFR which follows the ingestion of proteins or infusion of aminoacids. This renal vasodilatatory response is probably mediated by several mechanisms, with nitric oxide being one of the most important mediators. In the last years significant progress in measuring renal functional reserve has been achieved on the basis of improvements in methods for accurate and timely appropriate GFR measurement. The method of GFR measurement using the sinistrin clearence calculation after bolus injection of sinistrin is increasingly employed.Conclusions. The article presents the latest results of experiments with RFR using this method and compares them with older reports. RFR is affected by several patophysiological processes: arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, deteriorating function of transplanted kidney. The results and impact of RFR determination in this conditions are described. Finally, potential for further research of RFR in atherosclerotic vascular disease is considered. Accurate determination of RFR is important for detection of early renal hemodynamic abnormalities, which can be influenced by therapeutic interventions and in this way the progression of renal functional deterioration could be prevented or at least slowed.

Prognostic significance of anaplasia and angiogenesis in childhood medulloblastoma: a pediatric oncology group study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ozer, Erdener; Sarialioglu, Faik; Cetingoz, Riza; Yüceer, Nurullah; Cakmakci, Handan; Ozkal, Sermin; Olgun, Nur; Uysal, Kamer; Corapcioglu, Funda; Canda, Serefettin

2004-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether quantitative assessment of cytologic anaplasia and angiogenesis may predict the clinical prognosis in medulloblastoma and stratify the patients to avoid both undertreatment and overtreatment. Medulloblastomas from 23 patients belonging to the Pediatric Oncology Group were evaluated with respect to some prognostic variables, including histologic assessment of nodularity and desmoplasia, grading of anaplasia, measurement of nuclear size, mitotic cell count, quantification of angiogenesis, including vascular surface density (VSD) and microvessel number (NVES), and immunohistochemical scoring of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression. Univariate and multivariate analyses for prognostic indicators for survival were performed. Univariate analysis revealed that extensive nodularity was a significant favorable prognostic factor, whereas the presence of anaplasia, increased nuclear size, mitotic rate, VSD, and NVES were significant unfavorable prognostic factors. Using multivariate analysis, increased nuclear size was found to be an independent unfavorable prognostic factor for survival. Neither the presence of desmoplasia nor VEGF expression was significantly related to patient survival. Although care must be taken not to overstate the importance of the results of this single-institution preliminary report, pathologic grading of medulloblastomas with respect to grading of anaplasia and quantification of nodularity, nuclear size, and microvessel profiles may be clinically useful for the treatment of medulloblastomas. Further validation of the independent prognostic significance of nuclear size in stratifying patients is required.

Fabrication of CoZn alloy nanowire arrays: Significant improvement in magnetic properties by annealing process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koohbor, M.; Soltanian, S.; Najafi, M.; Servati, P.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Increasing the Zn concentration changes the structure of NWs from hcp to amorphous. ► Increasing the Zn concentration significantly reduces the Hc value of NWs. ► Magnetic properties of CoZn NWs can be significantly enhanced by appropriate annealing. ► The pH of electrolyte has no significant effect on the properties of the NW arrays. ► Deposition frequency has considerable effects on the magnetic properties of NWs. - Abstract: Highly ordered arrays of Co 1−x Zn x (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.74) nanowires (NWs) with diameters of ∼35 nm and high length-to-diameter ratios (up to 150) were fabricated by co-electrodeposition of Co and Zn into pores of anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) templates. The Co and Zn contents of the NWs were adjusted by varying the ratio of Zn and Co ion concentrations in the electrolyte. The effect of the Zn content, electrodeposition conditions (frequency and pH) and annealing on the structural and magnetic properties (e.g., coercivity (Hc) and squareness (Sq)) of NW arrays were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, electron diffraction, and alternating gradient force magnetometer (AGFM). XRD patterns reveal that an increase in the concentration of Zn ions of the electrolyte forces the hcp crystal structure of Co NWs to change into an amorphous phase, resulting in a significant reduction in Hc. It was found that the magnetic properties of NWs can be significantly improved by appropriate annealing process. The highest values for Hc (2050 Oe) and Sq (0.98) were obtained for NWs electrodeposited using 0.95/0.05 Co:Zn concentrations at 200 Hz and annealed at 575 °C. While the pH of electrolyte is found to have no significant effect on the structural and magnetic properties of the NW arrays, the electrodeposition frequency has considerable effects on the magnetic properties of the NW arrays. The changes in magnetic property of NWs are rooted in a competition between shape anisotropy and

Fast neutron induced increase of flowering in portulaca grandiflora linn

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abraham, V.; Desai, B.M.

1975-01-01

Unbranched cuttings were exposed to fast neutron doses of 71-284 rads and planted along with unirradiated controls. There was a significant increase in the numbers of flowers in the treated populations due to the increased production of primary and secondary branches. (MG) [de

High population increase rates.

Science.gov (United States)

1991-09-01

In addition to its economic and ethnic difficulties, the USSR faces several pressing demographic problems, including high population increase rates in several of its constituent republics. It has now become clear that although the country's rigid centralized planning succeeded in covering the basic needs of people, it did not lead to welfare growth. Since the 1970s, the Soviet economy has remained sluggish, which as led to increase in the death and birth rates. Furthermore, the ideology that held that demography could be entirely controlled by the country's political and economic system is contradicted by current Soviet reality, which shows that religion and ethnicity also play a significant role in demographic dynamics. Currently, Soviet republics fall under 2 categories--areas with high or low natural population increase rates. Republics with low rates consist of Christian populations (Armenia, Moldavia, Georgia, Byelorussia, Russia, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine), while republics with high rates are Muslim (Tadzhikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kirgizia, Azerbaijan Kazakhstan). The later group has natural increase rates as high as 3.3%. Although the USSR as a whole is not considered a developing country, the later group of republics fit the description of the UNFPA's priority list. Another serious demographic issue facing the USSR is its extremely high rate of abortion. This is especially true in the republics of low birth rates, where up to 60% of all pregnancies are terminated by induced abortions. Up to 1/5 of the USSR's annual health care budget is spent on clinical abortions -- money which could be better spent on the production of contraceptives. Along with the recent political and economic changes, the USSR is now eager to deal with its demographic problems.

Water and Muscle Contraction

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Enrico Grazi

2008-08-01

Full Text Available The interaction between water and the protein of the contractile machinery as well as the tendency of these proteins to form geometrically ordered structures provide a link between water and muscle contraction. Protein osmotic pressure is strictly related to the chemical potential of the contractile proteins, to the stiffness of muscle structures and to the viscosity of the sliding of the thin over the thick filaments. Muscle power output and the steady rate of contraction are linked by modulating a single parameter, a viscosity coefficient. Muscle operation is characterized by working strokes of much shorter length and much quicker than in the classical model. As a consequence the force delivered and the stiffness attained by attached cross-bridges is much larger than usually believed.

From single molecule fluctuations to muscle contraction: a Brownian model of A.F. Huxley's hypotheses.

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Lorenzo Marcucci

Full Text Available Muscular force generation in response to external stimuli is the result of thermally fluctuating, cyclical interactions between myosin and actin, which together form the actomyosin complex. Normally, these fluctuations are modelled using transition rate functions that are based on muscle fiber behaviour, in a phenomenological fashion. However, such a basis reduces the predictive power of these models. As an alternative, we propose a model which uses direct single molecule observations of actomyosin fluctuations reported in the literature. We precisely estimate the actomyosin potential bias and use diffusion theory to obtain a brownian ratchet model that reproduces the complete cross-bridge cycle. The model is validated by simulating several macroscopic experimental conditions, while its interpretation is compatible with two different force-generating scenarios.

Prognostic significance of mediastinal {sup 18}F-FDG uptake in PET/CT in advanced ovarian cancer

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Bats, Anne-Sophie; Lecuru, Fabrice [Universite Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cite, Faculte de Medecine, Paris (France); Hopital Europeen Georges-Pompidou, Assistance Publique-Hopitaux de Paris, Service de Chirurgie Gynecologique et Cancerologique, Paris (France); Universite Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cite, INSERM UMR-S 747, Paris (France); Hugonnet, Florent; Faraggi, Marc [Universite Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cite, Faculte de Medecine, Paris (France); Hopital Europeen Georges-Pompidou, Assistance Publique-Hopitaux de Paris, Service de Medecine Nucleaire, Paris (France); Huchon, Cyrille [Universite Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cite, Faculte de Medecine, Paris (France); Hopital Europeen Georges-Pompidou, Assistance Publique-Hopitaux de Paris, Service de Chirurgie Gynecologique et Cancerologique, Paris (France); Bensaid, Cherazade [Hopital Europeen Georges-Pompidou, Assistance Publique-Hopitaux de Paris, Service de Chirurgie Gynecologique et Cancerologique, Paris (France); Pierquet-Ghazzar, Nadia [Hopital Europeen Georges-Pompidou, Assistance Publique-Hopitaux de Paris, Service de Medecine Nucleaire, Paris (France)

2012-03-15

To evaluate the prognostic significance of increased mediastinal {sup 18}F-FDG uptake in PET/CT for the staging of advanced ovarian cancer. We retrospectively evaluated patients managed for FIGO stage III/IV ovarian cancer between 1 January 2006 and 1 June 2009. Patients were included if they had undergone {sup 18}F-FDG PET/CT and surgery for initial staging. Exclusion criteria were age younger than 18 years, inability to undergo general anaesthesia, recurrent ovarian cancer, and borderline or nonepithelial malignancy. Whole-body PET/CT was performed after intravenous {sup 18}F-FDG injection. The location of abnormal hot spots and {sup 18}F-FDG maximal standard uptake values (SUV{sub max}) were recorded. We compared the complete cytoreduction and survival rates in groups defined based on mediastinal {sup 18}F-FDG uptake and SUV{sub max} values. Kaplan-Meier curves of overall survival and disease-free survival were compared using the log-rank test. Hazard ratios with their 95% confidence intervals were computed. Adjusted hazard ratios were obtained using a multivariate Cox model. We included 53 patients, of whom 17 (32%) had increased mediastinal {sup 18}F-FDG uptake. Complete cytoreduction was achieved in 14 (87.5%) of the 16 patients managed with primary surgery and in 21 (75%) of the 28 patients managed with interval surgery. Complete cytoreduction was achieved significantly more often among patients without increased mediastinal {sup 18}F-FDG uptake (80.6% vs. 35.3%; p = 0.001). Disease-free survival was comparable between the two groups. By univariate analysis, overall mortality was significantly higher among patients with increased mediastinal {sup 18}F-FDG uptake (hazard ratio 5.70, 95% confidence interval 1.74-18.6). The only factor significantly associated with overall survival by multivariate analysis was complete cytoreduction (adjusted hazard ratio 0.24, 95% confidence interval 0.07-0.89). Increased mediastinal {sup 18}F-FDG uptake was common in patients

Repeated administration of fresh garlic increases memory retention in rats.

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Haider, Saida; Naz, Nosheen; Khaliq, Saima; Perveen, Tahira; Haleem, Darakhshan J

2008-12-01

Garlic (Allium sativum) is regarded as both a food and a medicinal herb. Increasing attention has focused on the biological functions and health benefits of garlic as a potentially major dietary component. Chronic garlic administration has been shown to enhance memory function. Evidence also shows that garlic administration in rats affects brain serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine [5-HT]) levels. 5-HT, a neurotransmitter involved in a number of physiological functions, is also known to enhance cognitive performance. The present study was designed to investigate the probable neurochemical mechanism responsible for the enhancement of memory following garlic administration. Sixteen adult locally bred male albino Wistar rats were divided into control (n = 8) and test (n = 8) groups. The test group was orally administered 250 mg/kg fresh garlic homogenate (FGH), while control animals received an equal amount of water daily for 21 days. Estimation of plasma free and total tryptophan (TRP) and whole brain TRP, 5-HT, and 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid (5-HIAA) was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. For assessment of memory, a step-through passive avoidance paradigm (electric shock avoidance) was used. The results showed that the levels of plasma free TRP significantly increased (P < .01) and plasma total TRP significantly decreased (P < .01) in garlic-treated rats. Brain TRP, 5-HT, and 5-HIAA levels were also significantly increased following garlic administration. A significant improvement in memory function was exhibited by garlic-treated rats in the passive avoidance test. Increased brain 5-HT levels were associated with improved cognitive performance. The present results, therefore, demonstrate that the memory-enhancing effect of garlic may be associated with increased brain 5-HT metabolism in rats. The results further support the use of garlic as a food supplement for the enhancement of memory.

Goal Setting to Increase Student Academic Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Dotson, Ronnie

2016-01-01

Over the past two years, the teachers and students in Carter County, Kentucky have been utilizing goal setting. As a result, the district has shown tremendous growth on not only state assessments, but also on local assessments. Additionally, the number of students meeting benchmarks for college and career readiness has increased significantly. The…

Expression and prognostic significance of lysozyme in male breast cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serra, Carlos; Baltasar, Aniceto; Medrano, Justo; Vizoso, Francisco; Alonso, Lorena; Rodríguez, Juan C; González, Luis O; Fernández, María; Lamelas, María L; Sánchez, Luis M; García-Muñiz, José L

2002-01-01

Lysozyme, one of the major protein components of human milk that is also synthesized by a significant percentage of breast carcinomas, is associated with lesions that have a favorable outcome in female breast cancer. Here we evaluate the expression and prognostic value of lysozyme in male breast cancer (MBC). Lysozyme expression was examined by immunohistochemical methods in a series of 60 MBC tissue sections and in 15 patients with gynecomastia. Staining was quantified using the HSCORE (histological score) system, which considers both the intensity and the percentage of cells staining at each intensity. Prognostic value of lysozyme was retrospectively evaluated by multivariate analysis taking into account conventional prognostic factors. Lysozyme immunostaining was negative in all cases of gynecomastia. A total of 27 of 60 MBC sections (45%) stained positively for this protein, but there were clear differences among them with regard to the intensity and percentage of stained cells. Statistical analysis showed that lysozyme HSCORE values in relation to age, tumor size, nodal status, histological grade, estrogen receptor status, metastasis and histological type did not increase the statistical significance. Univariate analysis confirmed that both nodal involvement and lysozyme values were significant predictors of short-term relapse-free survival. Multivariate analysis, according to Cox's regression model, also showed that nodal status and lysozyme levels were significant independent indicators of short-term relapse-free survival. Tumor expression of lysozyme is associated with lesions that have an unfavorable outcome in male breast cancer. This milk protein may be a new prognostic factor in patients with breast cancer

Analysis of increased hepatic density during chronic amiodarone therapy

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Hirakawa, Koichi; Abe, Koichiro; Ayabe, Yoshiharu; Nishimura, Masao [Ageo Central General Hospital, Saitama (Japan)

2003-05-01

Amiodarone is an amphiphilic, iodinated, benzofuran derivative that is known to be effective for refractory ventricular tachyarrhythmia. Amiodarone also is known to cause a variety of side effects, related to its accumulation in multiple organs. The deposition of amiodarone and its metabolite, desethylamiodarone (DA), in liver elevates liver function tests and increases liver attenuation on computed tomography (CT). Although several groups have reported increased liver attenuation in patients receiving chronic amiodarone therapy, there is still no clear statistically significant relationship between liver CT attenuation and the cumulative dose of amiodarone, or between plasma levels of amiodarone and DA. CT scans were originally performed for the evaluation of pulmonary fibrosis in 13 patients (7 men and 6 women; mean age, 69.9 years, range 35 to 86 years) receiving chronic amiodarone therapy. Liver CT attenuation tended to increase in these patients. We found no significant correlation between liver CT attenuation and the cumulative dose of amiodarone. However, the CT attenuation of the liver was correlated significantly with the plasma level of amiodarone and DA. It was also suggested that liver CT scan is a useful means of evaluating the plasma levels of amiodarone and DA, and for estimating their deposition in liver. (author)

Analysis of increased hepatic density during chronic amiodarone therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirakawa, Koichi; Abe, Koichiro; Ayabe, Yoshiharu; Nishimura, Masao

2003-01-01

Amiodarone is an amphiphilic, iodinated, benzofuran derivative that is known to be effective for refractory ventricular tachyarrhythmia. Amiodarone also is known to cause a variety of side effects, related to its accumulation in multiple organs. The deposition of amiodarone and its metabolite, desethylamiodarone (DA), in liver elevates liver function tests and increases liver attenuation on computed tomography (CT). Although several groups have reported increased liver attenuation in patients receiving chronic amiodarone therapy, there is still no clear statistically significant relationship between liver CT attenuation and the cumulative dose of amiodarone, or between plasma levels of amiodarone and DA. CT scans were originally performed for the evaluation of pulmonary fibrosis in 13 patients (7 men and 6 women; mean age, 69.9 years, range 35 to 86 years) receiving chronic amiodarone therapy. Liver CT attenuation tended to increase in these patients. We found no significant correlation between liver CT attenuation and the cumulative dose of amiodarone. However, the CT attenuation of the liver was correlated significantly with the plasma level of amiodarone and DA. It was also suggested that liver CT scan is a useful means of evaluating the plasma levels of amiodarone and DA, and for estimating their deposition in liver. (author)

Serum midkine expression in breast cancer patients and its clinical significance

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Min Zhang

2016-01-01

Objective:To study serum midkine expression in breast cancer patients and its clinical significance.Methods: A total of 45 cases of patients with breast cancer and 45 cases of patients with benign breast tumor were selected for study, breast tumor specimens were collected to detect mRNA content of MK and serum was collected to detect protein content of MK; breast cancer MCF-7 cell lines were cultured and transfected with varying concentrations of MK expression plasmid, and then cell proliferation and apoptosis, VEGF expression in media as well as MMPs and TIMPs expression in cells was detected.Results:MK expression in breast tissue and serum MK content of breast cancer patients were higher than those of benign breast tumor patients, and MK expression in breast tissue and serum MK content of breast cancer patients with TNMⅢ/Ⅳ stage, low/un-differentiation and lymph node metastasis were higher than those of breast cancer patients with TNMⅠ/Ⅱ stage, medium/high differentiation and without lymph node metastasis; MK expression plasmid could dose-dependently increase mRNA content and protein content of MK in breast cancer cell lines, increase cell viability and decrease apoptosis percentage; VEGFA, VEGFB and VEGFC contents in media as well as MMP2 and MMP9 contents in cells of 100.0 μg/mL plasmid group were significantly higher than those of 0 μg/mL plasmid group, and contents of TIMP1 and TIMP2 in cells were significantly lower than those of 0 μg/mL plasmid group.Conclusion:Serum midkine content in breast cancer patients abnormally rises, and high expression of MK can induce breast cancer cell proliferation, inhibit breast cancer cell apoptosis and promote angiogenesis and cell invasion.

Human circulating plasma DNA significantly decreases while lymphocyte DNA damage increases under chronic occupational exposure to low-dose gamma-neutron and tritium β-radiation

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Korzeneva, Inna B., E-mail: inna.korzeneva@molgen.vniief.ru [Russian Federal Nuclear Center – All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics (RFNC-VNIIEF) 607190, Sarov, 37 Mira ave., Nizhniy Novgorod Region (Russian Federation); Kostuyk, Svetlana V.; Ershova, Liza S. [Research Centre for Medical Genetics, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, 115478 Moscow, 1 Moskvorechye str. (Russian Federation); Osipov, Andrian N. [Federal Medial and Biological Center named after Burnazyan of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency (FMBTz named after Burnazyan of FMBA), Moscow (Russian Federation); State Research Center - Burnasyan Federal Medical Biophysical Center of Federal Medical Biological Agency, Zhivopisnaya, 46, Moscow, 123098 (Russian Federation); Zhuravleva, Veronika F.; Pankratova, Galina V. [Russian Federal Nuclear Center – All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics (RFNC-VNIIEF) 607190, Sarov, 37 Mira ave., Nizhniy Novgorod Region (Russian Federation); Porokhovnik, Lev N.; Veiko, Natalia N. [Research Centre for Medical Genetics, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, 115478 Moscow, 1 Moskvorechye str. (Russian Federation)

2015-09-15

Highlights: • The chronic exposure to low-dose IR induces DSBs in human lymphocytes (TM index). • Exposure to IR decreases the level of human circulating DNA (cfDNA index). • IR induces an increase of DNase1 activity (DNase1 index) in plasma. • IR induces an increase of the level of antibodies to DNA (Ab DNA index) in plasma. • The ratio cfDNA/(DNase 1 × Ab DNA × TM) is a potential marker of human exposure to IR. - Abstract: The blood plasma of healthy people contains cell-fee (circulating) DNA (cfDNA). Apoptotic cells are the main source of the cfDNA. The cfDNA concentration increases in case of the organism’s cell death rate increase, for example in case of exposure to high-dose ionizing radiation (IR). The objects of the present research are the blood plasma and blood lymphocytes of people, who contacted occupationally with the sources of external gamma/neutron radiation or internal β-radiation of tritium N = 176). As the controls (references), blood samples of people, who had never been occupationally subjected to the IR sources, were used (N = 109). With respect to the plasma samples of each donor there were defined: the cfDNA concentration (the cfDNA index), DNase1 activity (the DNase1 index) and titre of antibodies to DNA (the Ab DNA index). The general DNA damage in the cells was defined (using the Comet assay, the tail moment (TM) index). A chronic effect of the low-dose ionizing radiation on a human being is accompanied by the enhancement of the DNA damage in lymphocytes along with a considerable cfDNA content reduction, while the DNase1 content and concentration of antibodies to DNA (Ab DNA) increase. All the aforementioned changes were also observed in people, who had not worked with the IR sources for more than a year. The ratio cfDNA/(DNase1 × Ab DNA × TM) is proposed to be used as a marker of the chronic exposure of a person to the external low-dose IR. It was formulated the assumption that the joint analysis of the cfDNA, DNase1, Ab

Increased accumulation of dendritic cells in celiac disease associates with increased expression of autophagy protein LC3

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Paramaguru Rajaguru

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Celiac disease (CD an immune-mediated disorder associates with accumulation of dendritic cell (DC in duodenal mucosa. Autophagy has recently been implicated in autoantigen formation. However, its role in CD is still unknown. Aim: To examine role of autophagic protein LC3 expressed by activated DC in CD. Materials and Methods : Thirty CD patients were analyzed at initial presentation and after 6 months of gluten-free diet (GFD. Duodenal biopsies were studied for histological changes and CD11c, CD86, and MAP1LC3A expressions by double immunohistochemistry (IHC. Masson′s trichrome (MT staining was used to assess basement membrane (BM thickness and Oil Red O (ORO staining for mucosal lipid deposit. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR was performed for HLA-DQ system. Statistical analysis was done using paired and unpaired t test, chi-square test, Fisher′s exact test, and McNemar-Bowker test. A P-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: HLA-DQ2 and HLA-DQ8 alleles were present in all studied patients. Increased BM thickness was observed in 63% and 73% had ORO-positive lipid in surface lining epithelium. Pre-treatment biopsies showed increased DCs expressing LC3, which were significantly less in follow-up biopsies. The follow-up biopsies had shown significant reduction in BM thickness and ORO. Conclusion : Histological improvement in duodenal biopsies was associated with reduction in activated DCs expressing autophagic protein, which probably play important role in pathogenesis of an autoimmune disorder like CD.

Online Mathematics Homework Increases Student Achievement

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Jeremy Roschelle

2016-10-01

Full Text Available In a randomized field trial with 2,850 seventh-grade mathematics students, we evaluated whether an educational technology intervention increased mathematics learning. Assigning homework is common yet sometimes controversial. Building on prior research on formative assessment and adaptive teaching, we predicted that combining an online homework tool with teacher training could increase learning. The online tool ASSISTments (a provides timely feedback and hints to students as they do homework and (b gives teachers timely, organized information about students’ work. To test this prediction, we analyzed data from 43 schools that participated in a random assignment experiment in Maine, a state that provides every seventh-grade student with a laptop to take home. Results showed that the intervention significantly increased student scores on an end-of-the-year standardized mathematics assessment as compared with a control group that continued with existing homework practices. Students with low prior mathematics achievement benefited most. The intervention has potential for wider adoption.

Significant interarm blood pressure difference predicts cardiovascular risk in hypertensive patients

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Su-A; Kim, Jang Young; Park, Jeong Bae

2016-01-01

Abstract There has been a rising interest in interarm blood pressure difference (IAD), due to its relationship with peripheral arterial disease and its possible relationship with cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to characterize hypertensive patients with a significant IAD in relation to cardiovascular risk. A total of 3699 patients (mean age, 61 ± 11 years) were prospectively enrolled in the study. Blood pressure (BP) was measured simultaneously in both arms 3 times using an automated cuff-oscillometric device. IAD was defined as the absolute difference in averaged BPs between the left and right arm, and an IAD ≥ 10 mm Hg was considered to be significant. The Framingham risk score was used to calculate the 10-year cardiovascular risk. The mean systolic IAD (sIAD) was 4.3 ± 4.1 mm Hg, and 285 (7.7%) patients showed significant sIAD. Patients with significant sIAD showed larger body mass index (P < 0.001), greater systolic BP (P = 0.050), more coronary artery disease (relative risk = 1.356, P = 0.034), and more cerebrovascular disease (relative risk = 1.521, P = 0.072). The mean 10-year cardiovascular risk was 9.3 ± 7.7%. By multiple regression, sIAD was significantly but weakly correlated with the 10-year cardiovascular risk (β = 0.135, P = 0.008). Patients with significant sIAD showed a higher prevalence of coronary artery disease, as well as an increase in 10-year cardiovascular risk. Therefore, accurate measurements of sIAD may serve as a simple and cost-effective tool for predicting cardiovascular risk in clinical settings. PMID:27310982

Diabetes increases mortality after myocardial infarction by oxidizing CaMKII

OpenAIRE

Luo, Min; Guan, Xiaoqun; Luczak, Elizabeth D.; Lang, Di; Kutschke, William; Gao, Zhan; Yang, Jinying; Glynn, Patric; Sossalla, Samuel; Swaminathan, Paari D.; Weiss, Robert M.; Yang, Baoli; Rokita, Adam G.; Maier, Lars S.; Efimov, Igor R.

2013-01-01

Diabetes increases oxidant stress and doubles the risk of dying after myocardial infarction, but the mechanisms underlying increased mortality are unknown. Mice with streptozotocin-induced diabetes developed profound heart rate slowing and doubled mortality compared with controls after myocardial infarction. Oxidized Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (ox-CaMKII) was significantly increased in pacemaker tissues from diabetic patients compared with that in nondiabeti...

Significance of Serum Total Oxidant/Antioxidant Status in Patients with Colorectal Cancer.

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Rong Wu

Full Text Available Oxidative stress is involved in a variety of diseases. Prospective studies investigating the relationship between oxidative stress biomarkers and the status and development of colorectal cancer (CRC are scarce; previous studies have failed to establish a relationship between the serum total oxidant/antioxidant status and CRC. Therefore, we compared the total serum oxidant/antioxidant levels of CRC patients and healthy subjects, and analyzed their clinical significance in the CRC. Fasting blood samples from 132 CRC patients and 64 healthy subjects were collected. Oxidative stress parameters, including total oxidant status (TOS and total antioxidant status (TAS, were measured, and the oxidative stress index (OSI was calculated. The TOS and OSI levels increased significantly (P0.05.However, the levels of TOS, TAS, and OSI were significantly different between patients with no metastasis and those with metastases to two organs (P<0.05 Finally, the parameters are affected by smoking and drinking, and subsequent research should be conducted excluding the relevant influencing factors.

Potential prognostic significance of decreased serum levels of TRAIL after acute myocardial infarction.

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Paola Secchiero

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Since soluble TRAIL exhibits anti-inflammatory and anti-atherosclerotic activities both in vitro and in animal models, this study was designed to assess the relationship between the serum levels of TRAIL and clinical outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Levels of TRAIL were measured by ELISA in serial serum samples obtained from 60 patients admitted for AMI, both during hospitalization and in a follow-up of 12 months, as well as in 60 healthy control subjects. Serum levels of TRAIL were significantly decreased in patients with AMI at baseline (within 24 hours from admission, compared with healthy controls, and showed a significant inverse correlation with a series of negative prognostic markers, such as CK, CK-MB and BNP. TRAIL serum levels progressively increased at discharge, but normalized only at 6-12 months after AMI. Of note, low TRAIL levels at the patient discharge were associated with increased incidence of cardiac death and heart failure in the 12-month follow-up, even after adjustment for demographic and clinical risk parameters (hazard ratio [HR] of 0.93 [95% CI, 0.89 to 0.97]; p = 0.001. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Although the number of patients studied was limited, our findings indicate for the first time that circulating TRAIL might represent an important predictor of cardiovascular events, independent of conventional risk markers.

ONLINE COMMUNITY : INCREASE SALES SIGNIFICANTLY BY INTEGRATING CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM WITH MARKETING COMMUNICATION

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Desi Purwanti

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Komunitas online dipandang oleh sebagian pihak sebagai metode untuk membangun kembali hubungan sarana komunikasi baru untuk memberdayakan individu dan organisasi. Kaum optimis menganggap komunitas online sebagai keunggulan kompetitif yang nyata dari kegiatan secara online yang merupakan keuntungan dari jaringan. Komunitas online merupakan salah satu pioner dari pemasaran internet yang sangat menjanjikan dan menciptakan serta menumbuhkan suatu komunitas. Menurut Hagel & Armstrong mengemukakan bahwa munculnya komunitas online / munculnya komunitas virtual dalam jaringan online telah menciptakan pergerakan besar kekuasaan yang tidak terduga dari penyedia barang & jasa ke pelanggan. Penyedia yang memahami transfer kekuasaan & memilih mengkapitalisasikan melalui komunitas virtual akan memperoleh loyalitas pelanggan sekaligus keuntungan ekonomi yang mengesankan. Hagel & Armstrong memandang komunitas online sebagai jantung keberhasilan perdagangan secara online. Komunitas online menciptakan kondisi dimana komunikasi & interaksi antar pelanggan sama pentingnya dengan komunikasi antara perusahaan ke pelanggan

Reform of Income Splitting for Married Couples: Only Individual Taxation Significantly Increases Working Incentives

OpenAIRE

Stefan Bach; Johannes Geyer; Peter Haan; Katharina Wrohlich

2011-01-01

The joint taxation of married couples in Germany with full income splitting is still a major hindrance to the participation of married women in the labor market. In their current financial proposals, the SPD (Social Democratic Party) is calling for income splitting for married couples to be replaced by individual taxation with maintenance deductions, in accordance with existing schemes for divorced spouses. Simulations implemented by DIW Berlin show that such a reform would only have limited ...

Significance of NTM infections in Croatia

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V Katalinic-Jankovic

2015-01-01

laboratory are sent to the National Reference Laboratory for identification. NTM strains have been systematically recorded and reported since 1982. In the last decade, two retrospective analyses were done to assess the clinical relevance of different NTM species and the burden of pulmonary NTM disease. Over the past decade, a 30-fold increase in overall NTM isolation rates and a 4-fold increase in PNTM incidence were observed. Mycobacterium xenopi was the most frequently seen causative agent of pulmonary NTM disease, but the degree of clinical relevance (i.e., percentage of patients meeting the diagnosis criteria, per species was higher for isolates of MAC (66.5% and M. kansasii (57.2%. Only about 30% of the M. xenopi isolates represented true disease. Further, interesting regional differences were observed. Clinically relevant NTM isolates were significantly more often found in the coastal region of Croatia, and the average annual incidence of the PNTM was twice as high in coastal compared with the continental region. The overall burden of PNTM in Croatia is still low compared with tuberculosis. This can, in part, explain the observed lack of knowledge of NTM infections among respiratory specialists. Since these pathogens are increasingly common worldwide, especially in countries where the incidence of tuberculosis is declining, a constant rising of awareness and knowledge is necessary.

Increased Science Instrumentation Funding Strengthens Mars Program

Science.gov (United States)

Graham, Lee D.; Graff, T. G.

2012-01-01

As the strategic knowledge gaps mature for the exploration of Mars, Mars sample return (MSR), and Phobos/Deimos missions, one approach that becomes more probable involves smaller science instrumentation and integrated science suites. Recent technological advances provide the foundation for a significant evolution of instrumentation; however, the funding support is currently too small to fully utilize these advances. We propose that an increase in funding for instrumentation development occur in the near-term so that these foundational technologies can be applied. These instruments would directly address the significant knowledge gaps for humans to Mars orbit, humans to the Martian surface, and humans to Phobos/ Deimos. They would also address the topics covered by the Decadal Survey and the Mars scientific goals, objectives, investigations and priorities as stated by the MEPAG. We argue that an increase of science instrumentation funding would be of great benefit to the Mars program as well as the potential for human exploration of the Mars system. If the total non-Earth-related planetary science instrumentation budget were increased 100% it would not add an appreciable amount to the overall NASA budget and would provide the real potential for future breakthroughs. If such an approach were implemented in the near-term, NASA would benefit greatly in terms of science knowledge of the Mars, Phobos/Deimos system, exploration risk mitigation, technology development, and public interest.

CT diagnostic significance of tuboovarian abscess

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Du Tieqiao; Dong Jie; Xu Quanying; An Haiqin; Sang Chunyu

2006-01-01

Objective: To analyze computed tomographic (CT) imaging features of tuboovarian abscess as well as to discuss CT diagnostic significance. Methods: Ten patients with tuboovarian abscess were performed CT enhancing scans. Results: Ten patients manifested thick-walled, cystic-solid complex adnexal mass and indistinct margins on CT imaging. Internal thick septations and layered enhancement of the mass border on CT contrast images were common. Associated findings of CT included thickening of' the uterosacral ligaments in 9 of 10 patients, increased attenuation of the presacral and perirectal fat secondary to edema in 9 patients, serpiginous structure corresponding to a dilated, pus-filled fallopian tube in 6 patients and fluid-filled within uterine cavity in 4 patients. On CT scans, the inflammatory infiltration of adnexal abscesses involved pelvic structure included adhesion with borders of uterus in 9 patients, adhesion with rectal or sigmoid in 4 patients and pelvic wall or bowel loop in 3 patients. Two cases with peritoneal thicken showed ascites on CT images and right adnexal tuboovarian abscess in 2 patients were associated with appendicitis. Conclusion: CT can reveal pelvic adjacent organs involvement or adhesion and inflammatory infihration of pelvic floor soft-tissues or fascial planes except showing cystic solid complex mass of adnexal location so that indicating characteristics and the extent of the suspected pelvic inflammatory diseases. CT can be valuable in difficult cases of gynecologic infective diseases. (authors)

Periodontitis and increase in circulating oxidative stress

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Takaaki Tomofuji

2009-05-01

Full Text Available Reactive oxygen species (ROS are products of normal cellular metabolism. However, excessive production of ROS oxidizes DNA, lipids and proteins, inducing tissue damage. Studies have shown that periodontitis induces excessive ROS production in periodontal tissue. When periodontitis develops, ROS produced in the periodontal lesion diffuse into the blood stream, resulting in the oxidation of blood molecules (circulating oxidative stress. Such oxidation may be detrimental to systemic health. For instance, previous animal studies suggested that experimental periodontitis induces oxidative damage of the liver and descending aorta by increasing circulating oxidative stress. In addition, it has been revealed that clinical parameters in chronic periodontitis patients showed a significant improvement 2 months after periodontal treatment, which was accompanied by a significant reduction of reactive oxygen metabolites in plasma. Improvement of periodontitis by periodontal treatment could reduce the occurrence of circulating oxidative stress. Furthermore, recent studies indicate that the increase in circulating oxidative stress following diabetes mellitus and inappropriate nutrition damages periodontal tissues. In such cases, therapeutic approaches to systemic oxidative stress might be necessary to improve periodontal health.

A significant positive correlation between endogenous trans-zeatin content and total arsenic in arsenic hyperaccumulator Pteris cretica var. nervosa.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xuemei; Yang, Xiaoyan; Wang, Hongbin; Li, Qinchun; Wang, Haijuan; Li, Yanyan

2017-04-01

A pot experiment was conducted to compare the content of endogenous trans-zeatin (Z), plant arsenic (As) uptake and physiological indices in the fronds of As-hyperaccumulator (Pteris cretica var. nervosa) and non-hyperaccumulator (Pteris ensiformis). Furthermore, a stepwise regression method was used to study the relationship among determined indices, and the time-course effect of main indices was also investigated under 100mg/kg As stress with time extension. In the 100-200mg/kg As treatments, plant height showed no significant difference and endogenous Z content significantly increased in P. cretica var. nervosa compared to the control, but a significant decrease of height and endogenous Z was observed in P. ensiformis. The concentrations of As (III) and As (V) increased significantly in the fronds of two plants, but this increase was much higher in P. cretica var. nervosa. Compared to the control, the contents of chlorophyll and soluble protein were significantly increased in P. cretica var. nervosa but decreased in P. ensiformis in the 200mg/kg As treatment, respectively. A significant positive correlation was found between the contents of endogenous Z and total As in P. cretica var. nervosa, but such a correlation was not found in P. ensiformis. Additionally, in the time-course effect experiment, a peak value of each index was appeared in the 43rd day in two plants, except for chlorophyll in P. ensiformis, but this value was significantly higher in P. cretica var. nervosa than that in P. ensiformis. In conclusion, a higher endogenous Z content contributed to As accumulation of P. cretica var. nervosa under As stress. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Genome-wide identification of significant aberrations in cancer genome

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Yuan Xiguo

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Somatic Copy Number Alterations (CNAs in human genomes are present in almost all human cancers. Systematic efforts to characterize such structural variants must effectively distinguish significant consensus events from random background aberrations. Here we introduce Significant Aberration in Cancer (SAIC, a new method for characterizing and assessing the statistical significance of recurrent CNA units. Three main features of SAIC include: (1 exploiting the intrinsic correlation among consecutive probes to assign a score to each CNA unit instead of single probes; (2 performing permutations on CNA units that preserve correlations inherent in the copy number data; and (3 iteratively detecting Significant Copy Number Aberrations (SCAs and estimating an unbiased null distribution by applying an SCA-exclusive permutation scheme. Results We test and compare the performance of SAIC against four peer methods (GISTIC, STAC, KC-SMART, CMDS on a large number of simulation datasets. Experimental results show that SAIC outperforms peer methods in terms of larger area under the Receiver Operating Characteristics curve and increased detection power. We then apply SAIC to analyze structural genomic aberrations acquired in four real cancer genome-wide copy number data sets (ovarian cancer, metastatic prostate cancer, lung adenocarcinoma, glioblastoma. When compared with previously reported results, SAIC successfully identifies most SCAs known to be of biological significance and associated with oncogenes (e.g., KRAS, CCNE1, and MYC or tumor suppressor genes (e.g., CDKN2A/B. Furthermore, SAIC identifies a number of novel SCAs in these copy number data that encompass tumor related genes and may warrant further studies. Conclusions Supported by a well-grounded theoretical framework, SAIC has been developed and used to identify SCAs in various cancer copy number data sets, providing useful information to study the landscape of cancer genomes

Insulin Increases Ceramide Synthesis in Skeletal Muscle

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M. E. Hansen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Aims. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of insulin on ceramide metabolism in skeletal muscle. Methods. Skeletal muscle cells were treated with insulin with or without palmitate for various time periods. Lipids (ceramides and TAG were isolated and gene expression of multiple biosynthetic enzymes were quantified. Additionally, adult male mice received daily insulin injections for 14 days, followed by muscle ceramide analysis. Results. In muscle cells, insulin elicited an increase in ceramides comparable to palmitate alone. This is likely partly due to an insulin-induced increase in expression of multiple enzymes, particularly SPT2, which, when knocked down, prevented the increase in ceramides. In mice, 14 days of insulin injection resulted in increased soleus ceramides, but not TAG. However, insulin injections did significantly increase hepatic TAG compared with vehicle-injected animals. Conclusions. This study suggests that insulin elicits an anabolic effect on sphingolipid metabolism in skeletal muscle, resulting in increased ceramide accumulation. These findings reveal a potential mechanism of the deleterious consequences of the hyperinsulinemia that accompanies insulin resistance and suggest a possible novel therapeutic target to mitigate its effects.

Using Shaping to Increase Foods Consumed by Children with Autism

Science.gov (United States)

Hodges, Abby; Davis, Tonya; Crandall, Madison; Phipps, Laura; Weston, Regan

2017-01-01

The current study used differential reinforcement and shaping to increase the variety of foods accepted by children with autism who demonstrated significant feeding inflexibility. Participants were introduced to four new food items via a hierarchical exposure, which involved systematically increasing the desired response with the food item. Level…

Prognostic significance of perioperative nutritional parameters in patients with gastric cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Sung Eun; Choi, Min-Gew; Seo, Jeong-Meen; An, Ji Yeong; Lee, Jun Ho; Sohn, Tae Sung; Bae, Jae Moon; Kim, Sung

2018-02-20

It has been suggested that nutritional status is related to the survival outcomes of cancer patients. The purpose of the current research is to evaluate the importance of the prognosis of various nutritional parameters during the perioperative period in patients with gastric cancer. This study enrolled patients with gastric cancer who underwent D2 gastrectomy at the Department of Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, in 2008. The prognostic significance of nutritional parameters was analyzed, along with other clinical and pathological variables, preoperatively and postoperatively at 3, 6, and 12 months. The total number of patients was 1415. The mean values of nutritional parameters, weight, body mass index (BMI), hemoglobin, total cholesterol, and total lymphocyte count (TLC) decreased significantly over time after surgery. On the contrary, albumin and prognostic nutritional index (PNI) score increased significantly during the postoperative follow-up period. Preoperatively, low BMI (nutritional prognostic indicators. Various perioperative nutritional parameters were confirmed as independent prognostic factors in patients with gastric cancer. Our results imply prognostic benefit from careful nutritional support for patients with poor nutritional parameters. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd and European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. All rights reserved.

Increasing instruction time in school does increase learning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Simon Calmar; Humlum, Maria; Nandrup, Anne Brink

2016-01-01

Increasing instruction time in school is a central element in the attempts of many governments to improve student learning, but prior research—mainly based on observational data—disputes the effect of this approach and points out the potential negative effects on student behavior. Based on a large......-scale, cluster-randomized trial, we find that increasing instruction time increases student learning and that a general increase in instruction time is at least as efficient as an expert-developed, detailed teaching program that increases instruction with the same amount of time. These findings support the value...... of increased instruction time....

SIRTF thermal design modifications to increase lifetime

Science.gov (United States)

Petrick, S. W.

1993-01-01

An effort was made to increase the predicted lifetime of the SIRTF dewar by lowering the exterior shell temperature, increasing the radiated energy from the vapor cooled shields and reconfiguring the vapor cooled shields. The lifetime increases can be used to increase the scientific return from the mission and as a trade-off against mass and cost. This paper describes the configurations studied, the steady state thermal model used, the analytical methods and the results of the analysis. Much of the heat input to the outside dewar shell is radiative heat transfer from the solar panel. To lower the shell temperature, radiative cooled shields were placed between the solar panel and the dewar shell and between the bus and the dewar shell. Analysis showed that placing a radiator on the outer vapor cooled shield had a significant effect on lifetime. Lengthening the distance between the outer shell and the point where the vapor cooled shields are attached to the support straps also improved lifetime.

Increased anxiety-related behaviour in Hint1 knockout mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Varadarajulu, Jeeva; Lebar, Maria; Krishnamoorthy, Gurumoorthy; Habelt, Sonja; Lu, Jia; Bernard Weinstein, I; Li, Haiyang; Holsboer, Florian; Turck, Christoph W; Touma, Chadi

2011-07-07

Several reports have implicated a role for the histidine triad nucleotide-binding protein-1 (Hint1) in psychiatric disorders. We have studied the emotional behaviour of male Hint1 knockout (Hint1 KO) mice in a battery of tests and performed biochemical analyses on brain tissue. The behavioural analysis revealed that Hint1 KO mice exhibit an increased emotionality phenotype compared to wildtype (WT) mice, while no significant differences in locomotion or general exploratory activity were noted. In the elevated plus-maze (EPM) test, the Hint1 KO animals entered the open arms of the apparatus less often than WT littermates. Similarly, in the dark-light box test, Hint1 KO mice spent less time in the lit compartment and the number of entries were reduced, which further confirmed an increased anxiety-related behaviour. Moreover, the Hint1 KO animals showed significantly more struggling and less floating behaviour in the forced swim test (FST), indicating an increased emotional arousal in aversive situations. Hint1 is known as a protein kinase C (PKC) interacting protein. Western blot analysis showed that PKCγ expression was elevated in Hint1 KO compared to WT mice. Interestingly, PKCγ mRNA levels of the two groups did not show a significant difference, implying a post-transcriptional PKCγ regulation. In addition, PKC enzymatic activity was increased in Hint1 KO compared to WT mice. In summary, our results indicate a role for Hint1 and PKCγ in modulating anxiety-related and stress-coping behaviour in mice. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Impact on Smoking Behavior of the New Zealand Annual Increase in Tobacco Tax: Data for the Fifth and Sixth Year of Increases.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Judy; Newcombe, Rhiannon; Guiney, Hayley; Walton, Darren

2017-11-07

New Zealand has implemented a series of seven annual increases in tobacco tax since 2010. All tax increases, except for the first in the series, were preannounced. It is unusual for governments to introduce small, persistent, and predictable increases in tobacco tax, and little is known about the impact of such a strategy. This paper evaluates the impact of the fifth and sixth annual increases. Smokers' behaviors were self-reported during the 3-month period before, and the 3-month period after, the two annual increases. Responses to the two increases were analyzed separately, and generalized estimating equations models were used to control for sociodemographic variables, recent quit attempts, and the research design. Findings were consistent across years. The proportion of participants who made a smoking-related (54%-56% before and after each tax increase) or product-related change (fifth tax increase: 17%-19%; sixth tax increase: 21%-22%) did not significantly alter from before to after each tax increase. However, it should be noted that the proportion of participants making smoking-related changes was generally high, even prior to each increase. For example, before the 2015 tax increase, 1% reported quitting completely, 21% trying to quit, and 53% cutting down. In New Zealand, with its series of annual tobacco tax increases since 2010, there were no significant changes in smoking- or product-related behavior associated with the fifth and sixth increases. Nevertheless, overall cessation-related activity was high, with a majority of participants reporting either quitting and/or cutting down recently. Little is known about the impact of small, persistent, predictable tobacco tax increases on smoking behavior. This study evaluated the impact of the fifth (in 2014) and sixth (2015) tax increases in an annual series implemented in New Zealand. Although there were no detectable changes in smoking behaviors from before to after each tax increase, self-reported cessation

Increase of the blocking temperature of Fe–Ag granular multilayers with increasing number of the layers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Balogh, Judit [Institute for Solid State Physics and Optics, Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 49, H-1525 Budapest (Hungary); Kaptás, Dénes, E-mail: kaptas.denes@wigner.mta.hu [Institute for Solid State Physics and Optics, Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 49, H-1525 Budapest (Hungary); Kiss, László F. [Institute for Solid State Physics and Optics, Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 49, H-1525 Budapest (Hungary); Dézsi, István [Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics, Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 49, H-1525 Budapest (Hungary); Nakanishi, Akio [Department of Physics, Shiga University of Medical Science, Shiga 520-2192 (Japan); Devlin, Eamonn; Vasilakaki, Marianna; Margaris, George; Trohidou, Kalliopi N. [Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, NCSR “Demokritos”, Aghia Paraskevi, 15310 Athens (Greece)

2016-03-01

Multilayers of 0.4 nm Fe and 5 nm Ag with repetition number, n=1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 were prepared by vacuum evaporation onto Si wafer. The blocking temperature was determined by measuring the field cooled and zero field cooled magnetization curves with a SQUID magnetometer and it was found to increase by almost an order of magnitude from around 20 K for the single Fe layer sample up to around 160 K for n=20. Significant increase of the average size of the superparamagnetic Fe grains by increasing the number of the Fe layers was excluded by conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy measurements of the paramagnetic state. The role of the dipole–dipole interactions and their interplay with the out-of-plain magnetic anisotropy in the variation of the blocking temperature has been investigated by Monte-Carlo simulations. - Highlights: • Multilayers of [0.4 nm Fe/5 nm Ag]{sub n} (n=1,2,5,10, and 20) were grown over Si. • Large increase of the superparamagnetic blocking temperature up to n=10 is observed. • The average Fe grain size does not change in the subsequent layers. • Perpendicular anisotropy enhances the dipolar coupling and the blocking temperature.

The significance of the tourist destination of Zlatibor spatial planning

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Jovičić Ana

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The territory of Zlatibor is known as a region of exquisite beauty, rich in natural and anthropogenic values, and as such it is a significant tourist destination. The tourism on Zlatibor started developing a long time ago, however, recently there has formed a type of settlement with tourism as its basic function, with no adequate planned development and control, which deviates from the natural and aesthetic environment, disturbing the rare and autochthonous quality of the territory. Zlatibor’s beauty has been disturbed with unplanned construction and the development of tourism which is not sustainable in the long-term. The aim of this paper is to point out to the significance of spatial planning for further development of tourism on this mountain and give suggestions on further development which would neutralise, revitalise and improve the already degraded territory. Only by managing the territory of Zlatibor properly, as a resource for tourism, will its economic, ecologic and aesthetic value increase, which will ensure a long term benefit on a local, regional and national level. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 47007

Tobacco product prices before and after a statewide tobacco tax increase.

Science.gov (United States)

Brock, Betsy; Choi, Kelvin; Boyle, Raymond G; Moilanen, Molly; Schillo, Barbara A

2016-03-01

In 2013, the State of Minnesota Legislature passed a tobacco tax increase that increased the combined cigarette excise and sales tax by US$1.75 (from US$1.60 to US$3.35) and increased the tax on non-cigarette tobacco products from 70% to 95% of the wholesale price. The current study explores the change in tobacco prices in retail locations and whether the tax increase was fully passed to consumers. An observational study of tobacco retail prices was performed in a sample of 61 convenience stores in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Six rounds of data were collected between May 2013 and January 2014. In each round, purchases were made at the same stores for the same four tobacco products (Camel Blue cigarettes, Marlboro Gold cigarettes, Grizzly Wintergreen moist smokeless tobacco and Copenhagen Wintergreen moist smokeless tobacco). For all studied tobacco products, prices in Minnesota increased significantly after the tax increase (Round 1-Round 6). After controlling for price changes in neighbouring states, the average price difference in Minnesota for the two cigarette brands increased by US$1.89 and US$1.81, which are both more than the US$1.75 tax increase. For moist smokeless, the average price difference increased by US$0.90 and US$0.94. Significant price changes were not observed in the comparison states. After the introduction of the minimum moist smokeless tax, a significantly higher proportion of Minnesota stores offered price promotions on smokeless tobacco. A large tobacco tax resulted in an average retail cigarette price exceeding the tax, suggesting the industry over-shifted the cigarette tax increase to consumers in Minnesota. The findings support the known public health benefit of tobacco tax increases while highlighting the need for additional information about how, or if, tobacco companies use price promotions to blunt the impact of tax increases. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not

Inpatient Treatment for Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa: Clinical Significance and Predictors of Treatment Outcome.

Science.gov (United States)

Schlegl, Sandra; Diedrich, Alice; Neumayr, Christina; Fumi, Markus; Naab, Silke; Voderholzer, Ulrich

2016-05-01

This study evaluated the clinical significance as well as predictors of outcome for adolescents with severe anorexia nervosa (AN) treated in an inpatient setting. Body mass index (BMI), eating disorder (ED) symptoms [Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2)], general psychopathology and depression were assessed in 238 patients at admission and discharge. BMI increased from 14.8 + 1.2 to 17.3 + 1.4 kg/m(2). Almost a fourth (23.6%) of the patients showed reliable changes, and 44.7% showed clinically significant changes (EDI-2). BMI change did not significantly differ between those with reliable or clinically significant change or no reliable change in EDI-2. Length of stay, depression and body dissatisfaction were negative predictors of a clinically significant change. Inpatient treatment is effective in about two thirds of adolescents with AN and should be considered when outpatient treatment fails. About one third of patients showed significant weight gain, but did not improve regarding overall ED symptomatology. Future studies should focus on treatment strategies for non-responders. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

A shift from significance test to hypothesis test through power analysis in medical research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Singh Girish

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Medical research literature until recently, exhibited substantial dominance of the Fisher′s significance test approach of statistical inference concentrating more on probability of type I error over Neyman-Pearson′s hypothesis test considering both probability of type I and II error. Fisher′s approach dichotomises results into significant or not significant results with a P value. The Neyman-Pearson′s approach talks of acceptance or rejection of null hypothesis. Based on the same theory these two approaches deal with same objective and conclude in their own way. The advancement in computing techniques and availability of statistical software have resulted in increasing application of power calculations in medical research and thereby reporting the result of significance tests in the light of power of the test also. Significance test approach, when it incorporates power analysis contains the essence of hypothesis test approach. It may be safely argued that rising application of power analysis in medical research may have initiated a shift from Fisher′s significance test to Neyman-Pearson′s hypothesis test procedure.

Calorie restriction increases cigarette use in adult smokers.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheskin, Lawrence J; Hess, Judith M; Henningfield, Jack; Gorelick, David A

2005-05-01

Cigarette smokers weigh less than nonsmokers, and smokers often gain weight when they quit. This is a major barrier to smoking cessation, especially among women. However, strict dieting is not recommended during smoking cessation out of concern that it might promote relapse. This concern derives, in part, from the observation that calorie restriction increases self-administration of drugs of abuse in animals. This relationship has never been experimentally demonstrated in humans. To evaluate whether calorie restriction increases cigarette smoking in humans. Seventeen (nine males, eight females) healthy, normal-weight smokers not attempting to quit were cycled in partially counterbalanced order, double-blind, through four diets-normal calorie (2,000-2,800 kcal/day), low calorie (700 kcal/day deficit), low-carbohydrate (CHO)/normal-calorie, and low-CHO/low-calorie-for 6 days per diet in an inpatient research ward. Smoking was assessed by cigarette counts, breath carbon monoxide (CO) levels, and cigarette craving. Compared with the normal-calorie diet, while on the low-calorie diet, subjects smoked 8% more cigarettes (Plow-CHO/normal-calorie diet showed no significant effect on either variable, but there was a 15% increase in breath CO levels (Plow-CHO/low-calorie diet. There were no changes in self-reported cigarette craving or mood. Consistent with animal studies, moderate calorie restriction was associated with a small but statistically significant increase in cigarette smoking, with no independent effect of CHO deprivation. These findings suggest that dieting may increase smoking behavior and could impede smoking-cessation attempts.

CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS IN EXERCISE PERFORMANCE: IMPLICATIONS FOR HORMONAL AND MUSCULAR ADAPTATION

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Weipeng Teo

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Almost all physiological and biochemical processes within the human body follow a circadian rhythm (CR. In humans, the suprachiasmatic nucleus regulates sleep- wake cycle and other daily biorhythms in line with solar time. Due to such daily physiological fluctuations, several investigations on neuromuscular performance have reported a distinct CR during exercise. Generally, peak performances have been found to occur in the early evening, at approximately the peak of core body temperature. The increase in core body temperature has been found to increase energy metabolism, improve muscle compliance and facilitate actin-myosin crossbridging. In addition, steroidal hormones such as testosterone (T and cortisol (C also display a clear CR. The role of T within the body is to maintain anabolism through the process of protein synthesis. By contrast, C plays a catabolic function and is involved in the response of stress. Due to the anabolic and catabolic nature of both T and C, it has been postulated that a causal relationship may exist between the CR of T and C and muscular performance. This review will therefore discuss the effects of CR on physical performance and its implications for training. Furthermore, this review will examine the impact of muscular performance on CR in hormonal responses and whether could variations in T and C be potentially beneficial for muscular adaptation

Increased gluconeogenesis in rats exposed to hyper-G stress

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Daligcon, B.C.; Oyama, J.; Hannak, K.

1985-01-01

The role of gluconeogenesis on the increase in plasma glucose and liver glycogen of rats exposed to hyper-G (radial acceleration) stress was determined. Overnight-fasted, male Sprague-Dawley rats (250-300 g) were injected i.p. with uniformly labeled 14 C lactate, alanine, or glycerol (5 μCi/rat) and immediately exposed to 3.1 G for 0.25, 0.50, and 1.0 hr. 14 C incorporation of the labeled substrates into plasma glucose and liver glycogen was measured and compared to noncentrifuged control rats injected in a similar manner. Significant increases in 14 C incorporation of all three labeled substrates into plasma glucose were observed in centrifuged rats at all exposure periods; 14 C incorporation into liver glycogen was significantly increased only at 0.50 and 1.0 hr. The i.p. administration (5 mg/100-g body wt) of 5-methoxyindole-2-carboxylic acid, a potent gluconeogenesis inhibitor, prior to centrifugation blocked the increase in plasma glucose and liver glycogen during the first hour of centrifugation. The increase in plasma glucose and liver glycogen was also abolished in adrenodemedullated rats exposed to centrifugation for 1.0 hr. Propranolol, a beta-adrenergic blocker, suppressed the increase in plasma glucose of rats exposed to centrifugation for 0.25 hr. From the results of this study, it is concluded that the initial, rapid rise in plasma glucose as well as the increase in liver glycogen of rats exposed to hyper-G stress can be attributed to an increased rate of gluconeogenesis, and that epinephrine plays a dominant role during the early stages of exposure to centrifugation. 11 references, 3 tables

The Significant Social Networks of Women Who Have Resided in Shelters

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Scheila Krenkel

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The social and institutional support networks structured around women who suffer violence are strategic tools when coping with the phenomenon, which is considered a public health problem. This qualitative study was aimed at understanding the relational dynamics of significant social networks of women who have experienced family violence and have resided in a shelter. A group of 12 women participated in the study and data collection was carried out through semi-structured interviews and the social networks map. Data analysis was based on Grounded Theory and performed using the software Atlas.ti 5.0. The results revealed that the significant social networks were important sources of help and support in the process of coping with violence experienced by women. Results also showed that the persons in the social networks develop multiple functions and present an increasing level of relational commitment to women, especially after they leave the shelter.

Significance of Serum Leptin Assessment in Chronic Renal Patients on Dialysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salem, E.S; Tawfik, M.S; ELaseily, E.S.

2013-01-01

The number of patients suffering from renal failure indicating dialysis has been increasing worldwide. Leptin hormone plays an important role in the development of malnutrition in these patients. Bone produces different hormones, such as osteocalcin (OC), which influences energy expenditure in humans. Disturbances in mineral metabolism and bone disease are common complications of chronic kidney disease (CKD). There are increasing evidences suggesting that these disorders in mineral and bone metabolism are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular calcification, morbidity, and mortality, especially among those who undergo maintenance renal dialysis. The present study was carried out to evaluate the importance of serum leptin assessment in renal dialysis patients. Serum leptin level was estimated by radioimmunoassay (RIA) using recombinant human leptin (Leptin- Human Ria-CT). Immunoradiometric assay kit (host IRMA) was used for in-vitro quantitative measurement of human intact OC. Serum creatinine level was determined by colorimetric method. This study included 60 patients (twenty suffering from CKD, thirty on dialysis and ten healthy controls). Serum leptin, OC and creatinine were found to be higher in patients of both groups compared to that of controls. Maximum increase was observed in patients on dialysis. From these results it is possible to conclude that, although patients with chronic renal disease exhibited significant increase in serum leptin, yet sudden additional increase can be related to serious pathology that can end in renal failure. The present study also highlighted the importance of OC as a marker of disturbed mineral-bone metabolism in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients and those receiving dialysis that could lead to the atherosclerosis, extravascular calcification, morbidity and mortality. KeywoRdSLeptin, osteocalcin, Radioimmunoassay (RIA), Chronic kidney disease, Renal dialysis, Creatinine.

Effect of Maryland's 2011 Alcohol Sales Tax Increase on Alcohol-Positive Driving.

Science.gov (United States)

Lavoie, Marie-Claude; Langenberg, Patricia; Villaveces, Andres; Dischinger, Patricia C; Simoni-Wastila, Linda; Hoke, Kathleen; Smith, Gordon S

2017-07-01

The 2011 Maryland alcohol sales tax increase from 6% to 9% provided an opportunity to evaluate the impact on rates of alcohol-positive drivers involved in injury crashes. Maryland police crash reports from 2001 to 2013 were analyzed using an interrupted time series design and a multivariable analysis employing generalized estimating equations models with a negative binomial distribution. Data were analyzed in 2014-2015. There was a significant gradual annual reduction of 6% in the population-based rate of all alcohol-positive drivers (ptax increase. There were no significant changes in rates of alcohol-positive drivers aged 35-54 years (rate ratio, 0.98; 95% CI=0.89, 1.09). Drivers aged ≥55 years had a significant immediate 10% increase in the rate of alcohol-positive drivers (rate ratio, 1.10; 95% CI=1.04, 1.16) and a gradual increase of 4.8% per year after the intervention. Models using different denominators and controlling for multiple factors including a proxy for unmeasured factors found similar results overall. The 2011 Maryland alcohol sales tax increase led to a significant reduction in the rate of all alcohol-positive drivers involved in injury crashes especially among drivers aged 15-34 years. This is the first study to examine the impact of alcohol sales taxes on crashes; previous research focused on excise tax. Increasing alcohol taxes is an important but often neglected intervention to reduce alcohol-impaired driving. Copyright © 2017 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Significance of blood examination in radiation workers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mori, Hirofumi; Nakamura, Shinobu; Ando, Atsushi; Kojima, Kazuhiko; Kikuta, Yoko.

1978-01-01

Blood examination made for the past 3 years revealed that the influences of chronic exposure of extremely small amounts of radiation (an average of 5 mrem/day) on peripheral blood are not detected. However, the blood examination, which is prescribed at least twice a year by law, is for determining whether or not the results of blood examination are within a normal range. Therefore, even though influences of a large amount of radiation are detected, it has little significance as a monitoring of chronic exposure of extremely small amounts of radiation. If the blood examination is used as a monitoring method for detecting exposure, it is important to compare the results with the previous ones in the same individuals. It is also necessary to increase the number of examinations and to study the blood more in detail. However, before that, the standard of the evaluation should be more defined because of its obscurity. The present blood examination is useful in managing the health generally. However, it is not good as a monitoring for chronic exposure of the extremely small amounts of radiation. Therefore, a routine biological method to be able to monitor radiation more precisely, is required. (Namekawa, K.)

Protein energy malnutrition increases arginase activity in monocytes and macrophages.

Science.gov (United States)

Corware, Karina; Yardley, Vanessa; Mack, Christopher; Schuster, Steffen; Al-Hassi, Hafid; Herath, Shanthi; Bergin, Philip; Modolell, Manuel; Munder, Markus; Müller, Ingrid; Kropf, Pascale

2014-01-01

Protein energy malnutrition is commonly associated with immune dysfunctions and is a major factor in susceptibility to infectious diseases. In this study, we evaluated the impact of protein energy malnutrition on the capacity of monocytes and macrophages to upregulate arginase, an enzyme associated with immunosuppression and increased pathogen replication. Our results show that monocytes and macrophages are significantly increased in the bone marrow and blood of mice fed on a protein low diet. No alteration in the capacity of bone marrow derived macrophages isolated from malnourished mice to phagocytose particles, to produce the microbicidal molecule nitric oxide and to kill intracellular Leishmania parasites was detected. However, macrophages and monocytes from malnourished mice express significantly more arginase both in vitro and in vivo. Using an experimental model of visceral leishmaniasis, we show that following protein energy malnutrition, the increased parasite burden measured in the spleen of these mice coincided with increased arginase activity and that macrophages provide a more permissive environment for parasite growth. Taken together, these results identify a novel mechanism in protein energy malnutrition that might contributes to increased susceptibility to infectious diseases by upregulating arginase activity in myeloid cells.

[Cytomixis, its nature, significance and the cytological consequences].

Science.gov (United States)

Kravets, E A

2012-01-01

Cytomixis is the widespread natural process of intercellular interaction which is characteristic for vegetative and generative tissues in both normal and pathological conditions. The origin significance and genetic control cytomixis still remain not completely clear. The popularity of view of the pathological nature of cytomixis based on its peculiar plants with genetic instability and impaired homeostasis. In the genetic control of cytomixis seem to be involved meiotic genes which are responsible for segregation and organization of chromosomes. Their activity is modified by environmental factors through signal transduction. It is assumed via cytomixis, from one side, the informational contact can be reached and meiosis and gametogenesis are synchronized, with another, increase of the genetic variety and level of the heterozygosis of microsporocytes. The activity of cytomixis varies over wide limits. The greatest influence on its activity have mutagenesis hybridization and polyploidy. In this context cytomixis can fulfill the function of cell selection which is activated by exceeding of the threshold level of the microsporocyte damages (or genetical disbalance).

Clinical significance of C-reactive protein for assessment and outcomes of severe acute pancreatitis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

REN Linan

2015-05-01

Full Text Available ObjectiveTo study the change in serum CRP level in patients with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP, and to explore its clinical significance in predicting outcomes and assessing the severity of SAP. MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed on 52 SAP patients with complete case data and admitted to General Hospital of Shenyang Military Area Command from September 2013 to September 2014. Blood drawing was performed and serum CRP concentration was determined on admission and at 24, 48, 72, 96, 120, and 144 hours after admission. The pattern of its dynamic change was observed. ResultsSerum CRP level in SAP patients significantly increased, and had a positive correlation with clinical outcomes. Forty-two cases (80.77% gradually recovered with aggressive treatment and the serum CRP levels were also slowly reduced (P＜0.05. The serum CRP levels in four death cases (7.7% had no significant decrease and was maintained at a high level (P＜0.05. Six patients (11.53% had aggravated conditions and recovered after aggressive treatment; meanwhile, the serum CRP levels first increased and then decreased (P＜0.05. ConclusionFor SAP patients, serum CRP level fluctuates as their conditions change and can be considered as an important reference index for evaluating the severity and judging the outcomes of SAP.

[Formula: see text]Determination of the smoking gun of intent: significance testing of forced choice results in social security claimants.

Science.gov (United States)

Binder, Laurence M; Chafetz, Michael D

2018-01-01

Significantly below-chance findings on forced choice tests have been described as revealing "the smoking gun of intent" that proved malingering. The issues of probability levels, one-tailed vs. two-tailed tests, and the combining of PVT scores on significantly below-chance findings were addressed in a previous study, with a recommendation of a probability level of .20 to test the significance of below-chance results. The purpose of the present study was to determine the rate of below-chance findings in a Social Security Disability claimant sample using the previous recommendations. We compared the frequency of below-chance results on forced choice performance validity tests (PVTs) at two levels of significance, .05 and .20, and when using significance testing on individual subtests of the PVTs compared with total scores in claimants for Social Security Disability in order to determine the rate of the expected increase. The frequency of significant results increased with the higher level of significance for each subtest of the PVT and when combining individual test sections to increase the number of test items, with up to 20% of claimants showing significantly below-chance results at the higher p-value. These findings are discussed in light of Social Security Administration policy, showing an impact on policy issues concerning child abuse and neglect, and the importance of using these techniques in evaluations for Social Security Disability.

Significant skin-tightening by closure of fractional ablative laser holes.

Science.gov (United States)

Russe, Elisabeth; Purschke, Martin; Limpiangkanan, Wikunda; Farinelli, William A; Wang, Ying; Doukas, Apostolos G; Sakamoto, Fernanda H; Wechselberger, Gottfried; Anderson, Richard Rox

2018-01-01

Ablative fractional laser treatment uses thousands of very small laser beam wounds to damage a fraction of the skin, which stimulates tissue remodeling. Each open micro-wound heals without scarring, but the amount of skin tightening achieved is limited. This animal study was performed to test the hypothesis that immediate temporary closure of fractional laser wounds could increase skin tightening after fractional ablative laser treatment. Four adult swine were used for the study; 98 square test sites (3 × 3 cm) were tattooed on the abdomen and flanks of each pig. An ablative fractional Erbium:YAG laser (Sciton Profile, Sciton Inc, Palo Alto, CA) was used to treat the test areas. A laser micro-spot fluence of 375 J/cm 2 was delivered in 150-250 microseconds pulses, resulting in an array of ablation channels extending 1.5 mm deep into the skin, with a spot size of 250 µm, with 10% treatment density. Immediately following laser exposure the resulting holes were closed using a stretched elastic adhesive dressing, which, when applied, recoiled and compressed the diameter of the ablation holes. The compressive dressings were removed after 7 days. This procedure was compared to removing the same amount of skin (10%) mechanically by specially designed 19 gauge coring needles, as well as to the same laser and coring methods without compression closure. Area and shape of test sites were measured by digital photography before and 28 days after treatment. Data analysis included compensation for animal growth, as measured by increase in the area of the untreated control sites. All treated and control sites healed within a week, without scarring evident at 28 days. Laser treatment combined with compressive wound closure caused significant shrinkage at 28 days compared with untreated control sites. The treated skin area was reduced by 11.5% (P = 0.0001). Needle coring with wound closure produced similar, significant shrinkage (8%, P < 0.0021), whereas laser

Fabrication of CoZn alloy nanowire arrays: Significant improvement in magnetic properties by annealing process

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Koohbor, M. [Department of Physics, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Soltanian, S., E-mail: s.soltanian@gmail.com [Department of Physics, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver (Canada); Najafi, M. [Department of Physics, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Department of Physics, Hamadan University of Technology, Hamadan (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Servati, P. [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver (Canada)

2012-01-05

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Increasing the Zn concentration changes the structure of NWs from hcp to amorphous. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Increasing the Zn concentration significantly reduces the Hc value of NWs. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Magnetic properties of CoZn NWs can be significantly enhanced by appropriate annealing. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The pH of electrolyte has no significant effect on the properties of the NW arrays. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Deposition frequency has considerable effects on the magnetic properties of NWs. - Abstract: Highly ordered arrays of Co{sub 1-x}Zn{sub x} (0 {<=} x {<=} 0.74) nanowires (NWs) with diameters of {approx}35 nm and high length-to-diameter ratios (up to 150) were fabricated by co-electrodeposition of Co and Zn into pores of anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) templates. The Co and Zn contents of the NWs were adjusted by varying the ratio of Zn and Co ion concentrations in the electrolyte. The effect of the Zn content, electrodeposition conditions (frequency and pH) and annealing on the structural and magnetic properties (e.g., coercivity (Hc) and squareness (Sq)) of NW arrays were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, electron diffraction, and alternating gradient force magnetometer (AGFM). XRD patterns reveal that an increase in the concentration of Zn ions of the electrolyte forces the hcp crystal structure of Co NWs to change into an amorphous phase, resulting in a significant reduction in Hc. It was found that the magnetic properties of NWs can be significantly improved by appropriate annealing process. The highest values for Hc (2050 Oe) and Sq (0.98) were obtained for NWs electrodeposited using 0.95/0.05 Co:Zn concentrations at 200 Hz and annealed at 575 Degree-Sign C. While the pH of electrolyte is found to have no significant effect on the structural and magnetic properties of the NW arrays, the electrodeposition frequency has considerable effects on

Prognostic significance of MCM2, Ki-67 and gelsolin in non-small cell lung cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Jun; Tan, Dongfeng; Ramnath, Nithya; Moysich, Kirsten B; Asch, Harold L; Swede, Helen; Alrawi, Sadir J; Huberman, Joel; Geradts, Joseph; Brooks, John SJ

2006-01-01

Uncontrolled proliferation and increased motility are hallmarks of neoplastic cells, therefore markers of proliferation and motility may be valuable in assessing tumor progression and prognosis. MCM2 is a member of the minichromosome maintenance (MCM) protein family. It plays critical roles in the initiation of DNA replication and in replication fork movement, and is intimately related to cell proliferation. Ki-67 is a proliferation antigen that is expressed during all but G 0 phases of the cell cycle. Gelsolin is an actin-binding protein that regulates the integrity of the actin cytoskeletal structure and facilitates cell motility. In this study, we assessed the prognostic significance of MCM2 and Ki-67, two markers of proliferation, and gelsolin, a marker of motility, in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). 128 patients with pathologically confirmed, resectable NSCLC (stage I-IIIA) were included. Immunohistochemistry was utilized to measure the expressions of these markers in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor tissues. Staining and scoring of MCM2, Ki-67 and gelsolin was independently performed. Analyses were performed to evaluate the prognostic significance of single expression of each marker, as well as the prognostic significance of composite expressions of MCM2 and gelsolin. Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis were used for statistical analysis. Of the three markers, higher levels of gelsolin were significantly associated with an increased risk of death (adjusted RR = 1.89, 95% CI = 1.17–3.05, p = 0.01), and higher levels of MCM2 were associated with a non-significant increased risk of death (adjusted RR = 1.36, 95% CI = 0.84–2.20, p = 0.22). Combined, adjusted analyses revealed a significantly poor prognostic effect for higher expression of MCM2 and gelsolin compared to low expression of both biomarkers (RR = 2.32, 95% CI = 1.21–4.45, p = 0.01). Ki-67 did not display apparent prognostic effect in this study sample. The results suggest

Increased bone marrow blood flow in polycythemia vera

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lathinen, R.; Lathinen, T.; Hyoedynmaa, S.

1983-01-01

Bone marrow blood flow was measured in polycythemia vera, in compensatory and in relative polycythemia with a 133 Xe washout method. In the treated polycythemia vera bone marrow blood flow was significantly increased compared with the age-matched controls. The fraction of blood flow entering the bone and flowing through the hematopoietic marrow was markedly increased in both the untreated and the treated polycythemia vera. Although the number of observations in compensatory and relative polycythemia was small, the results suggest that bone marrow blood flow is not markedly increased in these diseases. The results also suggest that in older patients the simple 133 Xe method may support the diagnosis of polycythemia vera. (orig.)

Increased bone marrow blood flow in polycythemia vera

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lathinen, R.; Lathinen, T.; Hyoedynmaa, S.

1983-01-01

Bone marrow blood flow was measured in polycythemia vera, in compensatory and in relative polycythemia with a /sup 133/Xe washout method. In the treated polycythemia vera bone marrow blood flow was significantly increased compared with the age-matched controls. The fraction of blood flow entering the bone and flowing through the hematopoietic marrow was markedly increased in both the untreated and the treated polycythemia vera. Although the number of observations in compensatory and relative polycythemia was small, the results suggest that bone marrow blood flow is not markedly increased in these diseases. The results also suggest that in older patients the simple /sup 133/Xe method may support the diagnosis of polycythemia vera.

Moderate high fat diet increases sucrose self-administration in young rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Figlewicz, Dianne P; Jay, Jennifer L; Acheson, Molly A; Magrisso, Irwin J; West, Constance H; Zavosh, Aryana; Benoit, Stephen C; Davis, Jon F

2013-02-01

We have previously reported that a moderately high fat diet increases motivation for sucrose in adult rats. In this study, we tested the motivational, neurochemical, and metabolic effects of the high fat diet in male rats transitioning through puberty, during 5-8 weeks of age. We observed that the high fat diet increased motivated responding for sucrose, which was independent of either metabolic changes or changes in catecholamine neurotransmitter metabolites in the nucleus accumbens. However, AGRP mRNA levels in the hypothalamus were significantly elevated. We demonstrated that increased activation of AGRP neurons is associated with motivated behavior, and that exogenous (third cerebroventricular) AGRP administration resulted in significantly increased motivation for sucrose. These observations suggest that increased expression and activity of AGRP in the medial hypothalamus may underlie the increased responding for sucrose caused by the high fat diet intervention. Finally, we compared motivation for sucrose in pubertal vs. adult rats and observed increased motivation for sucrose in the pubertal rats, which is consistent with previous reports that young animals and humans have an increased preference for sweet taste, compared with adults. Together, our studies suggest that background diet plays a strong modulatory role in motivation for sweet taste in adolescent animals. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Significant association between RGS14 rs12654812 and nephrolithiasis risk among Guangxi population in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Long, Jun; Chen, Yang; Lin, Haisong; Liao, Ming; Li, Tianyu; Tong, Lei; Wei, Suchun; Xian, Xiaoying; Zhu, Jia; Chen, Jianxin; Tian, Jiarong; Wang, Qiuyan; Mo, Zengnan

2018-03-26

Nephrolithiasis is a worldwide health problem that affects almost all populations. This study aimed to evaluate the association between rs12654812 of regulator of G protein signaling 14 (RGS14) gene and nephrolithiasis in the Chinese population. A total of 1541 participators including 830 cases and 711 controls were included from Guangxi area in China. Age, sex, BMI, smoking status, drinking status, creatinine, uric acid, and urea nitrogen were analyzed between the case group and control group. We found that the G/A+A/A genotypes of rs12654812 had a significantly increased nephrolithiasis risk after adjusting age, sex, BMI, smoking, drinking, and hypertension, compared with G/G genotype (OR = 1.361, 95% CI = 1.033-1.794, P = .029). This hazardous effect was more pronounced in subgroup of age < 50, ever smoking, ever drinking, creatinine normal, and high uric acid. The G/A genotype of rs12654812 also had a significantly increased nephrolithiasis risk compared with G/G genotype. The A allele of rs12654812 significantly increased the risk of nephrolithiasis compared with the G allele after adjusting for age, sex, BMI, smoking, drinking and hypertension (OR = 1.277, 95% CI = 1.013-1.609, P = .038). Our results suggest that the RGS14 polymorphism is involved in the etiology of nephrolithiasis and thus may be a genetic marker for nephrolithiasis. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Wearing an abdominal belt increases diastolic blood pressure.

Science.gov (United States)

Rafacz, W; McGill, S M

1996-09-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of wearing an abdominal belt on blood pressure (systolic and diastolic) and heart rate during a variety of tasks. The belt was typical of the elastic type with suspenders and Velcro tabs for cinching the belt snug. The tasks performed included sitting at rest, sitting with the torso inclined forward at 45 degrees, standing with the torso inclined forward at 45 degrees (with and without holding an 11-kg weight), a trunk axial rotation task, and squat lifting. Blood pressure was monitored noninvasively with a FINAPRES blood pressure monitor. Twenty healthy men performed each task with and without the abdominal belt. Although no significant increases in mean systolic blood pressure or heart rate were found, there was a significant increase in diastolic blood pressure in all conditions. All people considering wearing an abdominal belt should also consider the risks and liability associated with the additional cardiovascular load, particularly heart attack and stroke.

Pharyngeal and cervical cancer incidences significantly correlate with personal UV doses among whites in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Godar, Dianne E; Tang, Rong; Merrill, Stephen J

2014-09-01

Because we found UV-exposed oral tissue cells have reduced DNA repair and apoptotic cell death compared with skin tissue cells, we asked if a correlation existed between personal UV dose and the incidences of oral and pharyngeal cancer in the United States. We analyzed the International Agency for Research on Cancer's incidence data for oral and pharyngeal cancers by race (white and black) and sex using each state's average annual personal UV dose. We refer to our data as 'white' rather than 'Caucasian,' which is a specific subgroup of whites, and 'black' rather than African-American because blacks from other countries around the world reside in the U.S. Most oropharyngeal carcinomas harboured human papilloma virus (HPV), so we included cervical cancer as a control for direct UV activation. We found significant correlations between increasing UV dose and pharyngeal cancer in white males (p=0.000808) and females (p=0.0031) but not in blacks. Shockingly, we also found cervical cancer in whites to significantly correlate with increasing UV dose (p=0.0154). Thus, because pharyngeal and cervical cancer correlate significantly with increasing personal UV dose in only the white population, both direct (DNA damage) and indirect (soluble factors) effects may increase the risk of HPV-associated cancer. Copyright© 2014 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.

Increasing net CO2 uptake by a Danish beech forest during the period from 1996 to 2009

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pilegaard, Kim; Ibrom, Andreas; Courtney, Michael

2011-01-01

and atmospheric CO2 concentration. The net CO2 exchange (NEE) was measured by the eddy covariance method. Ecosystem respiration (RE) was estimated from nighttime values and gross ecosystem exchange (GEE) was calculated as the sum of RE and NEE. Over the years the beech forest acted as a sink of on average of 157...... g C m−2 yr−1. In one of the years only, the forest acted as a small source. During 1996–2009 a significant increase in annual NEE was observed. A significant increase in GEE and a smaller and not significant increase in RE was also found. Thus the increased NEE was mainly attributed to an increase...... in GEE. The overall trend in NEE was significant with an average increase in uptake of 23 g C m−2 yr−2. The carbon uptake period (i.e. the period with daily net CO2 gain) increased by 1.9 days per year, whereas there was a non significant tendency of increase of the leafed period. This means...

Global health-related publications in otolaryngology are increasing.

Science.gov (United States)

Chambers, Kyle J; Creighton, Francis; Abdul-Aziz, Dunia; Cheney, Mack; Randolph, Gregory W

2015-04-01

Determine trends in global health-related publication in otolaryngology. A review of research databases. A search of publications available on PubMed and nine additional databases was undertaken reviewing two time periods 10 years apart for the timeframes 1998 to 2002 (early time period) and 2008 to 2012 (recent time period) using specific search terms to identify global health-related publications in otolaryngology. Publications were examined for region of origin, subspecialty, type of publication, and evidence of international collaboration. χ and t test analyses were used to identify trends. In the 1998 to 2002 time period, a total of 26 publications met inclusion criteria for the study, with a mean of 5.2 ± 2.8 publications per year. In the 2008 to 2012 time period, a total of 61 publications met inclusion criteria, with a mean of 12.3 ± 5.6 publications per year. The 235% increase in global health-related publications identified between the two study periods was statistically significant (P = .02). The absolute number of publications in which collaboration occurred between countries increased from three in the early time period to nine the recent time period. There has been a significant increase in the volume of global health-related publications in English language otolaryngology journals over the past decade, providing strong evidence of the increasing trend of global health as an academic pursuit within the field of otolaryngology. © 2014 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Clusters - Tourism Activity Increase Competitiveness Support

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carmen IORDACHE

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Tourism represents one of those areas with the greatest potential of global expansion. Tourism development strategy in terms of maximizing its positive effects on regional economic increase and implicitly on the national one starts from the premise that in global economy value is created in regions which are defined as particular geographical entities, separated by geographical reasons and not as political-administrative structures, and economic increase is centrally cumulated and valued according to the economic policy and the national legal system.Regional economic system approach based on “cluster” concept is explained by the fact that the regional activities portfolio is based on an inter and intra-industry networking grouped by cluster, in which is created the value that increases as the activity results are leading to the final consumers.This type of communication aims to highlight the tourism role as a factor in regional development, the clustering process significance in obtaining some competitiveness advantages, clusters development in tourism beginnings, and also the identification methodology used to select one touristic area to create the cluster.

Diagnostic significance of haematological testing in patients presenting at the Emergency Department

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giuseppe Lippi

2012-03-01

Full Text Available The use of simple and economic tests to rule out diseases of sufficient clinical severity is appealing in emergency department (ED, since it would be effective for contrasting ED overcrowding and decreasing healthcare costs. The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic performance of simple and economic haematological testing in a large sample of adult patients presenting at the ED of the Academic Hospital of Parma during the year 2010 with the five most frequent acute pathologies (i.e., acute myocardial infarction, renal colic, pneumonia, trauma and pancreatitis. Both leukocyte count and hemoglobin showed a good diagnostic performance (Area Under the Curve [AUC] of 0.85 for leukocyte count and 0.76 for hemoglobin; both p < 0.01. Although the platelet count was significantly increased in all patients groups except pancreatitis, the diagnostic performance did not achieve statistical significance (AUC 0.53; p = 0.07. We also observed an increased RDW in all groups, except in those with trauma and the diagnostic performance was acceptable (AUC 0.705; p < 0.01. The mean platelet volume (MPV was consistently lower in all patients groups and also characterized by an efficient diagnostic performance (AUC 0.76; p < 0.01. This evidence led us to design an arbitrary formula, whereby MPV and hemoglobin were multiplied, and further divided by the leukocyte count, obtaining a remarkable AUC (0.91; p < 0.01. We conclude that simple, rapid and cheap hematological tests might provide relevant clinical information for decision making to busy emergency physicians, and the their combination into an arbitrary formula might further increase the specific diagnostic potential of each of them.

Increasing CO2 flux at Pisciarelli, Campi Flegrei, Italy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Queißer

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The Campi Flegrei caldera is located in the metropolitan area of Naples (Italy and has been undergoing different stages of unrest since 1950, evidenced by episodes of significant ground uplift followed by minor subsidence, increasing and fluctuating emission strengths of water vapor and CO2 from fumaroles, and periodic seismic crises. We deployed a scanning laser remote-sensing spectrometer (LARSS that measured path-integrated CO2 concentrations in the Pisciarelli area in May 2017. The resulting mean CO2 flux is 578 ± 246 t d−1. Our data suggest a significant increase in CO2 flux at this site since 2015. Together with recent geophysical observations, this suggests a greater contribution of the magmatic source to the degassing and/or an increase in permeability at shallow levels. Thanks to the integrated path soundings, LARSS may help to give representative measurements from large regions containing different CO2 sources, including fumaroles, low-temperature vents, and degassing soils, helping to constrain the contribution of deep gases and their migration mechanisms towards the surface.

Aromatase expression is increased in BRCA1 mutation carriers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chand, Ashwini L; KConFab; Simpson, Evan R; Clyne, Colin D

2009-01-01

Until recently, the molecular mechanisms explaining increased incidence of ovarian and breast cancers in carriers of BRCA1 gene mutations had not been clearly understood. Of significance is the finding that BRCA1 negatively regulates aromatase expression in vitro. Our objective was to characterise aromatase gene (CYP19A1) and its promoter expression in breast adipose and ovarian tissue in BRCA1 mutation carriers and unaffected controls. We measured aromatase transcripts, total and promoter-specific (PII, PI.3, PI.4) in prophylactic oophorectomy or mastectomy, therapeutic mastectomy, ovarian and breast tissue from unaffected women. We demonstrate that the lack of functional BRCA1 protein correlates to higher aromatase levels in 85% of BRCA1 mutation carriers. This increase is mediated by aberrant transcriptional regulation of aromatase; in breast adipose by increases in promoter II/I.3 and I.4-specific transcripts; and in the ovary with elevation in promoter I.3 and II-specific transcripts. Understanding the link between BRCA1 and aromatase is significant in terms of understanding why carcinogenesis is restricted to estrogen-producing tissues in BRCA1 mutation carriers

The genetically significant dose from diagnostic radiology in Great Britain in 1977

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Darby, S.C.; Kendall, G.M.; Rae, S.; Wall, B.F.

1980-09-01

This report is the third in a series concerned with the annual genetically significant dose to the population of Great Britain from diagnostic radiology. It combines information from a frequency survey of diagnostic radiological examinations carried out in Great Britain in 1977 and estimates of gonadal doses for different examination types, together with population and child expectancy data. The annual genetically significant dose from diagnostic radiology carried out in Great Britain in 1977, is estimated to 118 μGy (11.8 millirad) of which 113 μGy (11.3 millirad) is contributed by diagnostic radiology carried out in National Health Service hospitals. There has been a sharp fall in the contribution from obstetric examinations since 1957 when the last national survey was carried out. The contribution from most other examination types is broadly similar and there is little evidence of a change in the overall level of genetically significant dose. This is in spite of an increase in the frequency of radiological examinations per thousand of the population of about 50 per cent. No significant differences were found as between England, Scotland and Wales. The British figure compares favourably with the levels of GSD reported from other countries with developed radiological services. (author)

Age Increases Monocyte Adhesion on Collagen