Flavonol-rich dark cocoa significantly decreases plasma endothelin-1 and improves cognition in urban children.

Science.gov (United States)

Calderón-Garcidueñas, Lilian; Mora-Tiscareño, Antonieta; Franco-Lira, Maricela; Cross, Janet V; Engle, Randall; Aragón-Flores, Mariana; Gómez-Garza, Gilberto; Jewells, Valerie; Medina-Cortina, Humberto; Solorio, Edelmira; Chao, Chih-Kai; Zhu, Hongtu; Mukherjee, Partha S; Ferreira-Azevedo, Lara; Torres-Jardón, Ricardo; D'Angiulli, Amedeo

2013-01-01

Air pollution exposures are linked to systemic inflammation, cardiovascular and respiratory morbidity and mortality, neuroinflammation and neuropathology in young urbanites. In particular, most Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) children exhibit subtle cognitive deficits, and neuropathology studies show 40% of them exhibiting frontal tau hyperphosphorylation and 51% amyloid-β diffuse plaques (compared to 0% in low pollution control children). We assessed whether a short cocoa intervention can be effective in decreasing plasma endothelin 1 (ET-1) and/or inflammatory mediators in MCMA children. Thirty gram of dark cocoa with 680 mg of total flavonols were given daily for 10.11 ± 3.4 days (range 9-24 days) to 18 children (10.55 years, SD = 1.45; 11F/7M). Key metabolite ratios in frontal white matter and in hippocampus pre and during cocoa intervention were quantified by magnetic resonance spectroscopy. ET-1 significantly decreased after cocoa treatment (p = 0.0002). Fifteen children (83%) showed a marginally significant individual improvement in one or both of the applied simple short memory tasks. Endothelial dysfunction is a key feature of exposure to particulate matter (PM) and decreased endothelin-1 bioavailability is likely useful for brain function in the context of air pollution. Our findings suggest that cocoa interventions may be critical for early implementation of neuroprotection of highly exposed urban children. Multi-domain nutraceutical interventions could limit the risk for endothelial dysfunction, cerebral hypoperfusion, neuroinflammation, cognitive deficits, structural volumetric detrimental brain effects, and the early development of the neuropathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.

13 CFR 107.710 - Requirement to finance smaller enterprises.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Requirement to finance smaller enterprises. 107.710 Section 107.710 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION SMALL... Small Business for Sbic Financing § 107.710 Requirement to finance smaller enterprises. Your Portfolio...

Overexpression of Jatropha Gibberellin 2-oxidase 6 (JcGA2ox6 Induces Dwarfism and Smaller Leaves, Flowers and Fruits in Arabidopsis and Jatropha

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ying-Xiong Hu

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Gibberellins (GAs are plant hormones that play fundamental roles in plant growth and development. Gibberellin 2-oxidase (GA2ox plays a direct role in determining the levels of bioactive GAs by catalyzing bioactive GAs or their immediate precursors to inactive forms. In this study, a GA2ox gene, designated JcGA2ox6, was isolated from Jatropha curcas. JcGA2ox6 is expressed in all tissues of adult Jatropha, with the highest expression level in male flowers and the lowest expression level in young leaves. Overexpression of JcGA2ox6 in Arabidopsis resulted in a typical dwarf phenotype, along with late flowering, smaller leaves and flowers, shorter siliques and smaller seeds. Similarly, when JcGA2ox6 was overexpressed in Jatropha, the transgenic plants exhibited a dwarf phenotype with dark-green leaves and smaller inflorescences, flowers, fruits and seeds. However, the flowering time of Jatropha was not affected by overexpression of JcGA2ox6, unlike that in the transgenic Arabidopsis. Moreover, the number of flowers per inflorescence, the weight of 10 seeds and the seed oil content were significantly decreased in transgenic Jatropha. The results indicated that overexpression of JcGA2ox6 had a great impact on the vegetative and reproductive growth of transgenic Jatropha. Furthermore, we found that the dwarf phenotype of transgenic Jatropha was caused by a decrease in endogenous bioactive GA4, which was correlated with the degree of dwarfism.

Decreasing but still significant facilitation effect of cold-season macrophytes on wetlands purification function during cold winter.

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, Xiangxu; Zhang, Hui; Zuo, Jie; Wang, Penghe; Zhao, Dehua; An, Shuqing

2016-06-01

To identify the facilitation effect of a cool-season aquatic macrophyte (FEam) for use in effluent purification via constructed floating wetlands (CFWs) and to determine the possible pathways used during a winter period with an average temperature of less than 5 °C, pilot-scale CFWs were planted with the cold-season macrophyte Oenanthe clecumbens and were operated as batch systems. Although some leaves withered, the roots retained relatively high levels of activity during the winter, which had average air and water temperatures of 3.63 and 5.04 °C, respectively. The N and P removal efficiencies in CFWs decreased significantly in winter relative to those in late autumn. The presence of cool-season plants resulted in significant improvements in N and P removal, with a FEam of 15.23-25.86% in winter. Microbial N removal accounted for 71.57% of the total N removed in winter, and the decrease in plant uptake was the dominant factor in the wintertime decrease in N removal relative to that in late autumn. These results demonstrate the importance of cold-season plants in CFWs for the treatment of secondary effluent during cold winters.

Chronic methamphetamine exposure significantly decreases microglia activation in the arcuate nucleus.

Science.gov (United States)

Lloyd, Steven A; Corkill, Beau; Bruster, Matthew C; Roberts, Rick L; Shanks, Ryan A

2017-07-01

Methamphetamine is a powerful psychostimulant drug and its use and abuse necessitates a better understanding of its neurobiobehavioral effects. The acute effects of binge dosing of methamphetamine on the neurons in the CNS are well studied. However, the long-term effects of chronic, low-dose methamphetamine are less well characterized, especially in other cell types and areas outside of the major dopamine pathways. Mice were administered 5mg/kg/day methamphetamine for ten days and brain tissue was analyzed using histochemistry and image analysis. Increased microglia activity in the striatum confirmed toxic effects of methamphetamine in this brain region using this dosing paradigm. A significant decrease in microglia activity in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus was observed with no effect noted on dopamine neurons in the arcuate nucleus. Given the importance of this area in homeostatic and neuroendocrine regulation, the current study highlights the need to more fully understand the systemic effects of chronic, low-dose methamphetamine use. The novel finding of microglia downregulation after chronic methamphetamine could lead to advances in understanding neuroinflammatory responses towards addiction treatment and protection from psychostimulant-induced neurotoxicity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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.

Significant decrease in congenital malformations in newborn infants of an unselected population of diabetic women

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Damm, P; Mølsted-Pedersen, L

1989-01-01

In an unselected and consecutive series of 1858 newborn infants of diabetic mothers, born in the Rigshospital, Copenhagen, in the period 1967 to 1986, congenital malformations were studied. The malformation rate in White Classes B to F was remarkably constant from 1967 to 1981, but a significant...... decrease in major congenital malformations was found in the period 1982 to 1986 versus 1977 to 1981 (2.7% vs. 7.4%, p less than 0.05). This decrease was mainly due to a fourfold decline in major congenital malformations in White Classes D and F (p less than 0.01), and consequently a correlation between...... the severity of maternal diabetes and the frequency of congenital malformations was no longer present. In the offspring of a control group of 1715 nondiabetic women, major congenital malformations were found in 1.7% (p greater than 0.05). Seventy-five percent of the diabetic pregnancies were planned...

Fluid cognitive ability is associated with greater exposure and smaller reactions to daily stressors.

Science.gov (United States)

Stawski, Robert S; Almeida, David M; Lachman, Margie E; Tun, Patricia A; Rosnick, Christopher B

2010-06-01

The authors of this study investigated whether fluid cognitive ability predicts exposure and emotional reactivity to daily stressors. A national sample of adults from the Midlife in the United States study and the National Study of Daily Experiences (N = 1,202) who had a mean age of 57 years (SD = 12; 56% women, 44% men) completed positive and negative mood reports as well as a stressor diary on 8 consecutive evenings via telephone. Participants also completed a telephone-based battery of tests measuring fluid cognitive ability. Higher levels of fluid cognitive ability were associated with greater exposure to work- and home-related overload stressors. Possessing higher levels of fluid cognitive ability was associated with smaller stressor-related increases in negative mood, primarily for interpersonal tensions and network stressors, and smaller stressor-related decreases in positive mood for interpersonal tensions. Furthermore, fluid cognitive ability was unrelated to subjective severity ratings of the stressors reported. Discussion focuses on the role of fluid cognitive ability in daily stress processes. (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

Designing a Smaller Power Inverter: the Google Littlebox Challenge - Text

Science.gov (United States)

Version | Energy Systems Integration Facility | NREL Designing a Smaller Power Inverter: the Google Littlebox Challenge - Text Version er Power Inverter: the Google Littlebox Challenge - Text Version Below is the text version for the Designing a Smaller Power Inverter: the Google Littlebox

Flavonol-rich dark cocoa significantly decreases plasma endothelin-1 and improves cognitive responses in urban children.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lilian eCalderon-Garciduenas

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Air pollution exposures are linked to systemic inflammation, cardiovascular and respiratory morbidity and mortality, neuroinflammation and neuropathology in young urbanites. In particular, most Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA children exhibit subtle cognitive deficits, and neuropathology studies show 40% of them exhibiting frontal tau hyperphosphorylation and 51% amyloid-β diffuse plaques (compared to 0% in low pollution control children. We assessed whether a short cocoa intervention can be effective in decreasing plasma endothelin 1 (ET-1 and/or inflammatory mediators in MCMA children. Thirty g of dark cocoa with 680 mg of total flavonols were given daily for 10.11± 3.4 days (range 9 to 24 days to 18 children (10.55yrs, SD =1.45; 11F/7M. Key metabolite ratios in frontal white matter and in hippocampus pre and during cocoa intervention were quantified by magnetic resonance spectroscopy. ET-1 significantly decreased after cocoa treatment (p=0.0002. Fifteen children (83% showed a marginally significant individual improvement in one or both of the applied simple short memory tasks. Endothelial dysfunction is a key feature of exposure to particulate matter and decreased endothelin-1 bioavailability is likely useful for brain function in the context of air pollution. Our findings suggest that cocoa interventions may be critical for early implementation of neuroprotection of highly exposed urban children. Multi-domain nutraceutical interventions could limit the risk for endothelial dysfunction, cerebral hypoperfusion, neuroinflammation, cognitive deficits, structural volumetric detrimental brain effects, and the early development of the neuropathological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

Comparison between smaller ruptured intracranial aneurysm and larger un-ruptured intracranial aneurysm: gene expression profile analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Hao; Li, Haowen; Yue, Haiyan; Wang, Wen; Yu, Lanbing; ShuoWang; Cao, Yong; Zhao, Jizong

2017-07-01

As it grows in size, an intracranial aneurysm (IA) is prone to rupture. In this study, we compared two extreme groups of IAs, ruptured IAs (RIAs) smaller than 10 mm and un-ruptured IAs (UIAs) larger than 10 mm, to investigate the genes involved in the facilitation and prevention of IA rupture. The aneurismal walls of 6 smaller saccular RIAs (size smaller than 10 mm), 6 larger saccular UIAs (size larger than 10 mm) and 12 paired control arteries were obtained during surgery. The transcription profiles of these samples were studied by microarray analysis. RT-qPCR was used to confirm the expression of the genes of interest. In addition, functional group analysis of the differentially expressed genes was performed. Between smaller RIAs and larger UIAs, 101 genes and 179 genes were significantly over-expressed, respectively. In addition, functional group analysis demonstrated that the up-regulated genes in smaller RIAs mainly participated in the cellular response to metal ions and inorganic substances, while most of the up-regulated genes in larger UIAs were involved in inflammation and extracellular matrix (ECM) organization. Moreover, compared with control arteries, inflammation was up-regulated and muscle-related biological processes were down-regulated in both smaller RIAs and larger UIAs. The genes involved in the cellular response to metal ions and inorganic substances may facilitate the rupture of IAs. In addition, the healing process, involving inflammation and ECM organization, may protect IAs from rupture.

New algorithm for detecting smaller retinal blood vessels in fundus images

Science.gov (United States)

LeAnder, Robert; Bidari, Praveen I.; Mohammed, Tauseef A.; Das, Moumita; Umbaugh, Scott E.

2010-03-01

About 4.1 million Americans suffer from diabetic retinopathy. To help automatically diagnose various stages of the disease, a new blood-vessel-segmentation algorithm based on spatial high-pass filtering was developed to automatically segment blood vessels, including the smaller ones, with low noise. Methods: Image database: Forty, 584 x 565-pixel images were collected from the DRIVE image database. Preprocessing: Green-band extraction was used to obtain better contrast, which facilitated better visualization of retinal blood vessels. A spatial highpass filter of mask-size 11 was applied. A histogram stretch was performed to enhance contrast. A median filter was applied to mitigate noise. At this point, the gray-scale image was converted to a binary image using a binary thresholding operation. Then, a NOT operation was performed by gray-level value inversion between 0 and 255. Postprocessing: The resulting image was AND-ed with its corresponding ring mask to remove the outer-ring (lens-edge) artifact. At this point, the above algorithm steps had extracted most of the major and minor vessels, with some intersections and bifurcations missing. Vessel segments were reintegrated using the Hough transform. Results: After applying the Hough transform, both the average peak SNR and the RMS error improved by 10%. Pratt's Figure of Merit (PFM) was decreased by 6%. Those averages were better than [1] by 10-30%. Conclusions: The new algorithm successfully preserved the details of smaller blood vessels and should prove successful as a segmentation step for automatically identifying diseases that affect retinal blood vessels.

The Effect of Introducing a Smaller and Lighter Basketball on Female Basketball Players’ Shot Accuracy

Science.gov (United States)

Podmenik, Nadja; Leskošek, Bojan; Erčulj, Frane

2012-01-01

Our study examined whether the introduction of a smaller and lighter basketball (no. 6) affected the accuracy of female basketball players’ shots at the basket. The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) introduced a size 6 ball in the 2004/2005 season to improve the efficiency and accuracy of technical elements, primarily shots at the basket. The sample for this study included 573 European female basketball players who were members of national teams that had qualified for the senior women’s European championships in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007. A size 7 (larger and heavier) basketball was used by 286 players in 1,870 matches, and a size 6 basketball was used by 287 players in 1,966 matches. The players were categorised into three playing positions: guards, forwards and centres. The results revealed that statistically significant changes by year occurred only in terms of the percentage of successful free throws. With the size 6 basketball, this percentage decreased. Statistically significant differences between the playing positions were observed in terms of the percentage of field goals worth three points (between guards and forwards) and two points (between guards and centres). The results show that the introduction of the size 6 basketball did not lead to improvement in shooting accuracy (the opposite was found for free throws), although the number of three-point shots increased. PMID:23486286

Smaller Anterior Cruciate Ligament Diameter Is a Predictor of Subjects Prone to Ligament Injuries: An Ultrasound Study

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Parag Suresh Mahajan

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose. To test if diameter of normal anterior cruciate ligament (ACL can be measured by ultrasound (US, to see if there is a relationship between smaller ACL diameter and ACL injury, and to assess agreement between radiologists in measuring ACL diameter in cases and matched controls. Materials and Methods. In this ethics committee-approved study, maximum diameter of ACL near tibial insertion site was measured by static and dynamic US study in 25 normal contralateral knees of subjects who suffered noncontact ACL injury and in 25 matched control subjects. Results. ACL was visualized as a thick linear hypoechoic band inserted approximately 11 mm caudal to the tibial plateau and the intercondylar eminence. Maximum diameter of contralateral ACL near tibial insertion site among injured subjects was significantly smaller than in noninjured subjects (0.62 ± 0.07 cm versus 0.81 ± 0.06 cm; P<0.0001. In the regression analysis, the diameter of ACL near tibial insertion site was found significantly proportional to body weight and not significantly associated to height, gender, and age. Conclusion. Diameter of normal ACL near tibial insertion site can be measured by US and the maximum diameter is significantly smaller among subjects with noncontact ACL injury. US is a promising modality that can be used as an excellent screening test to detect subjects especially aspiring athletes prone to ACL injury. Very strong agreement was observed between radiologists in measuring ACL diameter.

Smaller superior temporal gyrus volume specificity in schizotypal personality disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Goldstein, Kim E.; Hazlett, Erin A.; New, Antonia S.; Haznedar, M. Mehmet; Newmark, Randall E.; Zelmanova, Yuliya; Passarelli, Vincent; Weinstein, Shauna R.; Canfield, Emily L.; Meyerson, David A.; Tang, Cheuk Y.; Buchsbaum, Monte S.; Siever, Larry J.

2009-01-01

Background Superior temporal gyrus (STG/BA22) volume is reduced in schizophrenia and to a milder degree in schizotypal personality disorder (SPD), representing a less severe disorder in the schizophrenia-spectrum. SPD and Borderline personality disorder (BPD) are severe personality disorders characterized by social and cognitive dysfunction. However, while SPD is characterized by social withdrawal/anhedonia, BPD is marked by hyper-reactivity to interpersonal stimuli and hyper-emotionality. This is the first morphometric study to directly compare SPD and BPD patients in temporal volume. Methods We compared three age-gender- and education-matched groups: 27 unmedicated SPD individuals with no BPD traits, 52 unmedicated BPD individuals with no SPD traits, and 45 healthy controls. We examined gray matter volume of frontal and temporal lobe Brodmann areas (BAs), and dorsal/ventral amygdala from 3T magnetic resonance imaging. Results In the STG, an auditory association area reported to be dysfunctional in SPD and BPD, the SPD patients had significantly smaller volume than healthy controls and BPD patients. No group differences were found between BPD patients and controls. Smaller BA22 volume was associated with greater symptom severity in SPD patients. Reduced STG volume may be an important endophenotype for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. SPD is distinct from BPD in terms of STG volume abnormalities which may reflect different underlying pathophysiological mechanisms and could help discriminate between them. PMID:19473820

Decreased Callosal Thickness in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Luders, Eileen; Narr, Katherine L.; Hamilton, Liberty S.; Phillips, Owen R.; Thompson, Paul M.; Valle, Jessica S.; Del'Homme, Melissa; Strickland, Tony; McCracken, James T.; Toga, Arthur W.; Levitt, Jennifer G.

2009-01-01

Background Neuroimaging studies of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have revealed structural abnormalities in the brains of affected individuals. One of the most replicated alterations is a significantly smaller corpus callosum (CC), for which conflicting reports exist with respect to the affected callosal segments. Methods We applied novel surface-based geometrical modeling methods to establish the presence, direction, and exact location of callosal alterations in ADHD at high spatial resolution. For this purpose, we calculated the thickness of the CC at 100 equidistant midsagittal points in an age-matched male sample of 19 individuals with ADHD and 19 typically developing control subjects. Results In close agreement with many prior observations, the CC was shown to be significantly thinner in ADHD subjects in anterior and, particularly, posterior callosal sections. Covarying for intelligence did not significantly alter the observed ADHD effects. However, group differences were no longer present in anterior sections when covarying for brain volume and after excluding ADHD subjects comorbid for oppositional defiant disorder. Conclusions Decreased callosal thickness may be associated with fewer fibers or a decrease in the myelination of fibers connecting the parietal and prefrontal cortices. This might affect interhemispheric communication channels that are necessary to sustain attention or motor control, thus contributing to symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity, or inattention, observed in ADHD. Future studies are necessary to determine whether callosal abnormalities reflect maturational delays or persist into adulthood. PMID:18842255

Less Daily Computer Use is Related to Smaller Hippocampal Volumes in Cognitively Intact Elderly.

Science.gov (United States)

Silbert, Lisa C; Dodge, Hiroko H; Lahna, David; Promjunyakul, Nutta-On; Austin, Daniel; Mattek, Nora; Erten-Lyons, Deniz; Kaye, Jeffrey A

2016-01-01

Computer use is becoming a common activity in the daily life of older individuals and declines over time in those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The relationship between daily computer use (DCU) and imaging markers of neurodegeneration is unknown. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between average DCU and volumetric markers of neurodegeneration on brain MRI. Cognitively intact volunteers enrolled in the Intelligent Systems for Assessing Aging Change study underwent MRI. Total in-home computer use per day was calculated using mouse movement detection and averaged over a one-month period surrounding the MRI. Spearman's rank order correlation (univariate analysis) and linear regression models (multivariate analysis) examined hippocampal, gray matter (GM), white matter hyperintensity (WMH), and ventricular cerebral spinal fluid (vCSF) volumes in relation to DCU. A voxel-based morphometry analysis identified relationships between regional GM density and DCU. Twenty-seven cognitively intact participants used their computer for 51.3 minutes per day on average. Less DCU was associated with smaller hippocampal volumes (r = 0.48, p = 0.01), but not total GM, WMH, or vCSF volumes. After adjusting for age, education, and gender, less DCU remained associated with smaller hippocampal volume (p = 0.01). Voxel-wise analysis demonstrated that less daily computer use was associated with decreased GM density in the bilateral hippocampi and temporal lobes. Less daily computer use is associated with smaller brain volume in regions that are integral to memory function and known to be involved early with Alzheimer's pathology and conversion to dementia. Continuous monitoring of daily computer use may detect signs of preclinical neurodegeneration in older individuals at risk for dementia.

Statewide ban on recreational fires resulted in a significant decrease in campfire-related summer burn center admissions.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoang, David Manh; Reid, Dixie; Lentz, Christopher William

2013-01-01

Every summer, there is an increase in the number of burn injuries caused by accidents around campfires. Because of the prevalence of drought, high winds, and uncontrolled wild fires, a statewide ban on recreational fires was instituted in New Mexico from June to July 2011. We hypothesized that this legislation would have a significant impact on burn admissions caused by campfire-related injuries. A retrospective review of summer admissions to a state burn center was conducted to assess the effect of this ban on recreational fire injuries, and these data were compared with that of the previous summer when no ban was in effect. All burn admissions to a state burn center were reviewed from Memorial Day to Labor Day in 2010 and 2011. Data collected included cause, % TBSA, age, days of hospitalization, intensive care unit days, and total surface area grafted. Nonparametric statistical analysis was performed with Fisher exact test for dichotomous data and Mann-Whitney test for continuous data with significance at P fires during the study period (n = 14 [17%] in 2010 and 4 [5%] in 2011; P = .02). This resulted in a decrease in the number of patient-days from 91 in 2010 to 25 in 2011. Half of the camp fire admissions required skin grafts to definitively close the wounds (6/14 in 2010 and 2/4 in 2011). Recreational fire bans targeted at controlling wildfires during conditions favoring rapid spread were associated with a 3- to 4-fold decrease in campfire-related burn admissions. Compared with a summer when no fire ban was in effect, the number of patient-days decreased from 91 to 25.

Participation of smaller size renewable generation in the electricity market trade in UK: Analyses and approaches

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Romanovsky, G.; Xydis, G.; Mutale, J.

2011-01-01

a number of specific historical, technical and economic reasons that significantly influenced the ability of the smaller size RES/DG to participate in the electricity market and in provision of balancing services in accordance with the UK National Grid requirements. This paper discusses some perspectives...

Foot reflexology can increase vagal modulation, decrease sympathetic modulation, and lower blood pressure in healthy subjects and patients with coronary artery disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Wan-An; Chen, Gau-Yang; Kuo, Cheng-Deng

2011-01-01

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has long been used by people to postpone the aging process and to reverse disease progression. Reflexology is a CAM method that involves massage to reflex areas in the feet and hands. This study investigated the effect of foot reflexology (FR) on the autonomic nervous modulation in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) by using heart rate variability analysis. Seventeen people with angiographically patent coronary arteries and 20 patients with CAD scheduled for coronary artery bypass graft surgery were recruited as the control and CAD groups, respectively. The normalized high-frequency power (nHFP) was used as the index of vagal modulation and the normalized very low-frequency power (nVLFP) as the index of vagal withdrawal and renin-angiotensin modulation. In both control and CAD groups, the nHFP was increased significantly whereas the nVLFP was decreased significantly 30 and 60 minutes after FR, as compared with those before FR. The systolic, diastolic, mean arterial, and pulse pressures were significantly decreased after FR in both groups of participants. In the CAD group, the percentage change in heart rate 30 and 60 minutes after FR was smaller than that in the control, and the percentage change in nVLFP 60 minutes after FR was smaller than that in the control. In conclusion, a higher vagal modulation, lower sympathetic modulation, and lower blood pressure can be observed following 60 minutes of FR in both controls and CAD patients. The magnitude of change in the autonomic nervous modulation in CAD patients was slightly smaller than that in the controls. FR may be used as an efficient adjunct to the therapeutic regimen to increase the vagal modulation and decrease blood pressure in both healthy people and CAD patients.

Decreased prefrontal cortical dopamine transmission in alcoholism.

Science.gov (United States)

Narendran, Rajesh; Mason, Neale Scott; Paris, Jennifer; Himes, Michael L; Douaihy, Antoine B; Frankle, W Gordon

2014-08-01

Basic studies have demonstrated that optimal levels of prefrontal cortical dopamine are critical to various executive functions such as working memory, attention, inhibitory control, and risk/reward decisions, all of which are impaired in addictive disorders such as alcoholism. Based on this and imaging studies of alcoholism that have demonstrated less dopamine in the striatum, the authors hypothesized decreased dopamine transmission in the prefrontal cortex in persons with alcohol dependence. To test this hypothesis, amphetamine and [11C]FLB 457 positron emission tomography were used to measure cortical dopamine transmission in 21 recently abstinent persons with alcohol dependence and 21 matched healthy comparison subjects. [11C]FLB 457 binding potential, specific compared to nondisplaceable uptake (BPND), was measured in subjects with kinetic analysis using the arterial input function both before and after 0.5 mg kg-1 of d-amphetamine. Amphetamine-induced displacement of [11C]FLB 457 binding potential (ΔBPND) was significantly smaller in the cortical regions in the alcohol-dependent group compared with the healthy comparison group. Cortical regions that demonstrated lower dopamine transmission in the alcohol-dependent group included the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, orbital frontal cortex, temporal cortex, and medial temporal lobe. The results of this study, for the first time, unambiguously demonstrate decreased dopamine transmission in the cortex in alcoholism. Further research is necessary to understand the clinical relevance of decreased cortical dopamine as to whether it is related to impaired executive function, relapse, and outcome in alcoholism.

The Application of Systemic Safety for Smaller Nuclear Installations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ward, J.

2016-01-01

This paper will provide an outline of ARPANSA’s approach to systemic safety as applied to smaller hazard nuclear installations. It will describe ARPANSA’s effort to enable licence holders to better understand the principles of systemic safety so that they may make improvements for themselves. In regard to human and organizational factors, inspections are more often used to highlight areas where performance can be improved to meet best practice rather than strictly as a compliance tool. This takes account of a graded, risk informed approach and is undertaken in a collaborative way that places a premium on openness, clarity, reliability and efficiency. The paper will discuss the challenges faced by the approach, and how ARPANSA is currently managing these. It will describe ARPANSA’s regulatory guidance and inspection processes. The significant stages in ARPANSA development of the systemic approach are provided briefly in the following paragraphs.

Development of the National Transplant Program Has Significantly Decreased but Not Ended Transplant Tourism in Montenegro.

Science.gov (United States)

Ratkovic, M; Basic Jukic, N; Kastelan, Z; Radunovic, D; Kavaric, P; Brezak, J; Topalovic Grkovic, M; Hudolin, T; Prelevic, V

2018-06-01

Organ transplantation has prolonged and improved the lives of many patients around the world. However, a widespread shortage of donors remains the main factor that has led to organ trafficking and transplant tourism. To stop transplant tourism and to provide optimal treatment for its citizens with end-stage renal disease, Montenegro started performing renal transplantations in September 2012. Thirty-five transplantations have been performed since that time, 34 from living donors and only 1 from a deceased donor. This practice has significantly decreased but not ended transplant tourism in Montenegro. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Increased expression and altered methylation of HERVWE1 in the human placentas of smaller fetuses from monozygotic, dichorionic, discordant twins.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu Gao

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The human endogenous retroviral family W, Env(C7, member 1 gene (HERVWE1 is thought to participate in trophoblast cell fusion, and its expression is diminished in the placentas of singleton intrauterine growth-retarded pregnancies. However, there is limited information about the role of HERVWE1 in discordant fetal growth in twins. This study was to compare HERVWE1 gene expression between the placentas of discordant monozygotic twins and to identify its regulation by methylation. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Fetuses from twenty-one pairs of monozygotic, dichorionic, discordant twins were marked as "smaller" or "larger" according to birth weight. Placental HERVWE1 mRNA and protein expression profiles were analyzed using quantitative RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry (IHC staining. Methylation profiles of the HERVWE1 promoter region were analyzed using a pyrosequencing assay. DNA methyltransferase (DNMT transcript levels were analyzed by RT-PCR. 5-methyl cytosine (5-MC was stained using an immunohistochemical assay. There was a significant negative correlation between HERVWE1 mRNA levels and birth weight in twins (P0.05. The DNMT3b3 mRNA levels in the smaller group were significantly downregulated compared with the larger group in discordant twins(P<0.05, whereas the DNMT3b7 mRNA levels in the smaller group were significantly upregulated compared with the larger group in discordant twins(P<0.05. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: In discordant, monozygotic, dichorionic twins, HERVWE1 expression was higher in smaller fetuses and lower in larger fetuses. Methylation of the HERVWE1 gene promoter region may participate in the regulation of HERVWE1 gene expression in discordant twin pregnancies.

Slower gait, slower information processing and smaller prefrontal area in older adults.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rosano, C.; Studenski, S.A.; Aizenstein, H.J.; Boudreau, R.M.; Longstreth Jr, W.T.; Newman, A.B.

2012-01-01

BACKGROUND: Slower gait in older adults is related to smaller volume of the prefrontal area (PFAv). The pathways underlying this association have not yet been explored. Understanding slowing gait could help improve function in older age. We examine whether the association between smaller PFAv and

Smaller Cigarette Pack as a Commitment to Smoke Less? Insights from Behavioral Economics

Science.gov (United States)

Marti, Joachim; Sindelar, Jody

2015-01-01

Cigarettes are commonly sold in packs of 20 units and therefore little is known about the potential impact of pack size on consumption. Using insights from behavioral economics, we suggest that cigarette packs smaller than the standard size may help some smokers cut back and/or quit, consistent with their long-term goals. Results from an online hypothetical purchase experiment conducted in a sample of US smokers reveal that over a third of smokers are willing to pay a price premium to purchase in smaller quantities. Further, a desire to quit smoking and high self-control is associated with preference for a smaller pack. While we provide some preliminary evidence that smaller packs may be beneficial to certain types of smokers, further research should be conducted to assess whether the smaller pack size should be considered in the arsenal of tobacco control policies to help current smokers quit (JEL: I18; I12; D12) PMID:26356844

Smaller Cigarette Pack as a Commitment to Smoke Less? Insights from Behavioral Economics.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joachim Marti

Full Text Available Cigarettes are commonly sold in packs of 20 units and therefore little is known about the potential impact of pack size on consumption. Using insights from behavioral economics, we suggest that cigarette packs smaller than the standard size may help some smokers cut back and/or quit, consistent with their long-term goals. Results from an online hypothetical purchase experiment conducted in a sample of US smokers reveal that over a third of smokers are willing to pay a price premium to purchase in smaller quantities. Further, a desire to quit smoking and high self-control is associated with preference for a smaller pack. While we provide some preliminary evidence that smaller packs may be beneficial to certain types of smokers, further research should be conducted to assess whether the smaller pack size should be considered in the arsenal of tobacco control policies to help current smokers quit (JEL: I18; I12; D12.

Do parents leave a smaller carbon footprint?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nordström, Leif Jonas; Shogren, Jason F.; Thunström, Linda

Do parents leave a smaller carbon footprint? While becoming a parent is transformational as one focuses more on the future, the time constraints are more binding right now. Using a unique data set that allows us to compare CO2 emissions from Swedish two-adult households with and without children......, we find becoming a Swedish parent causes a person to leave a larger carbon ootprint—due to changes in transportation patterns and food consumption choices....

Implementation Study of Smaller Learning Communities. Final Report

Science.gov (United States)

Bernstein, Lawrence; Millsap, Mary Ann; Schimmenti, Jennifer; Page, Lindsay

2008-01-01

The Smaller Learning Communities (SLC) program was established in response to growing national concerns about students too often lost and alienated in large, impersonal high schools, as well as concerns about school safety and low levels of achievement and graduation for many students. Authorized under the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act,"…

Decreases in left atrial compliance during early-stage exercise are related to exercise intolerance in asymptomatic significant mitral stenosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Mi-Hyang; Jung, Hae Ok; Lee, Jung-Won; Youn, Ho-Joong

2017-11-01

Doppler-driven net atrioventricular compliance (C n ), which represents left atrial (LA) compliance, is an important determinant of pulmonary hypertension in mitral stenosis (MS). We hypothesized that decreases in C n during early-stage exercise underlie exercise intolerance in patients with MS. Thirty-three asymptomatic patients with significant MS (valve area 1.24 ± 0.16 cm 2 ) underwent resting and bicycle exercise echocardiography. LA compliance and conventional parameters were assessed at each workload. The patients were classified into two groups based on whether they developed dyspnea during exercise: an exercise-intolerance group (n = 22) and an exercise-tolerance group (n = 11). Moreover, "50 W" was defined as an early exercise stage. Although the groups had similar resting characteristics, there were striking differences in their echocardiographic parameters from the early stages of exercise. The relative C n decrease at 50 W (expressed as a percentage of the resting C n ) was significantly greater in the exercise-intolerance group (70.3 ± 15.4% vs 49.7 ± 9.7%, P intolerance group (P = .0005). Furthermore, differences in the trends in this parameter were observed between the two groups (P intolerance (adjusted OR 1.105, 95% CI 1.030-1.184) after adjustment for other conventional parameters. Decreases in C n during early-stage exercise are an important mechanism underlying exercise intolerance in MS. © 2017, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Cigarette smoke decreases mitochondrial porin expression and steroidogenesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bose, Mahuya; Whittal, Randy M.; Gairola, C. Gary; Bose, Himangshu S.

2008-01-01

Steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) facilitates the movement of cholesterol from the outer to inner mitochondrial membrane for steroidogenesis. Here, we investigated the effect of cigarette smoke (CS) on steroidogenesis using adrenal mitochondria isolated from mice chronically exposed to CS. Steroidogenesis was decreased approximately 78% in CS-exposed mitochondria, as measured by synthesis of the steroid hormone precursor pregnenolone. This effect was accompanied by decreased mitochondrial import of 35 S-StAR. Further characterization of the imported 35 S-StAR by native gradient PAGE revealed the presence of a high molecular weight complex in both control and CS-exposed groups. Following density gradient fractionation of 35 S-StAR that had been extracted from control mitochondria, precursor StAR could be found in fractions 2-6 and smaller-sized StAR complexes in fractions 6-13. In the CS-exposed group, the appearance of precursor shifted from fraction 1-6 and the smaller complexes in fractions 6-9 disappeared. Mass spectrometric analysis revealed that the 35 S-StAR-associated protein complex was composed of several resident matrix proteins as well as the OMM resident, VDAC. VDAC expression was greatly reduced by CS, and blockage of VDAC with Koenig's polyanion decreased pregnenolone synthesis in isolated mitochondria. Taken together, these results suggest that VDAC may participate in steroidogenesis by promoting StAR interaction with the OMM and that CS may inhibit steroidogenesis by reducing VDAC-StAR interactions

Significant Decrease in Pertactin-Deficient Bordetella pertussis Isolates, Japan

Science.gov (United States)

Miyaji, Yusuke; Otsuka, Nao; Arakawa, Yoshichika; Shibayama, Keigo; Kamachi, Kazunari

2017-01-01

Prevalence of pertactin-lacking Bordetella pertussis isolates has been observed worldwide. In Japan, however, we found that the frequency of pertactin-deficient isolates in 2014–2016 (8%) was significantly lower than the frequency in 2005–2007 (41%), 2008–2010 (35%), and 2011–2013 (25%). This reduction was closely associated with changes in genotypes. PMID:28322702

Measurement of smaller colon polyp in CT colonography images using morphological image processing.

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Manjunath, K N; Siddalingaswamy, P C; Prabhu, G K

2017-11-01

Automated measurement of the size and shape of colon polyps is one of the challenges in Computed tomography colonography (CTC). The objective of this retrospective study was to improve the sensitivity and specificity of smaller polyp measurement in CTC using image processing techniques. A domain knowledge-based method has been implemented with hybrid method of colon segmentation, morphological image processing operators for detecting the colonic structures, and the decision-making system for delineating the smaller polyp-based on a priori knowledge. The method was applied on 45 CTC dataset. The key finding was that the smaller polyps were accurately measured. In addition to 6-9 mm range, polyps of even processing. It takes [Formula: see text] min for measuring the smaller polyp in a dataset of 500 CTC images. With this method, [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] were achieved. The domain-based approach with morphological image processing has given good results. The smaller polyps were measured accurately which helps in making right clinical decisions. Qualitatively and quantitatively the results were acceptable when compared to the ground truth at [Formula: see text].

Foxtail Millet [Setaria italica (L. Beauv.] Grown under Low Nitrogen Shows a Smaller Root System, Enhanced Biomass Accumulation, and Nitrate Transporter Expression

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Faisal Nadeem

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Foxtail millet (FM [Setaria italica (L. Beauv.] is a grain and forage crop well adapted to nutrient-poor soils. To date little is known how FM adapts to low nitrogen (LN at the morphological, physiological, and molecular levels. Using the FM variety Yugu1, we found that LN led to lower chlorophyll contents and N concentrations, and higher root/shoot and C/N ratios and N utilization efficiencies under hydroponic culture. Importantly, enhanced biomass accumulation in the root under LN was in contrast to a smaller root system, as indicated by significant decreases in total root length; crown root number and length; and lateral root number, length, and density. Enhanced carbon allocation toward the root was rather for significant increases in average diameter of the LN root, potentially favorable for wider xylem vessels or other anatomical alterations facilitating nutrient transport. Lower levels of IAA and CKs were consistent with a smaller root system and higher levels of GA may promote root thickening under LN. Further, up-regulation of SiNRT1.1, SiNRT2.1, and SiNAR2.1 expression and nitrate influx in the root and that of SiNRT1.11 and SiNRT1.12 expression in the shoot probably favored nitrate uptake and remobilization as a whole. Lastly, more soluble proteins accumulated in the N-deficient root likely as a result of increases of N utilization efficiencies. Such “excessive” protein-N was possibly available for shoot delivery. Thus, FM may preferentially transport carbon toward the root facilitating root thickening/nutrient transport and allocate N toward the shoot maximizing photosynthesis/carbon fixation as a primary adaptive strategy to N limitation.

Foxtail Millet [Setaria italica (L.) Beauv.] Grown under Low Nitrogen Shows a Smaller Root System, Enhanced Biomass Accumulation, and Nitrate Transporter Expression.

Science.gov (United States)

Nadeem, Faisal; Ahmad, Zeeshan; Wang, Ruifeng; Han, Jienan; Shen, Qi; Chang, Feiran; Diao, Xianmin; Zhang, Fusuo; Li, Xuexian

2018-01-01

Foxtail millet (FM) [ Setaria italica (L.) Beauv.] is a grain and forage crop well adapted to nutrient-poor soils. To date little is known how FM adapts to low nitrogen (LN) at the morphological, physiological, and molecular levels. Using the FM variety Yugu1, we found that LN led to lower chlorophyll contents and N concentrations, and higher root/shoot and C/N ratios and N utilization efficiencies under hydroponic culture. Importantly, enhanced biomass accumulation in the root under LN was in contrast to a smaller root system, as indicated by significant decreases in total root length; crown root number and length; and lateral root number, length, and density. Enhanced carbon allocation toward the root was rather for significant increases in average diameter of the LN root, potentially favorable for wider xylem vessels or other anatomical alterations facilitating nutrient transport. Lower levels of IAA and CKs were consistent with a smaller root system and higher levels of GA may promote root thickening under LN. Further, up-regulation of SiNRT1.1, SiNRT2.1, and SiNAR2.1 expression and nitrate influx in the root and that of SiNRT1.11 and SiNRT1.12 expression in the shoot probably favored nitrate uptake and remobilization as a whole. Lastly, more soluble proteins accumulated in the N-deficient root likely as a result of increases of N utilization efficiencies. Such "excessive" protein-N was possibly available for shoot delivery. Thus, FM may preferentially transport carbon toward the root facilitating root thickening/nutrient transport and allocate N toward the shoot maximizing photosynthesis/carbon fixation as a primary adaptive strategy to N limitation.

Desirable airfoil features for smaller-capacity straight-bladed VAWT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Islam, Mazharul; Ting, D.S.-K.; Fartaj, Amir

2007-05-15

In the small scale wind turbine market, the simple straight-bladed Darrieus type vertical axis wind turbine (SB-VAWT) is very attractive for its simple blade design. A detailed aerodynamic performance analysis was conducted on a smaller capacity fixed-pitch SB-VAWT. Brief analyses of the main aerodynamic challenges of this type of wind turbine were first discussed and subsequently the authors conducted further literature survey and computational analysis to shortlist aerodynamic characteristics of a desirable airfoil for a self-starting and better performing SB-VAWT. The required geometric features of the desirable airfoil to achieve the short listed characteristics were also discussed. It has been found out that conventionally used NACA symmetric airfoils are not suitable for smaller capacity SB-VAWT. Rather, it is advantageous to utilize a high-lift and low-drag asymmetric thick airfoil suitable for low speed operation typically encountered by SB-VAWT. (author)

Automated Polarimetry with Smaller Aperture Telescopes: The ROVOR Observatory

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Joseph Moody

2017-10-01

Full Text Available To better understand possible blazar jet mechanisms and morphologies, brighter prototypical objects are regularly monitored for variability in optical broad-band light. If the monitoring filters are polarized, the position angles and polarization percentages can be measured and their evolution monitored over time. However, building up a statistically significant time base of polarization parameters requires the arduous task of monitoring sources for months or years to catch and follow interesting events such as flares. Fortunately, monitoring an object is easily done using remotely operated or robotic telescopes. The Remote Observatory for Variable Object Research (ROVOR is a small-aperture telescope that has monitored blazars in broad-band Johnson filters since 2009. Calibration data using a set of four plane-polarized filters suggest that it is suitable for polarimetric monitoring as well. We have successfully collected data on CTA 102 and are encouraged at the prospects of monitoring it and other similar objects. Long-term monitoring campaigns are a scientifically and educationally-effective use of underutilized smaller-aperture telescopes.

Combined value of Virtual Touch tissue quantification and conventional sonographic features for differentiating benign and malignant thyroid nodules smaller than 10 mm.

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Zhang, Huiping; Shi, Qiusheng; Gu, Jiying; Jiang, Luying; Bai, Min; Liu, Long; Wu, Ying; Du, Lianfang

2014-02-01

This study aimed to investigate the value of sonographic features including Virtual Touch tissue quantification (VTQ; Siemens Medical Solutions, Mountain View, CA) for differentiating benign and malignant thyroid nodules smaller than 10 mm. Seventy-one thyroid nodules smaller than 10 mm with pathologic diagnoses were included in this study. The conventional sonographic features and quantitative elasticity features (VTQ) were observed and compared between benign and malignant nodules. There were 39 benign and 32 malignant nodules according to histopathologic examination. When compared with benign nodules, malignant nodules were more frequently taller than wide, poorly defined, and markedly hypoechoic (P benign and malignant nodules. The VTQ value for malignant nodules (mean ± SD 3.260 ± 0.725 m/s) was significantly higher than that of benign ones (2.108 ± 0.455 m/s; P benign and malignant thyroid nodules smaller than 10 mm. When VTQ was combined with B-mode sonographic features, the sensitivity was improved significantly.

Organizational resilience: Sustained institutional effectiveness among smaller, private, non-profit US higher education institutions experiencing organizational decline.

Science.gov (United States)

Moran, Kenneth A

2016-06-04

analysis was used to examine the direct and interaction effects between organizational decline, organizational rigidity response, organizational resilience response, and institutional effectiveness, controlling for age of institution and level of endowment. The study validated previous threat-rigidity response findings that organizational decline alone does not adversely impact institutional effectiveness. The direct effect of Goal-Directed Solution Seeking and Role Dependency organizational resilience factors had a positive, significant correlation with the Student Personal Development institutional effectiveness factor. The interactive effect of Goal-Directed Solution Seeking organizational resilience factor during organizational decline had a positive, significant correlation with the Professional Development and Quality of Faculty institutional effectiveness factor. The interactive effect of Avoidance during organizational decline had a positive, significant correlation with the Faculty and Administrator Employment Satisfaction institutional effectiveness factor. The interactive effect of Diminished Innovation, Morale, and Leader Credibility rigidity response factor and Avoidance organizational resilience factor during organizational decline had a positive, significant correlation with the Professional Development and Quality of Faculty institutional effectiveness factor. Lastly, the interactive effect of Increased Scapegoating of Leaders, Interest group Activities, and Conflict rigidity response factor and Avoidance organizational resilience factor during organizational decline had a positive, significant correlation with the Faculty and Administrator Employment Satisfaction institutional effectiveness factor. Factors of organizational resilience were found to have a positive effect among smaller, private non-profit higher educational institutions associated with this study toward sustaining institutional effectiveness during organizational decline. Specifically, the

Trends and patterns in smaller companies: The Danish perspective

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ulhøi, John Parm; Madsen, Henning

2000-01-01

This paper presents the empirical findings of a recent survey of Danish managers, with a special focus on managers in smaller companies. The survey, called the 'Danish Management Barometer', is part of a joint research programme between the Aarhus School of Business and the Danish Association...

Trunk lean gait decreases multi-segmental coordination in the vertical direction.

Science.gov (United States)

Tokuda, Kazuki; Anan, Masaya; Sawada, Tomonori; Tanimoto, Kenji; Takeda, Takuya; Ogata, Yuta; Takahashi, Makoto; Kito, Nobuhiro; Shinkoda, Koichi

2017-11-01

[Purpose] The strategy of trunk lean gait to reduce external knee adduction moment (KAM) may affect multi-segmental synergy control of center of mass (COM) displacement. Uncontrolled manifold (UCM) analysis is an evaluation index to understand motor variability. The purpose of this study was to investigate how motor variability is affected by using UCM analysis on adjustment of the trunk lean angle. [Subjects and Methods] Fifteen healthy young adults walked at their preferred speed under two conditions: normal and trunk lean gait. UCM analysis was performed with respect to the COM displacement during the stance phase. The KAM data were analyzed at the points of the first KAM peak during the stance phase. [Results] The KAM during trunk lean gait was smaller than during normal gait. Despite a greater segmental configuration variance with respect to mediolateral COM displacement during trunk lean gait, the synergy index was not significantly different between the two conditions. The synergy index with respect to vertical COM displacement during trunk lean gait was smaller than that during normal gait. [Conclusion] These results suggest that trunk lean gait is effective in reducing KAM; however, it may decrease multi-segmental movement coordination of COM control in the vertical direction.

HIV Distal Neuropathic Pain Is Associated with Smaller Ventral Posterior Cingulate Cortex.

Science.gov (United States)

Keltner, John R; Connolly, Colm G; Vaida, Florin; Jenkinson, Mark; Fennema-Notestine, Christine; Archibald, Sarah; Akkari, Cherine; Schlein, Alexandra; Lee, Jisu; Wang, Dongzhe; Kim, Sung; Li, Han; Rennels, Austin; Miller, David J; Kesidis, George; Franklin, Donald R; Sanders, Chelsea; Corkran, Stephanie; Grant, Igor; Brown, Gregory G; Atkinson, J Hampton; Ellis, Ronald J

2017-03-01

. Despite modern antiretroviral therapy, HIV-associated neuropathy is one of the most prevalent, disabling and treatment-resistant complications of HIV disease. The presence and intensity of distal neuropathic pain is not fully explained by the degree of peripheral nerve damage. A better understanding of brain structure in HIV distal neuropathic pain may help explain why some patients with HIV neuropathy report pain while the majority does not. Previously, we reported that more intense distal neuropathic pain was associated with smaller total cerebral cortical gray matter volumes. The objective of this study was to determine which parts of the cortex are smaller. . HIV positive individuals with and without distal neuropathic pain enrolled in the multisite (N = 233) CNS HIV Antiretroviral Treatment Effects (CHARTER) study underwent structural brain magnetic resonance imaging. Voxel-based morphometry was used to investigate regional brain volumes in these structural brain images. . Left ventral posterior cingulate cortex was smaller for HIV positive individuals with versus without distal neuropathic pain (peak P  = 0.017; peak t = 5.15; MNI coordinates x = -6, y = -54, z = 20). Regional brain volumes within cortical gray matter structures typically associated with pain processing were also smaller for HIV positive individuals having higher intensity ratings of distal neuropathic pain. . The posterior cingulate is thought to be involved in inhibiting the perception of painful stimuli. Mechanistically a smaller posterior cingulate cortex structure may be related to reduced anti-nociception contributing to increased distal neuropathic pain. © 2016 American Academy of Pain Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

High-Arctic butterflies become smaller with rising temperatures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bowden, Joseph James; Eskildsen, Anne; Hansen, Rikke Reisner

2015-01-01

size but long growing seasons could also increase body size as was recently shown in an Arctic spider species. Here, we present the longest known time series on body size variation in two High-Arctic butterfly species: Boloria chariclea and Colias hecla. We measured wing length of nearly 4500...... individuals collected annually between 1996 and 2013 from Zackenberg, Greenland and found that wing length significantly decreased at a similar rate in both species in response to warmer summers. Body size is strongly related to dispersal capacity and fecundity and our results suggest that these Arctic...

Decreasing Physical Inactivity in the Veterans Health Administration Employee Population.

Science.gov (United States)

Schult, Tamara M; Schmunk, Sandra K; Awosika, Ebi R

2016-12-01

The aim of this study was to describe a comprehensive approach to decrease physical inactivity in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) employee population. The approach included (1) initiatives to decrease physical inactivity in the workplace; (2) two operational surveys to assess system-wide service provision; and (3) two national employee surveys. From 2010 to 2012, 86 employee fitness centers were completed in VA medical centers. A grants program (2010 to 2015) funded smaller projects designed to decrease physical inactivity in the workplace. Projects involved the provision of equipment to decrease sedentary behaviors, including stability balls, treadmill and sit-to-stand desks, stairwell projects, and funding for on-site fitness classes, bicycle racks, and outdoor par courses and walking paths among others. A comprehensive approach to decrease physical inactivity in VHA employees was successful. Overall, self-reported, age-adjusted physical inactivity in VHA employees decreased from 25.3% in 2010 to 16.1% in 2015.

Misonidazole cytotoxicity in vivo: a comparison of large single doses with smaller doses and extended contact of the drug with tumor cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conroy, P.J.; Sutherland, R.M.; Passalacqua, W.

1980-01-01

Experiments were performed to determine the kinetics and magnitude of misonidazole cytotoxicity in EMT6/Ro tumors using an in vivo-in vitro clonogenicity assay. A comparison was made between the cytotoxic effects of large single doses with smaller doses of misonidazole administered ip and those produced on extended contact of the drug with tumor cells using a continuous iv drug infusion system. After a single ip dose of 1 mg/g, cytotoxicity was maximum at 18 to 24 h; by 72 h the clonogenic cells per tumor had returned to control levels. The maximum cytotoxicity was greater (a decrease of 10 times) if the animals were kept at 37 0 C compared with ambient conditions (a decrease of 4.5 times) where the body temperature would decrease due to the drug. A dose-response curve performed with the animals at 37 0 C showed no significant cytotoxicity at 18 h after single ip doses of 0.5 mg/g or less. Other experiments were carried out at 37 0 C using a drug continuous infusion system. Two profiles were studied: (a) continuous constant rate infusion over 3 days of constant serum and tumor levels of both 100 and 200 μg/ml and (b) continuous variable rate infusion where the maximum serum levels reached 80 or 200 μg/ml after 2 to 4 h and decayed with a half-life of 12 h as in humans. Significant cytotoxicity was obtained under both of these conditions. Maximum cytotoxicity occurred at about 24 h in both types of experiments and amounted to decreases of clonogenic tumor cells of 4.5 and 7 times for 100 and 200 μg/ml, respectively, after constant rate infusion and 2 to 4 times for 80 and 200 μg/ml, respectively, after variable rate infusion. Because of the relatively rapid recovery in the number of clonogenic tumor cells by 72 h, the cytotoxic effects were not reflected as changes in tumor size even when the animals were maintained at 37 0 C

Library Homepage Design at Smaller Bachelor of Arts Institutions

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Scott L.; Leonard, Kirsten

2011-01-01

This study examined the homepages of the libraries of 175 smaller bachelor of arts institutions, coding for the presence of 98 design elements. By reporting and examining the frequency of these features, the authors noted what is and is not common practice at these libraries. They found that only fourteen elements were present on at least half of…

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.

Increased Expression and Altered Methylation of HERVWE1 in the Human Placentas of Smaller Fetuses from Monozygotic, Dichorionic, Discordant Twins

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zilian; Luo, Yanmin; Sun, Hongyu; Zhou, Yi; Huang, Linhuan; Li, Manchao; Fang, Qun; Jiang, Shiwen

2012-01-01

Background The human endogenous retroviral family W, Env(C7), member 1 gene (HERVWE1) is thought to participate in trophoblast cell fusion, and its expression is diminished in the placentas of singleton intrauterine growth-retarded pregnancies. However, there is limited information about the role of HERVWE1 in discordant fetal growth in twins. This study was to compare HERVWE1 gene expression between the placentas of discordant monozygotic twins and to identify its regulation by methylation. Methodology/Principal Findings Fetuses from twenty-one pairs of monozygotic, dichorionic, discordant twins were marked as “smaller” or “larger” according to birth weight. Placental HERVWE1 mRNA and protein expression profiles were analyzed using quantitative RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining. Methylation profiles of the HERVWE1 promoter region were analyzed using a pyrosequencing assay. DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) transcript levels were analyzed by RT-PCR. 5-methyl cytosine (5-MC) was stained using an immunohistochemical assay. There was a significant negative correlation between HERVWE1 mRNA levels and birth weight in twins (P0.05). The DNMT3b3 mRNA levels in the smaller group were significantly downregulated compared with the larger group in discordant twins(P<0.05), whereas the DNMT3b7 mRNA levels in the smaller group were significantly upregulated compared with the larger group in discordant twins(P<0.05). Conclusions/Significance In discordant, monozygotic, dichorionic twins, HERVWE1 expression was higher in smaller fetuses and lower in larger fetuses. Methylation of the HERVWE1 gene promoter region may participate in the regulation of HERVWE1 gene expression in discordant twin pregnancies. PMID:22457770

Healthcare security staffing for smaller facilities: where science meets art.

Science.gov (United States)

Warren, Bryan

2013-01-01

Obtaining effective security resourcing and staffing for smaller healthcare facilities presents many difficulties, according to the author In this article, he provides guidance to security practitioners on taking existing data and translating it into a language that administration will understand and appreciate.

Opportunities for smaller engineering companies despite globalization. Chancen kleiner Ingenieurbueros trotz Globalisierung

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lorentzen, P. (IPL Ingenieurbuero Peter Lorentzen, Frankfurt am Main (Germany))

1999-06-01

The trend to size is escalating into gigantism. The biggest in the branch merge to become the oversized. In view of this situation, the question which arises is what are the survival chances of the smaller players Will they all drop out of the running The answer to this question does not only concern the future order books of smaller companies, but in conjunction therewith and predominately the social security of employees, type and scope of assignments as well as the competitive situation and the consequences of all these on remuneration. (orig.)

The amount of decrease of the background white noise intensity as a cue for differentiation training.

Science.gov (United States)

Zieliński, K

1981-01-01

The course of differentiation learning, using the conditioned emotional response (CER) method, was investigated in two groups of 16 rats. The discriminative stimuli consisted of decreases in the 80 dB background white noise to either 70 dB or 60 dB. Differentiation learning was more efficient with the larger decrease of background noise intensity as the CS(+) and the smaller decrease as the CS(-) than vice versa.

Deletion of C7L and K1L genes leads to significantly decreased virulence of recombinant vaccinia virus TianTan.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zheng Liu

Full Text Available The vaccinia virus TianTan (VTT has been modified as an HIV vaccine vector in China and has shown excellent performance in immunogenicity and safety. However, its adverse effects in immunosuppressed individuals warrant the search for a safer vector in the following clinic trails. In this study, we deleted the C7L and K1L genes of VTT and constructed six recombinant vaccinia strains VTT△C7L, VTT△K1L, VTT△C7LK1L, VTKgpe△C7L, VTKgpe△K1L and VTT△C7LK1L-gag. The pathogenicity and immunogenicity of these recombinants were evaluated in mouse and rabbit models. Comparing to parental VTT, VTT△C7L and VTT△K1L showed significantly decreased replication capability in CEF, Vero, BHK-21 and HeLa cell lines. In particular, replication of VTT△C7LK1L decreased more than 10-fold in all four cell lines. The virulence of all these mutants were decreased in BALB/c mouse and rabbit models; VTT△C7LK1L once again showed the greatest attenuation, having resulted in no evident damage in mice and erythema of only 0.4 cm diameter in rabbits, compared to 1.48 cm for VTT. VTKgpe△C7L, VTKgpe△K1L and VTT△C7LK1L-gag elicited as strong cellular and humoral responses against HIV genes as did VTKgpe, while humoral immune response against the vaccinia itself was reduced by 4-8-fold. These data show that deletion of C7L and K1L genes leads to significantly decreased virulence without compromising animal host immunogenicity, and may thus be key to creating a more safe and effective HIV vaccine vector.

Smaller Hippocampal Volume in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Multisite ENIGMA-PGC Study: Subcortical Volumetry Results From Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Consortia

Science.gov (United States)

Logue, Mark W.; van Rooij, Sanne J.H.; Dennis, Emily L.; Davis, Sarah L.; Hayes, Jasmeet P.; Stevens, Jennifer S.; Densmore, Maria; Haswell, Courtney C.; Ipser, Jonathan; Koch, Saskia B.J.; Korgaonkar, Mayuresh; Lebois, Lauren A.M.; Peverill, Matthew; Baker, Justin T.; Boedhoe, Premika S.W.; Frijling, Jessie L.; Gruber, Staci A.; Harpaz-Rotem, Ilan; Jahanshad, Neda; Koopowitz, Sheri; Levy, Ifat; Nawijn, Laura; O’Connor, Lauren; Olff, Miranda; Salat, David H.; Sheridan, Margaret A.; Spielberg, Jeffrey M.; van Zuiden, Mirjam; Winternitz, Sherry R.; Wolff, Jonathan D.; Wolf, Erika J.; Wang, Xin; Wrocklage, Kristen; Abdallah, Chadi G.; Bryant, Richard A.; Geuze, Elbert; Jovanovic, Tanja; Kaufman, Milissa L.; King, Anthony P.; Krystal, John H.; Lagopoulos, Jim; Bennett, Maxwell; Lanius, Ruth; Liberzon, Israel; McGlinchey, Regina E.; McLaughlin, Katie A.; Milberg, William P.; Miller, Mark W.; Ressler, Kerry J.; Veltman, Dick J.; Stein, Dan J.; Thomaes, Kathleen; Thompson, Paul M.; Morey, Rajendra A.

2018-01-01

BACKGROUND Many studies report smaller hippocampal and amygdala volumes in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but findings have not always been consistent. Here, we present the results of a large-scale neuroimaging consortium study on PTSD conducted by the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC)–Enhancing Neuroimaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) PTSD Working Group. METHODS We analyzed neuroimaging and clinical data from 1868 subjects (794 PTSD patients) contributed by 16 cohorts, representing the largest neuroimaging study of PTSD to date. We assessed the volumes of eight subcortical structures (nucleus accumbens, amygdala, caudate, hippocampus, pallidum, putamen, thalamus, and lateral ventricle). We used a standardized image-analysis and quality-control pipeline established by the ENIGMA consortium. RESULTS In a meta-analysis of all samples, we found significantly smaller hippocampi in subjects with current PTSD compared with trauma-exposed control subjects (Cohen’s d = −0.17, p = .00054), and smaller amygdalae (d = −0.11, p = .025), although the amygdala finding did not survive a significance level that was Bonferroni corrected for multiple subcortical region comparisons (p < .0063). CONCLUSIONS Our study is not subject to the biases of meta-analyses of published data, and it represents an important milestone in an ongoing collaborative effort to examine the neurobiological underpinnings of PTSD and the brain’s response to trauma. PMID:29217296

Smaller Hippocampal Volume in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Multisite ENIGMA-PGC Study: Subcortical Volumetry Results From Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Consortia.

Science.gov (United States)

Logue, Mark W; van Rooij, Sanne J H; Dennis, Emily L; Davis, Sarah L; Hayes, Jasmeet P; Stevens, Jennifer S; Densmore, Maria; Haswell, Courtney C; Ipser, Jonathan; Koch, Saskia B J; Korgaonkar, Mayuresh; Lebois, Lauren A M; Peverill, Matthew; Baker, Justin T; Boedhoe, Premika S W; Frijling, Jessie L; Gruber, Staci A; Harpaz-Rotem, Ilan; Jahanshad, Neda; Koopowitz, Sheri; Levy, Ifat; Nawijn, Laura; O'Connor, Lauren; Olff, Miranda; Salat, David H; Sheridan, Margaret A; Spielberg, Jeffrey M; van Zuiden, Mirjam; Winternitz, Sherry R; Wolff, Jonathan D; Wolf, Erika J; Wang, Xin; Wrocklage, Kristen; Abdallah, Chadi G; Bryant, Richard A; Geuze, Elbert; Jovanovic, Tanja; Kaufman, Milissa L; King, Anthony P; Krystal, John H; Lagopoulos, Jim; Bennett, Maxwell; Lanius, Ruth; Liberzon, Israel; McGlinchey, Regina E; McLaughlin, Katie A; Milberg, William P; Miller, Mark W; Ressler, Kerry J; Veltman, Dick J; Stein, Dan J; Thomaes, Kathleen; Thompson, Paul M; Morey, Rajendra A

2018-02-01

Many studies report smaller hippocampal and amygdala volumes in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but findings have not always been consistent. Here, we present the results of a large-scale neuroimaging consortium study on PTSD conducted by the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC)-Enhancing Neuroimaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) PTSD Working Group. We analyzed neuroimaging and clinical data from 1868 subjects (794 PTSD patients) contributed by 16 cohorts, representing the largest neuroimaging study of PTSD to date. We assessed the volumes of eight subcortical structures (nucleus accumbens, amygdala, caudate, hippocampus, pallidum, putamen, thalamus, and lateral ventricle). We used a standardized image-analysis and quality-control pipeline established by the ENIGMA consortium. In a meta-analysis of all samples, we found significantly smaller hippocampi in subjects with current PTSD compared with trauma-exposed control subjects (Cohen's d = -0.17, p = .00054), and smaller amygdalae (d = -0.11, p = .025), although the amygdala finding did not survive a significance level that was Bonferroni corrected for multiple subcortical region comparisons (p < .0063). Our study is not subject to the biases of meta-analyses of published data, and it represents an important milestone in an ongoing collaborative effort to examine the neurobiological underpinnings of PTSD and the brain's response to trauma. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Sexually selected nest-building--Pomatoschistus minutus males build smaller nest-openings in the presence of sneaker males.

Science.gov (United States)

Svensson, O; Kvarnemo, C

2003-09-01

Both natural selection and sexual selection may act on nest-building. We tested experimentally how different regimes of egg-predation and male-male competition influence nest-building before mating, using the marine fish sand goby, Pomatoschistus minutus. Males with sneaker males present built the smallest nest-openings, smaller than males held alone or with Pomatoschistus microps males (which may predate eggs and compete over nest-sites but not compete over fertilizations). Males with visual access to other nest-building males tended also to build smaller openings than males held alone or with P. microps. Males with egg-predators present built nests with openings not differing significantly from any other treatment. Our results indicate that the small nest-openings found in the sneaker male treatment are sexually selected through protection against sneaking or by female choice. Across treatments, time span before a male started to build his nest also explained variation in nest-opening width; males starting late built larger nest-openings.

TouchGrid: Touchpad pointing by recursively mapping taps to smaller display regions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hertzum, Morten; Hornbæk, Kasper

2005-01-01

Touchpad devices are widely used but lacking in pointing efficiency. The TouchGrid, an instance of what we term cell cursors, replaces moving the cursor through dragging the finger on a touchpad with tapping in different regions of the touchpad. The touchpad regions are recursively mapped...... to smaller display regions and thereby enable high-precision pointing without requiring high tapping precision. In an experiment, six subjects used the TouchGrid and a standard touchpad across different numbers of targets, distances to targets, and target widths. Whereas standard touchpad operation follows...... Fitts’ law, target selection time with the TouchGrid is a linear function of the required number of taps. The TouchGrid was significantly faster for small targets and for tasks requiring one tap, and marginally faster for two-tap tasks. Error rates tended to be higher with the TouchGrid than...

Collage of Saturn's smaller satellites

Science.gov (United States)

1981-01-01

This family portrait shows the smaller satellites of Saturn as viewed by Voyager 2 during its swing through the Saturnian system. The following chart corresponds to this composite photograph (distance from the planet increases from left to right) and lists names, standard numerical designations and approximate dimensions (radii where indicated) in kilometers: 1980S26Outer F-ringshepherd120 X 100 1980S1Leadingco-orbital220 X 160 1980S25TrailingTethys trojanradii: 25 1980S28Outer Ashepherdradii: 20 1980S27Inner F-ringco-orbital145 X 70 1980S3TrailingTethys trojan140 X 100 1980S13LeadingTethys trojanradii: 30 1980S6LeadingDione trojanradii: 30 These images have been scaled to show the satellites in true relative sizes. This set of small objects ranges in size from small asteroidal scales to nearly the size of Saturn's moon Mimas. They are probably fragments of somewhat larger bodies broken up during the bombardment period that followed accretion of the Saturnian system. Scientists believe they may be mostly icy bodies with a mixture of meteorite rock. They are somewhat less reflective than the larger satellites, suggesting that thermal evolution of the larger moons 'cleaned up' their icy surfaces. The Voyager project is managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Perioperative use of tamsulosin significantly decreases rates of urinary retention in men undergoing pelvic surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Poylin, Vitaliy; Curran, Thomas; Cataldo, Thomas; Nagle, Deborah

2015-09-01

Urinary retention is a common complication of pelvic surgery, leading to urinary tract infection and prolonged hospital stays. Tamsulosin is an alpha blocker that works by relaxing bladder neck muscles. It is used to treat benign prostatic hypertrophy and retention. We aim to investigate the potential benefits of preemptive tamsulosin use on rates of urinary retention in men undergoing pelvic surgery. This is a retrospective review of an institutional colorectal database. All men undergoing pelvic surgery between 2004 and 2013 were included. Patients given 0.4 mg of tamsulosin 3 days prior and after surgery at discretion of surgeon starting in 2007 were compared with patients receiving expectant postoperative management. One hundred eighty-five patients were included in the study (study group: N = 30; control group: N = 155). Study group patients were older (56.8 vs. 50.1 years). Overall urinary retention rate was 22% with significantly lower rates in the study group compared with control (6.7 vs. 25%; p = 0.029). Study group had higher rates of minimally invasive surgery (61 vs. 29.7%); however, this did not impact urinary retention rate (20.6 vs. 22.7% for minimally invasive surgery vs. open surgery; p = 0.85). Independent predictors of urinary retention included lack of preemptive tamsulosin (odds ratio (OR), 7.67; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.4-41.7) and cancer location in the distal third of the rectum (OR, 18.8; 95% CI, 2.1-172.8). Preemptive perioperative use of tamsulosin may significantly decrease the incidence of urinary retention in men undergoing pelvic surgery. This may play a role in avoidance of urinary retention, particularly in patients with distal rectal cancer.

The Underreported Use of Integrated Marketing Communication by Smaller Businesses.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Ed

This research suggests integrated marketing communication (IMC) is widely used by small business. In a survey of Midwest businesses, it was found that smaller business tend to integrate their marketing communication to the same extent as do larger businesses. Their advertising, P.R., and sales promotion are as likely to present a unified message,…

Fukushima- the aftermath. The japanese power consumption has significantly decreased to adapt to a fading nuclear activity. Enerdata- Energy Efficiency and Demand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2012-01-01

In this study, a series of analyses supported by graphs assess the power supply evolution in Japan since Fukushima, which has decreased by 11% of reactors in operation since December 2011. Measures implemented in summer 2011 to adapt demand to a lower supply and their significant impact on the power consumption are also analyzed. (authors)

Long-Term Overgrazing-Induced Memory Decreases Photosynthesis of Clonal Offspring in a Perennial Grassland Plant.

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Weibo; Hu, Ningning; Hou, Xiangyang; Zhang, Jize; Guo, Huiqin; Liu, Zhiying; Kong, Lingqi; Wu, Zinian; Wang, Hui; Li, Xiliang

2017-01-01

Previous studies of transgenerational plasticity have demonstrated that long-term overgrazing experienced by Leymus chinensis , an ecologically dominant, rhizomatous grass species in eastern Eurasian temperate grassland, significantly affects its clonal growth in subsequent generations. However, there is a dearth of information on the reasons underlying this overgrazing-induced memory effect in plant morphological plasticity. We characterized the relationship between a dwarf phenotype and photosynthesis function decline of L. chinensis from the perspective of leaf photosynthesis by using both field measurement and rhizome buds culture cultivated in a greenhouse. Leaf photosynthetic functions (net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, intercellular carbon dioxide concentration, and transpiration rate) were significantly decreased in smaller L. chinensis individuals that were induced to have a dwarf phenotype by being heavily grazed in the field. This decreased photosynthetic function was maintained a generation after greenhouse tests in which grazing was excluded. Both the response of L. chinensis morphological traits and photosynthetic functions in greenhouse were deceased relative to those in the field experiment. Further, there were significant decreases in leaf chlorophyll content and Rubisco enzyme activities of leaves between bud-cultured dwarf and non-dwarf L. chinensis in the greenhouse. Moreover, gene expression patterns showed that the bud-cultured dwarf L. chinensis significantly down-regulated (by 1.86- to 5.33-fold) a series of key genes that regulate photosynthetic efficiency, stomata opening, and chloroplast development compared with the non-dwarf L. chinensis . This is among the first studies revealing a linkage between long-term overgrazing affecting the transgenerational morphological plasticity of clonal plants and physiologically adaptive photosynthesis function. Overall, clonal transgenerational effects in L. chinensis phenotypic traits

Long-Term Overgrazing-Induced Memory Decreases Photosynthesis of Clonal Offspring in a Perennial Grassland Plant

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiangyang Hou

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Previous studies of transgenerational plasticity have demonstrated that long-term overgrazing experienced by Leymus chinensis, an ecologically dominant, rhizomatous grass species in eastern Eurasian temperate grassland, significantly affects its clonal growth in subsequent generations. However, there is a dearth of information on the reasons underlying this overgrazing-induced memory effect in plant morphological plasticity. We characterized the relationship between a dwarf phenotype and photosynthesis function decline of L. chinensis from the perspective of leaf photosynthesis by using both field measurement and rhizome buds culture cultivated in a greenhouse. Leaf photosynthetic functions (net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, intercellular carbon dioxide concentration, and transpiration rate were significantly decreased in smaller L. chinensis individuals that were induced to have a dwarf phenotype by being heavily grazed in the field. This decreased photosynthetic function was maintained a generation after greenhouse tests in which grazing was excluded. Both the response of L. chinensis morphological traits and photosynthetic functions in greenhouse were deceased relative to those in the field experiment. Further, there were significant decreases in leaf chlorophyll content and Rubisco enzyme activities of leaves between bud-cultured dwarf and non-dwarf L. chinensis in the greenhouse. Moreover, gene expression patterns showed that the bud-cultured dwarf L. chinensis significantly down-regulated (by 1.86- to 5.33-fold a series of key genes that regulate photosynthetic efficiency, stomata opening, and chloroplast development compared with the non-dwarf L. chinensis. This is among the first studies revealing a linkage between long-term overgrazing affecting the transgenerational morphological plasticity of clonal plants and physiologically adaptive photosynthesis function. Overall, clonal transgenerational effects in L. chinensis

Climate change affects low trophic level marine consumers: warming decreases copepod size and abundance.

Science.gov (United States)

Garzke, Jessica; Ismar, Stefanie M H; Sommer, Ulrich

2015-03-01

Concern about climate change has re-ignited interest in universal ecological responses to temperature variations: (1) biogeographical shifts, (2) phenology changes, and (3) size shifts. In this study we used copepods as model organisms to study size responses to temperature because of their central role in the pelagic food web and because of the ontogenetic length constancy between molts, which facilitates the definition of size of distinct developmental stages. In order to test the expected temperature-induced shifts towards smaller body size and lower abundances under warming conditions, a mesocosm experiment using plankton from the Baltic Sea at three temperature levels (ambient, ambient +4 °C, ambient -4 °C) was performed in summer 2010. Overall copepod and copepodit abundances, copepod size at all life stages, and adult copepod size in particular, showed significant temperature effects. As expected, zooplankton peak abundance was lower in warm than in ambient treatments. Copepod size-at-immature stage significantly increased in cold treatments, while adult size significantly decreased in warm treatments.

The role of interpretation in the internationalization of smaller brazilian firms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

R.W. Seifert (Ralf); J. Child (John); S.B. Rodrigues (Suzana)

2012-01-01

textabstractAbstract This study considers how decision-makers in smaller firms interpret the means and conditions of internationalization, and how different modes of interpretation are likely to inform action choices in this process. Drawing on 58 qualitative interviews with the leaders of

Economic characteristics of a smaller, simpler reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

LaBar, M.; Bowers, H.

1988-01-01

Reduced load growth and heightened concern with economic risk has led to an expressed utility preference for smaller capacity additions. The Modular High Temperature Reactor (MHTGR) plant has been developed as a small, simple plant that has limited financial risk and is economically competitive with comparatively sized coal plants. Competitive economics is achieved by the simplifications made possible in a small MHTGR, reduction in the quantity of nuclear grade construction and design standardization and certification. Assessments show the MHTGR plant to have an economic advantage over coal plants for plant sizes from 270 MWe to 1080 MWe. Financial risk is limited by small unit sizes and short lead times that allow incremental deployment. Evaluations show the MHTGR incremental deployment capability to reduce negative cash flows by almost a factor of 2 relative to that required by a single large nuclear plant

Increasing temperature decreases the predatory effect of the intertidal shanny Lipophrys pholis on an amphipod prey

KAUST Repository

South, J.; Welsh, D.; Anton, A.; Sigwart, J. D.; Dick, J. T. A.

2017-01-01

Interactions between Lipophrys pholis and its amphipod prey Echinogammarus marinus were used to investigate the effect of changing water temperatures, comparing current and predicted mean summer temperatures. Contrary to expectations, predator attack rates significantly decreased with increasing temperature. Handling times were significantly longer at 19° C than at 17 and 15° C and the maximum feeding estimate was significantly lower at 19° C than at 17° C. Functional-response type changed from a destabilizing type II to the more stabilizing type III with a temperature increase to 19° C. This suggests that a temperature increase can mediate refuge for prey at low densities. Predatory pressure by teleosts may be dampened by a large increase in temperature (here from 15 to 19° C), but a short-term and smaller temperature increase (to 17° C) may increase destabilizing resource consumption due to high maximum feeding rates; this has implications for the stability of important intertidal ecosystems during warming events.

Increasing temperature decreases the predatory effect of the intertidal shanny Lipophrys pholis on an amphipod prey

KAUST Repository

South, J.

2017-11-15

Interactions between Lipophrys pholis and its amphipod prey Echinogammarus marinus were used to investigate the effect of changing water temperatures, comparing current and predicted mean summer temperatures. Contrary to expectations, predator attack rates significantly decreased with increasing temperature. Handling times were significantly longer at 19° C than at 17 and 15° C and the maximum feeding estimate was significantly lower at 19° C than at 17° C. Functional-response type changed from a destabilizing type II to the more stabilizing type III with a temperature increase to 19° C. This suggests that a temperature increase can mediate refuge for prey at low densities. Predatory pressure by teleosts may be dampened by a large increase in temperature (here from 15 to 19° C), but a short-term and smaller temperature increase (to 17° C) may increase destabilizing resource consumption due to high maximum feeding rates; this has implications for the stability of important intertidal ecosystems during warming events.

How food marketers can sell smaller portions: Consumer insights and product innovation.

Science.gov (United States)

Riis, J; Fisher, J O; Rowe, S

2016-08-01

Food portion size has been shown to be an important driver of energy intake. Despite the well acknowledged role of portion control in weight management, large portion sizes remain ubiquitous in the marketplace. Moving consumers towards consumption of smaller portion sizes will require changes in consumer behavior as well as changes in products available to consumers in a variety of settings. This special supplement presents cutting edge research aimed at understanding consumer behavior around portion size and innovations in product design that may promote the selection and consumption of smaller portion sizes. We identify further research that will be needed to translate basic behavioral findings into real world settings and to viable product development. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Introducing Upfront Money Can Decrease Discounting in Intertemporal Choices with Losses.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Cheng-Ming; Sun, Hong-Yue; Zheng, Sheng-Hua; Wang, Liang-Jun; Qin, Yu

2016-01-01

People generally tend to advance gains and postpone losses in intertemporal choice. Jiang et al. (2014) recently showed that adding upfront losses or gains to both smaller and sooner (SS) and larger and later (LL) rewards can decrease people's discounting. To account for this decrease, they proposed the salience hypothesis, which states that introducing upfront losses or gains makes the money dimension more salient than not, thus increasing people's preference for LL rewards. Considering that decreasing the discounting of delayed losses is imperative and that most previous studies have focused on intertemporal choices with gains, in the current paper we conducted two experiments and used hypothetical money outcomes to examine whether the effect of upfront money could be extended to intertemporal choices with losses. The results showed that when both SS and LL intertemporal losses were combined with an upfront loss or gain, people's discounting rate decreased and the preference for the SS option increased. This finding further supports the salience account.

Numerical simulation on dimension decrease for annular casing of one centrifugal boiler circulation pump

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fan, Y Z; Zuo, Z G; Liu, S H; Wu, Y L; Sha, Y J

2012-01-01

Primary formulation derivation indicates that the dimension of one existing centrifugal boiler circulation pump casing is too large. As great manufacture cost can be saved by dimension decrease, a numerical simulation research is developed in this paper on dimension decrease for annular casing of this pump with a specific speed equaling to 189, which aims at finding an appropriately smaller dimension of the casing while hydraulic performance and strength performance will hardly be changed according to the requirements of the cooperative company. The research object is one existing centrifugal pump with a diffuser and a semi-spherical annular casing, working as the boiler circulation pump for (ultra) supercritical units in power plants. Dimension decrease, the modification method, is achieved by decreasing the existing casing's internal radius (marked as R i0 ) while keeping the wall thickness. The research analysis is based on primary formulation derivation, CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulation and FEM (Finite Element Method) simulation. Primary formulation derivation estimates that a design casing's internal radius should be less than 0.75 R i0 . CFD analysis indicates that smaller casing with 0.75 R i0 has a worse hydraulic performance when working at large flow rates and a better hydraulic performance when working at small flow rates. In consideration of hydraulic performance and dimension decrease, an appropriate casing's internal radius is determined, which equals to 0.875 R i0 . FEM analysis then confirms that modified pump casing has nearly the same strength performance as the existing pump casing. It is concluded that dimension decrease can be an economical method as well as a practical method for large pumps in engineering fields.

Numerical simulation on dimension decrease for annular casing of one centrifugal boiler circulation pump

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Y. Z.; Zuo, Z. G.; Liu, S. H.; Wu, Y. L.; Sha, Y. J.

2012-11-01

Primary formulation derivation indicates that the dimension of one existing centrifugal boiler circulation pump casing is too large. As great manufacture cost can be saved by dimension decrease, a numerical simulation research is developed in this paper on dimension decrease for annular casing of this pump with a specific speed equaling to 189, which aims at finding an appropriately smaller dimension of the casing while hydraulic performance and strength performance will hardly be changed according to the requirements of the cooperative company. The research object is one existing centrifugal pump with a diffuser and a semi-spherical annular casing, working as the boiler circulation pump for (ultra) supercritical units in power plants. Dimension decrease, the modification method, is achieved by decreasing the existing casing's internal radius (marked as "Ri0") while keeping the wall thickness. The research analysis is based on primary formulation derivation, CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulation and FEM (Finite Element Method) simulation. Primary formulation derivation estimates that a design casing's internal radius should be less than 0.75 Ri0. CFD analysis indicates that smaller casing with 0.75 Ri0 has a worse hydraulic performance when working at large flow rates and a better hydraulic performance when working at small flow rates. In consideration of hydraulic performance and dimension decrease, an appropriate casing's internal radius is determined, which equals to 0.875 Ri0. FEM analysis then confirms that modified pump casing has nearly the same strength performance as the existing pump casing. It is concluded that dimension decrease can be an economical method as well as a practical method for large pumps in engineering fields.

Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy Results in Significant Decrease in Clinical Toxicities Compared With Conventional Wedge-Based Breast Radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harsolia, Asif; Kestin, Larry; Grills, Inga; Wallace, Michelle; Jolly, Shruti; Jones, Cortney; Lala, Moinaktar; Martinez, Alvaro; Schell, Scott; Vicini, Frank A.

2007-01-01

Purpose: We have previously demonstrated that intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) with a static multileaf collimator process results in a more homogenous dose distribution compared with conventional wedge-based whole breast irradiation (WBI). In the present analysis, we reviewed the acute and chronic toxicity of this IMRT approach compared with conventional wedge-based treatment. Methods and Materials: A total of 172 patients with Stage 0-IIB breast cancer were treated with lumpectomy followed by WBI. All patients underwent treatment planning computed tomography and received WBI (median dose, 45 Gy) followed by a boost to 61 Gy. Of the 172 patients, 93 (54%) were treated with IMRT, and the 79 patients (46%) treated with wedge-based RT in a consecutive fashion immediately before this cohort served as the control group. The median follow-up was 4.7 years. Results: A significant reduction in acute Grade 2 or worse dermatitis, edema, and hyperpigmentation was seen with IMRT compared with wedges. A trend was found toward reduced acute Grade 3 or greater dermatitis (6% vs. 1%, p = 0.09) in favor of IMRT. Chronic Grade 2 or worse breast edema was significantly reduced with IMRT compared with conventional wedges. No difference was found in cosmesis scores between the two groups. In patients with larger breasts (≥1,600 cm 3 , n = 64), IMRT resulted in reduced acute (Grade 2 or greater) breast edema (0% vs. 36%, p <0.001) and hyperpigmentation (3% vs. 41%, p 0.001) and chronic (Grade 2 or greater) long-term edema (3% vs. 30%, p 0.007). Conclusion: The use of IMRT in the treatment of the whole breast results in a significant decrease in acute dermatitis, edema, and hyperpigmentation and a reduction in the development of chronic breast edema compared with conventional wedge-based RT

Smaller hippocampal volume as a vulnerability factor for the persistence of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

van Rooij, S J H; Kennis, M; Sjouwerman, R; van den Heuvel, M P; Kahn, R S; Geuze, E

2015-10-01

Smaller hippocampal volume has often been observed in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, there is no consensus whether this is a result of stress/trauma exposure, or constitutes a vulnerability factor for the development of PTSD. Second, it is unclear whether hippocampal volume normalizes with successful treatment of PTSD, or whether a smaller hippocampus is a risk factor for the persistence of PTSD. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and clinical interviews were collected from 47 war veterans with PTSD, 25 healthy war veterans (combat controls) and 25 healthy non-military controls. All veterans were scanned a second time with a 6- to 8-month interval, during which PTSD patients received trauma-focused therapy. Based on post-treatment PTSD symptoms, patients were divided into a PTSD group who was in remission (n = 22) and a group in whom PTSD symptoms persisted (n = 22). MRI data were analysed with Freesurfer. Smaller left hippocampal volume was observed in PTSD patients compared with both control groups. Hippocampal volume of the combat controls did not differ from healthy controls. Second, pre- and post-treatment analyses of the PTSD patients and combat controls revealed reduced (left) hippocampal volume only in the persistent patients at both time points. Importantly, hippocampal volume did not change with treatment. Our findings suggest that a smaller (left) hippocampus is not the result of stress/trauma exposure. Furthermore, hippocampal volume does not increase with successful treatment. Instead, we demonstrate for the first time that a smaller (left) hippocampus constitutes a risk factor for the persistence of PTSD.

Marketing healthcare: lessons for smaller hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Chowdhary, N R

2000-02-01

Recently, I have noted ubiquitous trends that lead me to conclude that we are on the brink of a fundamental change in the structure of healthcare delivery. Hospitals are changing. The hospital, that enduring and pervasive organization, which for decades has delivered the vast majority of acute care services is being re-conceptualized. Administrators and executives in today's hospitals are beginning to recognize the disaffection of constituents and the necessity to change from placing their own agenda or that of their profession over the needs of the customer. A lesson that is increasingly being heeded, particularly by the leading hospitals, is that a belief in one's own importance or a feeling of invulnerability represents an anachronistic stance. No hospital today can afford to retain a view that it is more important than the patients it serves, or that it is invulnerable. The external pressures are already clear--the actors, factors and forces in the external environment are forcing hospitals to re-evaluate efficiency, effectiveness and delivery arrangements. The rise to prominence of the outcomes movement is part of this trend. The present study was an attempt to assess the practices and trends in the modern smaller hospitals as a part of their strategy to match the competitive pressures.

13 CFR 120.215 - What interest rates apply to smaller loans?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false What interest rates apply to... BUSINESS LOANS Policies Specific to 7(a) Loans Maturities; Interest Rates; Loan and Guarantee Amounts § 120.215 What interest rates apply to smaller loans? For a loan over $25,000 but not exceeding $50,000, the...

Weekday AOD smaller than weekend AOD in eastern China on the basis of the MODIS AOD product

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Jingjing; Xia, Xiangao; Zhang, Xiaoling; Che, Huizheng; Li, Xiaojing

2018-05-01

A weekly cycle of surface particulate matter (PM) characterized by smaller values during weekends and larger values during weekdays was reported in eastern China. Whether column-integrated aerosol optical depth (AOD) showed similar weekly cycling as that of PM was debated. The weekly variation of AOD in eastern China was further studied by using the latest MODIS aerosol product (collection 6) with a fine spatial resolution (0.1°) from 2002 to 2015. We used three statistical methods to determine whether the weekly cycle of AOD was significant. AOD during weekdays (Wednesday to Friday) was lower than that during weekends. The maximum and minimum AOD was generally observed on Monday and Wednesday, respectively. This weekly pattern of AOD was in good agreement with previous results based on satellite aerosol products with a coarse spatial resolution, but it was in contrast to that of PM. Further analysis of the AOD weekly variability in 19 provincial cities suggested that AOD during weekdays was smaller than that during weekends in urban regions. Potential causes for the different weekly cycle of PM and AOD in eastern China were discussed.

LUMBAR CORSETS CAN DECREASE LUMBAR MOTION IN GOLF SWING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Koji Hashimoto

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Swinging a golf club includes the rotation and extension of the lumbar spine. Golf-related low back pain has been associated with degeneration of the lumbar facet and intervertebral discs, and with spondylolysis. Reflective markers were placed directly onto the skin of 11young male amateur golfers without a previous history of back pain. Using a VICON system (Oxford Metrics, U.K., full golf swings were monitored without a corset (WOC, with a soft corset (SC, and with a hard corset (HC, with each subject taking 3 swings. Changes in the angle between the pelvis and the thorax (maximum range of motion and angular velocity in 3 dimensions (lumbar rotation, flexion-extension, and lateral tilt were analyzed, as was rotation of the hip joint. Peak changes in lumbar extension and rotation occurred just after impact with the ball. The extension angle of the lumbar spine at finish was significantly lower under SC (38° or HC (28° than under WOC (44° conditions (p < 0.05. The maximum angular velocity after impact was significantly smaller under HC (94°/sec than under SC (177°/sec and WOC (191° /sec conditions, as were the lumbar rotation angles at top and finish. In contrast, right hip rotation angles at top showed a compensatory increase under HC conditions. Wearing a lumbar corset while swinging a golf club can effectively decrease lumbar extension and rotation angles from impact until the end of the swing. These effects were significantly enhanced while wearing an HC

Smaller socioeconomic inequalities in health among women: the role of employment status

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stronks, K.; van de Mheen, H.; van den Bos, J.; Mackenbach, J. P.

1995-01-01

Socioeconomic inequalities in health are smaller among women than among men. In this paper, it is hypothesized that this is due to a gender difference in employment status. We used data from the baseline of a Dutch longitudinal study. The socioeconomic indicators were educational level of the

Decrease of CD4+ T lymphocytes in patients with H1N1 in early stage and its clinical significances

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zuo Lingyun; Zhao Wei; Zhao Hong; Yu Haiying; Sun Weiwei

2010-01-01

Objective: To observe the change of CD4 + T Lymphocytes in patients with H1N1 at early stage and figure out its clinical significances on the progress and therapeutic selection of H1N1. Methods: The absolute counts of T lymphocyte subset from the peripheral blood samples of 48 H1N1 patients in first ten days' duration were detected by flow cytometry, and the serial chest CT examinations were performed. Results: In all 48 clinical cases, 28 cases were in normal range of CD4 + lymphocyte absolute count, whose pulmonary lesions were limited and illness condition stayed in the stability, they didn't need steroid. In the other 20 cases with low level of CD4 + , 4 cases' illness presented the progressive development and needed to be treated with steroid and 16 cases with lightly decreased CD4 + level which had a stable condition without treatment with steroid. The result of Pearson correlation analysis showed that there were negative correlations between absolute count of CD4 + cells and pulmonary lesions (r=-0.299, P + cell absolute count of H1N1 patients at early stage indicates the worse condition of pulmonary lesions. The patients with remarkable decrease of CD4 + lymphocytes are in need of treatment with steroid. (authors)

Smaller Is More Personal, and the Personal Gets Results. The Editor Reflects.

Science.gov (United States)

Erb, Tom

2001-01-01

Summarizes growing body of evidence relating small school size at elementary and middle grades to positive student outcomes. Notes that positive outcomes associated with small size relate to teacher commitment and effectiveness as well as student attachment, persistence, and performance. Concludes that smaller, more intimate schools are better…

Evaluating significance in linear mixed-effects models in R.

Science.gov (United States)

Luke, Steven G

2017-08-01

Mixed-effects models are being used ever more frequently in the analysis of experimental data. However, in the lme4 package in R the standards for evaluating significance of fixed effects in these models (i.e., obtaining p-values) are somewhat vague. There are good reasons for this, but as researchers who are using these models are required in many cases to report p-values, some method for evaluating the significance of the model output is needed. This paper reports the results of simulations showing that the two most common methods for evaluating significance, using likelihood ratio tests and applying the z distribution to the Wald t values from the model output (t-as-z), are somewhat anti-conservative, especially for smaller sample sizes. Other methods for evaluating significance, including parametric bootstrapping and the Kenward-Roger and Satterthwaite approximations for degrees of freedom, were also evaluated. The results of these simulations suggest that Type 1 error rates are closest to .05 when models are fitted using REML and p-values are derived using the Kenward-Roger or Satterthwaite approximations, as these approximations both produced acceptable Type 1 error rates even for smaller samples.

Decrease in TSH Receptor Autoantibodies during Antithyroid Treatment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Niels Juel; Habekost, Gurli; Bratholm, Palle

2011-01-01

that TRAb decrease significantly during treatment with antithyroid drugs. This decrease during treatment cannot be explained by Heg RNA, which remains unchanged. Cdk1 mRNA decreased significantly during treatment to values below values obtained in normal subjects. Thus both Heg RNA and Cdk1 mRNA may...

IRIS: A Comprehensive Approach to Implementing Nuclear Power in Countries with Smaller Electric Grids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petrovic, B.; Carelli, M. D.; Sandell, L.; Storrick, G. D.; Cavlina, N.

2008-01-01

Many emerging markets and smaller size countries are considering the nuclear option and the deployment of their first nuclear reactor(s). However, some of their requirements and available infrastructure are quite different from those of larger countries currently employing nuclear power. Specific considerations might include: a small size electrical grid, in some cases on the order of a few GWe; limited financial resources; no nuclear experience; inadequate availability of necessary material and people infrastructure. Large nuclear power plants of 1000 MWe or greater do not provide best fit. The IRIS (International Reactor Innovative and Secure) reactor, under development by an international team of eighteen organizations from nine countries led by Westinghouse specifically addresses these needs. IRIS is an advanced PWR with integral configuration that yields a simple design with enhanced safety. The IRIS size is 335 MWe and may be deployed in single or multiple modules. It can fit almost any grid, or a small utility within a larger grid; moreover, it allows incremental power additions as needed. The capital outlay is of the order of hundreds of millions rather than a few billions dollars. Successive construction and operation of multiple modules significantly reduces the required capital resources and capital at risk with generation income from earlier plants offsetting the construction outlays of subsequent ones. This is highly desirable in both developed and emerging markets, but it may be of critical importance to the latter. IRIS safety characteristics allow for licensing with a significantly reduced size of emergency zone, a critical feature for small countries and when cogeneration is desired. In fact, IRIS is designed to produce steam for district heating, water desalination and bio-fuel generation in addition to electricity. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced in February 2008 its intention to contribute to funding the licensing of a 'Grid

Plant Proteins Are Smaller Because They Are Encoded by Fewer Exons than Animal Proteins.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramírez-Sánchez, Obed; Pérez-Rodríguez, Paulino; Delaye, Luis; Tiessen, Axel

2016-12-01

Protein size is an important biochemical feature since longer proteins can harbor more domains and therefore can display more biological functionalities than shorter proteins. We found remarkable differences in protein length, exon structure, and domain count among different phylogenetic lineages. While eukaryotic proteins have an average size of 472 amino acid residues (aa), average protein sizes in plant genomes are smaller than those of animals and fungi. Proteins unique to plants are ∼81aa shorter than plant proteins conserved among other eukaryotic lineages. The smaller average size of plant proteins could neither be explained by endosymbiosis nor subcellular compartmentation nor exon size, but rather due to exon number. Metazoan proteins are encoded on average by ∼10 exons of small size [∼176 nucleotides (nt)]. Streptophyta have on average only ∼5.7 exons of medium size (∼230nt). Multicellular species code for large proteins by increasing the exon number, while most unicellular organisms employ rather larger exons (>400nt). Among subcellular compartments, membrane proteins are the largest (∼520aa), whereas the smallest proteins correspond to the gene ontology group of ribosome (∼240aa). Plant genes are encoded by half the number of exons and also contain fewer domains than animal proteins on average. Interestingly, endosymbiotic proteins that migrated to the plant nucleus became larger than their cyanobacterial orthologs. We thus conclude that plants have proteins larger than bacteria but smaller than animals or fungi. Compared to the average of eukaryotic species, plants have ∼34% more but ∼20% smaller proteins. This suggests that photosynthetic organisms are unique and deserve therefore special attention with regard to the evolutionary forces acting on their genomes and proteomes. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Plant Proteins Are Smaller Because They Are Encoded by Fewer Exons than Animal Proteins

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Obed Ramírez-Sánchez

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Protein size is an important biochemical feature since longer proteins can harbor more domains and therefore can display more biological functionalities than shorter proteins. We found remarkable differences in protein length, exon structure, and domain count among different phylogenetic lineages. While eukaryotic proteins have an average size of 472 amino acid residues (aa, average protein sizes in plant genomes are smaller than those of animals and fungi. Proteins unique to plants are ∼81 aa shorter than plant proteins conserved among other eukaryotic lineages. The smaller average size of plant proteins could neither be explained by endosymbiosis nor subcellular compartmentation nor exon size, but rather due to exon number. Metazoan proteins are encoded on average by ∼10 exons of small size [∼176 nucleotides (nt]. Streptophyta have on average only ∼5.7 exons of medium size (∼230 nt. Multicellular species code for large proteins by increasing the exon number, while most unicellular organisms employ rather larger exons (>400 nt. Among subcellular compartments, membrane proteins are the largest (∼520 aa, whereas the smallest proteins correspond to the gene ontology group of ribosome (∼240 aa. Plant genes are encoded by half the number of exons and also contain fewer domains than animal proteins on average. Interestingly, endosymbiotic proteins that migrated to the plant nucleus became larger than their cyanobacterial orthologs. We thus conclude that plants have proteins larger than bacteria but smaller than animals or fungi. Compared to the average of eukaryotic species, plants have ∼34% more but ∼20% smaller proteins. This suggests that photosynthetic organisms are unique and deserve therefore special attention with regard to the evolutionary forces acting on their genomes and proteomes.

Order of Magnitude Smaller Limit on the Electron's Electron Dipole Moment

Science.gov (United States)

Gabrielse, Gerald

2014-05-01

Proposed extensions to the Standard Model of particle physics typically predict that the electron would naturally have a small but potentially measurable electric dipole moment (EDM). The Standard Model, known to be incomplete, instead predicts that the electron EDM is much too small to measure. The ACME collaboration used the enormous electric field that electrons experience within a ThO molecule, the unique structure of this molecule, and a cryogenic buffer gas beam of molecules to search for an electron EDM. The new search was sensitive enough to detect an EDM that is ten times smaller than the previously measured upper limit - well within the range of predictions from various proposed extensions to the Standard Model. We did not detect such an EDM, however. Instead, we set a new upper limit on the electron EDM at a 90% confidence limit, | de | < 8 . 7 × 10-29 , making use of the effective electric field calculated for ThO. The new limit stringently constrains the parameters of proposed extensions to the Standard Model to values that predict an electron EDM smaller than the new limit. The TeV energy scale being probed is comparable to that being investigated at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Supported by the AMO program of the NSF.

Evidence for smaller right amygdala volumes in posttraumatic stress disorder following childhood trauma

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Veer, I.M.; Oei, N.Y.L.; van Buchem, M.A.; Spinhoven, Ph.; Elzinga, B.M.; Rombouts, S.A.R.B.

2015-01-01

Hippocampus and amygdala volumes in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to childhood trauma are relatively understudied, albeit the potential importance to the disorder. Whereas some studies reported smaller hippocampal volumes, little evidence was found for abnormal amygdala volumes. Here

Wake flow behaviour behind a smaller cylinder oscillating in the wake of an upstream stationary cylinder

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gao, Yangyang; Sun, Zhilin [Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058 (China); Tan, Danielle S [Maritime Research Centre, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798 (Singapore); Yu, Dingyong [College of Engineering, Ocean University of China, 266100 (China); Tan, Soon Keat, E-mail: yygao@zju.edu.cn [Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798 (Singapore)

2014-04-01

The flow patterns around a cylinder oscillating freely in the wake of a larger cylinder upstream were investigated using the particle image velocimetry technique. The upstream cylinder was fixed at both ends while the downstream smaller cylinder was held by springs such that it was free to oscillate in the transverse direction. The flow patterns, amplitudes of oscillation and vortex shedding frequencies were compared with those of a single cylinder. In the presence of the upstream cylinder, the three parameters characterizing the oscillation response of the smaller cylinder—amplitude of oscillation, vortex shedding frequency and Reynolds stresses—were greatly reduced. While their magnitude increased with gap ratio, these three parameters were still smaller than the corresponding magnitudes for a single oscillating cylinder. The peak values of turbulence statistics such as Reynolds shear stress and normal stress behind the oscillating downstream cylinder were similarly reduced, and increased with gap ratios. (paper)

Introduced organisms pose the most significant threat to the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

spamer

Introduced organisms pose the most significant threat to the conservation status of oceanic islands (e.g.. Williamson 1996). Subantarctic Prince Edward Island, the smaller of the two islands in the Prince Edward. Island group, has few introduced organisms; it is cur- rently known to support only three introduced animals.

Socio-emotionally Significant Experience and Children’s Processing of Irrelevant Auditory Stimuli

Science.gov (United States)

Schermerhorn, Alice C.; Bates, John E.; Puce, Aina; Molfese, Dennis L.

2017-01-01

Theory and research indicate considerable influence of socio-emotionally significant experiences on children’s functioning and adaptation. In the current study, we examined neurophysiological correlates of children’s allocation of information processing resources to socio-emotionally significant events, specifically, simulated marital interactions. We presented 9- to 11-year-old children (n = 24; 11 females) with 15 videos of interactions between two actors posing as a married couple. Task-irrelevant brief auditory probes were presented during the videos, and event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited to the auditory probes were measured. As hypothesized, exposure to higher levels of interparental conflict was associated with smaller P1, P2, and N2 ERPs to the probes. This finding is consistent with the idea that children who had been exposed to more interparental conflict attended more to the videos and diverted fewer cognitive resources to processing the probes, thereby producing smaller ERPs to the probes. In addition, smaller N2s were associated with more child behavior problems, suggesting that allocating fewer processing resources to the probes was associated with more problem behavior. Results are discussed in terms of implications of socio-emotionally significant experiences for children’s processing of interpersonal interactions. PMID:27993611

Smaller genitals at school age in boys whose mothers were exposed to non-persistent pesticides in early pregnancy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Veje, Christine Wohlfahrt; Andersen, H R; Jensen, Tina Kold

2012-01-01

. The effects were associated with the maternal exposure levels, so that high-exposed boys had smaller genitals than medium-exposed boys, who had smaller genitals than those who were unexposed. Boys of mothers in the high exposure group (n = 23) had 24.7% smaller testes (95% CI: -62.2; -10.1) and 9.4% shorter...... penile length (95% CI: -16.8; -1.1) compared with the unexposed. The testicular volume and penile length at school age could be tracked to measures from the same boys made at 3 months, e.g. those that had small testes at school age also had small testes at 3 months. Pituitary and testicular hormone serum...

Knowledge acquisition for the internationalization of the smaller firm:Content and sources

OpenAIRE

Harris, Simon; Fletcher, Margaret

2012-01-01

Internationalization process research emphasizes accumulated experience and networks as sources of knowledge for internationalization. Our understanding, however, as to what this knowledge is in practice for smaller firms, the challenges they face in acquiring it, and how they address those challenges is limited. Integrating organizational learning concepts with our theoretical understanding of the small firm internationalization process, we develop a new framework for understanding knowledge...

Detection of smaller Jc region and damage in YBCO coated conductors by using permanent magnet method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hattori, K.; Saito, A.; Takano, Y.; Suzuki, T.; Yamada, H.; Takayama, T.; Kamitani, A.; Ohshima, S.

2011-01-01

We developed a non-destructive method for measuring the critical current density (J c ) in YBCO-coated conductors by using a permanent magnet (Sm 2 Co 17 ). J c could be determined from the repulsive force (F r ) generated between a permanent magnet and a coated conductor where shielding current flows. We also examined the influence of damage to the film on the J c distribution. The measured F r when the permanent magnet approached the cut part was smaller than that of the undamaged area. We developed a non-destructive method for measuring the critical current density (J c ) in YBCO-coated conductors by using a permanent magnet (Sm 2 Co 17 ). J c could be determined from the repulsive force (F r ) generated between a permanent magnet and a coated conductor where shielding current flows. We tried to detect a smaller J c region in the coated conductor by using the system. The J c distribution could be determined without influence from the thick copper film on YBCO thin film. We also examined the influence of damage to the film on the J c distribution. The surface of the coated conductors was cut by using a knife. The measured F r when the permanent magnet approached the cut part was smaller than that of the undamaged area. This J c measurement technique will be useful for detecting smaller J c regions and defects in coated conductors.

Comparison of flexible ureterorenoscopy and mini-percutaneous nephrolithotomy in treatment of lower calyceal stones smaller than 2 cm.

Science.gov (United States)

Akbulut, Fatih; Kucuktopcu, Onur; Kandemir, Emre; Sonmezay, Erkan; Simsek, Abdulmuttalip; Ozgor, Faruk; Binbay, Murat; Muslumanoglu, Ahmet Yaser; Gurbuz, Gokhan

2016-01-01

To compare the outcomes of flexible ureterorenoscopy (F-URS) and mini-percutaneous nephrolithotomy (mini-PNL) in the treatment of lower calyceal stones smaller than 2 cm. Patients who underwent F-URS and mini-PNL for the treatment of lower calyceal stones smaller than 2 cm between March 2009 and December 2014 were retrospectively evaluated. Ninety-four patients were divided into two groups by treatment modality: F-URS (Group 1: 63 patients) and mini-PNL (Group 2: 31 patients). All patients were preoperatively diagnosed with intravenous pyelography or computed tomography. Success rates for F-URS and mini-PNL at postoperative first month were 85.7% and 90.3%, respectively. Operation time, fluoroscopy time, and hospitalization time for F-URS and mini-PNL patients were 44.40 min, 2.9 min, 22.4 h, and 91.9 min, 6.4 min, and 63.8 h, respectively. All three parameters were significantly shorter among the F-URS group (p PNL group (0.39 mg/dL vs. 1.15 mg/dL, p = 0.001). A comparison of complications according to the Clavien classification demonstrated significant differences between the groups (p = 0.001). More patients in the F-URS groups require antibiotics due to urinary tract infection, and more patients in the mini-PNL group required ureteral double J catheter insertion under general anesthesia. Although both F-URS and mini-PNL have similar success rates for the treatment of lower calyceal stones, F-URS appears to be more favorable due to shorter fluoroscopy and hospitalization times; and lower hemoglobin drops. Multicenter and studies using higher patient volumes are needed to confirm these findings.

What Research Tells Us about the Impact and Challenges of Smaller Learning Communities

Science.gov (United States)

Levine, Thomas H.

2010-01-01

In the United States, considerable financial and human resources have been devoted to breaking some large high schools into smaller learning communities (SLCs). This article reviews research that compares SLCs to comprehensive high schools on a variety of measures. Extant research neither supports nor refutes the promise of SLCs to improve…

Benazepril hydrochloride improves diabetic nephropathy and decreases proteinuria by decreasing ANGPTL-4 expression.

Science.gov (United States)

Xue, Lingyu; Feng, Xiaoqing; Wang, Chuanhai; Zhang, Xuebin; Sun, Wenqiang; Yu, Kebo

2017-10-04

This study aimed to investigate the effects of benazepril hydrochloride (BH) on proteinuria and ANGPTL-4 expression in a diabetic nephropathy (DN) rat model. A total of 72 Wistar male rats were randomly divided into three groups: normal control (NC), DN group and BH treatment (BH) groups. The DN model was induced by streptozotocin (STZ). Weight, glucose, proteinuria, biochemical indicators and the kidney weight index were examined at 8, 12 and 16 weeks. In addition, ANGPTL-4 protein and mRNA expressions were assessed by immunohistochemistry and qRT-PCR, respectively. Relationships between ANGPTL-4 and biochemical indicators were investigated using Spearman analysis. Weight was significantly lower but glucose levels were significantly higher in both the DN and BH groups than in the NC group (P Benazepril hydrochloride improves DN and decreases proteinuria by decreasing ANGPTL-4 expression.

The expression of selenium-binding protein 1 is decreased in uterine leiomyoma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Quddus M Ruhul

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Selenium has been shown to inhibit cancer development and growth through the mediation of selenium-binding proteins. Decreased expression of selenium-binding protein 1 has been reported in cancers of the prostate, stomach, colon, and lungs. No information, however, is available concerning the roles of selenium-binding protein 1 in uterine leiomyoma. Methods Using Western Blot analysis and immunohistochemistry, we examined the expression of selenium-binding protein 1 in uterine leiomyoma and normal myometrium in 20 patients who had undergone hysterectomy for uterine leiomyoma. Results and Discussion The patient age ranged from 34 to 58 years with a mean of 44.3 years. Proliferative endometrium was seen in 8 patients, secretory endometrium in 7 patients, and atrophic endometrium in 5 patients. Two patients showed solitary leiomyoma, and eighteen patients revealed 2 to 5 tumors. Tumor size ranged from 1 to 15.5 cm with a mean of 4.3 cm. Both Western Blot analysis and immunohistochemistry showed a significant lower level of selenium-binding protein 1 in leiomyoma than in normal myometrium. Larger tumors had a tendency to show a lower level of selenium-binding protein 1 than smaller ones, but the difference did not reach a statistical significance. The expression of selenium-binding protein 1 was the same among patients with proliferative, secretory, and atrophic endometrium in either leiomyoma or normal myometrium. Also, we did not find a difference of selenium-binding protein 1 level between patients younger than 45 years and older patients in either leiomyoma or normal myometrium. Conclusions Decreased expression of selenium-binding protein 1 in uterine leiomyoma may indicate a role of the protein in tumorigenesis. Our findings may provide a basis for future studies concerning the molecular mechanisms of selenium-binding protein 1 in tumorigenesis as well as the possible use of selenium in prevention and treatment of uterine

High proportion of smaller ranged hummingbird species coincides with ecological specialization across the Americas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sonne, Jesper; Martín González, Ana M.; Maruyama, Pietro K.

2016-01-01

Ecological communities that experience stable climate conditions have been speculated to preserve more specialized interspecific associations and have higher proportions of smaller ranged species (SRS). Thus, areas with disproportionally large numbers of SRS are expected to coincide geographicall...

Effects of a lighter, smaller football on Acute match injuries in adolescent female football

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zebis, Mette K.; Thorborg, Kristian; Andersen, Lars L.

2018-01-01

BACKGROUND: The high injury incidence during match-play in female adolescent football is a major concern. In football, males and females play matches with the same football size. No studies have investigated the effect of football size on injury incidence in female adolescent football. Thus......, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of introducing a lighter, smaller football on the injury pattern in female adolescent football. METHODS We conducted a pilot cluster randomized controlled trial including 26 football teams representing 346 adolescent female football players (age...... 15-18 years). The teams were randomized to a new lighter, smaller football (INT, N.=12 teams) or a traditional FIFA size 5 football (CON, N.=14 teams) during a full match-season. Acute time-loss injuries and football-exposure during match-play were reported weekly by text-message questions...

Usefulness of CT-guided automatic needle biopsy of solitary pulmonary nodule smaller than 15 mm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jin, Gong Yong; Lim, Yeong Su

2004-01-01

To evaluate the usefulness of the CT-guided percutaneous lung biopsy for the solitary pulmonary nodules smaller than 15 mm in diameter. Between April 2002 and May 2003, we evaluated twenty-five patients (11 men, 14 women, mean ages: 52.5 years) who had solitary pulmonary nodules, which we could not discriminate as being benign or malignant on the CT findings. All the subjects had CT-guided percutaenous cutting needle biopsy (PCNB) performed on them at our institution. A definitive diagnosis of benignity or malignancy was established to retrospectively analyze the patient's records. We evaluated the accuracy, sensitivity, specificity and complications of PCNB for the definitive diagnosis of benignity or malignancy. The sensitivity and specificity of PCNB were determined using the Chi-square test, and the correlations with pneumothorax and emphysema after biopsy were analyzed using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. In two nodules of the twenty-five nodules, no definitive diagnosis could be established. Of the remaining twenty-three nodules, 7 (30.4%) were malignant and 16 (69.6%) were benign. Twenty (87%) of the twenty-three definitively diagnosed nodules were correctly diagnosed with PCNB. Of the twenty nodules, 6 (30%) were malignant and 14 (70%) were benign. The sensitivity and specificity of the malignant nodules were 85.7% (6/7) and 100% (16/16), respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the benign nodules were 87.5% (14/16) and 85.7% (6/7), respectively. Post-biopsy complication occurred in nine patients (36%): Hemoptysis (n=4, 16%) and pneumothorax (n=5, 20%). However, there was not a statistical significance between pneumothorax and emphysema after biopsy (r=0.3, p=0.15). When CT-guided percutaneous lung biopsy of the solitary pulmonary nodules smaller than 15 mm in diameter was performed without an on-site cytopathologist, we know that PCNB can yield high diagnostic accuracy and very few complications

A nerve stimulation method to selectively recruit smaller motor-units in rat skeletal muscle

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Bolhuis, A.I.; Holsheimer, J.; Savelsberg, H.H.C.M.

2001-01-01

Electrical stimulation of peripheral nerve results in a motor-unit recruitment order opposite to that attained by natural neural control, i.e. from large, fast-fatiguing to progressively smaller, fatigue-resistant motor-units. Yet animal studies involving physiological exercise protocols of low

Significance of size dependent and material structure coupling on the characteristics and performance of nanocrystalline micro/nano gyroscopes

Science.gov (United States)

Larkin, K.; Ghommem, M.; Abdelkefi, A.

2018-05-01

Capacitive-based sensing microelectromechanical (MEMS) and nanoelectromechanical (NEMS) gyroscopes have significant advantages over conventional gyroscopes, such as low power consumption, batch fabrication, and possible integration with electronic circuits. However, inadequacies in the modeling of these inertial sensors have presented issues of reliability and functionality of micro-/nano-scale gyroscopes. In this work, a micromechanical model is developed to represent the unique microstructure of nanocrystalline materials and simulate the response of micro-/nano-gyroscope comprising an electrostatically-actuated cantilever beam with a tip mass at the free end. Couple stress and surface elasticity theories are integrated into the classical Euler-Bernoulli beam model in order to derive a size-dependent model. This model is then used to investigate the influence of size-dependent effects on the static pull-in instability, the natural frequencies and the performance output of gyroscopes as the scale decreases from micro-to nano-scale. The simulation results show significant changes in the static pull-in voltage and the natural frequency as the scale of the system is decreased. However, the differential frequency between the two vibration modes of the gyroscope is observed to drastically decrease as the size of the gyroscope is reduced. As such, the frequency-based operation mode may not be an efficient strategy for nano-gyroscopes. The results show that a strong coupling between the surface elasticity and material structure takes place when smaller grain sizes and higher void percentages are considered.

Interspecific correlates of plasticity in relative growth rate following a decrease in nitrogen availability.

Science.gov (United States)

Useche, Antonio; Shipley, Bill

2010-02-01

Nitrogen availability varies greatly over short time scales. This requires that a well-adapted plant modify its phenotype by an appropriate amount and at a certain speed in order to maximize growth and fitness. To determine how plastic ontogenetic changes in each trait interact and whether or not these changes are likely to maximize growth, ontogenetic changes in relative growth rate (RGR), net assimilation rate (NAR), specific leaf area (SLA) and root weight ratio (RWR), before and after a decrease in nitrogen supply, were studied in 14 herbaceous species. Forty-four plants of each species were grown in hydroponic culture under controlled conditions in a control treatment where the supply of nitrogen remained constant at 1 mm, and in a stress treatment where the nitrogen supply was abruptly decreased from 1 to 0.01 mm during the growth period. In the treatment series, and in comparison with the control, NAR and RGR decreased, RWR increased, and SLA did not change except for the timing of ontogenetic change. Species having greater increases in the maximum rate of change in RWR also had smaller reductions in RGR; plasticity in RWR is therefore adaptive. In contrast, species which showed a greater decrease in NAR showed stronger reductions in RGR; plasticity in NAR is therefore not adaptive. Plasticity in RGR was not related to plasticity in SLA. There were no significant relationships among the plasticities in NAR, RWR or SLA. Potentially fast-growing species experienced larger reductions in RGR following the nitrogen reduction. These results suggest that competitive responses to interspecific competition for nitrogen might be positively correlated with the plasticity in the maximum rate of change in RWR in response to a reduction in nitrogen supply.

Comparison of retrograde intrarenal surgery and mini-percutaneous nephrolithotomy in management of lower-pole renal stones with a diameter of smaller than 15 mm.

Science.gov (United States)

Kirac, Mustafa; Bozkurt, Ömer Faruk; Tunc, Lutfi; Guneri, Cagri; Unsal, Ali; Biri, Hasan

2013-06-01

The aim of this study was to compare the outcomes of retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS) and miniaturized percutaneous nephrolithotomy (mini-PNL) in management of lower-pole renal stones with a diameter smaller than 15 mm. Between December 2009 and July 2012, the patients with the diagnosis of lower-pole stones were evaluated by ultrasonography, intravenous pyelography and computed tomography. The records of 73 evaluable patients who underwent mini-PNL (n = 37) or RIRS (n = 36) for lower-pole (LP) stones with diameter smaller than 15 mm were reviewed retrospectively. Of the 73 patients, 37 underwent mini-PNL and 36 underwent RIRS. The stone-free rates were 89.1 and 88.8 % for mini-PNL and RIRS groups, respectively. The mean operation time was 53.7 ± 14.5 in the mini-PNL group but 66.4 ± 15.8 in the RIRS group (P = 0.01). The mean fluoroscopy times and hospitalization times were significantly higher in the mini-PNL group. There was no major complication in any patient. RIRS and mini-PNL are safe and effective methods for treatment of LP calculi with a diameter smaller than 15 mm. RIRS is a non-invasive and feasible treatment option, and has also short hospitalization time, low morbidity and complication rate. It may be an alternative of mini-PNL in the treatment LP calculi with smaller than 15 mm.

Phosphocreatine recovery overshoot after high intensity exercise in human skeletal muscle is associated with extensive muscle acidification and a significant decrease in phosphorylation potential.

Science.gov (United States)

Zoladz, Jerzy A; Korzeniewski, Bernard; Kulinowski, Piotr; Zapart-Bukowska, Justyna; Majerczak, Joanna; Jasiński, Andrzej

2010-09-01

The phosphocreatine (PCr) recovery overshoot in skeletal muscle is a transient increase of PCr concentration above the resting level after termination of exercise. In the present study [PCr], [ATP], [P(i)] and pH were measured in calf muscle during rest, during plantar flexion exercise until exhaustion and recovery, using the (31)P NMR spectroscopy. A significantly greater acidification of muscle cells and significantly lower phosphorylation potential (DeltaG (ATP)) at the end of exercise was encountered in the group of subjects that evidenced the [PCr] overshoot as well as [ADP] and [P(i)] undershoots than in the group that did not. We postulate that the role of the PCr overshoot-related transiently elevated [ATP]/[ADP(free)] ratio is to activate different processes (including protein synthesis) that participate in repairing numerous damages of the muscle cells caused by intensive exercise-induced stressing factors, such as extensive muscle acidification, a significant decrease in DeltaG (ATP), an elevated level of reactive oxygen species or mechanical disturbances.

Effects of a lighter, smaller football on acute match injuries in adolescent female football: a pilot cluster-randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Zebis, Mette K; Thorborg, Kristian; Andersen, Lars L; Møller, Merete; Christensen, Karl B; Clausen, Mikkel B; Hölmich, Per; Wedderkopp, Niels; Andersen, Thomas B; Krustrup, Peter

2018-05-01

The high injury incidence during match-play in female adolescent football is a major concern. In football, males and females play matches with the same football size. No studies have investigated the effect of football size on injury incidence in female adolescent football. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of introducing a lighter, smaller football on the injury pattern in female adolescent football. We conducted a pilot cluster randomized controlled trial including 26 football teams representing 346 adolescent female football players (age 15-18 years). The teams were randomized to a new lighter, smaller football (INT, N.=12 teams) or a traditional FIFA size 5 football (CON, N.=14 teams) during a full match-season. Acute time-loss injuries and football-exposure during match-play were reported weekly by text-message questions and verified subsequently by telephone interview. In total, 46 acute time-loss injuries were registered (5 severe injuries), yielding an incidence rate of 15.2 injuries per 1000 hours of match-play (95% CI: 8.5-27.2) in INT and 18.6 injuries per 1000 hours of match-play (95% CI: 14.0-24.8) in CON. The estimated 22% greater injury incidence rate risk (IRR: 1.22 [95% CI: 0.64-2.35]) in the CON group was not significant. With an IRR of 1.22, a future RCT main study would need to observe 793 acute time-loss injuries during match-play, in order to have a power of 80%. A large-scaled RCT is required to definitively test for beneficial or harmful effects of a lighter, smaller football in adolescent female football.

Clinical significance of the radioimmunological determination of C-peptide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dudczak, R.; Waldhaeusl, W.

1979-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of metabolic control to insulinogenic reserve in insulin-dependent diabetics. Thus, the secretory reserve of the pancreatic beta cell was estimated in insulin-dependent diabetics by measuring changes in peripheral serum immunoreactive C-peptide (IRCP) concentrations in response to intravenous arginine (n = 19; 0.5 g/kg,t = 30 min) or glibenclamide-glucose (n = 6; 2 mg HB 419 - 0.33 g/kg intravenously). In the majority of ''stable'' diabetics a small secretory reserve of the beta cell was demonstrated, but both the absolute and relative increase in IRCP was reduced after intravenous arginine or glibenclamide-glucose in comparison with normal controls. In ''unstable'' diabetics a decreased basal concentration of IRCP, significantly smaller than that seen in ''stable'' diabetics (p < 0.01), was accompanied by a complete lack of IRCP release on intravenous arginine administration. Thus, we conclude that the radioimmunological determination of IRCP is of clinical interest in assessing the residual secretory capacity of the beta cell in insulin-dependent diabetics. In revealing a lack of insulin this diagnostic tool seems to detect a group of potentially ''unstable'' diabetics in need of strict observation, which would minimize the risks of bad metabolic control. (author)

Clinical significance of the radioimmunological determination of C-peptide

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dudczak, R; Waldhaeusl, W [Vienna Univ. (Austria). 1. Medizinische Klinik

1979-10-12

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of metabolic control to insulinogenic reserve in insulin-dependent diabetics. Thus, the secretory reserve of the pancreatic beta cell was estimated in insulin-dependent diabetics by measuring changes in peripheral serum immunoreactive C-peptide (IRCP) concentrations in response to intravenous arginine (n = 19; 0.5 g/kg,t = 30 min) or glibenclamide-glucose (n = 6; 2 mg HB 419 - 0.33 g/kg intravenously). In the majority of stable diabetics a small secretory reserve of the beta cell was demonstrated, but both the absolute and relative increase in IRCP was reduced after intravenous arginine or glibenclamide-glucose in comparison with normal controls. In unstable diabetics a decreased basal concentration of IRCP, significantly smaller than that seen in stable diabetics (p < 0.01), was accompanied by a complete lack of IRCP release on intravenous arginine administration. Thus, we conclude that the radioimmunological determination of IRCP is of clinical interest in assessing the residual secretory capacity of the beta cell in insulin-dependent diabetics. In revealing a lack of insulin this diagnostic tool seems to detect a group of potentially unstable diabetics in need of strict observation, which would minimize the risks of bad metabolic control.

Trends and patterns in contemporary management in smaller companies: The Danish perspective

OpenAIRE

Ulhøi, John Parm; Madsen, Henning

2001-01-01

This paper reports empirical findings from a recent survey of Danish managers with a special focus on managers from smaller companies. The survey has been initiated in Denmark and it is called the 'Danish Management Barometer'. The project is a joint research program between the Aarhus School of Business and the Danish Association of Managers and Executives. It is based on a structured, pre-tested questionnaire send out to 1500 pre-notified managers in Denmark aiming at establishing a...

The decrease in yield strength in NiAl due to hydrostatic pressure

Science.gov (United States)

Margevicius, R. W.; Lewandowski, J. J.; Locci, I.

1992-01-01

The decrease in yield strength in NiAl due to hydrostatic pressure is examined via a comparison of the tensile flow behavior in the low strain regime at 0.1 MPa for NiAl which was cast, extruded, and annealed for 2 hr at 827 C in argon and very slowly cooled to room temperature. Pressurization to 1.4 GPa produces a subsequent reduction at 0.1 MP in proportional limit by 40 percent as well as a 25-percent reduction in the 0.2-percent offset yield strength, while pressurization with lower pressures produces a similar reduction, although smaller in magnitude.

Dietary Differences in Male Workers among Smaller Occupational Groups within Large Occupational Categories: Findings from the Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS).

Science.gov (United States)

Tanaka, Rie; Tsuji, Mayumi; Senju, Ayako; Kusuhara, Koichi; Kawamoto, Toshihiro

2018-05-11

Studies examining workers' diet according to smaller occupational groups within "large occupational categories" are sparse. The aim of this study was to examine the potential differences in workers' diets based on the classification of workers into smaller occupational groups that comprise "large occupational categories". The subjects of this study were working fathers who had participated in the Japan Environment and Children's Study (N = 38,656). Energy and nutrient intake were calculated based on data collected from the Food Frequency Questionnaire. Occupations were classified according to the Japanese Standard Occupational Classification. Logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the adherence to current dietary recommendations within smaller occupational groups. In particular, significant differences were observed among the categorical groups of "professional and engineering workers", "service workers", and "agricultural, forestry, and fishery workers". In "professional and engineering workers", teachers showed higher odds of adherence to calcium intake recommendations compared with nurses (OR, 2.54; 95% CI, 2.02⁻3.14; p < 0.001). In "agricultural, forestry, and fishery workers", agriculture workers showed higher odds of adherence to calcium (OR, 2.15; 95% CI, 1.46⁻3.15; p < 0.001) and vitamin C (OR 1.90, 95% CI 1.31⁻2.74, p = 0.001) intake recommendations compared with forestry and fishery workers. These findings may be beneficial from a research perspective as well as in the development of more effective techniques to improve workers' diet and health.

Significant decrease of saturation index in erythrocytes membrane from subjects with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Science.gov (United States)

Notarnicola, Maria; Caruso, Maria Gabriella; Tutino, Valeria; Bonfiglio, Caterina; Cozzolongo, Raffaele; Giannuzzi, Vito; De Nunzio, Valentina; De Leonardis, Giampiero; Abbrescia, Daniela I; Franco, Isabella; Intini, Vincenza; Mirizzi, Antonella; Osella, Alberto R

2017-08-23

The lipidomic profiling of erythrocyte membranes is expected to provide a peculiar scenario at molecular level of metabolic and nutritional pathways which may influence the lipid balance and the adaptation and homeostasis of the organism. Considering that lipid accumulation in the cell is important in promoting tissue inflammation, the purpose of this study is to analyze the fatty acid profile in red blood cell membranes of patients with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), in order to identify and validate membrane profiles possibly associated with the degree of hepatic damage. This work presents data obtained at baseline from 101 subjects that participated to a nutritional trial (registration number: NCT02347696) enrolling consecutive subjects with NAFLD. Diagnosis of liver steatosis was performed by using vibration-controlled elastography implemented on FibroScan. Fatty acids, extracted from phospholipids of erythrocyte membranes, were quantified by gas chromatography method. The subjects with severe NAFLD showed a significant decrease of the ratio of stearic acid to oleic acid (saturation index, SI) compared to controls, 1.281 ± 0.31 vs 1.5 ± 0.29, respectively. Low levels of SI in red blood cell membranes, inversely associated with degree of liver damage, suggest that an impairment of circulating cell membrane structure can reflect modifications that take place in the liver. Subjects with severe NAFLDalso showed higher levels of elongase 5 enzymatic activity, evaluated as vaccenic acid to palmitoleic acid ratio. Starting from these evidences, our findings show the importance of lipidomic approach in the diagnosis and the staging of NAFLD.

Two Inexpensive and Non-destructive Techniques to Correct for Smaller-Than-Gasket Leaf Area in Gas Exchange Measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreas M. Savvides

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The development of technology, like the widely-used off-the-shelf portable photosynthesis systems, for the quantification of leaf gas exchange rates and chlorophyll fluorescence offered photosynthesis research a massive boost. Gas exchange parameters in such photosynthesis systems are calculated as gas exchange rates per unit leaf area. In small chambers (<10 cm2, the leaf area used by the system for these calculations is actually the internal gasket area (AG, provided that the leaf covers the entire AG. In this study, we present two inexpensive and non-destructive techniques that can be used to easily quantify the enclosed leaf area (AL of plant species with leaves of surface area much smaller than the AG, such as that of cereal crops. The AL of the cereal crop species studied has been measured using a standard image-based approach (iAL and estimated using a leaf width-based approach (wAL. iAL and wAL did not show any significant differences between them in maize, barley, hard and soft wheat. Similar results were obtained when the wAL was tested in comparison with iAL in different positions along the leaf in all species studied. The quantification of AL and the subsequent correction of leaf gas exchange parameters for AL provided a precise quantification of net photosynthesis and stomatal conductance especially with decreasing AL. This study provides two practical, inexpensive and non-destructive solutions to researchers dealing with photosynthesis measurements on small-leaf plant species. The image-based technique can be widely used for quantifying AL in many plant species despite their leaf shape. The leaf width-based technique can be securely used for quantifying AL in cereal crop species such as maize, wheat and barley along the leaf. Both techniques can be used for a wide range of gasket shapes and sizes with minor technique-specific adjustments.

Decreasing Prevalence of Obesity Among Young Children in Massachusetts From 2004 to 2008

Science.gov (United States)

Gillman, Matthew W.; Rifas-Shiman, Sheryl L.; Sherry, Bettylou; Kleinman, Ken; Taveras, Elsie M.

2012-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether the obesity prevalence is increasing, level, or decreasing among young US children (aged children) at a multisite pediatric practice in eastern Massachusetts during 1999–2008. By using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2000 gender-specific growth charts, we defined obesity as weight-for-length ≥95th percentile for children aged children aged 24 to obesity trends in 2 separate periods, 1999–2003 and 2004–2008, adjusting for age group, race/ethnicity, health insurance, and practice site. RESULTS: From 1999 to 2003, the obesity prevalence was fairly stable among both boys and girls. From 2004 to 2008, the obesity prevalence substantially decreased among both boys and girls. The decline in obesity prevalence during 2004–2008 was more pronounced among children insured by non-Medicaid health plans than among those insured by Medicaid. CONCLUSIONS: Among children aged obesity prevalence decreased during 2004–2008, which is in line with national data showing no increase in prevalence during this time period. The smaller decrease among Medicaid-insured children may portend widening of socioeconomic disparities in childhood obesity. PMID:22529276

Decreased dopamine activity predicts relapse in methamphetamine abusers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang G. J.; Wang, G.-J.; Smith, L.; Volkow, N.D.; Telang, F.; Logan, J.; Tomasi, D.; Wong, C.T.; Hoffman, W.; Jayne, M.; Alia-Klein, N.; Thanos, P.; Fowler, J.S.

2011-01-20

Studies in methamphetamine (METH) abusers showed that the decreases in brain dopamine (DA) function might recover with protracted detoxification. However, the extent to which striatal DA function in METH predicts recovery has not been evaluated. Here we assessed whether striatal DA activity in METH abusers is associated with clinical outcomes. Brain DA D2 receptor (D2R) availability was measured with positron emission tomography and [{sup 11}C]raclopride in 16 METH abusers, both after placebo and after challenge with 60 mg oral methylphenidate (MPH) (to measure DA release) to assess whether it predicted clinical outcomes. For this purpose, METH abusers were tested within 6 months of last METH use and then followed up for 9 months of abstinence. In parallel, 15 healthy controls were tested. METH abusers had lower D2R availability in caudate than in controls. Both METH abusers and controls showed decreased striatal D2R availability after MPH and these decreases were smaller in METH than in controls in left putamen. The six METH abusers who relapsed during the follow-up period had lower D2R availability in dorsal striatum than in controls, and had no D2R changes after MPH challenge. The 10 METH abusers who completed detoxification did not differ from controls neither in striatal D2R availability nor in MPH-induced striatal DA changes. These results provide preliminary evidence that low striatal DA function in METH abusers is associated with a greater likelihood of relapse during treatment. Detection of the extent of DA dysfunction may be helpful in predicting therapeutic outcomes.

Decreased dopamine activity predicts relapse in methamphetamine abusers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, G.J.; Smith, L.; Volkow, N.D.; Telang, F.; Logan, J.; Tomasi, D.; Wong, C.T.; Hoffman, W.; Jayne, M.; Alia-Klein, N.; Thanos, P.; Fowler, J.S.

2011-01-01

Studies in methamphetamine (METH) abusers showed that the decreases in brain dopamine (DA) function might recover with protracted detoxification. However, the extent to which striatal DA function in METH predicts recovery has not been evaluated. Here we assessed whether striatal DA activity in METH abusers is associated with clinical outcomes. Brain DA D2 receptor (D2R) availability was measured with positron emission tomography and ( 11 C)raclopride in 16 METH abusers, both after placebo and after challenge with 60 mg oral methylphenidate (MPH) (to measure DA release) to assess whether it predicted clinical outcomes. For this purpose, METH abusers were tested within 6 months of last METH use and then followed up for 9 months of abstinence. In parallel, 15 healthy controls were tested. METH abusers had lower D2R availability in caudate than in controls. Both METH abusers and controls showed decreased striatal D2R availability after MPH and these decreases were smaller in METH than in controls in left putamen. The six METH abusers who relapsed during the follow-up period had lower D2R availability in dorsal striatum than in controls, and had no D2R changes after MPH challenge. The 10 METH abusers who completed detoxification did not differ from controls neither in striatal D2R availability nor in MPH-induced striatal DA changes. These results provide preliminary evidence that low striatal DA function in METH abusers is associated with a greater likelihood of relapse during treatment. Detection of the extent of DA dysfunction may be helpful in predicting therapeutic outcomes.

An Investigation of Higher-Order Thinking Skills in Smaller Learning Community Social Studies Classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Fischer, Christopher; Bol, Linda; Pribesh, Shana

2011-01-01

This study investigated the extent to which higher-order thinking skills are promoted in social studies classes in high schools that are implementing smaller learning communities (SLCs). Data collection in this mixed-methods study included classroom observations and in-depth interviews. Findings indicated that higher-order thinking was rarely…

Honors Programs at Smaller Colleges. 3rd Edition. National Collegiate Honors Council Monograph Series

Science.gov (United States)

Schuman, Samuel

2011-01-01

This monograph focuses upon areas of special concern to those working with honors at smaller colleges and universities: mission, recruitment, facilities, administration, budget, and curriculum. In each area, the author makes some general suggestions about overall operating principles, note specific issues that can lead to difficulties, and suggest…

Gemfibrozil Concentrations are Significantly Decreased in the Presence of Lopinavir/ritonavir

Science.gov (United States)

Busse, Kristin H.; Hadigan, Colleen; Chairez, Cheryl; Alfaro, Raul M.; Formentini, Elizabeth; Kovacs, Joseph A.; Penzak, Scott R.

2009-01-01

Objective: To determine the influence of a two-week course of lopinavir-ritonavir on the pharmacokinetics of the triglyceride-lowering agent, gemfibrozil. Methods: The study was conducted as an open label, single-sequence pharmacokinetic study in healthy human volunteers. Gemfibrozil pharmacokinetic parameter values were compared using a students t test after a single 600 mg dose was administered to healthy volunteers before, and after two weeks of lopinavir-ritonavir (400/100 mg) twice daily. Results: Fifteen healthy volunteers (8 males) completed the study. All study drugs were generally well-tolerated and no subjects withdrew participation. The geometric mean ratio (GMR, 90% CI) for gemfibrozil area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC0-∞) after 14 days of lopinavir-ritonavir compared to baseline was 0.59 (0.52, 0.67) (P gemfibrozil AUC0-∞ after lopinavir-ritonavir (range: −6% to −74%). The GMRs for gemfibrozil apparent oral clearance (Cl/F) and maximum concentration (Cmax) were 1.69 (1.41, 1.97) and 0.67 (0.49, 0.86) after 14 days of lopinavir-ritonavir versus baseline, respectively (P Gemfibrozil elimination half-life did not change after lopinavir-ritonavir administration (P = 0.60). Conclusion: Lopinavir/ritonavir significantly reduced the systemic exposure of gemfibrozil by reducing gemfibrozil absorption. Clinicians treating HIV-infected patients with hypertriglyceridemia should be aware of this drug interaction. PMID:19648824

Gemfibrozil concentrations are significantly decreased in the presence of lopinavir-ritonavir.

Science.gov (United States)

Busse, Kristin H; Hadigan, Colleen; Chairez, Cheryl; Alfaro, Raul M; Formentini, Elizabeth; Kovacs, Joseph A; Penzak, Scott R

2009-10-01

The objective of this study was to determine the influence of a 2-week course of lopinavir-ritonavir on the pharmacokinetics of the triglyceride-lowering agent, gemfibrozil. The study was conducted as an open label, single-sequence pharmacokinetic study in healthy human volunteers. Gemfibrozil pharmacokinetic parameter values were compared using a Student t test after a single 600-mg dose was administered to healthy volunteers before and after 2 weeks of lopinavir-ritonavir (400/100 mg) twice daily. Fifteen healthy volunteers (eight males) completed the study. All study drugs were generally well tolerated and no subjects withdrew participation. The geometric mean ratio (90% confidence interval) for gemfibrozil area under the plasma concentration-time curve after 14 days of lopinavir-ritonavir compared with baseline was 0.59 (0.52, 0.67) (P gemfibrozil area under the plasma concentration-time curve after lopinavir-ritonavir (range, -6% to -74%). The geometric mean ratios for gemfibrozil apparent oral clearance and maximum concentration were 1.69 (1.41, 1.97) and 0.67 (0.49, 0.86) after 14 days of lopinavir-ritonavir versus baseline, respectively (P Gemfibrozil elimination half-life did not change after lopinavir-ritonavir administration (P = 0.60). Lopinavir-ritonavir significantly reduced the systemic exposure of gemfibrozil by reducing gemfibrozil absorption. Clinicians treating HIV-infected patients with hypertriglyceridemia should be aware of this drug interaction.

Prolonged decrease of adipocyte size after rosiglitazone treatment in high- and low-fat-fed rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Julia A; Trasino, Steven E; Ferrante, Anthony W; Vasselli, Joseph R

2007-11-01

The anti-diabetic thiazolidinediones (TZDs) stimulate adipocyte differentiation and decrease mean adipocyte size. However, whether these smaller, more insulin-sensitive adipocytes maintain their size after TZD therapy is discontinued has not been studied. Adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a low-fat (10% fat) diet or, to elevate body weight (BW), a high-fat (HF) diet (45% fat) for 6 weeks. Rats were initially randomized to groups (n = 12) fed either low-fat or HF diets, with or without the TZD rosiglitazone (ROSI; 5 mg/kg per day), for 6 weeks. ROSI was then discontinued, and all animals were fed HF for another 6 weeks before sacrifice. Retroperitoneal (RP) adipose tissue morphology was determined from tissue collected by serial biopsies before and after 6 weeks of ROSI treatment and at sacrifice. Measures of BW and adiposity did not differ among groups 6 weeks after stopping ROSI treatment. However, during treatment, ROSI in both diets significantly decreased RP adipocyte size and increased RP DNA content, and these effects continued to be observed after discontinuing treatment. ROSI administration also decreased circulating insulin, leptin, and triglycerides and increased circulating adiponectin levels; however, these effects were reversed on stopping treatment. These results demonstrated that TZD-induced effects on adipocyte size and number were maintained after discontinuing treatment, even with consumption of an obesigenic diet. However, additional studies are needed to determine whether TZD-treated animals eventually achieve an adipocyte size similar to that of untreated animals at the expense of a higher BW.

Media bias under direct and indirect government control: when is the bias smaller?

OpenAIRE

Abhra Roy

2015-01-01

We present an analytical framework to compare media bias under direct and indirect government control. In this context, we show that direct control can lead to a smaller bias and higher welfare than indirect control. We further show that the size of the advertising market affects media bias only under direct control. Media bias, under indirect control, is not affected by the size of the advertising market.

75 FR 37779 - Office of Elementary and Secondary Education; Smaller Learning Communities Program; Notice...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-30

... DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION [CFDA No. 84.215L] Office of Elementary and Secondary Education; Smaller...-Marshall, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3E308, Washington, DC 20202-6200..., in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at the following site: http://www.ed...

Oral Supplementation with Bovine Colostrum Decreases Intestinal Permeability and Stool Concentrations of Zonulin in Athletes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maciej Hałasa

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Increased intestinal permeability has been implicated in various pathologies, has various causes, and can develop during vigorous athletic training. Colostrum bovinum is a natural supplement with a wide range of supposed positive health effects, including reduction of intestine permeability. We assessed influence of colostrum supplementation on intestinal permeability related parameters in a group of 16 athletes during peak training for competition. This double-blind placebo-controlled study compared supplementation for 20 days with 500 mg of colostrum bovinum or placebo (whey. Gut permeability status was assayed by differential absorption of lactulose and mannitol (L/M test and stool zonulin concentration. Baseline L/M tests found that six of the participants (75% in the colostrum group had increased intestinal permeability. After supplementation, the test values were within the normal range and were significantly lower than at baseline. The colostrum group Δ values produced by comparing the post-intervention and baseline results were also significantly lower than the placebo group Δ values. The differences in stool zonulin concentration were smaller than those in the L/M test, but were significant when the Δ values due to intervention were compared between the colostrum group and the placebo group. Colostrum bovinum supplementation was safe and effective in decreasing of intestinal permeability in this series of athletes at increased risk of its elevation.

Oral Supplementation with Bovine Colostrum Decreases Intestinal Permeability and Stool Concentrations of Zonulin in Athletes.

Science.gov (United States)

Hałasa, Maciej; Maciejewska, Dominika; Baśkiewicz-Hałasa, Magdalena; Machaliński, Bogusław; Safranow, Krzysztof; Stachowska, Ewa

2017-04-08

Increased intestinal permeability has been implicated in various pathologies, has various causes, and can develop during vigorous athletic training. Colostrum bovinum is a natural supplement with a wide range of supposed positive health effects, including reduction of intestine permeability. We assessed influence of colostrum supplementation on intestinal permeability related parameters in a group of 16 athletes during peak training for competition. This double-blind placebo-controlled study compared supplementation for 20 days with 500 mg of colostrum bovinum or placebo (whey). Gut permeability status was assayed by differential absorption of lactulose and mannitol (L/M test) and stool zonulin concentration. Baseline L/M tests found that six of the participants (75%) in the colostrum group had increased intestinal permeability. After supplementation, the test values were within the normal range and were significantly lower than at baseline. The colostrum group Δ values produced by comparing the post-intervention and baseline results were also significantly lower than the placebo group Δ values. The differences in stool zonulin concentration were smaller than those in the L/M test, but were significant when the Δ values due to intervention were compared between the colostrum group and the placebo group. Colostrum bovinum supplementation was safe and effective in decreasing of intestinal permeability in this series of athletes at increased risk of its elevation.

Spider phobia is associated with decreased left amygdala volume: a cross-sectional study

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background Evidence from animal and human studies imply the amygdala as the most critical structure involved in processing of fear-relevant stimuli. In phobias, the amygdala seems to play a crucial role in the pathogenesis and maintenance of the disorder. However, the neuropathology of specific phobias remains poorly understood. In the present study, we investigated whether patients with spider phobia show altered amygdala volumes as compared to healthy control subjects. Methods Twenty female patients with spider phobia and twenty age-matched healthy female controls underwent magnetic resonance imaging to investigate amygdala volumes. The amygdalae were segmented using an automatic, model-based segmentation tool (FSL FIRST). Differences in amygdala volume were investigated by multivariate analysis of covariance with group as between-subject factor and left and right amygdala as dependent factors. The relation between amygdala volume and clinical features such as symptom severity, disgust sensitivity, trait anxiety and duration of illness was investigated by Spearman correlation analysis. Results Spider phobic patients showed significantly smaller left amygdala volume than healthy controls. No significant difference in right amygdala volume was detected. Furthermore, the diminished amygdala size in patients was related to higher symptom severity, but not to higher disgust sensitivity or trait anxiety and was independent of age. Conclusions In summary, the results reveal a relation between higher symptom severity and smaller left amygdala volume in patients with spider phobia. This relation was independent of other potential confounders such as the disgust sensitivity or trait anxiety. The findings suggest that greater spider phobic fear is associated with smaller left amygdala. However, the smaller left amygdala volume may either stand for a higher vulnerability to develop a phobic disorder or emerge as a consequence of the disorder. PMID:23442196

Smaller amygdala volume and reduced anterior cingulate gray matter density associated with history of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Rogers, Mark A; Yamasue, Hidenori; Abe, Osamu; Yamada, Haruyasu; Ohtani, Toshiyuki; Iwanami, Akira; Aoki, Shigeki; Kato, Nobumasa; Kasai, Kiyoto

2009-12-30

Although post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may be seen to represent a failure to extinguish learned fear, significant aspects of the pathophysiology relevant to this hypothesis remain unknown. Both the amygdala and hippocampus are necessary for fear extinction occur, and thus both regions may be abnormal in PTSD. Twenty-five people who experienced the Tokyo subway sarin attack in 1995, nine who later developed PTSD and 16 who did not, underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with manual tracing to determine bilateral amygdala and hippocampus volumes. At the time of scanning, one had PTSD and eight had a history of PTSD. Results indicated that the group with a history of PTSD had significantly smaller mean bilateral amygdala volume than did the group that did not develop PTSD. Furthermore, left amygdala volume showed a significant negative correlation with severity of PTSD symptomatology as well as reduced gray matter density in the left anterior cingulate cortex. To our knowledge, this is the first observation of an association between PTSD and amygdala volume. Furthermore the apparent interplay between amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex represents support at the level of gross brain morphology for the theory of PTSD as a failure of fear extinction.

Microencapsulation of butyl stearate with melamine-formaldehyde resin: Effect of decreasing the pH value on the composition and thermal stability of microcapsules

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Krajnc

2012-10-01

Full Text Available The object of this study was to investigate how different decreasing of pH regimes during microencapsulation process with melamine-formaldehyde (MF resin affects the composition, morphology and thermal stability of microcapsules containing a phase-change material (PCM. Technical butyl stearate was used as PCM. Microencapsulation was carried out at 70°C. For all experiments the starting pH value was 6.0. After one hour of microencapsulation at the starting pH value, the pH value was lowered to final pH value (5.5; 5.0; 4.5 in a stepwise or linear way. The properties of microcapsules were monitored during and after the microencapsulation process. The results showed that pH value decreasing regime was critical for the morphology and stability of microcapsules. During microencapsulations with a stepwise decrease of pH value we observed faster increase of the amount of MF resin in the microencapsulation product compared to the microencapsulations with a linear pH value decrease. However, faster deposition in the case of microencapsulations with stepwise decrease of pH value did not result in thicker MF shells. The shell thickness increased much faster when the pH value was decreased in a linear way or in several smaller steps. It was shown that for the best thermal stability of microcapsules, the pH value during microencapsulation had to be lowered in a linear way or in smaller steps to 5.0 or lower.

Use of precracked Charpy and smaller specimens to establish the master curve

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sokolov, M.A.; McCabe, D.E.; Nanstad, R.K.; Davidov, Y.A.

1997-01-01

The current provisions used in the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations for the determination of the fracture toughness of reactor pressure vessel steels employs an assumption that there is a direct correlation between K Ic lower-bound toughness and the Charpy V-notch transition curve. Such correlations are subject to scatter from both approaches which weakens the reliability of fracture mechanics-based analyses. In this study, precracked Charpy and smaller size specimens are used in three-point static bend testing to develop fracture mechanics based K k values. The testing is performed under carefully controlled conditions such that the values can be used to predict the fracture toughness performance of large specimens. The concept of a universal transition curve (master curve) is applied. Data scatter that is characteristic of commercial grade steels and their weldments is handled by Weibull statistical modeling. The master curve is developed to describe the median K Jc fracture toughness for 1T size compact specimens. Size effects are modeled using weakest-link theory and are studied for different specimen geometries. It is shown that precracked Charpy specimens when tested within their confined validity limits follow the weakest-link size-adjustment trend and predict the fracture toughness of larger specimens. Specimens of smaller than Charpy sizes (5 mm thick) exhibit some disparities in results relative to weakest-link size adjustment prediction suggesting that application of such adjustment to very small specimens may have some limitations

Smaller brain size likely in young adults (<40 years old) with depressive symptoms compared to healthy controls. A retrospective study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adachi, Michito; Sato, Takamichi; Kawaguchi, Etsuko; Shibata, Akiko

2011-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine whether the brain size of young patients with depressive symptoms is smaller than that of healthy controls using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We retrospectively evaluated brain size by calculating the ratio of the brain area to that of the skull (the brain-to-skull ratio) on routine MRI scans including the splenium of the corpus callosum obtained from 19 patients <40 years old with depressive symptoms in 2009. The controls were 12 healthy individuals <40 years old who underwent MRI for medical examinations. The mean brain-to-skull ratio of the control group was 0.850±0.022 (range 0.822-0.889), and that of the patient group was 0.819±0.041 (range 0.756-0.878). An unpaired t-test showed a significant difference in the brain-to-skull ratios between these groups (P=0.011). In particular, in 7 of the 19 patients with longer duration of illness and more severe symptoms, the brain-to-skull ratio was 89%-92% of the mean ratio of the control group. The brain size of young patients with depressive symptoms appears to be smaller than that of healthy controls. (author)

Clinical significance of the corpus callosum in cerebral palsy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Eun Ja; Kim, Ji Chang; Kim, Jong Chul; And Others

2000-01-01

To evaluate, using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, the clinal significance of the corpus callosum by measuring the size of various portions of the corpus callosum in children with cerebral palsy, and in paired controls. Fifty-two children (30 boys and 22 girls aged between six and 96 (median, 19) months) in whom cerebral palsy was clinically diagnosed underwent MR imaging. There were 23 term patients and 29 preterm, and the control group was selected by age and sex matching. Clinal subtypes of cerebral palsy were classified as hemiplegia (n=14), spastic diplegia (n=22), or spastic quadriplegia (n=16), and according to the severity of motor palsy, the condition was also classified as mild (n=26), moderate (n=13), or severe (n=13). In addition to the length and height of the corpus callosum, the thickness of its genu, body, transitional zone and splenium, as seen on midsagittal T1-weighted MR images, were also measured. Differences in the measured values of the two groups were statistically analysed and differences in the size of the corpus callosum according to the clinical severity and subtypes of cerebral palsy, and gestational age, were also assessed. Except for height, the measured values of the corpus callosum in patients with cerebral palsy were significantly less than those of the control group (p less than 0.05). Its size decreased according to the severity of motor palsy. Compared with term patients, the corpus callosum in preterm patients was considerably smaller (p less than 0.05). There was statistically significant correlation between the severity of motor palsy and the size of the corpus callosum. Quantitative evaluation of the corpus callosum might be a good indicator of neurologic prognosis, and a sensitive marker for assessing the extent of brain injury

Clinical significance of the corpus callosum in cerebral palsy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Eun Ja; Kim, Ji Chang [The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Jong Chul [School of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Taejon (Korea, Republic of); And Others

2000-10-01

To evaluate, using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, the clinal significance of the corpus callosum by measuring the size of various portions of the corpus callosum in children with cerebral palsy, and in paired controls. Fifty-two children (30 boys and 22 girls aged between six and 96 (median, 19) months) in whom cerebral palsy was clinically diagnosed underwent MR imaging. There were 23 term patients and 29 preterm, and the control group was selected by age and sex matching. Clinal subtypes of cerebral palsy were classified as hemiplegia (n=14), spastic diplegia (n=22), or spastic quadriplegia (n=16), and according to the severity of motor palsy, the condition was also classified as mild (n=26), moderate (n=13), or severe (n=13). In addition to the length and height of the corpus callosum, the thickness of its genu, body, transitional zone and splenium, as seen on midsagittal T1-weighted MR images, were also measured. Differences in the measured values of the two groups were statistically analysed and differences in the size of the corpus callosum according to the clinical severity and subtypes of cerebral palsy, and gestational age, were also assessed. Except for height, the measured values of the corpus callosum in patients with cerebral palsy were significantly less than those of the control group (p less than 0.05). Its size decreased according to the severity of motor palsy. Compared with term patients, the corpus callosum in preterm patients was considerably smaller (p less than 0.05). There was statistically significant correlation between the severity of motor palsy and the size of the corpus callosum. Quantitative evaluation of the corpus callosum might be a good indicator of neurologic prognosis, and a sensitive marker for assessing the extent of brain injury.

On the Measurements of Particles Smaller than 20 μM by Global Rainbow Refractometry

Science.gov (United States)

Saengkaew, S.; Bonin, D.; Gréh, G.

2007-06-01

The measurement of the thermo-chemical characteristics of particles under evaporation or cooling is a challenge. Among others techniques, Global Rainbow Refractometry (GRR) is potentially applicable to a large variety of realistic media. This paper is focused on refractive index measurements of particles smaller than 20 μm which are especially important to extract droplet temperature in spray combustion.

Fewer but not smaller schools in declining fish and krill populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Brierley, Andrew S; Cox, Martin J

2015-01-05

Many pelagic species (species that live in the water column), including herring and krill, aggregate to form schools, shoals, or swarms (hereafter simply "schools," although the words are not synonyms). Schools provide benefits to individual members, including locomotory economy and protection from predators that prey on individuals, but paradoxically make schooling species energetically viable and commercially attractive targets for predators of groups and for fishers. Large schools are easier to find and yield greater prey/catch than small schools, and there is a requirement from fields as diverse as theoretical ecology and fisheries management to understand whether and how aggregation sizes change with changing population size. We collated data from vertical echosounder surveys of taxonomically diverse pelagic stocks from geographically diverse ecosystems. The data contain common significant positive linear stock-biomass to school-number relationships. They show that the numbers of schools in the stocks change with changing stock biomass and suggest that the distributions of school sizes do not change with stock biomass. New data that we collected using a multibeam sonar, which can image entire schools, contained the same stock-biomass to school-number relationship and confirm that the distribution of school sizes is not related to changing stock size: put simply, as stocks decline, individuals are distributed among fewer schools, not smaller schools. Since school characteristics affect catchability (the ease or difficulty with which fishers can capture target species) and availability of prey to predators, our findings have commercial and ecological implications, particularly within the aspirational framework of ecosystem-based management of marine systems. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Any effects of social orientation priming on object-location memory are smaller than initially reported.

Science.gov (United States)

Drouin, Héloïse; Davidson, Patrick S R

2015-12-01

It has previously been reported that priming a collectivistic social orientation (compared with an individualistic one) boosts object-location memory (Kühnen & Oyserman, 2002; Oyserman, Sorensen, Reber, & Chen, 2009). We conducted 4 experiments to replicate this reported effect, using the same methods as in those initial reports. In Experiment 1 (n = 145), we found a hint of a priming effect on object-location memory, but also an unanticipated interaction between priming and gender. In Experiment 2 (n = 90), we included gender as a formal factor and doubled the "dosage" of the priming, yet did not see any priming effects on memory. In Experiment 3 (n = 101), we octupled the priming "dosage" and again saw no significant effects on memory. Finally, in Experiment 4 (n = 102), we performed an exact replication of the methods of the original reports and again found no priming effects on memory. Any effects of this type of social orientation priming on object-location memory appear to be smaller and/or less robust than initially thought. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Decrease of labile Zn and Cd in the rhizosphere of hyperaccumulating Thlaspi caerulescens with time

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dessureault-Rompre, Jacynthe, E-mail: dessureaultromj@agr.gc.c [Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems (ITES), ETH Zurich, Universitaetstrasse 16, CH-8092 Zuerich (Switzerland); Luster, Joerg, E-mail: joerg.luster@wsl.c [Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow, and Landscape Research (WSL), Zuercherstrasse 111, CH-8903 Birmensdorf (Switzerland); Schulin, Rainer, E-mail: rainer.schulin@env.ethz.c [Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems (ITES), ETH Zurich, Universitaetstrasse 16, CH-8092 Zuerich (Switzerland); Tercier-Waeber, Mary-Lou, E-mail: marie-louise.tercier@unige.c [CABE, Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Sciences II, University of Geneva, 30 quai Ernest Ansermet, CH-1211 Geneva 4 (Switzerland); Nowack, Bernd, E-mail: bernd.nowack@empa.c [Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems (ITES), ETH Zurich, Universitaetstrasse 16, CH-8092 Zuerich (Switzerland); Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, CH-9014 St. Gallen (Switzerland)

2010-05-15

By using a rhizobox micro-suction cup technique we studied in-situ mobilization and complexation of Zn and Cd in the rhizosphere of non-hyperaccumulating Thlaspi perfoliatum and two different Thlaspi caerulescens ecotypes, one of them hyperaccumulating Zn, the other Zn and Cd. The dynamic fraction (free metal ions and small labile complexes) of Zn and Cd decreased with time in the rhizosphere solution of the respective hyperaccumulating T. caerulescens ecotypes, and at the end of the experiment, it was significantly smaller than in the other treatments. Furthermore, the rhizosphere solutions of the T. caerulescens ecotypes exhibited a higher UV absorptivity than the solution of the T. perfoliatum rhizosphere and the plant-free soil. Based on our findings we suggest that mobile and labile metal-dissolved soil organic matter complexes play a key role in the rapid replenishment of available metal pools in the rhizosphere of hyperaccumulating T. caerulescens ecotypes, postulated earlier. - A mechanism that explains the rapid replenishment of metal pools accessible by hyperaccumulator plants for phytoextraction is proposed.

Smaller hippocampal volume as a vulnerability factor for the persistence of post-traumatic stress disorder

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Rooij, S J H; Kennis, M; Sjouwerman, R; van den Heuvel, M P; Kahn, R S; Geuze, E

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND: Smaller hippocampal volume has often been observed in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, there is no consensus whether this is a result of stress/trauma exposure, or constitutes a vulnerability factor for the development of PTSD. Second, it is unclear whether

Larger Subcortical Gray Matter Structures and Smaller Corpora Callosa at Age 5 Years in HIV Infected Children on Early ART

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steven R. Randall

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 90% of HIV infected (HIV+ children. Since the advent of antiretroviral therapy (ART, HIV/AIDS has transitioned to a chronic condition where central nervous system (CNS damage may be ongoing. Although, most guidelines recommend early ART to reduce CNS viral reservoirs, the brain may be more vulnerable to potential neurotoxic effects of ART during the rapid development phase in the first years of life. Here we investigate differences in subcortical volumes between 5-year-old HIV+ children who received early ART (before age 18 months and uninfected children using manual tracing of Magnetic Resonance Images. Participants included 61 Xhosa children (43 HIV+/18 uninfected, mean age = 5.4 ± 0.3 years, 25 male from the children with HIV early antiretroviral (CHER trial; 27 children initiated ART before 12 weeks of age (ART-Before12Wks and 16 after 12 weeks (ART-After12Wks. Structural images were acquired on a 3T Allegra MRI in Cape Town and manually traced using MultiTracer. Volumetric group differences (HIV+ vs. uninfected; ART-Before12Wks vs. ART-After12Wks were examined for the caudate, nucleus accumbens (NA, putamen (Pu, globus pallidus (GP, and corpus callosum (CC, as well as associations within infected children of structure volumes with age at ART initiation and CD4/CD8 as a proxy for immune health. HIV+ children had significantly larger NA and Pu volumes bilaterally and left GP volumes than controls, whilst CC was smaller. Bilateral Pu was larger in both treatment groups compared to controls, while left GP and bilateral NA were enlarged only in ART-After12Wks children. CC was smaller in both treatment groups compared to controls, and smaller in ART-After12Wks compared to ART-Before12Wks. Within infected children, delayed ART initiation was associated with larger Pu volumes, effects that remained significant when controlling for sex and duration of treatment interruption (left β = 0.447, p = 0.005; right β = 0

Higher media multi-tasking activity is associated with smaller gray-matter density in the anterior cingulate cortex.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kep Kee Loh

Full Text Available Media multitasking, or the concurrent consumption of multiple media forms, is increasingly prevalent in today's society and has been associated with negative psychosocial and cognitive impacts. Individuals who engage in heavier media-multitasking are found to perform worse on cognitive control tasks and exhibit more socio-emotional difficulties. However, the neural processes associated with media multi-tasking remain unexplored. The present study investigated relationships between media multitasking activity and brain structure. Research has demonstrated that brain structure can be altered upon prolonged exposure to novel environments and experience. Thus, we expected differential engagements in media multitasking to correlate with brain structure variability. This was confirmed via Voxel-Based Morphometry (VBM analyses: Individuals with higher Media Multitasking Index (MMI scores had smaller gray matter density in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC. Functional connectivity between this ACC region and the precuneus was negatively associated with MMI. Our findings suggest a possible structural correlate for the observed decreased cognitive control performance and socio-emotional regulation in heavy media-multitaskers. While the cross-sectional nature of our study does not allow us to specify the direction of causality, our results brought to light novel associations between individual media multitasking behaviors and ACC structure differences.

Early HIV Diagnosis Leads to Significantly Decreased Costs in the First 2 Years of HIV Care in an Urban Charity Hospital in New Orleans.

Science.gov (United States)

Halperin, Jason; Katz, Morgan; Pathmanathan, Ishani; Myers, Leann; Van Sickels, Nicholas; Seal, Paula Sereebutra; Richey, Lauren E

We undertook a retrospective cohort study of patients with a positive HIV test in the emergency department who were then linked to care. Inpatient, outpatient, and emergency costs were collected for the first 2 years after HIV diagnosis. Fifty-six patients met the inclusion criteria; they were predominantly uninsured (73%) and African American (89%). The median total cost for a newly diagnosed patient over the first 2 years was US$36 808, driven predominantly by outpatient costs of US$17 512. Median inpatient and total costs were significantly different between the lowest (499 cells/mm 3 ) CD4 count categories (US$21 878 vs US$6607, P <.05; US$61 378 vs US$18 837, P <.05, respectively). Total costs were significantly different between viral load categories <100 000 HIV-RNA copies/mL and ≥100 000 HIV-RNA copies/mL (US$28 219 vs US$49 482, P <.05). Costs were significantly lower among patients diagnosed earlier in their disease. Decreased cost is another factor supporting early diagnosis and linkage to care for patients with HIV.

Trends and patterns in contemporary management in smaller companies: The Danish perspective

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ulhøi, John Parm; Madsen, Henning

2001-01-01

This paper reports empirical findings from a recent survey of Danish managers with a special focus on managers from smaller companies. The survey has been initiated in Denmark and it is called the 'Danish Management Barometer'. The project is a joint research program between the Aarhus School...... of Business and the Danish Association of Managers and Executives. It is based on a structured, pre-tested questionnaire send out to 1500 pre-notified managers in Denmark aiming at establishing a data base to further monitor and identify interesting changes and patterns within a broad range of managerial...

Detection of smaller J{sub c} region and damage in YBCO coated conductors by using permanent magnet method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hattori, K., E-mail: tey88221@st.yamagata-u.ac.jp [Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Yamagata University, 4-3-16 Jonan, Yonezawa, Yamagata 992-8510 (Japan); Saito, A. [Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Yamagata University, 4-3-16 Jonan, Yonezawa, Yamagata 992-8510 (Japan); Takano, Y.; Suzuki, T. [Tohoku Seiki Industries, Ltd., 3-1246, Tachiyagawa, Yamagata 990-2251 (Japan); Yamada, H.; Takayama, T.; Kamitani, A.; Ohshima, S. [Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Yamagata University, 4-3-16 Jonan, Yonezawa, Yamagata 992-8510 (Japan)

2011-11-15

We developed a non-destructive method for measuring the critical current density (J{sub c}) in YBCO-coated conductors by using a permanent magnet (Sm{sub 2}Co{sub 17}). J{sub c} could be determined from the repulsive force (F{sub r}) generated between a permanent magnet and a coated conductor where shielding current flows. We also examined the influence of damage to the film on the J{sub c} distribution. The measured F{sub r} when the permanent magnet approached the cut part was smaller than that of the undamaged area. We developed a non-destructive method for measuring the critical current density (J{sub c}) in YBCO-coated conductors by using a permanent magnet (Sm{sub 2}Co{sub 17}). J{sub c} could be determined from the repulsive force (F{sub r}) generated between a permanent magnet and a coated conductor where shielding current flows. We tried to detect a smaller J{sub c} region in the coated conductor by using the system. The J{sub c} distribution could be determined without influence from the thick copper film on YBCO thin film. We also examined the influence of damage to the film on the J{sub c} distribution. The surface of the coated conductors was cut by using a knife. The measured F{sub r} when the permanent magnet approached the cut part was smaller than that of the undamaged area. This J{sub c} measurement technique will be useful for detecting smaller J{sub c} regions and defects in coated conductors.

Economic potential of smaller-sized nuclear plants in today's economy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Behrens, C.E.

1984-01-01

In this study, the cost of producing power was modelled for a utility with specified financial and production parameters. Two reference cases were considered: in one, it was assumed that the utility would build 400-megawatt nuclear units as necessary to meet its growth in load; in the second, that it would meet its load growth by building 1200-MW units. The smaller plants were assumed to cost 12 percent more per kilowatt than the larger units. The object was to see if the lower financing costs of the 400-megawatt units were enough to overcome the larger plants' economies of scale. In addition to the reference cases, the sensitivity of the cost measurement to changes in various parameters was modelled. The parameters tested included interest rates, fuel mix, cost differential between the 400-megawatt and 1200-megawatt plants, and the rate of growth in load. The results of these cases indicate strongly that small nuclear power plants could have a market

Effects of cosmic ray decreases on cloud microphysics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svensmark, J.; Enghoff, M. B.; Svensmark, H.

2012-01-01

the minimum in atmospheric ionization and less significant responses for effective radius and cloud condensation nuclei (total significance...... of the signal of 3.1 sigma. We also see a correlation between total solar irradiance and strong Forbush decreases but a clear mechanism connecting this to cloud properties is lacking. There is no signal in the UV radiation. The responses of the parameters correlate linearly with the reduction in the cosmic ray......Using cloud data from MODIS we investigate the response of cloud microphysics to sudden decreases in galactic cosmic radiation – Forbush decreases – and find responses in effective emissivity, cloud fraction, liquid water content, and optical thickness above the 2–3 sigma level 6–9 days after...

Distraction decreases prefrontal oxygenation: A NIRS study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ozawa, Sachiyo; Hiraki, Kazuo

2017-04-01

When near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is used to measure emotion-related cerebral blood flow (CBF) changes in the prefrontal cortex regions, the functional distinction of CBF changes is often difficult because NIRS is unable to measure neural activity in deeper brain regions that play major roles in emotional processing. The CBF changes could represent cognitive control of emotion and emotional responses to emotional materials. Supposing that emotion-related CBF changes in the prefrontal cortex regions during distraction are emotional responses, we examined whether oxygenated hemoglobin (oxyHb) decreases. Attention-demanding tasks cause blood flow decreases, and we thus compared the effects of visually paced tapping with different tempos, on distraction. The results showed that the oxyHb level induced by emotional stimulation decreased with fast-tempo tapping significantly more than slow-tempo tapping in ventral medial prefrontal cortex regions. Moreover, a Global-Local task following tapping showed significantly greater local-minus-global response time (RT) difference scores in the fast- and mid-tempo condition compared with those in the slow-tempo, suggesting an increased attentional focus, and decreased negative emotion. The overall findings indicate that oxyHb changes in a relatively long distraction task, as measured by NIRS, are associated with emotional responses, and oxyHb can be decreased by successfully performing attention-demanding distraction tasks. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A significant reduction in the frequency of HIV-1 drug resistance in Québec from 2001 to 2011 is associated with a decrease in the monitored viral load.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hugues Charest

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: HIV drug resistance represents a major threat for effective treatment. We assessed the trends in the frequency of drug resistance mutations and the monitored viral load (VL in treatment-naïve (TN and treatment-experienced (TE individuals infected with HIV-1 in Québec, Canada, between 2001 and 2011. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Resistance data were obtained from 4,105 and 5,086 genotypic tests performed on TN and TE patients, respectively. Concomitantly, 274,161 VL tests were carried out in the Province. Changes over time in drug resistance frequency and in different categories of VL were assessed using univariate logistic regression. Multiple logistic regression was used to evaluate associations between the rates of certain mutations and antiretroviral prescriptions. From 2001 to 2011, the proportion of undetectable VL test results continually increased, from 42.1% to 75.9%, while a significant decrease in the frequency of resistance mutations associated with protease inhibitors [PI (from 54% to 16%], nucleoside [NRTI (from 78% to 37% and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors [NNRTI (from 44% to 31%] was observed in TE patients. In TN individuals, the overall frequency of transmitted drug resistance was 13.1%. A multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that the introduction of co-formulated emtricitabine/tenofovir or emtricitabine/tenofovir/efavirenz was positively associated with the decrease of the frequency of the M184I/V mutations observed overtime (p = 0.0004. CONCLUSIONS: We observed a significant decrease in the frequency of drug resistance mutations in TE patients, concomitant with a decrease in the proportion of patients with detectable viremia. These findings may be related to both the increased potencies and adherence to therapy associated with newer antiretroviral regimens. Nevertheless, our data demonstrate that broad use of antiretrovirals does not increase the level of circulating drug resistant

Smaller self-inflating bags produce greater guideline consistent ventilation in simulated cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Nehme, Ziad; Boyle, Malcolm J

2009-02-20

Suboptimal bag ventilation in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) has demonstrated detrimental physiological outcomes for cardiac arrest patients. In light of recent guideline changes for resuscitation, there is a need to identify the efficacy of bag ventilation by prehospital care providers. The objective of this study was to evaluate bag ventilation in relation to operator ability to achieve guideline consistent ventilation rate, tidal volume and minute volume when using two different capacity self-inflating bags in an undergraduate paramedic cohort. An experimental study using a mechanical lung model and a simulated adult cardiac arrest to assess the ventilation ability of third year Monash University undergraduate paramedic students. Participants were instructed to ventilate using 1600 ml and 1000 ml bags for a length of two minutes at the correct rate and tidal volume for a patient undergoing CPR with an advanced airway. Ventilation rate and tidal volume were recorded using an analogue scale with mean values calculated. Ethics approval was granted. Suboptimal ventilation with the use of conventional 1600 ml bag was common, with 77% and 97% of participants unable to achieve guideline consistent ventilation rates and tidal volumes respectively. Reduced levels of suboptimal ventilation arouse from the use of the smaller bag with a 27% reduction in suboptimal tidal volumes (p = 0.015) and 23% reduction in suboptimal minute volumes (p = 0.045). Smaller self-inflating bags reduce the incidence of suboptimal tidal volumes and minute volumes and produce greater guideline consistent results for cardiac arrest patients.

Task-related signal decrease on functional magnetic resonance imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hara, Yoshie; Nakamura, Mitsugu; Tamaki, Norihiko; Tamura, Shogo; Kitamura, Junji

2001-01-01

An atypical pattern of signal change was identified on functional magnetic resonance (fMR) imaging in pathologic patients. Three normal volunteers and 34 patients with pathologic lesions near the primary motor cortex underwent fMR imaging with echo-planar imaging while performing a hand motor task. Signal intensities were evaluated with the z-score method, and the time course and changes of the signal intensity were calculated. Nine of the 34 patients with pathologic lesions displayed a significant task-related signal reduction in motor-related areas. They also presented a conventional task-related signal increase in other motor-related areas. The time courses of the increase and decrease were the inverse of each other. There was no significant difference between rates of signal increase and decrease. Our findings suggest that this atypical signal decrease is clinically significant, and that impaired vascular reactivity and altered oxygen metabolism could contribute to the task-related signal reduction. Brain areas showing such task-related signal decrease should be preserved at surgery. (author)

A nerve stimulation method to selectively recruit smaller motor-units in rat skeletal muscle.

Science.gov (United States)

van Bolhuis, A I; Holsheimer, J; Savelberg, H H

2001-05-30

Electrical stimulation of peripheral nerve results in a motor-unit recruitment order opposite to that attained by natural neural control, i.e. from large, fast-fatiguing to progressively smaller, fatigue-resistant motor-units. Yet animal studies involving physiological exercise protocols of low intensity and long duration require minimal fatigue. The present study sought to apply a nerve stimulation method to selectively recruit smaller motor-units in rat skeletal muscle. Two pulse generators were used, independently supplying short supramaximal cathodal stimulating pulses (0.5 ms) and long subthreshold cathodal inactivating pulses (1.5 s) to the sciatic nerve. Propagation of action potentials was selectively blocked in nerve fibres of different diameter by adjusting the strength of the inactivating current. A tensile-testing machine was used to gauge isometric muscle force of the plantaris and both heads of the gastrocnemius muscle. The order of motor-unit recruitment was estimated from twitch characteristics, i.e. peak force and relaxation time. The results showed prolonged relaxation at lower twitch peak forces as the intensity of the inactivating current increased, indicating a reduction of the number of large motor-units to force production. It is shown that the nerve stimulation method described is effective in mimicking physiological muscle control.

"Split Them!" Smaller Item Sizes of Cookies Lead to a Decrease in Energy Intake in Children

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Marchiori, David|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/376283718; Waroquier, Laurent; Klein, Olivier

Objective: Examine the influence of altering the size of snack food (ie, small vs large cookies) on short-term energy intake. Methods: First- and sixth-graders (n = 77) participated in a between-subjects experimental design. All participants were offered the same gram weight of cookies during an

Kicking velocity and effect on match performance when using a smaller, lighter ball in women's football

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Thomas B.; Krustrup, Peter; Bendiksen, Mads

2016-01-01

The present study evaluated the effect of a smaller, lighter ball on kicking speed and technical-tactical and physical match performance in high-level adult female footballers. In the laboratory test setting, the peak ball velocity was 6% higher with the new ball (NB) than the standard ball (SB...

Model sensitivity studies of the decrease in atmospheric carbon tetrachloride

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. P. Chipperfield

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4 is an ozone-depleting substance, which is controlled by the Montreal Protocol and for which the atmospheric abundance is decreasing. However, the current observed rate of this decrease is known to be slower than expected based on reported CCl4 emissions and its estimated overall atmospheric lifetime. Here we use a three-dimensional (3-D chemical transport model to investigate the impact on its predicted decay of uncertainties in the rates at which CCl4 is removed from the atmosphere by photolysis, by ocean uptake and by degradation in soils. The largest sink is atmospheric photolysis (74 % of total, but a reported 10 % uncertainty in its combined photolysis cross section and quantum yield has only a modest impact on the modelled rate of CCl4 decay. This is partly due to the limiting effect of the rate of transport of CCl4 from the main tropospheric reservoir to the stratosphere, where photolytic loss occurs. The model suggests large interannual variability in the magnitude of this stratospheric photolysis sink caused by variations in transport. The impact of uncertainty in the minor soil sink (9 % of total is also relatively small. In contrast, the model shows that uncertainty in ocean loss (17 % of total has the largest impact on modelled CCl4 decay due to its sizeable contribution to CCl4 loss and large lifetime uncertainty range (147 to 241 years. With an assumed CCl4 emission rate of 39 Gg year−1, the reference simulation with the best estimate of loss processes still underestimates the observed CCl4 (overestimates the decay over the past 2 decades but to a smaller extent than previous studies. Changes to the rate of CCl4 loss processes, in line with known uncertainties, could bring the model into agreement with in situ surface and remote-sensing measurements, as could an increase in emissions to around 47 Gg year−1. Further progress in constraining the CCl4 budget is partly limited by

"What time is my next meal?" delay-discounting individuals choose smaller portions under conditions of uncertainty.

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmerman, Annie R; Ferriday, Danielle; Davies, Sarah R; Martin, Ashley A; Rogers, Peter J; Mason, Alice; Brunstrom, Jeffrey M

2017-09-01

'Dietary' delay discounting is typically framed as a trade-off between immediate rewards and long-term health concerns. Our contention is that prospective thinking also occurs over shorter periods, and is engaged to select portion sizes based on the interval between meals (inter-meal interval; IMI). We sought to assess the extent to which the length of an IMI influences portion-size selection. We predicted that delay discounters would show 'IMI insensitivity' (relative lack of concern about hunger or fullness between meals). In particular, we were interested in participants' sensitivity to an uncertain IMI. We hypothesized that when meal times were uncertain, delay discounters would be less responsive and select smaller portion sizes. Participants (N = 90) selected portion sizes for lunch. In different trials, they were told to expect dinner at 5pm, 9pm, and either 5pm or 9pm (uncertain IMI). Individual differences in future-orientation were measured using a monetary delay-discounting task. Participants chose larger portions when the IMI was longer (p relationship between BMI and smaller portion selection in uncertainty (p < 0.05). This is the first study to report an association between delay discounting and IMI insensitivity. We reason that delay discounters selected smaller portions because they were less sensitive to the uncertain IMI, and overlooked concerns about potential future hunger. These findings are important because they illustrate that differences in discounting are expressed in short-term portion-size decisions and suggest that IMI insensitivity increases when meal timings are uncertain. Further research is needed to confirm whether these findings generalise to other populations. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Smaller self-inflating bags produce greater guideline consistent ventilation in simulated cardiopulmonary resuscitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boyle Malcolm J

2009-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Suboptimal bag ventilation in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR has demonstrated detrimental physiological outcomes for cardiac arrest patients. In light of recent guideline changes for resuscitation, there is a need to identify the efficacy of bag ventilation by prehospital care providers. The objective of this study was to evaluate bag ventilation in relation to operator ability to achieve guideline consistent ventilation rate, tidal volume and minute volume when using two different capacity self-inflating bags in an undergraduate paramedic cohort. Methods An experimental study using a mechanical lung model and a simulated adult cardiac arrest to assess the ventilation ability of third year Monash University undergraduate paramedic students. Participants were instructed to ventilate using 1600 ml and 1000 ml bags for a length of two minutes at the correct rate and tidal volume for a patient undergoing CPR with an advanced airway. Ventilation rate and tidal volume were recorded using an analogue scale with mean values calculated. Ethics approval was granted. Results Suboptimal ventilation with the use of conventional 1600 ml bag was common, with 77% and 97% of participants unable to achieve guideline consistent ventilation rates and tidal volumes respectively. Reduced levels of suboptimal ventilation arouse from the use of the smaller bag with a 27% reduction in suboptimal tidal volumes (p = 0.015 and 23% reduction in suboptimal minute volumes (p = 0.045. Conclusion Smaller self-inflating bags reduce the incidence of suboptimal tidal volumes and minute volumes and produce greater guideline consistent results for cardiac arrest patients.

Simultaneous compared with sequential blood pressure measurement results in smaller inter-arm blood pressure differences.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Hoeven, Niels V; Lodestijn, Sophie; Nanninga, Stephanie; van Montfrans, Gert A; van den Born, Bert-Jan H

2013-11-01

There are currently few recommendations on how to assess inter-arm blood pressure (BP) differences. The authors compared simultaneous with sequential measurement on mean BP, inter-arm BP differences, and within-visit reproducibility in 240 patients stratified according to age (simultaneous and three sequential BP measurements were taken in each patient. Starting measurement type and starting arm for sequential measurements were randomized. Mean BP and inter-arm BP differences of the first pair and reproducibility of inter-arm BP differences of the first and second pair were compared between both methods. Mean systolic BP was 1.3±7.5 mm Hg lower during sequential compared with simultaneous measurement (Psequential measurement was on average higher than the second, suggesting an order effect. Absolute systolic inter-arm BP differences were smaller on simultaneous (6.2±6.7/3.3±3.5 mm Hg) compared with sequential BP measurement (7.8±7.3/4.6±5.6 mm Hg, PSimultaneous measurement of BP at both arms reduces order effects and results in smaller inter-arm BP differences, thereby potentially reducing unnecessary referral and diagnostic procedures. ©2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Decreased Muscle Strength and Quality in Diabetes-Related Dementia

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Akito Tsugawa

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Background/Aims: Diabetes-related dementia (DrD, a dementia subgroup associated with specific diabetes mellitus (DM-related metabolic abnormalities, is clinically and pathophysiologically different from Alzheimer disease (AD and vascular dementia. We determined whether skeletal muscle strength, quality, and mass decrease in individuals with DrD. Methods: We evaluated grip and knee extension strength, muscle mass, and gait speed in 106 patients with probable AD and without type 2 DM (AD[–DM] group, 74 patients with probable AD and with DM (AD[+DM] group, and 36 patients with DrD (DrD group. Muscle quality was defined as the ratio of muscle strength to muscle mass. Results: Both female and male subjects with DrD showed significantly decreased muscle strength and quality in the upper extremities compared with the subjects with AD[–DM] or AD[+DM]. Female subjects with DrD showed significantly decreased muscle quality in the lower extremities compared with the subjects with AD[–DM]. Both female and male subjects with DrD had a significantly lower gait speed compared with the subjects with AD[–DM]. However, there were no significant differences in muscle mass and the prevalence of sarcopenia between the groups. Conclusion: Subjects with DrD showed decreased muscle strength and quality, but not muscle mass, and had a low gait speed.

Clinical significance of measurement of hepatic volume by computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, Hiroyuki; Matsuda, Yoshiro; Takada, Akira

1984-01-01

Hepatic volumes were measured by computed tomography (CT) in 91 patients with chronic liver diseases. Mean hepatic volume in alcoholic liver disease was significantly larger than that in non-alcoholic liver disease. Hepatic volumes in the majority of decompensated liver cirrhosis were significantly smaller than those of compensated liver cirrhosis. In liver cirrhosis, significant correlations between hepatic volume and various hepatic tests which reflect the total functioning hepatic cell masses were found. Combinations of hepatic volume with ICG maximum removal rate and with serum cholinesterase activity were most useful for the assessment of prognosis in liver cirrhosis. These results indicated that estimation of hepatic volume by CT is useful for analysis of pathophysiology and prognosis of chronic liver diseases, and for diagnosis of alcoholic liver diseases. (author)

Dysfunctional lipoproteins from young smokers exacerbate cellular senescence and atherogenesis with smaller particle size and severe oxidation and glycation.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Ki-Hoon; Shin, Dong-Gu; Cho, Kyung-Hyun

2014-07-01

Until now, there has been limited information on the effects of smoking on atherogenesis and senescence in the context of lipoprotein parameters, particularly in young smokers who have smoked fewer than 10 cigarettes per day for 3 years. In this study, lipoprotein profiles and functions were compared between smoker (n = 21) and control groups (n = 20). In the smoking group, ferric ion reduction abilities of serum and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) fractions were significantly reduced, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) was severely oxidized. All lipoprotein particles from the smoker group showed higher advanced glycated end products with more triglyceride (TG) content compared with the control group. Lipoproteins from smokers showed faster agarose gel electromobility as well as greater smear band intensity in SDS-PAGE due to oxidation and glycation. LDL from smokers was more sensitive to oxidation and promoted foam cell forma-tion in macrophages. Gel filtration column chromatography revealed that the protein and cholesterol peaks of VLDL and LDL were elevated in the smoker group, whereas those of HDL were reduced. Human dermal fibroblast cells from the smoker group showed severe senescence following treatment with HDL2 and HDL3. Although HDL from young smokers showed impaired antioxidant ability, smaller particle size, and increased TG content, cholesteryl ester transfer protein activities were greatly enhanced in the serum and HDL fractions of the smoker group. In conclusion, smoking can cause production of dysfunctional lipoproteins having a smaller particle size that exacerbate senescence and atherogenic progress due to oxidation and glycation. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Toxicology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Evaluating the scope for energy-efficiency improvements in the public sector: Benchmarking NHSScotland's smaller health buildings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murray, Joe; Pahl, O.; Burek, S.

2008-01-01

The National Health Service in Scotland (NHSScotland) has, in recent years, done much to reduce energy consumption in its major healthcare buildings (hospitals). On average, a reduction of 2% per year has been achieved since 2000, based on hospital buildings. However, there had been little or no attention paid to smaller premises such as health centres, clinics, dentists, etc. Such smaller healthcare buildings in Scotland constitute 29% of the total treated floor area of all NHSScotland buildings and, therefore, may contribute a similar percentage of carbon and other emissions to the environment. By concentrating on a sample of local health centres in Scotland, this paper outlines the creation of an energy benchmark target, which is part of a wider research project to investigate the environmental impacts of small healthcare buildings in Scotland and the scope for improvements. It was found that energy consumption varied widely between different centres but this variation could not be linked to building style, floor area or volume. Overall, it was found that a benchmark of 0.2 GJ/m 3 would be challenging, but realistic

Bubbling bed catalytic hydropyrolysis process utilizing larger catalyst particles and smaller biomass particles featuring an anti-slugging reactor

Science.gov (United States)

Marker, Terry L; Felix, Larry G; Linck, Martin B; Roberts, Michael J

2014-09-23

This invention relates to a process for thermochemically transforming biomass or other oxygenated feedstocks into high quality liquid hydrocarbon fuels. In particular, a catalytic hydropyrolysis reactor, containing a deep bed of fluidized catalyst particles is utilized to accept particles of biomass or other oxygenated feedstocks that are significantly smaller than the particles of catalyst in the fluidized bed. The reactor features an insert or other structure disposed within the reactor vessel that inhibits slugging of the bed and thereby minimizes attrition of the catalyst. Within the bed, the biomass feedstock is converted into a vapor-phase product, containing hydrocarbon molecules and other process vapors, and an entrained solid char product, which is separated from the vapor stream after the vapor stream has been exhausted from the top of the reactor. When the product vapor stream is cooled to ambient temperatures, a significant proportion of the hydrocarbons in the product vapor stream can be recovered as a liquid stream of hydrophobic hydrocarbons, with properties consistent with those of gasoline, kerosene, and diesel fuel. Separate streams of gasoline, kerosene, and diesel fuel may also be obtained, either via selective condensation of each type of fuel, or via later distillation of the combined hydrocarbon liquid.

Multiple Smaller Missions as a Direct Pathway to Mars Sample Return

Science.gov (United States)

Niles, P. B.; Draper, D. S.; Evans, C. A.; Gibson, E. K.; Graham, L. D.; Jones, J. H.; Lederer, S. M.; Ming, D.; Seaman, C. H.; Archer, P. D.;

An atlas of the smaller maps in orientable and nonorientable surfaces

CERN Document Server

Jackson, David

2000-01-01

Maps are beguilingly simple structures with deep and ubiquitous properties. They arise in an essential way in many areas of mathematics and mathematical physics, but require considerable time and computational effort to generate. Few collected drawings are available for reference, and little has been written, in book form, about their enumerative aspects. An Atlas of the Smaller Maps in Orientable and Nonorientable Surfaces is the first book to provide complete collections of maps along with their vertex and face partitions, number of rootings, and an index number for cross referencing. It provides an explanation of axiomatization and encoding, and serves as an introduction to maps as a combinatorial structure. The Atlas lists the maps first by genus and number of edges, and gives the embeddings of all graphs with at most five edges in orientable surfaces, thus presenting the genus distribution for each graph. Exemplifying the use of the Atlas, the authors explore two substantial conjectures with origins in ...

Metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) uptake in Parkinson's disease also decreases at thyroid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsui, Hideaki; Udaka, Fukashi; Oda, Masaya; Tamura, Akiko; Kubori, Tamotsu; Nishinaka, Kazuto; Kameyama, Masakuni

2005-01-01

Decreased cardiac metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) uptake was reported in Parkinson's disease and this contributes to the differential diagnosis between Parkinson's disease and other forms of parkinsonism such as multiple system atrophy. However, decreased MIBG uptake of the thyroid has not been demonstrated. The objective of this study was to compare MIBG uptake of the thyroid among Parkinson's disease, multiple system atrophy and controls. Twenty-six patients with Parkinson's disease, 11 patients with multiple system atrophy and 14 controls were examined in this study. Planar images were taken 15 minutes (early images) and 3 hours (late images) after intravenous injection of 111 MBq 123 I-MIBG. MIBG uptake of the thyroid on early images decreased significantly in Parkinson's disease compared to controls (p<0.0001) and multiple system atrophy (p=0.018). MIBG uptake of the thyroid on early images decreased significantly also in multiple system atrophy compared to controls (p=0.027). On late images, thyroid uptake differed significantly only between Parkinson's disease and controls (p=0.010). Our study is the first to demonstrate decreased MIBG uptake of the thyroid in Parkinson's disease. Sympathetic nervous denervation of Parkinson's disease occurred not only in the heart but also in the thyroid. (author)

Social Branding to Decrease Smoking Among Young Adults in Bars

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Youn Ok; Hong, Juliette; Neilands, Torsten B.; Jordan, Jeffrey W.; Glantz, Stanton A.

2014-01-01

Objectives. We evaluated a Social Branding antitobacco intervention for “hipster” young adults that was implemented between 2008 and 2011 in San Diego, California. Methods. We conducted repeated cross-sectional surveys of random samples of young adults going to bars at baseline and over a 3-year follow-up. We used multinomial logistic regression to evaluate changes in daily smoking, nondaily smoking, and binge drinking, controlling for demographic characteristics, alcohol use, advertising receptivity, trend sensitivity, and tobacco-related attitudes. Results. During the intervention, current (past 30 day) smoking decreased from 57% (baseline) to 48% (at follow-up 3; P = .002), and daily smoking decreased from 22% to 15% (P < .001). There were significant interactions between hipster affiliation and alcohol use on smoking. Among hipster binge drinkers, the odds of daily smoking (odds ratio [OR] = 0.44; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.30, 0.63) and nondaily smoking (OR = 0.57; 95% CI = 0.42, 0.77) decreased significantly at follow-up 3. Binge drinking also decreased significantly at follow-up 3 (OR = 0.64; 95% CI = 0.53, 0.78). Conclusions. Social Branding campaigns are a promising strategy to decrease smoking in young adult bar patrons. PMID:24524502

Analyses of Decrease in Reactor Coolant Flow Rate in SMART

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Hyung Rae; Bae, Kyoo Hwan; Choi, Suhn

2011-01-01

SMART is a small integral reactor, which is under development at KAERI to get the standard design approval by the end of 2011. SMART works like a pressurized light-water reactor in principle though it is more compact than large commercial reactors. SMART houses major components such as steam generators, a pressurizer, and reactor coolant pumps inside the reactor pressure vessel. Due to its compact design, SMART adopts a canned-motor type reactor coolant pump which has much smaller rotational inertia than the ones used in commercial reactors. As a consequence, the reactor coolant pump has very short coastdown time and reactor coolant flow rate decreases more severely compared to commercial reactors. The transients initiated by reduction of reactor coolant flow rate have been analyzed to ensure that SMART can be safely shutdown on such transients. The design basis events in this category are complete loss of flow, single pump locked rotor with loss of offsite power, and single pump shaft break with loss of offsite power

Consecutive Acupuncture Stimulations Lead to Significantly Decreased Neural Responses

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yeo, S.; Choe, I.H.; Noort, M.W.M.L. van den; Bosch, M.P.C.; Lim, S.

2010-01-01

Objective: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), in combination with block design paradigms with consecutive acupuncture stimulations, has often been used to investigate the neural responses to acupuncture. In this study, we investigated whether previous acupuncture stimulations can affect

Polymersomes, smaller than you think: ferrocene as a TEM probe to determine core structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnston, A. H.; Dalton, P. D.; Newman, T. A.

2010-01-01

By incorporating ferrocene into the hydrophobic membrane of PEG-b-PCL polymersome nanoparticles it is possible to selectively visualize their core using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). Two different sizes of ferrocene-loaded polymersomes with mean hydrodynamic diameters of approximately 40 and 90 nm were prepared. Image analysis of TEM pictures of these polymersomes found that the mean diameter of the core was 4-5 times smaller than the mean hydrodynamic diameter. The values obtained also allow the surface diameter and internal volume of the core to be calculated.

Decreased left temporal lobe volume of panic patients measured by magnetic resonance imaging

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Uchida, R.R.; Del-Ben, C.M.; Araujo, D.; Crippa, J.A.; Graeff, F.G. [Sao Paulo Univ., Ribeirao Preto, SP (Brazil). Dept. de Neurologia e Psicologia Medica]. E-mail: fgraeff@keynet.com.br; Santos, A.C. [Sao Paulo Univ., Ribeirao Preto, SP (Brazil). Dept. de Clinica Medica; Guimaraes, F.S. [Sao Paulo Univ., Ribeirao Preto, SP (Brazil). Dept. de Farmacologia

2003-07-01

Reported neuroimaging studies have shown functional and morphological changes of temporal lobe structures in panic patients, but only one used a volumetric method. The aim of the present study was to determine the volume of temporal lobe structures in patients with panic disorder, measured by magnetic resonance imaging. Eleven panic patients and eleven controls matched for age, sex, handedness, socioeconomic status and years of education participated in the study. The mean volume of the left temporal lobe of panic patients was 9% smaller than that of controls (t{sub 21} = 2.37, P = 0.028). In addition, there was a trend (P values between 0.05 and 0.10) to smaller volumes of the right temporal lobe (7%, t{sub 21} = 1.99, P = 0.06), right amygdala (8%, t{sub 21} = 1.83, P = 0.08), left amygdala (5%, t{sub 21} = 1.78, P 0.09) and left hippocampus (9%, t{sub 21} = 1.93, P = 0.07) in panic patients compared to controls. There was a positive correlation between left hippocampal volume and duration of panic disorder (r = 0.67, P = 0.025), with recent cases showing more reduction than older cases. The present results show that panic patients have a decreased volume of the left temporal lobe and indicate the presence of volumetric abnormalities of temporal lobe structures. (author)

Decreased left temporal lobe volume of panic patients measured by magnetic resonance imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uchida, R.R.; Del-Ben, C.M.; Araujo, D.; Crippa, J.A.; Graeff, F.G.; Santos, A.C.; Guimaraes, F.S.

2003-01-01

Reported neuroimaging studies have shown functional and morphological changes of temporal lobe structures in panic patients, but only one used a volumetric method. The aim of the present study was to determine the volume of temporal lobe structures in patients with panic disorder, measured by magnetic resonance imaging. Eleven panic patients and eleven controls matched for age, sex, handedness, socioeconomic status and years of education participated in the study. The mean volume of the left temporal lobe of panic patients was 9% smaller than that of controls (t 21 = 2.37, P = 0.028). In addition, there was a trend (P values between 0.05 and 0.10) to smaller volumes of the right temporal lobe (7%, t 21 = 1.99, P = 0.06), right amygdala (8%, t 21 = 1.83, P = 0.08), left amygdala (5%, t 21 = 1.78, P 0.09) and left hippocampus (9%, t 21 = 1.93, P = 0.07) in panic patients compared to controls. There was a positive correlation between left hippocampal volume and duration of panic disorder (r = 0.67, P = 0.025), with recent cases showing more reduction than older cases. The present results show that panic patients have a decreased volume of the left temporal lobe and indicate the presence of volumetric abnormalities of temporal lobe structures. (author)

Emulsion oil droplet size significantly affects satiety: A pre-ingestive approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Lett, Aaron M; Norton, Jennifer E; Yeomans, Martin R

2016-01-01

Previous research has demonstrated that the manipulation of oil droplet size within oil-in-water emulsions significantly affects sensory characteristics, hedonics and expectations of food intake, independently of energy content. Smaller oil droplets enhanced perceived creaminess, increased Liking and generated greater expectations of satiation and satiety, indicating that creaminess is a satiety-relevant sensory cue within these systems. This paper extends these findings by investigating the effect of oil droplet size (d4,3: 2 and 50 μm) on food intake and appetite. Male participants (n = 34 aged 18-37; BMI of 22.7 ± 1.6 kg/m(2); DEBQ restricted eating score of 1.8 ± 0.1.) completed two test days, where they visited the laboratory to consume a fixed-portion breakfast, returning 3 h later for a "drink", which was the emulsion preload containing either 2 or 50 μm oil droplets. This was followed 20 min later with an ad libitum pasta lunch. Participants consumed significantly less at the ad libitum lunch after the preload containing 2 μm oil droplets than after the 50 μm preload, with an average reduction of 12% (62.4 kcal). Despite the significant differences in intake, no significant differences in sensory characteristics were noted. The findings show that the impact that an emulsion has on satiety can be enhanced without producing significantly perceivable differences in sensory properties. Therefore, by introducing a processing step which results in a smaller droplets, emulsion based liquid food products can be produced that enhance satiety, allowing covert functional redesign. Future work should consider the mechanism responsible for this effect. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Global and regional associations of smaller cerebral gray and white matter volumes with gait in older people.

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Michele L Callisaya

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Gait impairments increase with advancing age and can lead to falls and loss of independence. Brain atrophy also occurs in older age and may contribute to gait decline. We aimed to investigate global and regional relationships of cerebral gray and white matter volumes with gait speed, and its determinants step length and cadence, in older people. METHODS: In a population-based study, participants aged >60 years without Parkinson's disease or brain infarcts underwent magnetic resonance imaging and gait measurements using a computerized walkway. Linear regression was used to study associations of total gray and white matter volumes with gait, adjusting for each other, age, sex, height and white matter hyperintensity volume. Other covariates considered in analyses included weight and vascular disease history. Voxel-based morphometry was used to study regional relationships of gray and white matter with gait. RESULTS: There were 305 participants, mean age 71.4 (6.9 years, 54% male, mean gait speed 1.16 (0.22 m/s. Smaller total gray matter volume was independently associated with poorer gait speed (p = 0.001 and step length (p<0.001, but not cadence. Smaller volumes of cortical and subcortical gray matter in bilateral regions important for motor control, vision, perception and memory were independently associated with slower gait speed and shorter steps. No global or regional associations were observed between white matter volume and gait independent of gray matter volume, white matter hyperintensity volume and other covariates. CONCLUSION: Smaller gray matter volume in bilaterally distributed brain networks serving motor control was associated with slower gait speed and step length, but not cadence.

Application of a model for delivering occupational safety and health to smaller businesses: Case studies from the US.

Science.gov (United States)

Cunningham, Thomas R; Sinclair, Raymond

2015-01-01

Smaller firms are the majority in every industry in the US, and they endure a greater burden of occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities than larger firms. Smaller firms often lack the necessary resources for effective occupational safety and health activities, and many require external assistance with safety and health programming. Based on previous work by researchers in Europe and New Zealand, NIOSH researchers developed for occupational safety and health intervention in small businesses. This model was evaluated with several intermediary organizations. Four case studies which describe efforts to reach small businesses with occupational safety and health assistance include the following: trenching safety training for construction, basic compliance and hazard recognition for general industry, expanded safety and health training for restaurants, and fall prevention and respirator training for boat repair contractors. Successful efforts included participation by the initiator among the intermediaries' planning activities, alignment of small business needs with intermediary offerings, continued monitoring of intermediary activities by the initiator, and strong leadership for occupational safety and health among intermediaries. Common challenges were a lack of resources among intermediaries, lack of opportunities for in-person meetings between intermediaries and the initiator, and balancing the exchanges in the initiator-intermediary-small business relationships. The model offers some encouragement that initiator organizations can contribute to sustainable OSH assistance for small firms, but they must depend on intermediaries who have compatible interests in smaller businesses and they must work to understand the small business social system.

Application of a model for delivering occupational safety and health to smaller businesses: Case studies from the US

Science.gov (United States)

Cunningham, Thomas R.; Sinclair, Raymond

2015-01-01

Smaller firms are the majority in every industry in the US, and they endure a greater burden of occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities than larger firms. Smaller firms often lack the necessary resources for effective occupational safety and health activities, and many require external assistance with safety and health programming. Based on previous work by researchers in Europe and New Zealand, NIOSH researchers developed for occupational safety and health intervention in small businesses. This model was evaluated with several intermediary organizations. Four case studies which describe efforts to reach small businesses with occupational safety and health assistance include the following: trenching safety training for construction, basic compliance and hazard recognition for general industry, expanded safety and health training for restaurants, and fall prevention and respirator training for boat repair contractors. Successful efforts included participation by the initiator among the intermediaries’ planning activities, alignment of small business needs with intermediary offerings, continued monitoring of intermediary activities by the initiator, and strong leadership for occupational safety and health among intermediaries. Common challenges were a lack of resources among intermediaries, lack of opportunities for in-person meetings between intermediaries and the initiator, and balancing the exchanges in the initiator–intermediary–small business relationships. The model offers some encouragement that initiator organizations can contribute to sustainable OSH assistance for small firms, but they must depend on intermediaries who have compatible interests in smaller businesses and they must work to understand the small business social system. PMID:26300585

Site-Specific Fat-1 Knock-In Enables Significant Decrease of n-6PUFAs/n-3PUFAs Ratio in Pigs

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Mengjing Li

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The fat-1 gene from Caenorhabditis elegans encodes a fatty acid desaturase which was widely studied due to its beneficial function of converting n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-6PUFAs to n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3PUFAs. To date, many fat-1 transgenic animals have been generated to study disease pathogenesis or improve meat quality. However, all of them were generated using a random integration method with variable transgene expression levels and the introduction of selectable marker genes often raise biosafety concern. To this end, we aimed to generate marker-free fat-1 transgenic pigs in a site-specific manner. The Rosa26 locus, first found in mouse embryonic stem cells, has become one of the most common sites for inserting transgenes due to its safe and ubiquitous expression. In our study, the fat-1 gene was inserted into porcine Rosa 26 (pRosa26 locus via Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR/CRISPR-associated 9 (Cas9 system. The Southern blot analysis of our knock-in pigs indicated a single copy of the fat-1 gene at the pRosa26 locus. Furthermore, this single-copy fat-1 gene supported satisfactory expression in a variety of tissues in F1 generation pigs. Importantly, the gas chromatography analysis indicated that these fat-1 knock-in pigs exhibited a significant increase in the level of n-3PUFAs, leading to an obvious decrease in the n-6PUFAs/n-3PUFAs ratio from 9.36 to 2.12 (***P < 0.0001. Altogether, our fat-1 knock-in pigs hold great promise for improving the nutritional value of pork and serving as an animal model to investigate therapeutic effects of n-3PUFAs on various diseases.

Decrease of Perivascular Adipose Tissue Browning Is Associated With Vascular Dysfunction in Spontaneous Hypertensive Rats During Aging

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Ling-Ran Kong

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Functional perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT is necessary to maintain vascular physiology through both mechanical support and endocrine or paracrine ways. PVAT shows a brown adipose tissue (BAT-like feature and the browning level of PVAT is dependent on the anatomic location and species. However, it is not clear whether PVAT browning is involved in the vascular tone regulation in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs. In the present study, we aimed to illustrate the effect of aging on PVAT browning and subsequent vasomotor reaction in SHRs. Herein we utilized histological staining and western blot to detect the characteristics of thoracic PVAT (tPVAT in 8-week-old and 16-week-old SHR and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY rats. We also detected vascular reactivity analysis to determine the effect of tPVAT on vasomotor reaction during aging. The results showed that tPVAT had a similar phenotype to BAT, including smaller adipocyte size and positive uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1 staining. Interestingly, the tPVAT of 8-week-old SHR showed increased BAT phenotypic marker expression compared to WKY, whereas the browning level of tPVAT had a more dramatic decrease from 8 to 16 weeks of age in SHR than age-matched WKY rats. The vasodilation effect of tPVAT on aortas had no significant difference in 8-week-old WKY and SHR, whereas this effect is obviously decreased in 16-week-old SHR compared to WKY. In contrast, tPVAT showed a similar vasoconstriction effect in 8- or 16-week-old WKY and SHR rats. Moreover, we identified an important vasodilator adenosine, which regulates adipocyte browning and may be a potential PVAT-derived relaxing factor. Adenosine is dramatically decreased from 8 to 16 weeks of age in the tPVAT of SHR. In summary, aging is associated with a decrease of tPVAT browning and adenosine production in SHR rats. These may result in attenuated vasodilation effect of the tPVAT in SHR during aging.

The adsorption capacity of an ocher decreases arsenic intake in maize; Adsorpcna kapacita okru znizuje prijem arzenu pri kukurici

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Drlickova, G; Vaculik, M; Lux, A [Univerzita Komenskeho v Bratislave, Prirodovedecka fakulta, Katedra fyziologie rastlin, 84215 Bratislava (Slovakia)

2012-04-25

The aim of the experiment was to compare the growth of maize (Zea mays L.), hybrid Valentine, in two types of contaminated soil substrate (ocher and stacks) with different concentrations of arsenic (As) derived from an old mining site in Pernek in the Small Carpathians. Plants were grown in a greenhouse for 15 weeks. We found that although the total concentration of As in stacks was 2.6 times lower than in ocher (90.05 mg kg{sup -1} in stacks and 236.8 mg kg{sup -1} in ocher) the plants grown in stacks accumulated in their tissues more As compared to the plants growing in ocher. Moreover, plants in stacks were significantly smaller, they produced less biomass and bloomed later. This paradox can be explained by reduced mobility of As in ocher substrates characteristic by high content of hydro-oxides of Fe. These compounds are in fact capable of binding arsenates, what leads to decrease of their concentration in the soil solution, and thus the availability for the plants. (authors)

Examining the Rule of Thumb of Not Using Multilevel Modeling: The "Design Effect Smaller than Two" Rule

Science.gov (United States)

Lai, Mark H. C.; Kwok, Oi-man

2015-01-01

Educational researchers commonly use the rule of thumb of "design effect smaller than 2" as the justification of not accounting for the multilevel or clustered structure in their data. The rule, however, has not yet been systematically studied in previous research. In the present study, we generated data from three different models…

Protein Thermostability Is Owing to Their Preferences to Non-Polar Smaller Volume Amino Acids, Variations in Residual Physico-Chemical Properties and More Salt-Bridges.

Science.gov (United States)

Panja, Anindya Sundar; Bandopadhyay, Bidyut; Maiti, Smarajit

2015-01-01

Protein thermostability is an important field for its evolutionary perspective of mesophilic versus thermophilic relationship and for its industrial/ therapeutic applications. Presently, a total 400 (200 thermophilic and 200 mesophilic homologue) proteins were studied utilizing several software/databases to evaluate their amino acid preferences. Randomly selected 50 homologous proteins with available PDB-structure of each group were explored for the understanding of the protein charges, isoelectric-points, hydrophilicity, hydrophobicity, tyrosine phosphorylation and salt-bridge occurrences. These 100 proteins were further probed to generate Ramachandran plot/data for the gross secondary structure prediction in and comparison between the thermophilic and mesophilic proteins. Present results strongly suggest that nonpolar smaller volume amino acids Ala (χ2 = 238.54, psalt bridges in this study. The average percentage of salt-bridge of thermophiles is found to be higher by 20% than their mesophilic homologue. The GLU-HIS and GLU-LYS salt-bridge dyads are calculated to be significantly higher (psalt-bridges and smaller volume nonpolar residues (Gly, Ala and Val) and lesser occurrence of bulky polar residues in the thermophilic proteins. A more stoichiometric relationship amongst these factors minimized the hindrance due to side chain burial and increased compactness and secondary structural stability in thermophilic proteins.

Decreasing size of radiosensitive capsules from micro to nano, and its increased antitumor effect and decreasing adverse effect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harada, S.; Ehara, S.; Ishii, K.; Yamazaki, H.; Matsuyama, S.; Sato, Takahiro; Kamiya, Tomihiro; Sera, K.; Saito, Y.

2012-01-01

We have been developing microcapsules that release anticancer drug with response to radiation. We attempted to decrease the diameter of capsules. Then, two categories were tested in VIVO in C3He mice: (1) the antitumor effect in combination with radiation and subcutaneously injected nanocapsules, (2) the kidnetics of nanocapsules when they were injected intravenously. Microcapsules were produced by spraying a mixture of 3.0 % hyaluronic acid, 2.0 % alginate, 3.0 % H 2 O 2 , and 0.3 mmol carboplatin (Pt containing anticancer drug) onto a mixture of vibrated 0.3 mol FeCl 2 and 0.15 mol CaCl 2 . The antitumor effect was measured by measuring tumor diameter every day. The kinetics of microcapsules were expressed as the numbers of capsules in 5 views (25 x 25 μm) of micro PIXE camera and Pt concentration of quantiative PIXE. The generated microcapsules 752 ± 64 nm, which were significantly downsized relative to previous capsules. The accumulations of capsules in lungs, liver, and kidneys were decreased by downsizing, whereas those of tumors were increased. By adjusting Pt concentration in tumor, there were no significant differences in antitumor effect between not downsized and downsized microcapsules with combination with radiation. Decreased trapping of downsized microcapsules to lungs, liver, and kidneys, also increased trapping in tumors will lead to new targeted chemoradiotherapy via intravenous injection of microcapsules. (author)

The Role of Interpretation in the Internationalization of Smaller Brazilian Firms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rene Eugenio Seifert

2012-10-01

Full Text Available This study considers how decision-makers in smaller firms interpret the means and conditions of internationalization, and how different modes of interpretation are likely to inform action choices in this process. Drawing on 58 qualitative interviews with the leaders of Brazilian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEsin the clothing industry located in the state of Paraná, the results support the contention that different understandings given to the means/conditions of internationalization are associated with different action choices. More specifically, the results indicate that: (a interpretation changes the criteria and parameters by which rational choices on internationalization are made; (b a comprehensive explanation of internationalization on the basis of situational characteristics is likely to be inconclusive without taking into account decision-makers’ interpretations; (c particular meanings given to internationalization are likely to inform choice in different ways, (d managers act on the basis of their inter-subjectively negotiated, shared and sustained reality; and (e investigative proximity with practitioners is pivotal in order to comprehensively account for their interpretations.

Decreasing Irradiated Rat Lung Volume Changes Dose-Limiting Toxicity From Early to Late Effects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Veen, Sonja J. van der; Faber, Hette; Ghobadi, Ghazaleh [Department of Cell Biology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen (Netherlands); Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen (Netherlands); Brandenburg, Sytze [KVI Center for Advanced Radiation Research, University of Groningen, Groningen (Netherlands); Langendijk, Johannes A. [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen (Netherlands); Coppes, Robert P. [Department of Cell Biology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen (Netherlands); Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen (Netherlands); Luijk, Peter van, E-mail: p.van.luijk@umcg.nl [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen (Netherlands)

2016-01-01

Purpose: Technological developments in radiation therapy result in smaller irradiated volumes of normal tissue. Because the risk of radiation therapy-induced toxicity generally depends on irradiated volume, changing volume could change the dose-limiting toxicity of a treatment. Recently, in our rat model, we found that early radiation-induced lung dysfunction (RILD) was closely related to irradiated volume dependent vascular remodeling besides inflammation. The exact relationship between early and late RILD is still unknown. Therefore, in this preclinical study we investigated the dose-volume relationship of late RILD, assessed its dependence on early and late pathologies and studied if decreasing irradiated volume changed the dose-limiting toxicity. Methods and Materials: A volume of 25%, 32%, 50%, 63%, 88%, or 100% of the rat lung was irradiated using protons. Until 26 weeks after irradiation, respiratory rates were measured. Macrovascular remodeling, pulmonary inflammation, and fibrosis were assessed at 26 weeks after irradiation. For all endpoints dose-volume response curves were made. These results were compared to our previously published early lung effects. Results: Early vascular remodeling and inflammation correlated significantly with early RILD. Late RILD correlated with inflammation and fibrosis, but not with vascular remodeling. In contrast to the early effects, late vascular remodeling, inflammation and fibrosis showed a primarily dose but not volume dependence. Comparison of respiratory rate increases early and late after irradiation for the different dose-distributions indicated that with decreasing irradiated volumes, the dose-limiting toxicity changed from early to late RILD. Conclusions: In our rat model, different pathologies underlie early and late RILD with different dose-volume dependencies. Consequently, the dose-limiting toxicity changed from early to late dysfunction when the irradiated volume was reduced. In patients, early and late

Decrease in electrical contact resistance of Sb-doped n+-BaSi2 layers and spectral response of an Sb-doped n+-BaSi2/undoped BaSi2 structure for solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

Kodama, Komomo; Takabe, Ryota; Yachi, Suguru; Toko, Kaoru; Suemasu, Takashi

2018-03-01

We investigated how the electron concentration n in a 300-nm-thick Sb-doped n+-BaSi2 layer grown by molecular beam epitaxy affected the contact resistance R C to surface electrodes (Al, indium-tin-oxide). As the n of n-BaSi2 increased, R C decreased and reached a minimum of 0.019 Ω cm2 at n = 2.4 × 1018 cm-3 for the Al electrodes. This value was more than 1 order of magnitude smaller than that obtained for Al/B-doped p-BaSi2. We believe that this significant decrease in R C came from Sb segregation. Furthermore, the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) spectrum was evaluated for an Sb-doped n+-BaSi2 (20 nm)/undoped BaSi2 (500 nm)/n+-Si(111) structure. Its IQE reached as high as ˜50% over a wide wavelength range under a small bias voltage of 0.1 V applied between the top and bottom electrodes.

Fleet view of electrified transportation reveals smaller potential to reduce GHG emissions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meinrenken, Christoph J.; Lackner, Klaus S.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Novel framework compares GHG of plugins vs. hybrids for any vehicle type/performance. • Fleet GHG can be compared without forecasting market penetrations of vehicle sizes. • GHG/km for pure electrics must account for limited range using novel, modified Utility Factor. • Applied to the US, this points to smaller GHG reduction at fleet level than traditional fleet analyses. - Abstract: Plugin and hybrid vehicles have been shown to offer possible reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, depending on grid-carbon-intensity, range and thus life-cycle battery emissions and vehicle weight, and on trip patterns. We present a framework that enables GHG comparisons (well-to-wheel plus storage manufacturing) for three drivetrains (pure-electric, gasoline-hybrid, and plugin-hybrid), both for individual vehicles and for fleets. The framework captures effects of grid- versus vehicle-based electricity generation, grid transmission and charging losses, and manufacturing and carrying batteries. In contrast to previous work, GHG comparisons can be obtained for heterogeneous fleets of varying vehicle sizes (cars, vans, buses, trucks) and performances, without requiring forecasting of such vehicle specs and their respective market penetrations. Further, we show how a novel adaptation of the Utility Factor concept from plug-in-hybrids to mixed fleets of battery-only and gasoline-hybrids is crucial to quantifying battery-only-vehicles’ impact on fleet-wide GHG. To account for regional variations and possible future technology improvements, we show scenarios over a wide spectrum of grid-carbon-intensities (50–1200 g CO 2 e/kW h at wall), vehicle range (∼5–500 km), battery energy densities, and battery life-cycle GHG. Model uncertainties are quantified via sensitivity tests. Applying the framework to trip patterns of US passenger transportation, we find that owing to the interplay of GHG/km, battery size, all-electric range, and trip patterns, GHG

Genetic myostatin decrease in the golden retriever muscular dystrophy model does not significantly affect the ubiquitin proteasome system despite enhancing the severity of disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Cotten, Steven W; Kornegay, Joe N; Bogan, Daniel J; Wadosky, Kristine M; Patterson, Cam; Willis, Monte S

2013-01-01

Recent studies suggest that inhibiting the protein myostatin, a negative regulator of skeletal muscle mass, may improve outcomes in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy by enhancing muscle mass. When the dystrophin-deficient golden retriever muscular dystrophy (GRMD) dog was bred with whippets having a heterozygous mutation for the myostatin gene, affected GRMD dogs with decreased myostatin (GRippets) demonstrated an accelerated physical decline compared to related affected GRMD dogs with full myostatin. To examine the role of the ubiquitin proteasome and calpain systems in this accelerated decline, we determined the expression of the muscle ubiquitin ligases MuRF1, Atrogin-1, RNF25, RNF11, and CHIP: the proteasome subunits PSMA6, PSMB4, and PSME1: and calpain 1/2 by real time PCR in the cranial sartorius and vastus lateralis muscles in control, affected GRMD, and GRippet dogs. While individual affected GRMD and GRippet dogs contributed to an increased variability seen in ubiquitin ligase expression, neither group was significantly different from the control group. The affected GRMD dogs demonstrated significant increases in caspase-like and trypsin-like activity in the cranial sartorius; however, all three proteasome activities in the GRippet muscles did not differ from controls. Increased variability in calpain 1 and calpain 2 expression and activity in the affected GRMD and GRippet groups were identified, but no statistical differences from the control group were seen. These studies suggest a role of myostatin in the disease progression of GRMD, which does not significantly involve key components of the ubiquitin proteasome and calpain systems involved in the protein quality control of sarcomere and other structural skeletal muscle proteins.

Effects of cosmic ray decreases on cloud microphysics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svensmark, J.; Enghoff, M. B.; Svensmark, H.

2012-01-01

Using cloud data from MODIS we investigate the response of cloud microphysics to sudden decreases in galactic cosmic radiation – Forbush decreases – and find responses in effective emissivity, cloud fraction, liquid water content, and optical thickness above the 2–3 sigma level 6–9 days after...... the minimum in atmospheric ionization and less significant responses for effective radius and cloud condensation nuclei (... of the signal of 3.1 sigma. We also see a correlation between total solar irradiance and strong Forbush decreases but a clear mechanism connecting this to cloud properties is lacking. There is no signal in the UV radiation. The responses of the parameters correlate linearly with the reduction in the cosmic ray...

Decreased pyramidal neuron size in Brodmann areas 44 and 45 in patients with autism.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacot-Descombes, Sarah; Uppal, Neha; Wicinski, Bridget; Santos, Micaela; Schmeidler, James; Giannakopoulos, Panteleimon; Heinsen, Helmut; Heinsein, Helmut; Schmitz, Christoph; Hof, Patrick R

2012-07-01

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social interaction and social communication, as well as by the presence of repetitive and stereotyped behaviors and interests. Brodmann areas 44 and 45 in the inferior frontal cortex, which are involved in language processing, imitation function, and sociality processing networks, have been implicated in this complex disorder. Using a stereologic approach, this study aims to explore the presence of neuropathological differences in areas 44 and 45 in patients with autism compared to age- and hemisphere-matched controls. Based on previous evidence in the fusiform gyrus, we expected to find a decrease in the number and size of pyramidal neurons as well as an increase in volume of layers III, V, and VI in patients with autism. We observed significantly smaller pyramidal neurons in patients with autism compared to controls, although there was no difference in pyramidal neuron numbers or layer volumes. The reduced pyramidal neuron size suggests that a certain degree of dysfunction of areas 44 and 45 plays a role in the pathology of autism. Our results also support previous studies that have shown specific cellular neuropathology in autism with regionally specific reduction in neuron size, and provide further evidence for the possible involvement of the mirror neuron system, as well as impairment of neuronal networks relevant to communication and social behaviors, in this disorder.

Significant enhancement of the thermoelectric figure of merit of polycrystalline Si films by reducing grain size

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valalaki, K; Nassiopoulou, A G; Vouroutzis, N

2016-01-01

The thermoelectric properties of p-type polycrystalline silicon thin films deposited by low pressure chemical vapour deposition (LPCVD) were accurately determined at room temperature and the thermoelectric figure of merit was deduced as a function of film thickness, ranging from 100 to 500 nm. The effect of film thickness on their thermoelectric performance is discussed. More than threefold increase in the thermoelectric figure of merit of the 100 nm thick polysilicon film was observed compared to the 500 nm thick film, reaching a value as high as 0.033. This enhancement is mainly the result of the smaller grain size in the thinner films. With the decrease in grain size the resistivity of the films is increased twofold and electrical conductivity decreased, however the Seebeck coefficient is increased by 30% and the thermal conductivity is decreased eightfold, being mainly at the origin of the increased figure of merit of the 100 nm film. Our experimental results were compared to known theoretical models and the possible mechanisms involved are presented and discussed. (paper)

Angiogenic activity in patients with psoriasis is significantly decreased by Goeckerman's therapy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andrys, C.; Borska, L.; Pohl, D.; Fiala, Z.; Hamakova, K.; Krejsek, J. [Faculty Hospital, Hradec Kralove (Czech Republic). Dept. of Clinical Immunology & Allergy

2007-03-15

Goeckerman's therapy (GT) of psoriasis is based on daily application of pharmacy grade coal tar on affected skin with subsequent exposure to UV light. Goeckerman's therapy is still the first line therapy of psoriasis in the Czech Republic because of its low cost and long-term efficacy. Disturbances in angiogenic activity are characteristic for the immunopathogenesis of psoriasis. An abnormal spectrum of cytokines, growth factors and proangiogenic mediators is produced by keratinocytes and inflammatory cells in patients suffering from the disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of GT of psoriasis on angiogenic activities by comparing serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in 44 patients with psoriasis in peripheral blood samples collected before and after therapy. It was found that the angiogenic potential which is abnormally increased in patients with psoriasis is significantly alleviated by GT.

Iodine-125 thin seeds decrease prostate swelling during transperineal interstitial permanent prostate brachytherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beydoun, Nadine; Bucci, Joseph A.; Chin, Yaw S.; Malouf, David

2014-01-01

Prostate swelling following seed implantation is a well-recognised phenomenon. The purpose of this intervention was to assess whether using thinner seeds reduces post-implant swelling with permanent prostate brachytherapy. Eighteen consecutive patients eligible for prostate seed brachytherapy underwent seed implantation using iodine-125 (I-125) thin seeds. Operative time, dosimetry, prostate swelling and toxicity were assessed and compared with standard I-125 stranded seed controls, sourced from the department's brachytherapy database. A learning curve was noted with the thin seeds in terms of greater bending and deviation of needles from their intended path. This translated into significantly longer total operative time (88 vs 103 minutes; P=0.009, 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.1-24.3) and time per needle insertion (2.6 vs 3.7 minutes; P<0.001, 95% CI 0.5-1.3) for the thin seeds. Day 30 prostate volumes were significantly smaller in the thin seed group compared with standard seeds (40.9cc vs 46.8cc; P=0.001, 95% CI 1.5-5.6). The ratio of preoperative transrectal ultrasound to day 30 post-implant CT volume was also smaller in the thin seed group (1.2±0.1 for standard seeds vs 1.1±0.1 for thin seeds). Post-implant dosimetric parameters were comparable for both groups. No significant differences were seen in acute urinary morbidity or quality of life between the two groups. I-125 thin seeds are associated with an initial learning curve, with longer operative time, even for experienced brachytherapists. The significant reduction in day 30 prostate volumes with the thin seeds has useful implications in terms of optimising dose coverage to the prostate in the early period post-implantation, as well as improving the accuracy of post-implant dosimetric assessments.

Benefits of research activities incorporation into the core business of smaller TSOs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rovny, J.

2007-01-01

Much has been done to develop the nuclear safety technology to the current level. Nevertheless, incremental development of this knowledge based on demand-pull innovation only seems not to satisfy the future needs of nuclear industry. In order to cope with technical challenges faced by TSOs in the context of nuclear renaissance, the technology-push innovation has to be done in certain amount as well to ensure that brand-new ideas, technologies and attitudes will be implemented in order to enhance nuclear safety. For the reasons described, the technology-push innovation is accessible mainly for larger organizations. In order to cross the entrance barrier for smaller organizations, a cooperation among several TSOs is needed. Uncertainties related to investments in research can be optimalized by creating a research project portfolio. According to the traditional innovation management theory, technological innovation is a driver of competition and profitability and, therefore, the motivation is supported by economical benefits. (author)

An Empirical Study on the Behavior of Monthly Stock Prices of Fortune 500 Firms and S&P Smaller Firms: Evidence and Implications

OpenAIRE

Young H. Kim; Edward L. Davis; Charles T. Moses

2014-01-01

This paper revisits a random walk hypothesis by investigating the behavior of monthly stock prices of 461 Fortune 500 firms over 45 years and 599 S&P smaller firms over 10 years. The Box-Jenkins ARIMA models are applied to time series analysis and stock market forecasting to find the monthly stock price behavior. The research findings show that 309 (67.03%) Fortune 500 firms and 449 (74.96%) S&P smaller firms follow a random walk. The monthly stock prices of Fortune 500 firms and S&P firms ...

Intrauterine growth-restricted sheep fetuses exhibit smaller hindlimb muscle fibers and lower proportions of insulin-sensitive Type I fibers near term.

Science.gov (United States)

Yates, Dustin T; Cadaret, Caitlin N; Beede, Kristin A; Riley, Hannah E; Macko, Antoni R; Anderson, Miranda J; Camacho, Leticia E; Limesand, Sean W

2016-06-01

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) reduces muscle mass and insulin sensitivity in offspring. Insulin sensitivity varies among muscle fiber types, with Type I fibers being most sensitive. Differences in fiber-type ratios are associated with insulin resistance in adults, and thus we hypothesized that near-term IUGR sheep fetuses exhibit reduced size and proportions of Type I fibers. Placental insufficiency-induced IUGR fetuses were ∼54% smaller (P fetal muscles develop smaller fibers and have proportionally fewer Type I fibers, which is indicative of developmental adaptations that may help explain the link between IUGR and adulthood insulin resistance. Copyright © 2016 the American Physiological Society.

Percutaneous CT-guided biopsy for lung lesions 1 cm or smaller: the technique, results and complication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Chi Sung

2006-01-01

The author wanted to assess the diagnostic accuracy and safety of percutaneous biopsy for lung lesions 1 cm or smaller; the biopsies were performed on the basis of the modified coaxial technique under CT guidance. Thirty-five patients (22 men and 13 women) 23-76 years old (average age: 56.8 years) with lung lesions 1 cm or smaller underwent CT-guided percutaneous biopsy. Fifteen patients had underlying primary malignancies. After an 18 G guiding cannula was introduced to the border of the small lung lesion via the modified coaxial technique, fine-needle aspiration biopsy with 21 G needle and core tissue biopsies with 19.5 G or 20 G biopsy guns were performed through the lumen of the guiding cannula. The core tissue biopsies were finished after 6 macroscopic core tissue specimens were obtained. When the needle hit the eccentric portion of the small lung lesion, a 'fanning-out' technique with using the guiding cannula was applied to get multiple core tissue specimens from the small lung lesion. The diagnostic accuracy of this method was evaluated and the complications were reviewed. Both the cytopathologic and histopathologic specimens were obtained in all 35 cases. The fanning-out technique was necessary in 15 cases (43%) for obtaining six core tissue specimens from small lesions. The final diagnoses were 17 malignant lesions and 18 benign lesions. Sixteen lesions were true-positive, eighteen were true-negative, none was false-positive and one was false-negative. The overall diagnostic accuracy was 97%. The sensitivity for detecting malignancy and the specificity for benign lesion were 94% and 100%, respectively. The positive and negative predictive values were 100% and 95%, respectively. The diagnostic ability to characterize the specific cell type of the malignant lesion was 94% (16 of 17), that for the benign lesions was 83% (15 of 18), and overall diagnostic ability was 89% (31 of 35). Five patients (14%) developed a pneumopthorax, and one of them (3%) received

AMS measurement of samples smaller than 300 {mu}g at center for applied isotope studies, University of Georgia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cherkinsky, Alexander, E-mail: acherkin@uga.edu [CENTER FOR APPLIED ISOTOPE STUDIES, University of Georgia, 120 Riverbend Road, Athens, GA 30602 (United States); Ravi Prasad, G.V.; Dvoracek, Doug [CENTER FOR APPLIED ISOTOPE STUDIES, University of Georgia, 120 Riverbend Road, Athens, GA 30602 (United States)

2013-01-15

The center for applied isotope studies has developed a protocol for the measurement of radiocarbon in the range 0.01-0.3 mg of carbon. We analyzed a series of radiocarbon-free and modern standards using the same sample preparation procedure as for unknown samples. We have studied the size dependency of {sup 12}C and {sup 13}C beam currents and {sup 14}C/{sup 13}C ratios from cathodes containing less than 1 mg of carbon. The iron catalyst used for graphite preparation contains some carbon with activity about 60 pMC and the level of contamination varies between batches from the same supplier. The cathodes in the range smaller than 50 {mu}g showed a very significant dependency between current and the sample size. In this range the current increased by about fifteen-fold; between 50 and 100 {mu}g the current increased two-fold. Samples larger than 300 {mu}g have shown negligible current variation. The {sup 14}C/{sup 13}C ratio was significantly affected only for the samples less than 50 {mu}g. Larger samples have shown very little variation in the {sup 14}C/{sup 13}C ratio. For the measurement of ultra-small unknown samples in the range of 10-50 {mu}g, we have found it to be important to use blanks and modern standards with exactly the same amount of carbon, which makes it possible to apply a mass-balanced correction.

Clinical significance of corpus callosum atrophy in a mixed elderly population

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ryberg, C.; Rostrup, E.; Stegmann, Mikkel Bille

2007-01-01

subjects with ARWMC from the Leukoaraiosis And DISability (LADIS) study, the CC was segmented on the normalised mid-sagittal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) slice and subdivided into five regions. Correlations between the CC areas and subjective memory complaints, mini mental state examination (MMSE......, and the CC areas were smaller in subjects with subjective gait difficulty. The correlations remained significant after correction for ARWMC grade. In conclusion, CC atrophy was independently associated with impaired global cognitive and motor function in subjects with ARWMC. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights...

Insomnia severity is associated with a decreased volume of the CA3/Dentate Gyrus Hippocampal Subfield

Science.gov (United States)

Neylan, Thomas C.; Mueller, Susanne G.; Wang, Zhen; Metzler, Thomas J.; Lenoci, Maryann; Truran, Diana; Marmar, Charles R.; Weiner, Michael W.; Schuff, Norbert

2010-01-01

Background Prolonged disruption of sleep in animal studies is associated with decreased neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus. Our objective was to determine if insomnia severity in a sample of PTSD and controls was associated with decreased volume in the CA3/dentate hippocampal subfield. Methods Volumes of hippocampal subfields in seventeen veteran males positive for PTSD (41 ±12 years) and nineteen age-matched male veterans negative for PTSD were measured using 4 Tesla MRI. Subjective sleep quality was measured by the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Results Higher scores on the ISI, indicating worse insomnia, were associated with smaller volumes of the CA3/dentate subfields (r= −.48, p < 0.01) in the combined sample. Adding the ISI score as a predictor for CA3/dentate volume to a hierarchical linear regression model after first controlling for age and PTSD symptoms accounted for a 13 % increase in incremental variance (t= −2.47, p= 0.02). Conclusions The findings indicate for the first time in humans that insomnia severity is associated with volume loss of the CA3/dentate subfields. This is consistent with animal studies showing that chronic sleep disruption is associated with decreased neurogenesis and dendritic branching in these structures. PMID:20598672

CONCEPTUAL DESIGN FOR A RADICALLY SMALLER, HIGHLY ADAPTIVE AND APPLICATION-FLEXIBLE MINING MACHINE FOR UTILITY AND DEVELOPMENT WORK

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andrew H. Stern

2004-12-20

The aim of this research project was to develop a preliminary ''conceptual design'' for a radically smaller, highly adaptive and application-flexible underground coal mining machine, for performing non-production utility work and/or also undertake limited production mining for the recovery of reserves that would otherwise be lost. Whereas historically, mining philosophies have reflected a shift to increasing larger mechanized systems [such as the continuous miner (CM)], specific mining operations that do not benefit from the economy of the large mining equipment are often ignored or addressed with significant inefficiencies. Developing this prototype concept will create a new class of equipment that can provide opportunities to re-think the very structure of the mining system across a broad range of possibilities, not able to be met by existing machinery. The approach involved pooling the collective input from mining professionals, using a structured listing of desired inputs in the form of a questionnaire, which was used to define the range of desired design specifications. From these inputs, a conceptual specification was blended, by the author, to embody the general concurrence of mission concepts for this machine.

Simple procedure for evaluating earthquake response spectra of large-event motions based on site amplification factors derived from smaller-event records

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dan, Kazuo; Miyakoshi, Jun-ichi; Yashiro, Kazuhiko.

1996-01-01

A primitive procedure was proposed for evaluating earthquake response spectra of large-event motions to make use of records from smaller events. The result of the regression analysis of the response spectra was utilized to obtain the site amplification factors in the proposed procedure, and the formulation of the seismic-source term in the regression analysis was examined. A linear form of the moment magnitude, Mw, is good for scaling the source term of moderate earthquakes with Mw of 5.5 to 7.0, while a quadratic form of Mw and the ω-square source-spectrum model is appropriate for scaling the source term of smaller and greater earthquakes, respectively. (author). 52 refs

Harvey, Mark S. (2003: Catalogue of the smaller arachnid orders of the world: Amblypygi, Uropygi, Schizomida, Palpigradi, Ricinulei and Solifugae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Blick, Theo

2004-11-01

Full Text Available book review: Harvey Mark S. (2003: Catalogue of the smaller arachnid orders of the world: Amblypygi, Uropygi, Schizomida, Palpigradi, Ricinulei and Solifugae. Includes checklists for Europe of: Amblypygi, Uropygi, Schizomida, Palpigradi, Solifugae.

Hill Cipher and Least Significant Bit for Image Messaging Security

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Husnul Arif

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Exchange of information through cyberspace has many benefits as an example fast estimated time, unlimited physical distance and space limits, etc. But in these activities can also pose a security risk for confidential information. It is necessary for the safety that can be used to protect data transmitted through the Internet. Encryption algorithm that used to encrypt message to be sent (plaintext into messages that have been randomized (ciphertext is cryptography and steganography algorithms. In application of cryptographic techniques that will be used is Hill Cipher. The technique is combined with steganography techniques Least Significant Bit. The result of merging techniques can maintain the confidentiality of messages because people who do not know the secret key used will be difficult to get the message contained in the stego-image and the image that has been inserted can not be used as a cover image. Message successfully inserted and extracted back on all samples with a good image formats * .bmp, * .png , * .jpg at a resolution of 512 x 512 pixels , 256 x 256 pixels. MSE and PSNR results are not influenced file format or file size, but influenced by dimensions of image. The larger dimensions of the image, then the smaller MSE that means error of image gets smaller.

French Second Language Teacher Education and Continuing Professional Development in Canada: The Roles of Smaller Universities and Related Institutions.

Science.gov (United States)

Heffernan, Peter J.

1991-01-01

Discusses teacher shortages in French language instruction areas in Canada, both core and immersion; the rationalization of programs; staffing and financial support among Alberta's tertiary education; language teacher preparation; and continuing professional development. Suggestions are made as to how a smaller university can better fulfill its…

A heterodyne interferometer with periodic nonlinearities smaller than ±10 pm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weichert, C; Köchert, P; Köning, R; Flügge, J; Andreas, B; Kuetgens, U; Yacoot, A

2012-01-01

The PTB developed a new optical heterodyne interferometer in the context of the European joint research project ‘Nanotrace’. A new optical concept using plane-parallel plates and spatially separated input beams to minimize the periodic nonlinearities was realized. Furthermore, the interferometer has the resolution of a double-path interferometer, compensates for possible angle variations between the mirrors and the interferometer optics and offers a minimal path difference between the reference and the measurement arm. Additionally, a new heterodyne phase evaluation based on an analogue to digital converter board with embedded field programmable gate arrays was developed, providing a high-resolving capability in the single-digit picometre range. The nonlinearities were characterized by a comparison with an x-ray interferometer, over a measurement range of 2.2 periods of the optical interferometer. Assuming an error-free x-ray interferometer, the nonlinearities are considered to be the deviation of the measured displacement from a best-fit line. For the proposed interferometer, nonlinearities smaller than ±10 pm were observed without any quadrature fringe correction. (paper)

A heterodyne interferometer with periodic nonlinearities smaller than ±10 pm

Science.gov (United States)

Weichert, C.; Köchert, P.; Köning, R.; Flügge, J.; Andreas, B.; Kuetgens, U.; Yacoot, A.

2012-09-01

The PTB developed a new optical heterodyne interferometer in the context of the European joint research project ‘Nanotrace’. A new optical concept using plane-parallel plates and spatially separated input beams to minimize the periodic nonlinearities was realized. Furthermore, the interferometer has the resolution of a double-path interferometer, compensates for possible angle variations between the mirrors and the interferometer optics and offers a minimal path difference between the reference and the measurement arm. Additionally, a new heterodyne phase evaluation based on an analogue to digital converter board with embedded field programmable gate arrays was developed, providing a high-resolving capability in the single-digit picometre range. The nonlinearities were characterized by a comparison with an x-ray interferometer, over a measurement range of 2.2 periods of the optical interferometer. Assuming an error-free x-ray interferometer, the nonlinearities are considered to be the deviation of the measured displacement from a best-fit line. For the proposed interferometer, nonlinearities smaller than ±10 pm were observed without any quadrature fringe correction.

Time-dependent analysis of incidence, risk factors and clinical significance of pneumothorax after percutaneous lung biopsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Woo Hyeon; Park, Chang Min; Yoon, Soon Ho; Lim, Hyun-Ju; Hwang, Eui Jin; Lee, Jong Hyuk; Goo, Jin Mo

2018-03-01

To evaluate the time-dependent incidence, risk factors and clinical significance of percutaneous lung biopsy (PLB)-related pneumothorax. From January 2012-November 2015, 3,251 patients underwent 3,354 cone-beam CT-guided PLBs for lung lesions. Cox, logistic and linear regression analyses were performed to identify time-dependent risk factors of PLB-related pneumothorax, risk factors of drainage catheter insertion and those of prolonged catheter placement, respectively. Pneumothorax occurred in 915/3,354 PLBs (27.3 %), with 230/915 (25.1 %) occurring during follow-ups. Risk factors for earlier occurrence of PLB-related pneumothorax include emphysema (HR=1.624), smaller target (HR=0.922), deeper location (HR=1.175) and longer puncture time (HR=1.036), while haemoptysis (HR=0.503) showed a protective effect against earlier development of pneumothorax. Seventy-five cases (8.2 %) underwent chest catheter placement. Mean duration of catheter placement was 3.2±2.0 days. Emphysema (odds ratio [OR]=2.400) and longer puncture time (OR=1.053) were assessed as significant risk factors for catheter insertion, and older age (parameter estimate=1.014) was a predictive factor for prolonged catheter placement. PLB-related pneumothorax occurred in 27.3 %, of which 25.1 % developed during follow-ups. Smaller target size, emphysema, deeply-located lesions were significant risk factors of PLB-related pneumothorax. Emphysema and older age were related to drainage catheter insertion and prolonged catheter placement, respectively. • One-fourth of percutaneous lung biopsy (PLB)-related pneumothorax occurs during follow-up. • Smaller, deeply-located target and emphysema lead to early occurrence of pneumothorax. • Emphysema is related to drainage catheter insertion for PLB-related pneumothorax. • Older age may lead to prolonged catheter placement for PLB-related pneumothorax. • Tailored management can be possible with time-dependent information of PLB-related pneumothorax.

Lateral Squats Significantly Decrease Sprint Time in Collegiate Baseball Athletes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jason B. White

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The purpose was to examine the effect of prior performance of dumbbell lateral squats (DBLS on an agility movement-into-a-sprint (AMS test. Twelve collegiate, resistance-trained, baseball athletes participated in three sessions separated by three days. Session One consisted of AMS baseline test, DBLS 5-RM test, and experimental protocol familiarization. Subjects were randomly assigned the protocol order for Sessions Two and Three, which consisted of warm up followed by 1-min sitting (no-DBLS or performing the DBLS for 1 × 5 repetitions @ 5RM for each leg. Four minutes of slow recovery walking preceded the AMS test, which consisted of leading off a base and waiting for a visual stimulus. In reaction to stimulus, subjects exerted maximal effort while moving to the right by either pivoting or drop stepping and sprinting for 10 yards (yd. In Session Three, subjects switched protocols (DBLS, no-DBLS. Foot contact time (FCT, stride frequency (SF, stride length (SL, and 10-yd sprint time were measured. There were no differences between conditions for FCT, SF, or SL. Differences existed between DBLS (1.85 ± 0.09 s and no-DBLS (1.89 ± 0.10 s for AMS (p = 0.03. Results from the current study support the use of DBLS for performance enhancement prior to performing the AMS test.

Influence of irradiation (Co60) in pre-implant rabbits embryos: effect on blastocyst diameters and embryos smaller than 2 mm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Approbato, Mario S.; Oliveira Moura, Katia K.V. de; Souza Florencio, Rodopiano de; Cunha Junior, Carlos; Garcia, Ricardo; Faria, Renato S.; Benedetti, Leonardo N.; Goulart, Flamarion B.

1995-01-01

We studied the effect of ionizing irradiation on 12 New Zealand rabbits (65 embryos), in three different times: at match time (zero hour), two days after and four days after, with two different irradiation doses, 5 c Gy and 10 c Gy. Six rabbits (36 blastocysts) were used as controls. The matching instant was the zero hour. Exactly six days after (± 60 minutes) the embryos of each rabbit was picked up by flushing the uterus with culture media. The embryos were fixed in methanol for 48 hours, and colored with acid Mayer hematoxylin. The following embryos parameters were studied: diameter growth; percentage of embryos smaller than 2 mm. We observed that only the irradiation time influenced the blastocysts diameter (no irradiation dose). There was no relation between percentage of embryos smaller than 2 mm and the irradiation. (author)

Non-stationarities significantly distort short-term spectral, symbolic and entropy heart rate variability indices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Magagnin, Valentina; Bassani, Tito; Bari, Vlasta; Turiel, Maurizio; Porta, Alberto; Maestri, Roberto; Pinna, Gian Domenico

2011-01-01

The autonomic regulation is non-invasively estimated from heart rate variability (HRV). Many methods utilized to assess autonomic regulation require stationarity of HRV recordings. However, non-stationarities are frequently present even during well-controlled experiments, thus potentially biasing HRV indices. The aim of our study is to quantify the potential bias of spectral, symbolic and entropy HRV indices due to non-stationarities. We analyzed HRV series recorded in healthy subjects during uncontrolled daily life activities typical of 24 h Holter recordings and during predetermined levels of robotic-assisted treadmill-based physical exercise. A stationarity test checking the stability of the mean and variance over short HRV series (about 300 cardiac beats) was utilized to distinguish stationary periods from non-stationary ones. Spectral, symbolic and entropy indices evaluated solely over stationary periods were contrasted with those derived from all the HRV segments. When indices were calculated solely over stationary series, we found that (i) during both uncontrolled daily life activities and controlled physical exercise, the entropy-based complexity indices were significantly larger; (ii) during uncontrolled daily life activities, the spectral and symbolic indices linked to sympathetic modulation were significantly smaller and those associated with vagal modulation were significantly larger; (iii) while during uncontrolled daily life activities, the variance of spectral, symbolic and entropy rate indices was significantly larger, during controlled physical exercise, it was smaller. The study suggests that non-stationarities increase the likelihood to overestimate the contribution of sympathetic control and affect the power of statistical tests utilized to discriminate conditions and/or groups

Smaller Hippocampal Volume in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder : A Multisite ENIGMA-PGC Study: Subcortical Volumetry Results From Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Consortia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Logue, Mark W.; van Rooij, Sanne J H; Dennis, Emily L.; Davis, Sarah L.; Hayes, Jasmeet P.; Stevens, Jennifer S.; Densmore, Maria; Haswell, Courtney C.; Ipser, Jonathan; Koch, Saskia B.J.; Korgaonkar, Mayuresh; Lebois, Lauren A.M.; Peverill, Matthew; Baker, Justin T.; Boedhoe, Premika S W; Frijling, Jessie L.; Gruber, Staci A.; Harpaz-Rotem, Ilan; Jahanshad, Neda; Koopowitz, Sheri; Levy, Ifat; Nawijn, Laura; O'Connor, Lauren; Olff, Miranda; Salat, David H.; Sheridan, Margaret A.; Spielberg, Jeffrey M.; van Zuiden, Mirjam; Winternitz, Sherry R.; Wolff, Jonathan D.; Wolf, Erika J.; Wang, Xin; Wrocklage, Kristen; Abdallah, Chadi G.; Bryant, Richard A.; Geuze, Elbert; Jovanovic, Tanja; Kaufman, Milissa L.; King, Anthony P.; Krystal, John H.; Lagopoulos, Jim; Bennett, Maxwell; Lanius, Ruth; Liberzon, Israel; McGlinchey, Regina E.; McLaughlin, Katie A.; Milberg, William P.; Miller, Mark W.; Ressler, Kerry J; Veltman, Dick J.; Stein, Dan J; Thomaes, Kathleen; Thompson, Paul M.; Morey, Rajendra A.

2018-01-01

Background Many studies report smaller hippocampal and amygdala volumes in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but findings have not always been consistent. Here, we present the results of a large-scale neuroimaging consortium study on PTSD conducted by the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium

Black carbon radiative forcing at TOA decreased during aging.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Yu; Cheng, Tianhai; Zheng, Lijuan; Chen, Hao

2016-12-05

During aging processing, black carbon (also called soot) particles may tend to be mixed with other aerosols, and highly influence their radiative forcing. In this study, freshly emitted soot particles were simulated as fractal aggregates composed of small spherical primary monomers. After aging in the atmosphere, soot monomers were coated by a thinly layer of sulfate as thinly coated soot particles. These soot particles were entirely embedded into large sulfate particle by further aging, and becoming heavily coated soot particles. In clear-sky conditions, black carbon radiative forcing with different aging states were investigated for the bottom and top of atmosphere (BOA and TOA). The simulations showed that black carbon radiative forcing increased at BOA and decreased at TOA after their aging processes. Thinly and heavily coated states increased up to ~12% and ~35% black carbon radiative forcing at BOA, and black carbon radiative forcing at TOA can reach to ~20% and ~100% smaller for thinly and heavily coated states than those of freshly emitted states, respectively. The effect of aging states of black carbon radiative forcing was varied with surface albedo, aerosol optical depth and solar zenith angles. These findings would be helpful for the assessments of climate change.

Diagnostic significance of hepatic venography and retrograde portography in portal hypertension

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fukunaga, Masaki

1987-07-01

In this series, we studied about diagnostic significance of hepatic venography and retrograde portography in portal hypertension by using stepwise discriminant analysis. The accuracy rate of the discrimination was 95 % in liver cirrhosis (LC), 86 % in B' type LC, 83 % in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and 57 % in idiopathic portal hypertension (IPH). The difficulty in differential diagnosis of IPH from PBC was due to similarity of hepatic vascular changes in both diseases. Next we studied about the relationship between venographic findings and the causes of LC. The size of regenerated nodule in alcoholic LC was significantly smaller than the others, so venographic findings were different from others. It was concluded that hepatic venography was useful examination for differential diagnosis in portal hypertension, and was effective for considering about the causes of LC.

Diagnostic significance of hepatic venography and retrograde portography in portal hypertension

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukunaga, Masaki

1987-01-01

In this series, we studied about diagnostic significance of hepatic venography and retrograde portography in portal hypertension by using stepwise discriminant analysis. The accuracy rate of the discrimination was 95 % in liver cirrhosis (LC), 86 % in B' type LC, 83 % in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and 57 % in idiopathic portal hypertension (IPH). The difficulty in differential diagnosis of IPH from PBC was due to similarity of hepatic vascular changes in both diseases. Next we studied about the relationship between venographic findings and the causes of LC. The size of regenerated nodule in alcoholic LC was significantly smaller than the others, so venographic findings were different from others. It was concluded that hepatic venography was useful examination for differential diagnosis in portal hypertension, and was effective for considering about the causes of LC. (author)

Decreases in beetle body size linked to climate change and warming temperatures.

Science.gov (United States)

Tseng, Michelle; Kaur, Katrina M; Soleimani Pari, Sina; Sarai, Karnjit; Chan, Denessa; Yao, Christine H; Porto, Paula; Toor, Anmol; Toor, Harpawantaj S; Fograscher, Katrina

2018-05-01

Body size is a fundamental ecological trait and is correlated with population dynamics, community structure and function, and ecosystem fluxes. Laboratory data from broad taxonomic groups suggest that a widespread response to a warming world may be an overall decrease in organism body size. However, given the myriad of biotic and abiotic factors that can also influence organism body size in the wild, it is unclear whether results from these laboratory assays hold in nature. Here we use datasets spanning 30 to 100 years to examine whether the body size of wild-caught beetles has changed over time, whether body size changes are correlated with increased temperatures, and we frame these results using predictions derived from a quantitative review of laboratory responses of 22 beetle species to temperature. We found that 95% of laboratory-reared beetles decreased in size with increased rearing temperature, with larger-bodied species shrinking disproportionately more than smaller-bodied beetles. In addition, the museum datasets revealed that larger-bodied beetle species have decreased in size over time, that mean beetle body size explains much of the interspecific variation in beetle responses to temperature, and that long-term beetle size changes are explained by increases in autumn temperature and decreases in spring temperature in this region. Our data demonstrate that the relationship between body size and temperature of wild-caught beetles matches relatively well with results from laboratory studies, and that variation in this relationship is largely explained by interspecific variation in mean beetle body size. This long-term beetle dataset is one of the most comprehensive arthropod body size datasets compiled to date, it improves predictions regarding the shrinking of organisms with global climate change, and together with the meta-analysis data, call for new hypotheses to explain why larger-bodied organisms may be more sensitive to temperature. © 2018 The

Cancer cachexia decreases specific force and accelerates fatigue in limb muscle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roberts, B. M. [1225 Center Drive, HPNP Building Room 1142, Department of Physical Therapy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610 (United States); Frye, G. S.; Ahn, B.; Ferreira, L. F. [1864 Stadium Road, Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610 (United States); Judge, A.R., E-mail: arjudge@phhp.ufl.edu [1225 Center Drive, HPNP Building Room 1142, Department of Physical Therapy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610 (United States)

2013-06-07

Highlights: •C-26 cancer cachexia causes a significant decrease in limb muscle absolute force. •C-26 cancer cachexia causes a significant decrease in limb muscle specific force. •C-26 cancer cachexia decreases fatigue resistance in the soleus muscle. •C-26 cancer cachexia prolongs time to peak twitch tension in limb muscle. •C-26 cancer cachexia prolongs one half twitch relaxation time in limb muscle. -- Abstract: Cancer cachexia is a complex metabolic syndrome that is characterized by the loss of skeletal muscle mass and weakness, which compromises physical function, reduces quality of life, and ultimately can lead to mortality. Experimental models of cancer cachexia have recapitulated this skeletal muscle atrophy and consequent decline in muscle force generating capacity. However, more recently, we provided evidence that during severe cancer cachexia muscle weakness in the diaphragm muscle cannot be entirely accounted for by the muscle atrophy. This indicates that muscle weakness is not just a consequence of muscle atrophy but that there is also significant contractile dysfunction. The current study aimed to determine whether contractile dysfunction is also present in limb muscles during severe Colon-26 (C26) carcinoma cachexia by studying the glycolytic extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle and the oxidative soleus muscle, which has an activity pattern that more closely resembles the diaphragm. Severe C-26 cancer cachexia caused significant muscle fiber atrophy and a reduction in maximum absolute force in both the EDL and soleus muscles. However, normalization to muscle cross sectional area further demonstrated a 13% decrease in maximum isometric specific force in the EDL and an even greater decrease (17%) in maximum isometric specific force in the soleus. Time to peak tension and half relaxation time were also significantly slowed in both the EDL and the solei from C-26 mice compared to controls. Since, in addition to postural control, the oxidative

Cancer cachexia decreases specific force and accelerates fatigue in limb muscle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roberts, B.M.; Frye, G.S.; Ahn, B.; Ferreira, L.F.; Judge, A.R.

2013-01-01

Highlights: •C-26 cancer cachexia causes a significant decrease in limb muscle absolute force. •C-26 cancer cachexia causes a significant decrease in limb muscle specific force. •C-26 cancer cachexia decreases fatigue resistance in the soleus muscle. •C-26 cancer cachexia prolongs time to peak twitch tension in limb muscle. •C-26 cancer cachexia prolongs one half twitch relaxation time in limb muscle. -- Abstract: Cancer cachexia is a complex metabolic syndrome that is characterized by the loss of skeletal muscle mass and weakness, which compromises physical function, reduces quality of life, and ultimately can lead to mortality. Experimental models of cancer cachexia have recapitulated this skeletal muscle atrophy and consequent decline in muscle force generating capacity. However, more recently, we provided evidence that during severe cancer cachexia muscle weakness in the diaphragm muscle cannot be entirely accounted for by the muscle atrophy. This indicates that muscle weakness is not just a consequence of muscle atrophy but that there is also significant contractile dysfunction. The current study aimed to determine whether contractile dysfunction is also present in limb muscles during severe Colon-26 (C26) carcinoma cachexia by studying the glycolytic extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle and the oxidative soleus muscle, which has an activity pattern that more closely resembles the diaphragm. Severe C-26 cancer cachexia caused significant muscle fiber atrophy and a reduction in maximum absolute force in both the EDL and soleus muscles. However, normalization to muscle cross sectional area further demonstrated a 13% decrease in maximum isometric specific force in the EDL and an even greater decrease (17%) in maximum isometric specific force in the soleus. Time to peak tension and half relaxation time were also significantly slowed in both the EDL and the solei from C-26 mice compared to controls. Since, in addition to postural control, the oxidative

When larger brains do not have more neurons: Increased numbers of cells are compensated by decreased average cell size across mouse individuals

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Suzana eHerculano-Houzel

2015-06-01

Full Text Available There is a strong trend toward increased brain size in mammalian evolution, with larger brains composed of more and larger neurons than smaller brains across species within each mammalian order. Does the evolution of increased numbers of brain neurons, and thus larger brain size, occur simply through the selection of individuals with more and larger neurons, and thus larger brains, within a population? That is, do individuals with larger brains also have more, and larger, neurons than individuals with smaller brains, such that allometric relationships across species are simply an extension of intraspecific scaling? Here we show that this is not the case across adult male mice of a similar age. Rather, increased numbers of neurons across individuals are accompanied by increased numbers of other cells and smaller average cell size of both types, in a trade-off that explains how increased brain mass does not necessarily ensue. Fundamental regulatory mechanisms thus must exist that tie numbers of neurons to numbers of other cells and to average cell size within individual brains. Finally, our results indicate that changes in brain size in evolution are not an extension of individual variation in numbers of neurons, but rather occur through step changes that must simultaneously increase numbers of neurons and cause cell size to increase, rather than decrease.

Decreased Stress Levels in Nurses: A Benefit of Quiet Time.

Science.gov (United States)

Riemer, Heather C; Mates, Joanna; Ryan, Linda; Schleder, Bonnie J

2015-09-01

The benefits of quiet time, a therapeutic method of improving the health care environment, have been evaluated in patients, but only a few studies have examined the effects of quiet time on intensive care nurses. To evaluate the effects of implementing quiet time in a medical-surgical intensive care unit on levels of light, noise, and nurses' stress. Quiet time consisted of turning down the unit lights for a designated time. Levels of light, noise, and nurses' stress were measured. Nurses' stress levels were measured by using a 100-point visual analog scale; unit noise, by using a digital sound level meter (model 407736, Extech Instruments); and unit light, by using an illumination light meter (model 615, Huygen Corporation). Measurements were obtained 30 minutes before and 30 minutes, 1 hour, and 2 hours after implementation of quiet time. Analysis of variance and comparisons of means indicated that both light levels and nurses' stress levels were significantly decreased after quiet time (both P quiet time, but the decrease was not significant (P = .08). Use of quiet time resulted in decreased light levels and decreased stress levels among nurses. Quiet time is an easily performed energy-saving intervention to promote a healthy work environment. ©2015 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

The Problem with Big Data: Operating on Smaller Datasets to Bridge the Implementation Gap.

Science.gov (United States)

Mann, Richard P; Mushtaq, Faisal; White, Alan D; Mata-Cervantes, Gabriel; Pike, Tom; Coker, Dalton; Murdoch, Stuart; Hiles, Tim; Smith, Clare; Berridge, David; Hinchliffe, Suzanne; Hall, Geoff; Smye, Stephen; Wilkie, Richard M; Lodge, J Peter A; Mon-Williams, Mark

2016-01-01

Big datasets have the potential to revolutionize public health. However, there is a mismatch between the political and scientific optimism surrounding big data and the public's perception of its benefit. We suggest a systematic and concerted emphasis on developing models derived from smaller datasets to illustrate to the public how big data can produce tangible benefits in the long term. In order to highlight the immediate value of a small data approach, we produced a proof-of-concept model predicting hospital length of stay. The results demonstrate that existing small datasets can be used to create models that generate a reasonable prediction, facilitating health-care delivery. We propose that greater attention (and funding) needs to be directed toward the utilization of existing information resources in parallel with current efforts to create and exploit "big data."

Decrease in Prostate Cancer Testing Following the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) Recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jun; Berkowitz, Zahava; Hall, Ingrid J

2015-01-01

To assess changes of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing following recent US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) prostate cancer screening recommendations using 2005 to 2013 National Health Interview Survey data. We calculated the percentage of PSA testing among men ≥40 years by age group and age-adjusted race for each survey year. Differences between years were assessed with linear contrasts after combining all years' data. The overall percentage of PSA testing was highest in 2008 and decreased significantly in 2013. Compared with 2008, each age group had significantly lower screening percentages in 2013, especially men ≥75 years old (-14.0% points; P testing percentages were highest in 2008 and decreased significantly in 2013. Only white men had a significantly lower percentage in 2013 than in 2010. Significant declines in PSA testing from 2008 to 2013 in men ≥75 years old may reflect the impact of the 2008 USPSTF recommendations. While the cause of the decreases in PSA testing between 2010 and 2013 among men aged 50 to 74 years old and white men is unknown, the decreases may suggest the early effects of the 2012 recommendations. © Copyright 2015 by the American Board of Family Medicine.

From “Smaller is Stronger” to “Size-Independent Strength Plateau”: Towards Measuring the Ideal Strength of Iron

KAUST Repository

Han, Wei-Zhong; Huang, Ling; Ogata, Shigenobu; Kimizuka, Hajime; Yang, Zhao-Chun; Weinberger, Christopher; Li, Qing-Jie; Liu, Bo-Yu; Zhang, Xixiang; Li, Ju; Ma, Evan; Shan, Zhi-Wei

2015-01-01

The trend from “smaller is stronger” to “size-independent strength plateau” is observed in the compression of spherical iron nanoparticles. When the diameter of iron nanospheres is less than a critical value, the maximum contact pressure saturates at 10.7 GPa, corresponding to a local shear stress of ≈9.4 GPa, which is comparable to the theoretical shear strength of iron.

From “Smaller is Stronger” to “Size-Independent Strength Plateau”: Towards Measuring the Ideal Strength of Iron

KAUST Repository

Han, Wei-Zhong

2015-04-17

The trend from “smaller is stronger” to “size-independent strength plateau” is observed in the compression of spherical iron nanoparticles. When the diameter of iron nanospheres is less than a critical value, the maximum contact pressure saturates at 10.7 GPa, corresponding to a local shear stress of ≈9.4 GPa, which is comparable to the theoretical shear strength of iron.

Periodontal Disease and Decreased Kidney Function in Japanese Elderly

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Iwasaki, Masanori; Taylor, George W.; Nesse, Willem; Vissink, Arjan; Yoshihara, Akihiro; Miyazaki, Hideo

Background: Early detection of decreased kidney function can help prevent the progression of kidney disease to kidney failure and cardiovascular events. Potentially significant associations between kidney function and periodontal disease have been reported in cross-sectional studies. However, no

Tinnitus retraining therapy for patients with tinnitus and decreased sound tolerance.

Science.gov (United States)

Jastreboff, Pawel J; Jastreboff, Margaret M

2003-04-01

Our experience has revealed the following: (1) TRT is applicable for all types of tinnitus, as well as for decreased sound tolerance, with significant improvement of tinnitus occurring in over 80% of the cases, and at least equal success rate for decreased sound tolerance. (2) TRT can provide cure for decreased sound tolerance. (3) TRT does not require frequent clinic visits and has no side effects; however, (4) Special training of health providers involved in this treatment is required for this treatment to be effective.

Selective decreases of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in PC12 cells exposed to fluoride

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Jia; Shan, K.-R.; Long, Y.-G.; Wang, Y.-N.; Nordberg, Agneta; Guan, Z.-Z.

2003-01-01

In an attempt to elucidate the mechanism by which excessive fluoride damages the central nervous system, the effects of exposure of PC12 cells to different concentrations of fluoride for 48 h on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) were characterized here. Significant reductions in the number of binding sites for both [ 3 H]epibatidine and [ 125 I]α-bungarotoxin, as well as a significant decrease in the B max value for the high-affinity of epibatidine binding site were observed in PC12 cells subjected to high levels of fluoride. On the protein level, the α3 and α7 subunits of nAChRs were also significantly decreased in the cells exposed to high concentrations of fluoride. In contrast, such exposure had no significant effect on the level of the β2 subunit. These findings suggest that selective decreases in the number of nAChRs may play an important role in the mechanism(s) by which fluoride causes dysfunction of the central nervous system

Stratification of mixtures in evaporating liquid films occurs only for a range of volume fractions of the smaller component

Science.gov (United States)

Sear, Richard P.

2018-04-01

I model the drying of a liquid film containing small and big colloid particles. Fortini et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 118301 (2016)] studied these films with both computer simulation and experiment. They found that at the end of drying, the mixture had stratified with a layer of the smaller particles on top of the big particles. I develop a simple model for this process. The model has two ingredients: arrest of the diffusion of the particles at high density and diffusiophoretic motion of the big particles due to gradients in the volume fraction of the small particles. The model predicts that stratification only occurs over a range of initial volume fractions of the smaller colloidal species. Above and below this range, the downward diffusiophoretic motion of the big particles is too slow to remove the big particles from the top of the film, and so there is no stratification. In agreement with earlier work, the model also predicts that large Péclet numbers for drying are needed to see stratification.

Myocardial Ablation of G Protein-Coupled Receptor Kinase 2 (GRK2 Decreases Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury through an Anti-Intrinsic Apoptotic Pathway.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qian Fan

Full Text Available Studies from our lab have shown that decreasing myocardial G protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 (GRK2 activity and expression can prevent heart failure progression after myocardial infarction. Since GRK2 appears to also act as a pro-death kinase in myocytes, we investigated the effect of cardiomyocyte-specific GRK2 ablation on the acute response to cardiac ischemia/reperfusion (I/R injury. To do this we utilized two independent lines of GRK2 knockout (KO mice where the GRK2 gene was deleted in only cardiomyocytes either constitutively at birth or in an inducible manner that occurred in adult mice prior to I/R. These GRK2 KO mice and appropriate control mice were subjected to a sham procedure or 30 min of myocardial ischemia via coronary artery ligation followed by 24 hrs reperfusion. Echocardiography and hemodynamic measurements showed significantly improved post-I/R cardiac function in both GRK2 KO lines, which correlated with smaller infarct sizes in GRK2 KO mice compared to controls. Moreover, there was significantly less TUNEL positive myocytes, less caspase-3, and -9 but not caspase-8 activities in GRK2 KO mice compared to control mice after I/R injury. Of note, we found that lowering cardiac GRK2 expression was associated with significantly lower cytosolic cytochrome C levels in both lines of GRK2 KO mice after I/R compared to corresponding control animals. Mechanistically, the anti-apoptotic effects of lowering GRK2 expression were accompanied by increased levels of Bcl-2, Bcl-xl, and increased activation of Akt after I/R injury. These findings were reproduced in vitro in cultured cardiomyocytes and GRK2 mRNA silencing. Therefore, lowering GRK2 expression in cardiomyocytes limits I/R-induced injury and improves post-ischemia recovery by decreasing myocyte apoptosis at least partially via Akt/Bcl-2 mediated mitochondrial protection and implicates mitochondrial-dependent actions, solidifying GRK2 as a pro-death kinase in the heart.

Decrease in spermatic parameters of mice treated with hydroalcoholic extract Tropaeolum tuberosum “mashua”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonathan H. Vásquez

2012-10-01

Full Text Available In this work, we provided a Tropaeolum tuberosum hydroalcoholic extract to male mice (780 mg kg-1 for 7, 14 and 21 days treatment, there was no significant difference in body weight gain, testes, epididymides and prostate weight (p> 0.05, nevertheless progressive motility decreased and immobile sperm count increased significantly after 21 days treatment (p <0.05. The sperm count in the epididymis cauda decreased in the 3 three assessments, concentration on 21 days treatment was significantly lower than those of 7 and 14 days treatments (p <0.05. Our results suggest, that T. tuberosum has a direct action on the male reproductive system decreasing spermatic parameters without exerting toxic effects on mice.

Decreased NAA in gray matter is correlated with decreased availability of acetate in white matter in postmortem multiple sclerosis cortex.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, S; Clements, R; Sulak, M; Gregory, R; Freeman, E; McDonough, J

2013-11-01

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system (CNS) which leads to progressive neurological disability. Our previous studies have demonstrated mitochondrial involvement in MS cortical pathology and others have documented decreased levels of the neuronal mitochondrial metabolite N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) in the MS brain. While NAA is synthesized in neurons, it is broken down in oligodendrocytes into aspartate and acetate. The resulting acetate is incorporated into myelin lipids, linking neuronal mitochondrial function to oligodendrocyte-mediated elaboration of myelin lipids in the CNS. In the present study we show that treating human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells with the electron transport chain inhibitor antimycin A decreased levels of NAA as measured by HPLC. To better understand the significance of the relationship between mitochondrial function and levels of NAA and its breakdown product acetate on MS pathology we then quantitated the levels of NAA and acetate in MS and control postmortem tissue blocks. Regardless of lesion status, we observed that levels of NAA were decreased 25 and 32 % in gray matter from parietal and motor cortex in MS, respectively, compared to controls. Acetate levels in adjacent white matter mirrored these decreases as evidenced by the 36 and 45 % reduction in acetate obtained from parietal and motor cortices. These data suggest a novel mechanism whereby mitochondrial dysfunction and reduced NAA levels in neurons may result in compromised myelination by oligodendrocytes due to decreased availability of acetate necessary for the synthesis of myelin lipids.

Examining Behavioral, Relational, and Cognitive Engagement in Smaller Learning Communities: A Case Study of Reform in One Suburban District

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Heather A.; Chang, Mei-Lin; Andrzejewski, Carey E.; Poirier, Ryan R.

2010-01-01

The purpose of this project was to examine the impact of Smaller Learning Community reform on students' behavioral, relational, and cognitive engagement in a suburban school district experiencing urbanization. We describe a project in which we evaluated the engagement of a cohort of 8th grade students as they transitioned to high school (n = 605).…

Carriers of loss-of-function mutations in EXT display impaired pancreatic beta-cell reserve due to smaller pancreas volume.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sophie J Bernelot Moens

Full Text Available Exotosin (EXT proteins are involved in the chain elongation step of heparan sulfate (HS biosynthesis, which is intricately involved in organ development. Loss of function mutations (LOF in EXT1 and EXT2 result in hereditary exostoses (HME. Interestingly, HS plays a role in pancreas development and beta-cell function, and genetic variations in EXT2 are associated with an increased risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus. We hypothesized that loss of function of EXT1 or EXT2 in subjects with hereditary multiple exostoses (HME affects pancreatic insulin secretion capacity and development. We performed an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT followed by hyperglycemic clamps to investigate first-phase glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS in HME patients and age and gender matched non-affected relatives. Pancreas volume was assessed with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI. OGTT did not reveal significant differences in glucose disposal, but there was a markedly lower GSIS in HME subjects during hyperglycemic clamp (iAUC HME: 0.72 [0.46-1.16] vs. controls 1.53 [0.69-3.36] nmol·l-1·min-1, p<0.05. Maximal insulin response following arginine challenge was also significantly attenuated (iAUC HME: 7.14 [4.22-10.5] vs. controls 10.2 [7.91-12.70] nmol·l-1·min-1 p<0.05, indicative of an impaired beta-cell reserve. MRI revealed a significantly smaller pancreatic volume in HME subjects (HME: 72.0±15.8 vs. controls 96.5±26.0 cm3 p = 0.04. In conclusion, loss of function of EXT proteins may affect beta-cell mass and insulin secretion capacity in humans, and render subjects at a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes when exposed to environmental risk factors.

Dispositional mindfulness co-varies with smaller amygdala and caudate volumes in community adults.

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Adrienne A Taren

Full Text Available Mindfulness, a psychological process reflecting attention and awareness to what is happening in the present moment, has been associated with increased well-being and decreased depression and anxiety in both healthy and patient populations. However, little research has explored underlying neural pathways. Recent work suggests that mindfulness (and mindfulness training interventions may foster neuroplastic changes in cortico-limbic circuits responsible for stress and emotion regulation. Building on this work, we hypothesized that higher levels of dispositional mindfulness would be associated with decreased grey matter volume in the amgydala. In the present study, a self-report measure of dispositional mindfulness and structural MRI images were obtained from 155 healthy community adults. Volumetric analyses showed that higher dispositional mindfulness is associated with decreased grey matter volume in the right amygdala, and exploratory analyses revealed that higher dispositional mindfulness is also associated with decreased grey matter volume in the left caudate. Moreover, secondary analyses indicate that these amygdala and caudate volume associations persist after controlling for relevant demographic and individual difference factors (i.e., age, total grey matter volume, neuroticism, depression. Such volumetric differences may help explain why mindful individuals have reduced stress reactivity, and suggest new candidate structural neurobiological pathways linking mindfulness with mental and physical health outcomes.

Dispositional Mindfulness Co-Varies with Smaller Amygdala and Caudate Volumes in Community Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Taren, Adrienne A.; Creswell, J. David; Gianaros, Peter J.

2013-01-01

Mindfulness, a psychological process reflecting attention and awareness to what is happening in the present moment, has been associated with increased well-being and decreased depression and anxiety in both healthy and patient populations. However, little research has explored underlying neural pathways. Recent work suggests that mindfulness (and mindfulness training interventions) may foster neuroplastic changes in cortico-limbic circuits responsible for stress and emotion regulation. Building on this work, we hypothesized that higher levels of dispositional mindfulness would be associated with decreased grey matter volume in the amgydala. In the present study, a self-report measure of dispositional mindfulness and structural MRI images were obtained from 155 healthy community adults. Volumetric analyses showed that higher dispositional mindfulness is associated with decreased grey matter volume in the right amygdala, and exploratory analyses revealed that higher dispositional mindfulness is also associated with decreased grey matter volume in the left caudate. Moreover, secondary analyses indicate that these amygdala and caudate volume associations persist after controlling for relevant demographic and individual difference factors (i.e., age, total grey matter volume, neuroticism, depression). Such volumetric differences may help explain why mindful individuals have reduced stress reactivity, and suggest new candidate structural neurobiological pathways linking mindfulness with mental and physical health outcomes. PMID:23717632

Leydig cell number and sperm production decrease induced by chronic ametryn exposure: a negative impact on animal reproductive health.

Science.gov (United States)

Dantas, T A; Cancian, G; Neodini, D N R; Mano, D R S; Capucho, C; Predes, F S; Pulz, R Barbieri; Pigoso, A A; Dolder, H; Severi-Aguiar, G D C

2015-06-01

Ametryn is an herbicide used to control broadleaf and grass weeds and its acute and chronic toxicity is expected to be low. Since toxicological data on ametryn is scarce, the aim of this study was to evaluate rat reproductive toxicity. Thirty-six adult male Wistar rats (90 days) were divided into three groups: Co (control) and T1 and T2 exposed to 15 and 30 mg/kg/day of ametryn, respectively, for 56 days. Testicular analysis demonstrated that ametryn decreased sperm number per testis, daily sperm production, and Leydig cell number in both treated groups, although little perceptible morphological change has been observed in seminiferous tubule structure. Lipid peroxidation was higher in group T2, catalase activity decreased in T1 group, superoxide dismutase activity diminished, and a smaller number of sulphydryl groups of total proteins were verified in both exposed groups, suggesting oxidative stress. These results showed negative ametryn influence on the testes and can compromise animal reproductive performance and survival.

The Alpha value decrease when the annual individual effective dose decreases?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sordi, Gian M.; Marchiusi, Thiago; Sousa, Jefferson de J.

2008-01-01

A recent IAEA publication tells that a few entities took different alpha values for maxima individual doses. Beyond to disregard the international agencies, that recommend only one alpha value for each country, the alpha values decreases when the individual doses decreases and the practice happens exactly the conversely as we will show in this paper. We will prove that the alpha value increase when the maximum individual doses decreases in a four different manner. The first one we call the theoretical conception and it is linked to the emergent of the ALARA policy and to the purpose that led to the 3/10 of the annual limits, for to decrease the individual doses as a first resort and a 1/10 as a last resort. The second prove will be based in a small mine example used in the ICRP publication number 55 concerning to the optimization and the quantitative decision-aiding techniques in radiological protection where we will determine the alpha value ranges in which each radiological protection options becomes the analytical solution. The third prove will be based in the determination of the optimized thickness example of a plane shielding for a radiation source exposed in the ICRP publication number 37. We will use, also, the numerical example provided there. Eventually, as four prove we will show that the alpha value dos not only increases with the maximum individual dose decrease, but also, with the shielding geometry. (author)

Level and Contamination Assessment of Environmentally Sensitive Elements in Smaller than 100 μm Street Dust Particles from Xining, China

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Ni Zhao

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Concentrations of the environmentally sensitive elements (ESEs As, Co, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, V and Zn in smaller than 100 μm street dust particles from Xining were measured using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and their contamination levels were assessed based on enrichment factor (EF, geoaccumulation index (Igeo and pollution load index (PLI. The concentrations of As, Co, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, V and Zn in smaller than 100 μm street dust particles from Xining are 0.1–0.8, 2.7–10.9, 0.7–5.2, 0.3–1.1, 0.6–2.5, 1.2–11.1, 0.7–1.3 and 0.4–2.9 times the background values of Qinghai soil, respectively. The calculated EF and Igeo values reveal the order Co > Pb > Cu > Zn > V > Ni > Mn > As. The EF and Igeo values of Co, Cu, Pb and Zn are higher indicating that there is considerable pollution by these elements in smaller than 100 μm street dust particles, especially for Co. The EF and Igeo of Mn, Ni and V are lower and the assessment results indicate an absence of distinct Mn, Ni and V pollution in the studied samples. The mean value of PLIsite is 1.14, indicating a slightly pollution in the whole city of Xining. The order of PLIarea for the five tested districts is Center District (CD > East District (ED > West District (WD > North District (ND > South District (SD, showing that ESEs pollution in the South District is the lightest while it is the highest in the Central District.

Comparison of gimbal approaches to decrease drag force and radar cross sectional area in missile application

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Sakarya, Doǧan Uǧur

2017-05-01

Drag force effect is an important aspect of range performance in missile applications especially for long flight time. However, old fashioned gimbal approaches force to increase missile diameter. This increase has negative aspect of rising in both drag force and radar cross sectional area. A new gimbal approach was proposed recently. It uses a beam steering optical arrangement. Therefore, it needs less volume envelope for same field of regard and same optomechanical assembly than the old fashioned gimbal approaches. In addition to longer range performance achieved with same fuel in the new gimbal approach, this method provides smaller cross sectional area which can be more invisible in enemies' radar. In this paper, the two gimbal approaches - the old fashioned one and the new one- are compared in order to decrease drag force and radar cross sectional area in missile application. In this study; missile parameters are assumed to generate gimbal and optical design parameters. Optical design is performed according to these missile criteria. Two gimbal configurations are designed with respect to modeled missile parameters. Also analyzes are performed to show decreased drag force and radar cross sectional area in the new approach for comparison.

Appetite - decreased

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Loss of appetite; Decreased appetite; Anorexia ... Any illness can reduce appetite. If the illness is treatable, the appetite should return when the condition is cured. Loss of appetite can cause weight ...

Prolonged bed rest decreases skeletal muscle and whole body protein synthesis

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Ferrando, A. A.; Lane, H. W.; Stuart, C. A.; Davis-Street, J.; Wolfe, R. R.

1996-01-01

We sought to determine the extent to which the loss of lean body mass and nitrogen during inactivity was due to alterations in skeletal muscle protein metabolism. Six male subjects were studied during 7 days of diet stabilization and after 14 days of stimulated microgravity (-6 degrees bed rest). Nitrogen balance became more negative (P protein synthesis (PS; P protein also decreased by 46% (P protein breakdown and inward transport. Whole body protein synthesis determined by [15N]alanine ingestion on six subjects also revealed a 14% decrease (P protein breakdown change significantly. These results indicate that the loss of body protein with inactivity is predominantly due to a decrease in muscle PS and that this decrease is reflected in both whole body and skeletal muscle measures.

Active Intervention Can Decrease Burnout In Ed Nurses.

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Wei, Rong; Ji, Hong; Li, Jianxin; Zhang, Liyao

2017-03-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether active intervention can decrease job burnout and improve performance among ED nurses. This study was carried out in the emergency departments of 3 hospitals randomly selected from 8 comprehensive high-level hospitals in Jinan, China. A total of 102 nurses were enrolled and randomly divided into control and intervention groups. For 6 months, nurses in intervention groups were treated with ordinary treatment plus comprehensive management, whereas nurses in the control group were treated with ordinary management, respectively. Questionnaires were sent and collected at baseline and at the end of the study. The Student t test was used to evaluate the effect of comprehensive management in decreasing burnout. All ED nurses showed symptoms of job burnout at different levels. Our data indicated that comprehensive management significantly decreased emotional exhaustion and depersonalization (P burnout in ED nurses and contribute to relieving work-related stress and may further protect against potential mental health problems. Copyright © 2016 Emergency Nurses Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evolution of the French greenhouse gas emissions: an eyewash decrease

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marignac, Y.

2010-01-01

As the French greenhouse emissions displayed a significant decrease in 2009, compared with the reference levels of 1990, the author shows that this decrease cannot be in fact attributed to the environment policy, and more particularly not to the measures adopted within the frame of the 'Grenelle de l'Environnement'. An examination of the statistics reveals that this decrease cannot be explained by a structural transformation of energy production or consumption, but essentially by the current economic crisis. Therefore, the energetic transition which is supposed to allow the emissions to be divided by 4 in 2050, is not actually under way. On the contrary, it appears that, in a context of globalization of economy, emissions produced to satisfy French needs tend to increase through their foreign relocation

Vertebral artery terminating in posterior inferior cerebellar artery: A normal variation with clinical significance.

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I-Wen Liu

Full Text Available A vertebral artery (VA terminating in a posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA is often considered to be a normal variation associated with VA hypoplasia. We aimed to investigate the clinical significance of this cerebrovascular variant. A total of 80 patients with clinically evident cerebrovascular events in posterior circulation were examined by duplex sonography and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA. Eighty healthy subjects who had MRA check-up were recruited as controls. PICA termination of the VA (PICA-VA was identified as the VA not communicating with the basilar artery (BA but ending into a PICA. We compared the prevalence of PICA-VA and associated hemodynamic parameters between the patients with and without PICA-VA, and investigated their relationships with VA hypoplasia. The prevalence of PICA-VA was higher in the patient group than in the controls (18.7% vs. 6.3%, p = 0.015. Most measurements (73.3% of PICA-VA did not fit the criteria of VA hypoplasia. In comparison with the non-PICA-terminating group, the PICA-VA has a smaller diameter (3.7 ± 0.7 mm vs. 3.0 ± 0.5 mm, p < 0.001, lower mean velocity (241 ± 100 mm/sec vs. 164 ± 88 mm/sec, p < 0.01, and higher pulsatility index (1.3 ± 0.5 vs. 1.9 ± 0.6, p < 0.001. Moreover, a smaller diameter of the BA (3.2 ± 0.5 mm vs. 2.5 ± 0.9 mm, p = 0.004 and the posterior cerebral artery (PCA (2.0 ± 0.1 mm vs. 1.6 ± 0.1 mm, p = 0.006 were also noted in the PICA-VA group. The higher prevalence of PICA-VA in the patient group with smaller diameter of VA, BA and PCA reflected its clinical significance, suggesting that PICA-VA may have a detrimental impact on cerebral hemodynamics. However, the sample is small, and further studies are needed with larger sample size for confirmation.

High fat feeding results in a decrease in insulin responsiveness of isolated solei

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grundleger, M.L.; Preves, D.M.

1986-01-01

The relationship between diet and insulin responsiveness was examined in isolated solei from 6 week old female Sprague-Dawley rats. Weanling rats were fed either a high fat (HF) (67%kcal) or a high carbohydrate diet (HC) (67% kcal) for 21 days. A significant decrease in plasma insulin (I) but not glucose was observed in the HF fed rats. Insulin stimulated (IS) glucose (G) metabolism was examined using a maximal concentration of I (20 mU/m1). G uptake was estimated using 14 C-2 deoxyglucose (2DG). Basal and IS 2DG uptake decreased in HF rats. However, I sensitivity but not responsiveness remained intact in the HF rats. Total G utilization (GU) was estimated by the sum of the rate of formation of: 3 H 2 O from 5- 3 H-glucose [glycolysis- (GL)] and 3 H-glycogen (GLY). IS GU decreased in HF versus HC fed rats. I failed to stimulate GL while GLY remained sensitive. Glucose oxidation (GO) was measured by 14 CO 2 . I failed to stimulated GO. Intracellular metabolite concentrations (IC) were measured in solei from HF and HC fed rats. IS IC-G6P decreased in HF compared to HC fed rats. Basal IC-F6P but not IC-F 1.6 BP increased in HF compared to HC fed rats. I failed to stimulate an increase in IC-F 1,6BP concentrations. Glycolytic activators were determined. HF produced a significant decrease in F2, 6BP concentration when compared to HC rats. Prostaglandins (PG) have been implicated in mediating insulin action. HF produced a significant decrease in basal and insulin stimulated PGE 2 . These data demonstrate that postreceptor - postmembrane alterations are in part responsible for the decreased insulin responsiveness observed after HF feeding

Elite synchronized swimmers display decreased energy availability during intensified training.

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Schaal, K; Tiollier, E; Le Meur, Y; Casazza, G; Hausswirth, C

2017-09-01

Elite synchronized swimmers follow high-volume training regimen that result in elevated rates of exercise energy expenditure (ExEE). While adequate energy intake (EI) is important to optimize recovery, a number of sport-specific constraints may lead to chronically low energy availability (EA = EI-ExEE). This study aimed to quantify changes in EA, endocrine markers of energy conservation, and perceived fatigue in synchronized swimmers, during a week of baseline training followed by 4 weeks of intensified training (IT). EI, ExEE, and body composition were measured in nine swimmers at Baseline, midpoint (IT WK 2 ), and end of IT (IT WK 4 ). Waking saliva samples were obtained to measure [leptin] s , [ghrelin] s , and [cortisol] s . Fatigue ratings were provided daily. ExEE increased by 27% during IT. Swimmers increased EI from Baseline to IT WK 2 , but decreased it significantly from IT WK 2 to IT WK 4 . EA, fat mass, and [leptin] s decreased from Baseline to IT WK 4 , while [ghrelin] s increased significantly. Fatigue at IT WK 4 was inversely correlated with Baseline EI and EA. The significant decrease in EA was accompanied by endocrine signs of energy conservation in elite swimmers. As perceived fatigue was associated with low EA, particular attention should be paid to these athletes' energy intake during phases of heavy training. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Quasilinear dynamics of a cloud of hot electrons propagating through a plasma with decreasing density and temperature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foroutan, G.; Khalilpour, H.; Moslehi-Fard, M.; Li, B.; Robinson, P. A.

2008-01-01

The effects of plasma inhomogeneities on the propagation of a cloud of hot electrons through a cold background plasma and generation of Langmuir waves are investigated using numerical simulations of the quasilinear equations. It is found that in a plasma with decreasing density the quasilinear relaxation of the electron distribution in velocity space is accelerated and the levels of the generated Langmuir waves are enhanced. The magnitude of the induced emission rate is increased and its maximum value moves to lower velocities. Due to density gradient the height of plateau shows an increase at small distances and a corresponding decrease at large distances. It is also found that in a plasma with decreasing temperature, the relaxation of the beam is retarded, the spectral density of Langmuir waves is broadened, and the height of the plateau decreases below its value in a uniform plasma. In the presence of both density and temperature gradients, at given position, the height and upper boundary of the plateau and the level of Langmuir waves are all increased at small velocities. The spatial expansion of the beam is increased by the plasma inhomogeneities, but its average velocity of propagation decreases. Initially, at a given position, the velocity at the upper boundary of the plateau is smaller in the presence of the density gradient than in the uniform plasma but the reverse is true at longer times. Due to temperature gradient, at large times and small distances, the upper boundary of the plateau is increased above its value in the uniform plasma. Because of fast relaxation, the value of the lower boundary of the plateau in the plasma with decreasing density is always less than its value in the uniform plasma. It is found that the local velocity of the beam decreases when the density gradient is present. The local velocity spread of the beam remains unchanged during the propagation of the beam in the uniform plasma, but increases in the presence of inhomogeneities.

Decreased ADAMTS 13 Activity is Associated With Disease Severity and Outcome in Pediatric Severe Sepsis

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Lin, Jainn-Jim; Chan, Oi-Wa; Hsiao, Hsiang-Ju; Wang, Yu; Hsia, Shao-Hsuan; Chiu, Cheng-Hsun

2016-01-01

Abstract Decreased ADAMTS 13 activity has been reported in severe sepsis and in sepsis-induced disseminated intravascular coagulation. This study aimed to investigate the role of ADAMTS 13 in different pediatric sepsis syndromes and evaluate its relationship with disease severity and outcome. We prospectively collected cases of sepsis treated in a pediatric intensive care unit, between July 2012 and June 2014 in Chang Gung Children's Hospital in Taoyuan, Taiwan. Clinical characteristics and ADAMTS-13 activity were analyzed. All sepsis syndromes had decreased ADAMTS 13 activity on days 1 and 3 of admission compared to healthy controls. Patients with septic shock had significantly decreased ADAMTS 13 activity on days 1 and 3 compared to those with sepsis and severe sepsis. There was a significant negative correlation between ADAMTS 13 activity on day 1 and day 1 PRISM-II, PELOD, P-MOD, and DIC scores. Patients with mortality had significantly decreased ADAMTS 13 activity on day 1 than survivors, but not on day 3. Different pediatric sepsis syndromes have varying degrees of decreased ADAMTS 13 activity. ADAMTS 13 activity is strongly negatively correlated with disease severity of pediatric sepsis syndrome, whereas decreased ADAMTS 13 activity on day 1 is associated with increased risk of mortality. PMID:27100422

Expression of chicken interleukin-2 by a highly virulent strain of Newcastle disease virus leads to decreased systemic viral load but does not significantly affect mortality in chickens.

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Susta, Leonardo; Diel, Diego G; Courtney, Sean; Cardenas-Garcia, Stivalis; Sundick, Roy S; Miller, Patti J; Brown, Corrie C; Afonso, Claudio L

2015-08-08

In mammals, interleukin 2 (IL-2) has been shown to decrease replication or attenuate pathogenicity of numerous viral pathogens (herpes simplex virus, vaccinia virus, human respiratory syncytial virus, human immunodeficiency virus) by activating natural killer cells (NK), cytotoxic T lymphocytes and expanding subsets of memory cells. In chickens, IL-2 has been shown to activate T cells, and as such it might have the potential to affect replication and pathogenesis of Newcastle disease virus (NDV). To assess the effect of IL-2 during NDV infection in chickens, we produced a recombinant virulent NDV strain expressing chicken IL-2 (rZJ1-IL2). The effects of IL-2 expression were investigated in vivo using the intracerebral pathogenicity index (ICPI) in day-old chicks and pathogenesis experiments in 4-week-old chickens. In these studies, rZJ1-IL2 was compared to a control virus expressing the green fluorescent protein (rZJ1-GFP). Assessed parameters included survival curves, detailed histological and immunohistochemical grading of lesions in multiple organs, and virus isolation in blood, spleen and mucosal secretions of infected birds. At the site of infection (eyelid), expression of IL-2 was demonstrated in areas of rZJ-IL2 replication, confirming IL-2 production in vivo. Compared to rZJ1-GFP strain, rZJ1-IL2 caused milder lesions and displayed decreased viral load in blood, spleen and mucosal secretions of infected birds. In the rZJ1-IL2-infected group, virus level in the blood peaked at day 4 post-infection (pi) (10(3.46) EID50 /0.1 ml) and drastically decreased at day 5 pi (10(0.9) EID50/0.1 ml), while in the rZJ1-GFP-infected group virus levels in the blood reached 10(5.35) EID50/0.1 ml at day 5. However, rZJ1-IL2-infected groups presented survival curves similar to control birds infected with rZJ1-GFP, with comparable clinical signs and 100 % mortality. Further, expression of IL-2 did not significantly affect the ICPI scores, compared to rZJ1-GFP strain. Increased

Stop signals decrease choices for palatable foods through decreased food evaluation

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Veling, Harm; Aarts, Henk; Stroebe, Wolfgang

2013-01-01

The present study explores whether presenting specific palatable foods in close temporal proximity of stop signals in a go/no-go task decreases subsequent evaluations of such foods among participants with a relatively high appetite. Furthermore, we tested whether any decreased evaluations could mediate subsequent food choice. Participants first received a go/no-go task in which palatable foods were consistently linked to go cues or no-go cues within participants. Next, evaluation of the palatable foods was measured as well as food choice. Replicating previous work, results show that among participants with a relatively high appetite palatable foods associated with no-go cues are less often chosen as snacks compared to when these foods are associated with go cues, whereas this manipulation did not affect participants with a relatively low appetite. Moreover, this effect was completely mediated by decreased evaluation of the palatable foods that had been associated with the no-go cues, whereas evaluation of the foods associated with go cues did not mediate this effect. Results further showed that the devaluation effect of foods associated with no-go cues was independent of the amount of pairings (4 vs. 12 vs. 24) with the no-go cues. The current findings suggest that decreased food evaluation is a mechanism that explains effects of stop signals on food choice. PMID:24324451

Hyoscine butylbromide significantly decreases motion artefacts and allows better delineation of anatomic structures in mp-MRI of the prostate

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Ullrich, T.; Quentin, M.; Schmaltz, A.K.; Rubbert, C.; Blondin, D.; Antoch, G.; Schimmoeller, L. [University Dusseldorf, Medical Faculty, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Dusseldorf (Germany); Arsov, C.; Rabenalt, R.; Albers, P. [University Dusseldorf, Medical Faculty, Department of Urology, Dusseldorf (Germany)

2018-01-15

To prospectively evaluate the effect of hyoscine butylbromide (HBB) on visualisation of anatomical details and motion-related artefacts in mp-MRI of the prostate at 3.0 Tesla. One hundred and three consecutive patients (65 ± 10 years) were included in this trial, powered to demonstrate an improvement of image quality after HBB administration, assessed on a 5-point scale by two blinded readers. All patients received high-spatial resolution axial T2-weighted TSE sequences at 3.0 T without spasmolytic agent, repeated after application of 40 mg HBB and followed by routine mp-MRI. Secondary endpoints were (1) susceptibility to side effects, (2) dependence of spasmolytic effect on patients and acute; weight, and (3) prostate volume. In 68% of patients, HBB significantly improved the anatomic score (mean 3.4 ± 0.9 before and 4.4 ± 0.7 after HBB for both readers, p = <0.001). In 67%, HBB significantly enhanced the artefact score (mean 3.2 ± 1 before and 4.2 ± 0.8 after HBB for reader 1, p = <0.001; 3.2 ± 1 and 4.1 ± 0.8 for reader 2, p = <0.001). Subgroup analysis revealed no statistically significant difference between patients with different bodyweight or prostate volume. Inter-reader agreement was excellent (k = 0.95-0.98). Hyoscine butylbromide significantly improves image quality and reduces motion-related artefacts in mp-MRI of the prostate independent of bodyweight or prostate volume. No side effects were reported. (orig.)

Hyoscine butylbromide significantly decreases motion artefacts and allows better delineation of anatomic structures in mp-MRI of the prostate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ullrich, T.; Quentin, M.; Schmaltz, A.K.; Rubbert, C.; Blondin, D.; Antoch, G.; Schimmoeller, L.; Arsov, C.; Rabenalt, R.; Albers, P.

2018-01-01

To prospectively evaluate the effect of hyoscine butylbromide (HBB) on visualisation of anatomical details and motion-related artefacts in mp-MRI of the prostate at 3.0 Tesla. One hundred and three consecutive patients (65 ± 10 years) were included in this trial, powered to demonstrate an improvement of image quality after HBB administration, assessed on a 5-point scale by two blinded readers. All patients received high-spatial resolution axial T2-weighted TSE sequences at 3.0 T without spasmolytic agent, repeated after application of 40 mg HBB and followed by routine mp-MRI. Secondary endpoints were (1) susceptibility to side effects, (2) dependence of spasmolytic effect on patients and acute; weight, and (3) prostate volume. In 68% of patients, HBB significantly improved the anatomic score (mean 3.4 ± 0.9 before and 4.4 ± 0.7 after HBB for both readers, p = <0.001). In 67%, HBB significantly enhanced the artefact score (mean 3.2 ± 1 before and 4.2 ± 0.8 after HBB for reader 1, p = <0.001; 3.2 ± 1 and 4.1 ± 0.8 for reader 2, p = <0.001). Subgroup analysis revealed no statistically significant difference between patients with different bodyweight or prostate volume. Inter-reader agreement was excellent (k = 0.95-0.98). Hyoscine butylbromide significantly improves image quality and reduces motion-related artefacts in mp-MRI of the prostate independent of bodyweight or prostate volume. No side effects were reported. (orig.)

Biofeedback-assisted relaxation training to decrease test anxiety in nursing students.

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Prato, Catherine A; Yucha, Carolyn B

2013-01-01

Nursing students experiencing debilitating test anxiety may be unable to demonstrate their knowledge and have potential for poor academic performance. A biofeedback-assisted relaxation training program was created to reduce test anxiety. Anxiety was measured using Spielberger's Test Anxiety Inventory and monitoring peripheral skin temperature, pulse, and respiration rates during the training. Participants were introduced to diaphragmatic breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and autogenic training. Statistically significant changes occurred in respiratory rates and skin temperatures during the diaphragmatic breathing session; respiratory rates and peripheral skin temperatures during progressive muscle relaxation session; respiratory and pulse rates, and peripheral skin temperatures during the autogenic sessions. No statistically significant difference was noted between the first and second TAI. Subjective test anxiety scores of the students did not decrease by the end of training. Autogenic training session was most effective in showing a statistically significant change in decreased respiratory and pulse rates and increased peripheral skin temperature.

Decreased Endogenous Hydrogen Sulfide Generation in Penile Tissues of Diabetic Rats with Erectile Dysfunction.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yan; Yang, Jun; Wang, Tao; Wang, Shao-Gang; Liu, Ji-Hong; Yin, Chun-Ping; Ye, Zhang-Qun

2016-03-01

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is an endogenous gasotransmitter. The levels of H2S-generating enzyme expression and endogenous H2S production in diabetic rats with erectile dysfunction (ED) remain unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of the H2S-generating enzymes and endogenous production of H2S in penile tissues of diabetic ED rats. Experimental rats were randomly divided into normal control group, apomorphine (APO)-positive group and APO-negative group. Primary rat corpus cavernosum smooth muscle cells (CCSMCs) and aortic endothelial cells (AECs) were isolated and cultured in vitro under 3 different conditions: normal glucose (NG) condition, high glucose (HG) condition, and osmotic control (OC) condition. Erectile function; H2S concentrations in plasma or penile tissues; expression of H2S-generating enzymes and endogenous H2S production in penile tissues, CCSMCs, and AECs. Erectile function was significantly decreasedin the APO-negative group. In addition to significantly decreased expression of cysteine aminotransferase (CAT), d-amino acid oxidase (DAO), and 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (3-MST), the H2S concentrations in plasma and penile tissues and endogenous H2S production were significantly decreased in the APO-negative group. Endogenous H2S production by cystathionine β-synthase (CBS) and cystathionine γ-lyase (CSE) decreased to the same levels in the APO-negative and APO-positive groups as that in the normal control group. However, CBS and CSE expression remained unchanged in the 3 groups. Under HG conditions, H2S-generating enzyme expression in AECs did not change, while CAT, DAO, and 3-MST expression in CCSMCs was significantly decreased. In both cell types, H2S production by these enzymes was decreased in the HG group. Endogenous H2S production was significantly decreased in the diabetic ED rats' penile tissues due to downregulated expression of the CAT/3-MST and DAO/3-MST pathways and low activities of CBS and CSE

HYDROXYUREA TREATMENT DECREASES GLOMERULAR HYPERFILTRATION IN CHILDREN WITH SICKLE CELL ANEMIA

Science.gov (United States)

Aygun, Banu; Mortier, Nicole A.; Smeltzer, Matthew P.; Shulkin, Barry L.; Hankins, Jane S.; Ware, Russell E.

2015-01-01

Background Glomerular hyperfiltration and microalbuminuria/proteinuria are early manifestations of sickle nephropathy. The effects of hydroxyurea therapy on these renal manifestations of sickle cell anemia (SCA) are not well defined. Objective To investigate the effects of hydroxyurea on glomerular filtration rate (GFR) measured by 99mTc-DTPA clearance, and on microalbuminuria/proteinuria in children with SCA. Study Design Hydroxyurea Study of Long-Term Effects (HUSTLE) is a prospective study (NCT00305175) with the goal of describing the long-term cellular, molecular, and clinical effects of hydroxyurea therapy in SCA. Glomerular filtration rate, urine microalbumin, and serum cystatin C were measured before initiating hydroxyurea therapy and then repeated after 3 years. Baseline and Year 3 values for HUSTLE subjects were compared using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank test. Associations between continuous variables were evaluated using Spearman correlation coefficient. Results Twenty-three children with SCA (median age 7.5 years, range 2.5–14.0 years) received hydroxyurea at maximum tolerated dose (MTD, 24.4 ± 4.5 mg/kg/day, range 15.3–30.6 mg/kg/day). After three years of treatment, GFR measured by 99mTc-DTPA decreased significantly from 167 ± 46 mL/min/1.73m2 to 145 ± 27 mL/min/1.73m2 (p=0.016). This decrease in GFR was significantly associated with increase in fetal hemoglobin (p= 0.042) and decrease in lactate dehydrogenase levels (p=0.035). Urine microalbumin and cystatin C levels did not change significantly. Conclusions Hydroxyurea at MTD is associated with a decrease in hyperfiltration in young children with SCA. PMID:23255310

A decreasing trend in fall-related hip fracture incidence in Victoria, Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Cassell, E; Clapperton, A

2013-01-01

In Victoria, Australia, the age-standardised incidence of fall-related hip fracture hospitalisations decreased significantly by 25% over the period 1998/1999-2008/2009. Significant decreases in fall-related hip fractures were observed in males and females, across all 5-year age groups, in Australian-born and overseas-born Victorians, in all socio-economic quintiles and in community-dwelling older people. The study aim was to investigate trends in the incidence of fall-related and hip fracture hospitalisations among Victorians aged 65 years and older overall and by age, gender, country of birth, socio-economic status (SES) and location of the event (home, residential care institution, etc.) over the 11-year period 1998/1999 to 2008/2009. Annual counts and age-standardised rates for fall-related hospitalisations among people aged 65 years and older were estimated using Victorian hospital admissions data. The statistical significance of changes in trends over time were analysed using a log-linear regression model of the rate data assuming a Poisson distribution of cases. Although the age-standardised incidence of fall-related hospitalisations increased significantly by 13% (95% confidence interval [CI], 9% to 18%) in Victoria, the age-standardised incidence of fall-related hip fracture hospitalisations decreased from 600/100,000 in 1998/1999 to 467/100,000 in 2008/2009 - an estimated overall reduction of 25% (95% CI, -29% to -22%). By contrast, the age-standardised incidence of fall-related hospitalisations for fractures at other body sites either increased significantly or showed no significant change. Significant decreases in fall-related hip fractures were observed in both males and females, across all 5-year age groups, in both Australian-born and overseas-born Victorians, in all socio-economic quintiles and in community-dwelling older people but not in people living in residential care facilities. Despite the downward trend in the age-standardised incidence of

Smaller Dentate Gyrus and CA2 and CA3 Volumes Are Associated with Kynurenine Metabolites in Collegiate Football Athletes.

Science.gov (United States)

Meier, Timothy B; Savitz, Jonathan; Singh, Rashmi; Teague, T Kent; Bellgowan, Patrick S F

2016-07-15

An imbalance in kynurenine pathway metabolism is hypothesized to be associated with dysregulated glutamatergic neurotransmission, which has been proposed as a mechanism underlying the hippocampal volume loss observed in a variety of neurological disorders. Pre-clinical models suggest that the CA2-3 and dentate gyrus hippocampal subfields are particularly susceptible to excitotoxicity after experimental traumatic brain injury. We tested the hypothesis that smaller hippocampal volumes in collegiate football athletes with (n = 25) and without (n = 24) a concussion history would be most evident in the dentate gyrus and CA2-3 subfields relative to nonfootball healthy controls (n = 27). Further, we investigated whether the concentration of peripheral levels of kynurenine metabolites are altered in football athletes. Football athletes with and without a self-reported concussion history had smaller dentate gyrus (p Football athletes with and without a concussion history had a trend toward lower (p history had greater levels of quinolinic acid compared with athletes without a concussion history (p football athletes with a concussion history (p football athletes without a concussion history (p < 0.05). Our results raise the possibility that abnormalities of the kynurenine metabolic pathway constitute a mechanism for hippocampal volume differences in the context of sports-related brain injury.

Test the Overall Significance of p-values by Using Joint Tail Probability of Ordered p-values as Test Statistic

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fang, Yongxiang; Wit, Ernst

2008-01-01

Fisher’s combined probability test is the most commonly used method to test the overall significance of a set independent p-values. However, it is very obviously that Fisher’s statistic is more sensitive to smaller p-values than to larger p-value and a small p-value may overrule the other p-values

Decreased sweating in seven patients with Laron syndrome

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Main, K M; Price, D A; Savage, M O

1993-01-01

patients with Laron syndrome, measured by pilocarpine iontophoresis. The patients had significantly lower SSRs than healthy children matched for sex and pubertal stage (P ...). These observations further supported the hypothesis that sweat gland function in humans is under the influence of the GH-insulin-like growth factor-I axis. It remains to be seen whether the decrease in SSR also leads to altered thermoregulation in patients with Laron syndrome....

Low Ascorbic Acid in the vtc-1 Mutant of Arabidopsis Is Associated with Decreased Growth and Intracellular Redistribution of the Antioxidant System1

Science.gov (United States)

Veljovic-Jovanovic, Sonja D.; Pignocchi, Cristina; Noctor, Graham; Foyer, Christine H.

2001-01-01

Ascorbic acid has numerous and diverse roles in plant metabolism. We have used the vtc-1 mutant of Arabidopsis, which is deficient in ascorbate biosynthesis, to investigate the role of ascorbate concentration in growth, regulation of photosynthesis, and control of the partitioning of antioxidative enyzmes. The mutant possessed 70% less ascorbate in the leaves compared with the wild type. This lesion was associated with a slight increase in total glutathione but no change in the redox state of either ascorbate or glutathione. In vtc-1, total ascorbate in the apoplast was decreased to 23% of the wild-type value. The mutant displayed much slower shoot growth than the wild type when grown in air or at high CO2 (3 mL L−1), where oxidative stress is diminished. Leaves were smaller, and shoot fresh weight and dry weight were lower in the mutant. No significant differences in the light saturation curves for CO2 assimilation were found in air or at high CO2, suggesting that the effect on growth was not due to decreased photosynthetic capacity in the mutant. Analysis of chlorophyll a fluorescence quenching revealed only a slight effect on non-photochemical energy dissipation. Hydrogen peroxide contents were similar in the leaves of the vtc-1 mutant and the wild type. Total leaf peroxidase activity was increased in the mutant and compartment-specific differences in ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity were observed. In agreement with the measurements of enzyme activity, the expression of cytosolic APX was increased, whereas that for chloroplast APX isoforms was either unchanged or slightly decreased. These data implicate ascorbate concentration in the regulation of the compartmentalization of the antioxidant system in Arabidopsis. PMID:11598218

Significant biochemical, biophysical and metabolic diversity in circulating human cord blood reticulocytes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benoît Malleret

Full Text Available The transition from enucleated reticulocytes to mature normocytes is marked by substantial remodeling of the erythrocytic cytoplasm and membrane. Despite conspicuous changes, most studies describe the maturing reticulocyte as a homogenous erythropoietic cell type. While reticulocyte staging based on fluorescent RNA stains such as thiazole orange have been useful in a clinical setting; these 'sub-vital' stains may confound delicate studies on reticulocyte biology and may preclude their use in heamoparasite invasion studies.Here we use highly purified populations of reticulocytes isolated from cord blood, sorted by flow cytometry into four sequential subpopulations based on transferrin receptor (CD71 expression: CD71high, CD71medium, CD71low and CD71negative. Each of these subgroups was phenotyped in terms of their, morphology, membrane antigens, biomechanical properties and metabolomic profile.Superficially CD71high and CD71medium reticulocytes share a similar gross morphology (large and multilobular when compared to the smaller, smooth and increasingly concave reticulocytes as seen in the in the CD71low and CD71negativesamples. However, between each of the four sample sets we observe significant decreases in shear modulus, cytoadhesive capacity, erythroid receptor expression (CD44, CD55, CD147, CD235R, and CD242 and metabolite concentrations. Interestingly increasing amounts of boric acid was found in the mature reticulocytes.Reticulocyte maturation is a dynamic and continuous process, confounding efforts to rigidly classify them. Certainly this study does not offer an alternative classification strategy; instead we used a nondestructive sampling method to examine key phenotypic changes of in reticulocytes. Our study emphasizes a need to focus greater attention on reticulocyte biology.

Modafinil decreases anxiety-like behaviour in zebrafish

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adrian Johnson

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Modafinil (2-((diphenylmethylsulfinylacetamide, a selective dopamine and norepinephrine transporter inhibitor, is most commonly prescribed for narcolepsy but has gained recent interest for treating a variety of disorders. Zebrafish (Danio rerio are becoming a model of choice for pharmacological and behavioural research. To investigate the behavioural effects of modafinil on anxiety, we administered doses of 0, 2, 20, and 200 mg/L for 30 minutes then tested zebrafish in the novel approach test. In this test, the fish was placed into a circular arena with a novel object in the center and motion-tracking software was used to quantify the time the fish spent in the outer area of the arena (thigmotaxis zone, middle third of the arena (transition zone and center of the arena, as well as total distance traveled, immobility and meandering. Modafinil caused a decrease in time spent in the thigmotaxis zone and increased time spent in the transition zone across all doses. Modafinil did not significantly alter the time spent in the center zone (near the novel object, the distance moved, meandering, or the duration of time spent immobile. We also validated this test as a measure of anxiety with the administration of ethanol (1% which decreased time spent in the thigmotaxis zone and increased time spent in the transition zone. These results suggest that modafinil decreases anxiety-like behaviour in zebrafish.

Decreasing Relative Risk Premium

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Frank

relative risk premium in the small implies decreasing relative risk premium in the large, and decreasing relative risk premium everywhere implies risk aversion. We finally show that preferences with decreasing relative risk premium may be equivalently expressed in terms of certain preferences on risky......We consider the risk premium demanded by a decision maker with wealth x in order to be indifferent between obtaining a new level of wealth y1 with certainty, or to participate in a lottery which either results in unchanged present wealth or a level of wealth y2 > y1. We define the relative risk...... premium as the quotient between the risk premium and the increase in wealth y1–x which the decision maker puts on the line by choosing the lottery in place of receiving y1 with certainty. We study preferences such that the relative risk premium is a decreasing function of present wealth, and we determine...

Opportunities and barriers for smaller portions in food service: lessons from marketing and behavioral economics

Science.gov (United States)

Riis, J

2014-01-01

This paper uses the frameworks and evidence from marketing and behavioral economics to highlight the opportunities and barriers for portion control in food service environments. Applying Kahneman's ‘thinking fast and slow' concepts, it describes 10 strategies that can be effective in ‘tricking' the consumer's fast cognitive system to make better decisions and in triggering the slow cognitive system to help prevent the fast system from making bad decisions. These strategies include shrinking defaults, elongating packages, increasing the visibility of small portions, offering more mixed virtue options, adding more small sizes, offering ‘right-sized' standard portions, using meaningful size labels, adopting linear pricing, using temporal landmarks to push smaller portions and facilitating pre-commitment. For each of these strategies, I discuss the specific cost and revenue barriers that a food service operator would face if the strategy were adopted. PMID:25033960

Opportunities and barriers for smaller portions in food service: lessons from marketing and behavioral economics.

Science.gov (United States)

Riis, J

2014-07-01

This paper uses the frameworks and evidence from marketing and behavioral economics to highlight the opportunities and barriers for portion control in food service environments. Applying Kahneman's 'thinking fast and slow' concepts, it describes 10 strategies that can be effective in 'tricking' the consumer's fast cognitive system to make better decisions and in triggering the slow cognitive system to help prevent the fast system from making bad decisions. These strategies include shrinking defaults, elongating packages, increasing the visibility of small portions, offering more mixed virtue options, adding more small sizes, offering 'right-sized' standard portions, using meaningful size labels, adopting linear pricing, using temporal landmarks to push smaller portions and facilitating pre-commitment. For each of these strategies, I discuss the specific cost and revenue barriers that a food service operator would face if the strategy were adopted.

Decreased uptake after fractionated ablative doses of iodine-131

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, Hurng-Sheng [Show Chwan Memorial Hospital, Department of Surgery, Changhua, Taiwan (Taiwan); Hseu, Huey-Herng [Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Department of Medical Education and Research, Taichung (Taiwan); Lin, Wan-Yu; Wang, Shyh-Jen [Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Taichung, Taiwan (Taiwan); Liu, Yao-Chi [Department of Surgery, General Surgery, National Defense Medical Center, Taipe (Taiwan)

2005-02-01

In an attempt to obviate the necessity for hospitalisation, the ablative dose of {sup 131}I in the treatment of thyroid cancer is divided into two or three fractions at weekly intervals in some hospitals with no special bed for {sup 131}I treatment. Thyroid stunning has been observed in patients receiving a {sup 131}I dose between 74 and 370 MBq (2-10 mCi). However, the influence of {sup 131}I uptake after administration of a higher dose, such as 1,110-1,850 MBq of {sup 131}I, has never been reported. In this study, we evaluated the degree of reduction in {sup 131}I uptake after patients received 1,480 MBq of {sup 131}I and evaluated the clinical value of fractionated ablative doses of {sup 131}I. Thirty-five patients with functional thyroid cancer received a total of 4,440 MBq (120 mCi) of {sup 131}I which was divided into three fractions administered at weekly intervals. In all patients two {sup 131}I whole-body scans were performed. The first scan was performed directly prior to the second dose of {sup 131}I (7 days after the first administration of {sup 131}I), and the second scan was performed 7 days after the second administration of {sup 131}I and directly prior to the third administration. Regions of interest including the neck and lungs were drawn to calculate the uptake of {sup 131}I in the thyroid remnant and possible cervical lymph node and lung metastases. The mean uptake of {sup 131}I was 2.73% 7 days after the first administration, and decreased significantly to 0.26% 7 days after the second administration. The mean decrease was as high as 80.7%. The decrease in {sup 131}I uptake was significant in all patients except the two with lung metastases. In the two patients with lung metastases, no definite evidence of decreased uptake was noted; the uptake of {sup 131}I in the lung metastases even increased on the second {sup 131}I image in one of these patients. After administration of 1,480 MBq of {sup 131}I, the decreased uptake was significant in all

Serum Soluble Corin is Decreased in Stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Hao; Zhu, Fangfang; Shi, Jijun; Han, Xiujie; Zhou, Dan; Liu, Yan; Zhi, Zhongwen; Zhang, Fuding; Shen, Yun; Ma, Juanjuan; Song, Yulin; Hu, Weidong

2015-07-01

Soluble corin was decreased in coronary heart disease. Given the connections between cardiac dysfunction and stroke, circulating corin might be a candidate marker of stroke risk. However, the association between circulating corin and stroke has not yet been studied in humans. Here, we aimed to examine the association in patients wtith stroke and community-based healthy controls. Four hundred eighty-one patients with ischemic stroke, 116 patients with hemorrhagic stroke, and 2498 healthy controls were studied. Serum soluble corin and some conventional risk factors of stroke were examined. Because circulating corin was reported to be varied between men and women, the association between serum soluble corin and stroke was evaluated in men and women, respectively. Patients with ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke had a significantly lower level of serum soluble corin than healthy controls in men and women (all P values, stroke than men in the highest quartile. Women in the lowest quartile of serum soluble corin were also more likely to have ischemic (OR, 3.10; 95% confidence interval, 1.76-5.44) and hemorrhagic (OR, 8.54; 95% confidence interval, 2.35-31.02) stroke than women in the highest quartile. ORs of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke were significantly increased with the decreasing levels of serum soluble corin in men and women (all P values for trend, stroke compared with healthy controls. Our findings raise the possibility that serum soluble corin may have a pathogenic role in stroke. © 2015 American Heart Association, Inc.

Clinostatic rotation decreases crossover frequencies in the fungus Sordaria macrospora Auersw.

Science.gov (United States)

Henkel, J; Hock, B

1991-12-01

Two-factor crosses between the non-allelic spore colour mutants r2 and lu of the fungus Sordaria macrospora were used to investigate the effect of clinostatic rotation (= simulated weightlessness) on crossover frequencies. The experiment was carried out with different rotary directions at a rotary rate of 4 rpm. Second-division segregations of the gene lu, which result from crossover between the gene locus and centromere, are significantly smaller in the clinostat experiments than in the static controls. No differences were found between the two rotary directions. A similar influence of clinostatic rotation was not observed for the gene r2 which in contrast to the lu locus is located very close to the centromere. The suitability of this approach for the investigation of the effect of space flight conditions on cytogenetic processes is pointed out.

Comet 81p/Wild 2: The Updated Stardust Coma Dust Fluence Measurement for Smaller (Sub 10-Micrometre) Particles

Science.gov (United States)

Price, M. C.; Kearsley, A. T.; Burchell, M. J.; Horz, Friedrich; Cole, M. J.

2009-01-01

Micrometre and smaller scale dust within cometary comae can be observed by telescopic remote sensing spectroscopy [1] and the particle size and abundance can be measured by in situ spacecraft impact detectors [2]. Initial interpretation of the samples returned from comet 81P/Wild 2 by the Stardust spacecraft [3] appears to show that very fine dust contributes not only a small fraction of the solid mass, but is also relatively sparse [4], with a low negative power function describing grain size distribution, contrasting with an apparent abundance indicated by the on-board Dust Flux Monitor Instrument (DFMI) [5] operational during the encounter. For particles above 10 m diameter there is good correspondence between results from the DFMI and the particle size inferred from experimental calibration [6] of measured aerogel track and aluminium foil crater dimensions (as seen in Figure 4 of [4]). However, divergence between data-sets becomes apparent at smaller sizes, especially submicrometre, where the returned sample data are based upon location and measurement of tiny craters found by electron microscopy of Al foils. Here effects of detection efficiency tail-off at each search magnification can be seen in the down-scale flattening of each scale component, but are reliably compensated by sensible extrapolation between segments. There is also no evidence of malfunction in the operation of DFMI during passage through the coma (S. Green, personal comm.), so can the two data sets be reconciled?

Decreasing particle number concentrations in a warming atmosphere and implications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Yu

2012-03-01

Full Text Available New particle formation contributes significantly to the number concentration of condensation nuclei (CN as well as cloud CN (CCN, a key factor determining aerosol indirect radiative forcing of the climate system. Using a physics-based nucleation mechanism that is consistent with a range of field observations of aerosol formation, it is shown that projected increases in global temperatures could significantly inhibit new particle, and CCN, formation rates worldwide. An analysis of CN concentrations observed at four NOAA ESRL/GMD baseline stations since the 1970s and two other sites since 1990s reveals long-term decreasing trends that are consistent in sign with, but are larger in magnitude than, the predicted temperature effects. The possible reasons for larger observed long-term CN reductions at remote sites are discussed. The combined effects of rising temperatures on aerosol nucleation rates and other chemical and microphysical processes may imply substantial decreases in future tropospheric particle abundances associated with global warming, delineating a potentially significant feedback mechanism that increases Earth's climate sensitivity to greenhouse gas emissions. Further research is needed to quantify the magnitude of such a feedback process.

Airplane radiation dose decrease during a strong Forbush decrease

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Spurný, František; Kudela, K.; Dachev, T.

2004-01-01

Roč. 2, S05001 (2004), s. 1-4 ISSN 1542-7390 Grant - others:EC project(XE) FIGM-CT2000-00068 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z1048901 Keywords : airplane dose * Forbush decrease * cosmic rays Subject RIV: BG - Nuclear, Atomic and Molecular Physics, Colliders

Aspirin decreases platelet uptake on Dacron vascular grafts in baboons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mackey, W.C.; Connolly, R.J.; Callow, A.D.

1984-01-01

The influence of a single dose of aspirin (5.4-7.4 mg/kg) on platelet uptake on 4-mm Dacron interposition grafts was studied in a baboon model using gamma camera scanning for 111-Indium labeled platelets. In vitro assessment of platelet function after aspirin administration revealed that in the baboon, as in the human, aspirin abolished arachidonic acid-induced platelet aggregation, prolonged the lag time between exposure to collagen and aggregation, and decreased plasma thromboxane B2 levels. Aspirin also prolonged the template bleeding time. Scans for 111-Indium labeled platelets revealed that pretreatment with a single dose of aspirin decreased platelet uptake on 4-mm Dacron carotid interposition grafts. This decrease in platelet uptake was associated with a significant improvement in 2-hour graft patency and with a trend toward improved 2-week patency

Oil-sands giants leaving smaller environmental footprints

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stonehouse, D.

1999-01-01

Suncor Energy and Syncrude Canada are both investing billions of dollars to increase production at their mining facilities near Fort McMurray, Alberta. The two oil-sand giants will be spending a good portion of their investment (almost $1 billion) to improve their environmental performance. Both companies are focusing on reducing their energy use to cut production costs and to reduce carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions. Currently, oil-sand mining accounts for the largest industrial use of electricity in Alberta. This produces tremendous amounts of greenhouse gases such as CO 2 which has been linked to global warming. By year 2006, all of Syncrude's processing equipment will be replaced by energy-efficient equipment. Shovel/truck/hydrotransport will replace the dragline/bucket-wheel/conveyor system used in the past. New technology designed to improve bitumen recovery and increase upgrading processing yields is also expected to decrease emissions by 5 million tonnes per year. Syncrude will also construct a $60 million gas turbine generator for its Aurora project. Sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) emissions which cause acid rain, are also on the decline at both Syncrude and Suncor. Suncor will reduce its energy use through the construction of a $315 million cogeneration plant which will generate 220 MV of electricity for its operations, along with waste heat that will be used to separate the heavy oil from the sand. The cogeneration plant will be 45 per cent more efficient that current operations. Both companies have planted millions of trees and shrubs to reclaim nearly 3,000 hectares of land. The tailings from oil-sand mining are currently being captured in settling basins. Both companies have long range plans for dealing with tailings. The first is called water capping which involves layering fresh water over tailing deposits to create a lake. The second is called composite tails, which involves mixing the tailings with gypsum and sand to make them settle faster

Smaller kidney size at birth in South Asians: findings from the Born in Bradford birth cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Roderick, Paul J; Jeffrey, Robin F; Yuen, Ho M; Godfrey, Keith M; West, Jane; Wright, John

2016-03-01

Rates of advanced chronic kidney disease and renal replacement therapy are higher in South Asian than in white British populations. Low birth weight is also more frequent in South Asian populations and has been associated with increased risks of kidney disease, perhaps due to a reduced nephron endowment. Using ultrasound scans at 34 weeks of gestation, we measured fetal kidney dimensions (transverse and anteroposterior diameters, length and circumference) and derived volume in a random sample of 872 white British and 715 South Asian participants in the Born in Bradford cohort study. Kidney measurements were compared between ethnic groups. Birth weight for gestational age at 40 weeks was 200 g less in South Asian babies compared with white British babies. The mean kidney volume for gestational age was 16% lower in South Asian than in white British babies [8.79 versus 10.45 cm(3), difference 1.66 cm(3) (95% confidence interval 1.40-1.93, P < 0.001)]. The difference was robust after adjustment for maternal age, socio-economic factors, marital status, body mass index, smoking and alcohol use in pregnancy, parity, baby's gender and birth weight for gestational age [adjusted difference 1.38 cm(3) (0.97-1.84), P < 0.001]. There were smaller reductions in other fetal measures. South Asian babies have smaller kidneys compared with white British babies, even after adjusting for potential confounders including birth weight. This finding may contribute to increased risks of adult kidney disease in South Asian populations. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of ERA-EDTA. All rights reserved.

Glucocorticosteroids Associated With a Decreased Risk of Psychosis

OpenAIRE

Laan, Wijnand; Smeets, Hugo; de Wit, Niek J.; Kahn, Rene S.; Grobbee, Diederick E.; Burger, Huibert

2009-01-01

The hypothesis that chronic inflammation may play a role in psychosis receives increasing attention. In this study, we aim to investigate whether the use of steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is associated with a decreased risk of psychosis. A longitudinal nested case-control study was performed investigating the association of glucocorticosteroid (GCS) consumption with a new diagnosis of a psychotic disorder. Significantly reduced odds ratios of 0.52 (95% confidence interval, 0.36-0.75) were ...

Serum carcinoembryonic antigen tends to decrease in poorly-differentiated colorectal cancer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ester Morina Silalahi

2015-12-01

This was a cross-sectional study conducted on 40 CRC subjects from July 2012 until May 2013. Determination of serum CEA and CA 19-9 levels and histopathological (cellular differentiation grades in CRC biopsies was done in all subjects. RESULTS The study involved forty CRC patients, consisting of 22 males and 18 females, with mean age of 51.93 ± 11.63 years, CEA levels of 51.93 ± 84.07 ng/ml and CA 19-9 levels of 33.81 ± 62.39 U/ml. Carcino-embryonic antigen levels tended to decrease with decreasing CRC histopathological grade, while CA 19-9 levels increased in well-differentiated CRC. However, both relationships were statistically not significant (with p=0.314 and p=0.787, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA levels tend to decrease with decreasing histopathological grade of CRC, and CA 19-9 levels tend to increase in well-differentiated CRC.

Plasma klotho levels decrease in both anorexia nervosa and obesity.

Science.gov (United States)

Amitani, Marie; Asakawa, Akihiro; Amitani, Haruka; Kaimoto, Kaori; Sameshima, Nanami; Koyama, Ken Ichiro; Haruta, Izumi; Tsai, Minglun; Nakahara, Toshihiro; Ushikai, Miharu; Cheng, Kai-Chun; Hamada, Satoshi; Inui, Akio

2013-09-01

The aim of this study was to examine the associations of klotho with body mass index (BMI) in patients with restricting-type anorexia nervosa (r-AN) and obesity. We examined plasma klotho as well as adiponectin and its isoform levels in comparison in 11 obese patients, 12 r-AN patients, and 11 control participants. Plasma klotho levels were markedly lower in the obesity and r-AN groups than in the control group. Moreover, plasma klotho levels increased significantly after the recovery of BMI in r-AN patients. Total and high-molecular-weight adiponectin levels were significantly decreased only in obesity. There was no relationship between klotho and total adiponectin levels or klotho and respective adiponectin isoform levels in the entire study population. These results suggest that klotho may reflect normal nutritional state, and that the decrease of klotho in r-AN and obesity may underlie the deteriorating processes of these disorders. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Intrauterine growth restriction is associated with structural alterations in human umbilical cord and decreased nitric oxide-induced relaxation of umbilical vein.

Science.gov (United States)

Peyter, A-C; Delhaes, F; Baud, D; Vial, Y; Diaceri, G; Menétrey, S; Hohlfeld, P; Tolsa, J-F

2014-11-01

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) affects ∼8% of all pregnancies and is associated with major perinatal mortality and morbidity, and with an increased risk to develop cardiovascular diseases in adulthood. Despite identification of several risk factors, the mechanisms implicated in the development of IUGR remain poorly understood. In case of placental insufficiency, reduced delivery of oxygen and/or nutrients to the fetus could be associated with alterations in the umbilical circulation, contributing further to the impairment of maternal-fetal exchanges. We compared the structural and functional properties of umbilical cords from growth-restricted and appropriate for gestational age (AGA) term newborns, with particular attention to the umbilical vein (UV). Human umbilical cords were collected at delivery. Morphological changes were investigated by histomorphometry, and UV's reactivity by pharmacological studies. Growth-restricted newborns displayed significantly lower growth parameters, placental weight and umbilical cord diameter than AGA controls. Total cross-section and smooth muscle areas were significantly smaller in UV of growth-restricted neonates than in controls. Maximal vasoconstriction achieved in isolated UV was lower in growth-restricted boys than in controls, whereas nitric oxide-induced relaxation was significantly reduced in UV of growth-restricted girls compared to controls. IUGR is associated with structural alterations of the UV in both genders, and with a decreased nitric oxide-induced relaxation in UV of newborn girls, whereas boys display impaired vasoconstriction. Further investigations will allow to better understand the regulation of umbilical circulation in growth-restricted neonates, which could contribute to devise potential novel therapeutic strategies to prevent or limit the development of IUGR. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using a smaller dining plate does not suppress food intake from a buffet lunch meal in overweight, unrestrained women.

Science.gov (United States)

Yip, Wilson; Wiessing, Katy R; Budgett, Stephanie; Poppitt, Sally D

2013-10-01

The aim of the study was to determine whether plate size affects ad libitum energy intake (EI) at a buffet-style lunch in overweight, yet unrestrained women. Twenty overweight/obese (BMI=25-40 kg/m(2)) women attended two study visits, and were randomly assigned to small (19.5 cm) or large (26.5 cm) diameter plate size at a free choice lunch meal. At 9 am participants were given a small (0.5 MJ) breakfast, followed at 12 noon by the lunch meal from which they ate ad lib until comfortably full. Mean (SEM) EI at lunch was 3975 (239)kJ and 3901 (249) kJ respectively for small and large plate size. There was no detectable difference in EI between the two plate sizes (P>0.05). When in a raised state of hunger and offered a palatable buffet meal, altering the diameter of the dining plate onto which food was self-served did not significantly alter ad lib EI. We conclude there was no evidence that a smaller plate suppressed EI in a group of unrestrained, overweight women encouraged to eat to appetite from a wide choice of items. Whether plate size is a useful cue for portion size, and hence control of EI, in individuals actively restricting intake however remains possible, and requires investigation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Insulin decreases atherosclerosis by inducing endothelin receptor B expression

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Park, Kyoungmin; Mima, Akira; Li, Qian

2016-01-01

Endothelial cell (EC) insulin resistance and dysfunction, caused by diabetes, accelerates atherosclerosis. It is unknown whether specifically enhancing EC-targeted insulin action can decrease atherosclerosis in diabetes. Accordingly, overexpressing insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS1...... induction of NO action, which increases endothelin receptor B (EDNRB) expression and intracellular [Ca(2+)]. Using the mice with knockin mutation of eNOS, which had Ser1176 mutated to alanine (AKI), deleting the only known mechanism for insulin to activate eNOS/NO pathway, we observed that IRS1...... overexpression in the endothelia of Aki/ApoE(-/-) mice significantly decreased atherosclerosis. Interestingly, endothelial EDNRB expression was selectively reduced in intima of arteries from diabetic patients and rodents. However, endothelial EDNRB expression was upregulated by insulin via P13K/Akt pathway...

Endogenous and exogenous testosterone and prostate cancer: decreased-, increased- or null-risk?

Science.gov (United States)

Lopez, David S; Advani, Shailesh; Tsilidis, Konstantinos K; Wang, Run; Canfield, Steven

2017-06-01

For more than 70 years, the contention that high levels of testosterone or that the use of testosterone therapy (TTh) increases the development and progression of prostate cancer (PCa) has been widely accepted and practiced. Yet, the increasing and emerging evidence on testosterone research seems to challenge that contention. To review literature on the associations of endogenous and exogenous testosterone with decreased-, increased-, or null-risk of PCa, and to further evaluate only those studies that reported magnitude of associations from multivariable modeling as it minimizes confounding effects. We conducted a literature search to identify studies that investigated the association of endogenous total testosterone [continuous (per 1 unit increment and 5 nmol/L increment) and categorical (high vs. low)] and use of TTh with PCa events [1990-2016]. Emphasis was given to studies/analyses that reported magnitude of associations [odds ratio (OR), relative risk (RR) and hazard ratios (HRs)] from multivariable analyses to determine risk of PCa and their statistical significance. Most identified studies/analyses included observational and randomized placebo-controlled trials. This review was organized in three parts: (I) association of endogenous total testosterone (per 1 unit increment and 5 nmol/L increment) with PCa; (II) relationship of endogenous total testosterone (categorical high vs. low) with PCa; and (III) association of use of TTh with PCa in meta-analyses of randomized placebo-controlled trials. The first part included 31 observational studies [20 prospective (per 5 nmol/L increment) and 11 prospective and retrospective cohort studies (per 1 unit increment)]. None of the 20 prospective studies found a significant association between total testosterone (5 nmol/L increment) and increased- or decreased-risk of PCa. Two out of the 11 studies/analyses showed a significant decreased-risk of PCa for total testosterone per 1 unit increment, but also two other

Phytic acid decreases deoxynivalenol and fumonisin B1-induced changes on swine jejunal explants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elisângela Olegário da Silva

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of phytic acid (IP6 on morphological and immunohistochemical parameters on intestinal explants exposed to deoxynivalenol (DON and fumonisin B1 (FB1. The jejunal explants were exposed for 4 h to different treatments: control, DON (10 μM, DON plus 2.5 mM or 5 mM IP6, FB1 (70 μM, and FB1 plus 2.5 mM or 5 mM IP6. Both mycotoxins induced significant intestinal lesions and decreased villi height. The presence of 2.5 mM and 5 mM IP6 significantly inhibited the morphological changes caused by the mycotoxins. DON induced a significant increase in caspase-3 (83% and cyclooxygenase-2 (71.3% expression compared with the control. The presence of 5 mM IP6 induced a significant decrease in caspase-3 (43.7% and Cox-2 (48% expression compared with the DON group. FB1 induced a significant increase in caspase-3 expression (47% compared to the control, whereas IP6 induced no significant change in this expression. A significant decrease in cell proliferation was observed when explants were exposed to 5 mM of IP6 in comparison with the DON and FB1 groups. The present data provide evidence that phytic acid modulates the toxic effects induced by DON and FB1 on intestinal tissue.

Ocular blood flow decreases during passive heat stress in resting humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Ikemura, Tsukasa; Miyaji, Akane; Kashima, Hideaki; Yamaguchi, Yuji; Hayashi, Naoyuki

2013-12-06

Heat stress induces various physiological changes and so could influence ocular circulation. This study examined the effect of heat stress on ocular blood flow. Ocular blood flow, end-tidal carbon dioxide (P(ET)CO2) and blood pressure were measured for 12 healthy subjects wearing water-perfused tube-lined suits under two conditions of water circulation: (1) at 35 °C (normothermia) for 30 min and (2) at 50 °C for 90 min (passive heat stress). The blood-flow velocities in the superior temporal retinal arteriole (STRA), superior nasal retinal arteriole (SNRA), and the retinal and choroidal vessels (RCV) were measured using laser-speckle flowgraphy. Blood flow in the STRA and SNRA was calculated from the integral of a cross-sectional map of blood velocity. PETCO2 was clamped at the normothermia level by adding 5% CO2 to the inspired gas. Passive heat stress had no effect on the subjects' blood pressures. The blood-flow velocity in the RCV was significantly lower after 30, 60 and 90 min of passive heat stress than the normothermic level, with a peak decrease of 18 ± 3% (mean ± SE) at 90 min. Blood flow in the STRA and SNRA decreased significantly after 90 min of passive heat stress conditions, with peak decreases of 14 ± 3% and 14 ± 4%, respectively. The findings of this study suggest that passive heat stress decreases ocular blood flow irrespective of the blood pressure or arterial partial pressure of CO2.

The smaller windmill

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sanguinetti, P. [Trillium Windmills Inc., Orillia, ON (Canada)

1997-06-01

The importance of small windchargers, below a rating of 1000 watts, was discussed. These units can go wherever there is a need to charge a 12 volt or 24 volt battery and where there is no easily available conventional electricity source, such as a sailboat, farm, scientific site, or cottage. Trillium Windmills was set up to market the Rutland Windcharger which is a small windcharger rated at 75 watts in a 22 MPH wind. To give an indication of the size of the market, it was pointed out that two manufacturers, one in North America and one in England, have monthly production runs of more than 1000 small wind turbines of less than 500 watts.

Cardiorespiratory adaptations induced by aerobic training in middle-aged men: the importance of a decrease in sympathetic stimulation for the contribution of dynamic exercise tachycardia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chacon-Mikahil M.P.T.

1998-01-01

Full Text Available We investigated the effects of aerobic training on the efferent autonomic control of heart rate (HR during dynamic exercise in middle-aged men, eight of whom underwent exercise training (T while the other seven continued their sedentary (S life style. The training was conducted over 10 months (three 1-h sessions/week on a field track at 70-85% of the peak HR. The contribution of sympathetic and parasympathetic exercise tachycardia was determined in terms of differences in the time constant effects on the HR response obtained using a discontinuous protocol (4-min tests at 25, 50, 100 and 125 watts on a cycle ergometer, and a continuous protocol (25 watts/min until exhaustion allowed the quantification of the parameters (anaerobic threshold, VO2 AT; peak O2 uptake, VO2 peak; power peak that reflect oxygen transport. The results obtained for the S and the T groups were: 1 a smaller resting HR in T (66 beats/min when compared to S (84 beats/min; 2 during exercise, a small increase in the fast tachycardia (D0-10 s related to vagal withdrawal (P<0.05, only at 25 watts was observed in T at all powers; at middle and higher powers a significant decrease (P<0.05 at 50, 100 and 125 watts in the slow tachycardia (D1-4 min related to a sympathetic-dependent mechanism was observed in T; 3 the VO2 AT (S = 1.06 and T = 1.33 l/min and VO2 peak (S = 1.97 and T = 2.47 l/min were higher in T (P<0.05. These results demonstrate that aerobic training can induce significant physiological adaptations in middle-aged men, mainly expressed as a decrease in the sympathetic effects on heart rate associated with an increase in oxygen transport during dynamic exercise.

Design and Analysis of LT Codes with Decreasing Ripple Size

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Jesper Hemming; Popovski, Petar; Østergaard, Jan

2012-01-01

In this paper we propose a new design of LT codes, which decreases the amount of necessary overhead in comparison to existing designs. The design focuses on a parameter of the LT decoding process called the ripple size. This parameter was also a key element in the design proposed in the original...... work by Luby. Specifically, Luby argued that an LT code should provide a constant ripple size during decoding. In this work we show that the ripple size should decrease during decoding, in order to reduce the necessary overhead. Initially we motivate this claim by analytical results related...... to the redundancy within an LT code. We then propose a new design procedure, which can provide any desired achievable decreasing ripple size. The new design procedure is evaluated and compared to the current state of the art through simulations. This reveals a significant increase in performance with respect...

Decrease in domestic violence during pregnancy: a study from Turkey.

Science.gov (United States)

Bagcioglu, Erman; Vural, Mehmet; Karababa, Ibrahim Fatih; Aksin, Mahmut; Selek, Salih

2014-01-01

Our aim is to evaluate the prevalence of domestic violence (DV) among pregnant women and find out whether several factors were associated with DV or not. A total of 317 pregnant women applied at Sanliurfa Obstetrics Hospital and Harran University obstetrics and gynecology department outpatient clinic were interviewed using the modified form of Abuse Assessment Screen questionnaire. Several clinical and sociodemographic data were also obtained from the participants. Mean pregnancy number per woman (gravida) was 3.62 ± 0.13. 47.3% of women had experienced DV before pregnancy. However, the rate of DV exposure significantly decreased to 10.3% during pregnancy (p violence. Pregnancy appears to decrease DV in Sanliurfa.

Decrease of non-point zinc runoff using porous concrete.

Science.gov (United States)

Harada, Shigeki; Komuro, Yoshinori

2010-01-01

The use of porous concrete columns to decrease the amount of zinc in stormwater runoff is examined. The concentration of zinc in a simulated stormwater fluid (zinc acetate solution), fed through concrete columns (slashed circle10x10cm) decreased by 50-81%, suggesting physical adsorption of zinc by the porous concrete. We propose the use of porous concrete columns (slashed circle50x10cm) as the base of sewage traps. Longer-term, high-zinc concentration monitoring revealed that porous concrete blocks adsorb 38.6mgcm(-3) of zinc. A period of no significant zinc runoff (with an acceptable concentration of zinc in runoff of 0.03mgL(-1), a zinc concentration equal to the Japanese Environmental Standard) is estimated for 41years using a 1-ha catchment area with 20 porous concrete sewage traps. Scanning electron microscopy of the porous concrete used in this study indicates that the needle-like particles formed by hydration action significantly increase zinc adsorption. Evidence suggests that the hydrant is ettringite and has an important role in zinc adsorption, the resulting immobilization of zinc and the subsequent effects on groundwater quality. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Causes of decreased activity of daily life in elderly patients who need daily living care.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshino, Hiroshi; Sakurai, Takashi; Hasegawa, Kazuo; Yokono, Koichi

2011-07-01

The causes of decreased activity of daily life (ADL) in elderly patients include cerebrovascular diseases, bone fracture by falls, and dementia. The present study was conducted among elderly patients with decreased ADL who were hospitalized in nursing wards in order to investigate the causes of becoming early bedridden and to determine precautionary measures against decreased ADL. The study subjects were 224 elderly patients with decreased ADL (mean age: 83.3 ± 8.0 years) and 49 outpatients without decreased ADL (mean age: 76.8 ± 5.3 years). Current age, age at the start of ADL decrease, medical history and history of smoking were investigated. In the groups with decreased ADL, current age and the age of becoming bedridden in non-diabetic versus diabetic groups were 84.7 ± 7.9 versus 80.3 ± 7.5 and 82.7 ± 8.3 versus 77.6 ± 8.0 years, respectively, both showing significantly lower values in the diabetic group (P bedridden. Diabetic patients with smoking habit were significantly younger than diabetic and non-diabetic patients without smoking habit. Sex difference, smoking habit and presence of diabetes mellitus are independent risk factors of becoming early bedridden. Therefore, the major targets of medical care among elderly should be diabetic men with a smoking habit to lower the risks of decreased ADL. © 2011 Japan Geriatrics Society.

Decreased Expression of DREAM Promotes the Degeneration of Retinal Neurons

Science.gov (United States)

Chintala, Shravan; Cheng, Mei; Zhang, Xiao

2015-01-01

The intrinsic mechanisms that promote the degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) following the activation of N-Methyl-D-aspartic acid-type glutamate receptors (NMDARs) are unclear. In this study, we have investigated the role of downstream regulatory element antagonist modulator (DREAM) in NMDA-mediated degeneration of the retina. NMDA, phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), and MK801 were injected into the vitreous humor of C57BL/6 mice. At 12, 24, and 48 hours after injection, expression of DREAM in the retina was determined by immunohistochemistry, western blot analysis, and electrophoretic mobility-shift assay (EMSA). Apoptotic death of cells in the retina was determined by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferace dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assays. Degeneration of RGCs in cross sections and in whole mount retinas was determined by using antibodies against Tuj1 and Brn3a respectively. Degeneration of amacrine cells and bipolar cells was determined by using antibodies against calretinin and protein kinase C (PKC)-alpha respectively. DREAM was expressed constitutively in RGCs, amacrine cells, bipolar cells, as well as in the inner plexiform layer (IPL). NMDA promoted a progressive decrease in DREAM levels in all three cell types over time, and at 48 h after NMDA-treatment very low DREAM levels were evident in the IPL only. DREAM expression in retinal nuclear proteins was decreased progressively after NMDA-treatment, and correlated with its decreased binding to the c-fos-DRE oligonucleotides. A decrease in DREAM expression correlated significantly with apoptotic death of RGCs, amacrine cells and bipolar cells. Treatment of eyes with NMDA antagonist MK801, restored DREAM expression to almost normal levels in the retina, and significantly decreased NMDA-mediated apoptotic death of RGCs, amacrine cells, and bipolar cells. Results presented in this study show for the first time that down-regulation of DREAM promotes the degeneration of RGCs, amacrine cells, and

Azolla filiculoides Nitrogenase Activity Decrease Induced by Inoculation with Chlamydomonas sp. †

Science.gov (United States)

Habte, Mitiku

1986-01-01

Experiments were conducted to determine the influence of Chlamydomonas sp. on nitrogen fixation (C2H2 → C2H4) in Azolla filiculoides and on the nitrogen fixation and growth of free-living Anabaena azollae 2B organisms. Inoculation of azolla medium with Chlamydomonas sp. was associated with decreased nitrogenase activity in A. filiculoides and with increases in the density of a fungal population identified as Acremonium sp. Subsequent inoculation of azolla medium with this fungus was also accompanied by a significant decrease in nitrogenase activity of A. filiculoides. However, the extent of depression of nitrogenase activity was significantly higher when azolla medium was inoculated with Chlamydomonas sp. than when it was inoculated with Acremonium sp. Inoculation of nitrogen-free Stanier medium with either Acremonium sp. or Chlamydomonas sp. did not adversely affect the growth or nitrogenase activity of free-living A. azollae. Decreased nitrogenase activity in A. filiculoides is apparently related to the adverse influence of the green alga and the fungus on the macrosymbiont. The mechanisms that might be involved are discussed. PMID:16347211

Ceruletide decreases food intake in non-obese man.

Science.gov (United States)

Stacher, G; Steinringer, H; Schmierer, G; Schneider, C; Winklehner, S

1982-01-01

Cholecystokinin decreases food intake in animals and in man. This study investigated whether the structurally related ceruletide reduces food intake in healthy non-obese man. Twelve females and 12 males participated, after an over-night fast, in each of two experiments. During the basal 40 min, saline was infused IV. Thereafter, the infusion was, in random double blind fashion, either continued with saline or switched to 60 or 120 ng/kg b. wt/hr ceruletide. Butter was melted in a pan and scrambled eggs with ham were prepared in front of the subjects, who were instructed to eat, together with bread and mallow tea, as much as they wanted. With 120 ng/kg/hr ceruletide, the subjects ate significantly less (16.8 percent) than with saline (3725 kJ +/- 489 SEM and 4340 kJ +/- 536, respectively; p less than 0.025). They also reported less hunger (p less than 0.005) and activation (p less than 0.005) and activation (p less than 0.01), and had longer reaction times (p less than 0.01) and a weaker psychomotor performance (p less than 0.025). 60 ng/kg/hr ceruletide decreased food intake only slightly (6.6%; 3089 kJ +/- 253 and 3292 kJ +/- 300 respectively) and no significant changes in the above measures occurred. In conclusion, ceruletide reduces food intake in man, thus resembling the effects of cholecystokinin.

Improving CT detection sensitivity for nodal metastases in oesophageal cancer with combination of smaller size and lymph node axial ratio

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, Jianfang [Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, National Cancer Center/Cancer Hospital, Beijing (China); Capital Medical University Electric Power Teaching Hospital, Beijing (China); Wang, Zhu; Qu, Dong; Yao, Libo [Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, National Cancer Center/Cancer Hospital, Beijing (China); Shao, Huafei [Affiliated Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital of Qingdao University Medical College, Yantai (China); Liu, Jian [Meitan General Hospital, Beijing (China)

2018-01-15

To investigate the value of CT with inclusion of smaller lymph node (LN) sizes and axial ratio to improve the sensitivity in diagnosis of regional lymph node metastases in oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The contrast-enhanced multidetector row spiral CT (MDCT) multiplanar reconstruction images of 204 patients with OSCC were retrospectively analysed. The long-axis and short-axis diameters of the regional LNs were measured and axial ratios were calculated (short-axis/long-axis diameters). Nodes were considered round if the axial ratio exceeded the optimal LN axial ratio, which was determined by receiver operating characteristic analysis. A positive predictive value (PPV) exceeding 50% is needed. This was achieved only with LNs larger than 9 mm in short-axis diameter, but nodes of this size were rare (sensitivity 37.3%, specificity 96.4%, accuracy 85.8%). If those round nodes (axial ratio exceeding 0.66) between 7 mm and 9 mm in size were considered metastases as well, it might improve the sensitivity to 67.2% with a PPV of 63.9% (specificity 91.6%, accuracy 87.2%). Combination of a smaller size and axial ratio for LNs in MDCT as criteria improves the detection sensitivity for LN metastases in OSCC. (orig.)

Fasting Ghrelin Levels Are Decreased in Obese Subjects and Are Significantly Related With Insulin Resistance and Body Mass Index

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dimitrios Papandreou

2017-10-01

CONCLUSION: Obese subjects have low fasting ghrelin levels that they are significantly related to insulin resistance and body mass index. More prospective studies are needed to establish the role of ghrelin in the pathogenesis of human obesity.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2012-12-01

vs. 1, p=0.02) than apical OPs. All apical and non-apical/basal OPs were successfully managed expectantly without associated mortality. This TCT classification of OP is proposed to help clinicians to decide on subsequent management of the OP. Basal OPs are significantly larger in size, and both basal and bilateral OPs are associated with higher severity of injury and longer hospital stay. These groups of patient may benefit from prophylactic tube thoracostomy instead of conservative treatment. On the other hand, apical and non-apical/basal groups is smaller in size, less severely injured and thus can be successfully managed expectantly. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Depressed patients have decreased binding of tritiated imipramine to platelet serotonin ''transporter''

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paul, S.M.; Rehavi, M.; Skolnick, P.; Ballenger, J.C.; Goodwin, F.K.

1981-01-01

The high-affinity tritiated (3H) imipramine binding sites are functionally (and perhaps structurally) associated with the presynaptic neuronal and platelet uptake sites for serotonin. Since there is an excellent correlation between the relative potencies of a series of antidepressants in displacing 3H-imipramine from binding sites in human brain and platelet, we have examined the binding of 3H-imipramine to platelets from 14 depressed patients and 28 age- and sex-matched controls. A highly significant decrease in the number of 3H-imipramine binding sites, with no significant change in the apparent affinity constants, was observed in platelets from the depressed patients compared with the controls. These results, coupled with previous studies showing a significant decrease in the maximal uptake of serotonin in platelets from depressed patients, suggest that an inherited or acquired deficiency of the serotonin transport protein or proteins may be involved in the pathogenesis of depression

The Effectiveness of Parent-Child Play Therapy on Decreasing Depression Symptoms in Children with Cancer, Decreasing Perceived Stress on Their Mothers and Improving Parent-Child Relationship

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

رویا سادات علویان

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Present study, aimed to assess the effect of parent-child play therapy on decreasing depression symptoms in children with cancer, decreasing perceived stress of their mothers and improving the parent-child relationship. A total of 14 children diagnosed with cancer were selected, among the patients of Dr. Sheikh Hospital in the city of Mashhad, and randomly assigned into two groups of intervention and control. Mothers completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS and the Parent-Child Relationship Scale (PCRS, the children completed the Child Depression Inventory (CDI, both in pre-test and post-test. Eight sessions of parent-child play therapy were adminstered separately for every pair of mother-child from intervention group. Data were analyzed by using analysis of covariance. Compared to the control group, CDI scores of intervention group reduced significantly from pre to post test. Also scores of PCRS increased significantly for the intervention group. PSS Scores of intervention groups was not significantly different from control group. As a result, parent-child play therapy can be effective in reducing depression symptoms of children with cancer, and improving the parent-child relationship; while, it was not effective for reducing mothers' level of perceived stress.

Vinegar decreases allergenic response in lentil and egg food allergy.

Science.gov (United States)

Armentia, A; Dueñas-Laita, A; Pineda, F; Herrero, M; Martín, B

2010-01-01

Food allergy results from an atypical response of the mucosal immune system to orally consumed allergens. Antacid medication inhibits the digestion of dietary proteins and causes food allergy. A decrease of the gastric pH might enhance the function of digestion and reduce the risk of food allergy. To test a possible decrease in the allergenicity of powerful food allergens (egg, chicken, lentils) with the addition of vinegar during the cooking process. We included seven patients who suffered from anaphylaxis due to egg, chicken and lentils. We added vinegar to egg, chicken and lentil processed extracts used for skin prick tests (SPT) and compared the wheal areas obtained with the same extracts sources and the same way but without vinegar addition. Immunodetection was performed with the different processed extracts and patients' sera. Only one patient consented food challenge with vinegar-marinated-chicken. Wheal areas were significantly minor with the food extract with vinegar. Immunodetection showed a decrease of the response with vinegar processed extracts. Vinegar addition during the cooking process may decrease lentil and chicken allergenicity. Copyright 2009 SEICAP. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Decreased immunoglobulin production by a human lymphoid cell line following melphalan treatment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Griffin, G.D. (Oak Ridge National Lab., TN); Owen, B.A.; Atchley, C.E.; Novelli, G.D.; Solomon, A.

1982-11-01

The effect of melphalan on immunoglobulin G (IgG) production by a human lymphoblastoid cell line (BF) was studied. The amount of secreted IgG and the percentage of cells containing cytoplasmic IgG were measured by immunoassay and cytofluorometry, respectively. Dose-response studies indicated that melphalan concentrations of 2 x 10/sup -8/ M had no effect, while concentrations of 8 x 10/sup -7/ M were totally toxic, after 72-h exposures to the drug. Statistically significant, persistent, alterations in both synthesis and secretion of IgG by BF cells were observed following treatment for 72 h with 4 x 10/sup -7/ M melphalan, and there was an increase in population-doubling time from 24 to 72 h in these drug-treated cells. The percentage of IgG-containing cells in melphalan-treated cultures was significantly decreased as compared to control cultures. IgG secretion was also decreased in these cultures, and the variation in IgG secretion as a function of cellular growth was significantly altered following melphalan treatment. Decreased IgG production following melphalan treatment may be related to altered cell cycle kinetics. Based on immunological analysis, there was no evident alteration in the IgG secreted by melphalan-treated cells, nor did melphalan treatment produce a cellular population lacking IgG entirely.

Decrease in catalase activity of Folsomia candida fed a Bt rice diet

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yuan Yiyang, E-mail: yuanyy@ioz.ac.cn [State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101 (China); Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039 (China); Ke Xin, E-mail: xinke@sibs.ac.cn [Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 300 Fenglin Road, Shanghai 200032 (China); Chen Fajun, E-mail: fajunchen@njau.edu.cn [College of Plant Protection, Department of Entomology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095 (China); Krogh, Paul Henning, E-mail: phk@dmu.dk [Department of Bioscience, University of Aarhus, P.O. Box 314, Vejlsoevej 25, DK-8600 Silkeborg (Denmark); Ge Feng, E-mail: gef@ioz.ac.cn [State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101 (China)

2011-12-15

Here we report the effects of three Bt-rice varieties and their non-Bt conventional isolines on biological traits including survival, reproduction, and the activities of three antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase, catalase and peroxidase, in the Collembolan, Folsomia candida. The reproduction was significantly lower when fed Kemingdao and Huahui1 than those feeding on their non-GM near-isogenic varieties Xiushui and Minghui63 respectively, this can be explained by the differences of plant compositions depended on variety of rice. The catalase activity of F. candida was significantly lower when fed the Bt-rice variety Kemingdao compared to the near-isogenic non-Bt-rice variety Xiushui. This suggests that some Bt-rice varieties may impose environmental stress to collembolans. We emphasize that changes in activity of antioxidant enzymes of non-target organisms are important in understanding the ecological consequences for organisms inhabiting transgenic Bt-rice plantations. - Highlights: > We examine the effects of Bt-rice on Folsomia candida with laboratory test. > The reproduction of F. candida was decreased by two Bt-rice varieties. > Decreased reproduction caused by the differences of varieties or C/N ratio of rice. > The catalase activity was decreased by Bt-rice Kemingdao. > Some Bt-rice may impose environmental stress on NTOs. - The catalase of the collembolan (Folsomia candida) was decreased when fed Bt-rice, Kemingdao.

Decrease in catalase activity of Folsomia candida fed a Bt rice diet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuan Yiyang; Ke Xin; Chen Fajun; Krogh, Paul Henning; Ge Feng

2011-01-01

Here we report the effects of three Bt-rice varieties and their non-Bt conventional isolines on biological traits including survival, reproduction, and the activities of three antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase, catalase and peroxidase, in the Collembolan, Folsomia candida. The reproduction was significantly lower when fed Kemingdao and Huahui1 than those feeding on their non-GM near-isogenic varieties Xiushui and Minghui63 respectively, this can be explained by the differences of plant compositions depended on variety of rice. The catalase activity of F. candida was significantly lower when fed the Bt-rice variety Kemingdao compared to the near-isogenic non-Bt-rice variety Xiushui. This suggests that some Bt-rice varieties may impose environmental stress to collembolans. We emphasize that changes in activity of antioxidant enzymes of non-target organisms are important in understanding the ecological consequences for organisms inhabiting transgenic Bt-rice plantations. - Highlights: → We examine the effects of Bt-rice on Folsomia candida with laboratory test. → The reproduction of F. candida was decreased by two Bt-rice varieties. → Decreased reproduction caused by the differences of varieties or C/N ratio of rice. → The catalase activity was decreased by Bt-rice Kemingdao. → Some Bt-rice may impose environmental stress on NTOs. - The catalase of the collembolan (Folsomia candida) was decreased when fed Bt-rice, Kemingdao.

Decreasing Serial Cost Sharing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hougaard, Jens Leth; Østerdal, Lars Peter

The increasing serial cost sharing rule of Moulin and Shenker [Econometrica 60 (1992) 1009] and the decreasing serial rule of de Frutos [Journal of Economic Theory 79 (1998) 245] have attracted attention due to their intuitive appeal and striking incentive properties. An axiomatic characterization...... of the increasing serial rule was provided by Moulin and Shenker [Journal of Economic Theory 64 (1994) 178]. This paper gives an axiomatic characterization of the decreasing serial rule...

Decreasing serial cost sharing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hougaard, Jens Leth; Østerdal, Lars Peter Raahave

2009-01-01

The increasing serial cost sharing rule of Moulin and Shenker (Econometrica 60:1009-1037, 1992) and the decreasing serial rule of de Frutos (J Econ Theory 79:245-275, 1998) are known by their intuitive appeal and striking incentive properties. An axiomatic characterization of the increasing serial...... rule was provided by Moulin and Shenker (J Econ Theory 64:178-201, 1994). This paper gives an axiomatic characterization of the decreasing serial rule....

The response of soil and stream chemistry to decreases in acid deposition in the Catskill Mountains, New York, USA.

Science.gov (United States)

McHale, Michael R; Burns, Douglas A; Siemion, Jason; Antidormi, Michael R

2017-10-01

The Catskill Mountains have been adversely impacted by decades of acid deposition, however, since the early 1990s, levels have decreased sharply as a result of decreases in emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. This study examines trends in acid deposition, stream-water chemistry, and soil chemistry in the southeastern Catskill Mountains. We measured significant reductions in acid deposition and improvement in stream-water quality in 5 streams included in this study from 1992 to 2014. The largest, most significant trends were for sulfate (SO 4 2- ) concentrations (mean trend of -2.5 μeq L -1 yr -1 ); hydrogen ion (H + ) and inorganic monomeric aluminum (Al im ) also decreased significantly (mean trends of -0.3 μeq L -1 yr -1 for H + and -0.1 μeq L -1 yr -1 for Al im for the 3 most acidic sites). Acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) increased by a mean of 0.65 μeq L -1 yr -1 for all 5 sites, which was 4 fold less than the decrease in SO 4 2- concentrations. These upward trends in ANC were limited by coincident decreases in base cations (-1.3 μeq L -1 yr -1 for calcium + magnesium). No significant trends were detected in stream-water nitrate (NO 3 - ) concentrations despite significant decreasing trends in NO 3 - wet deposition. We measured no recovery in soil chemistry which we attributed to an initially low soil buffering capacity that has been further depleted by decades of acid deposition. Tightly coupled decreasing trends in stream-water silicon (Si) (-0.2 μeq L -1 yr -1 ) and base cations suggest a decrease in the soil mineral weathering rate. We hypothesize that a decrease in the ionic strength of soil water and shallow groundwater may be the principal driver of this apparent decrease in the weathering rate. A decreasing weathering rate would help to explain the slow recovery of stream pH and ANC as well as that of soil base cations. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Decrease Risk of Pb Contamination in Soil-tobacco Systemby Amendments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LI Xi-xi

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Pot experiment using tobacco field soil was conducted to study the effect of four types amendments of lime, humic acid, sodium sulfide and organic manure on the content of Pb in tobacco and available Pb in soil. The results showed that the content of Pb in tobacco leaves treated with different amendments was proportional to the activity of Pb in the soil, and that the activity of Pb in the soil was obviously inhibited, thus significantly reduced the Pb accumulation in tobacco leaves, and the decrement rate ranged from 23.16% to 59.71%, with treatments and comparisons reaching significant difference. Based on the decrease effect of Pb in soil-tobacco system and the economic ben-efits of tobacco production, it was concluded that 2.25 t·hm-2 of lime, 2.25 t·hm-2 of humic acid or 22.5 t·hm-2 of organic manure could effec-tively decrease the Pb risk in soil-tobacco system by factor sequence generation method.

A significant-loophole-free test of Bell's theorem with entangled photons

Science.gov (United States)

Giustina, Marissa; Versteegh, Marijn A. M.; Wengerowsky, Sören; Handsteiner, Johannes; Hochrainer, Armin; Phelan, Kevin; Steinlechner, Fabian; Kofler, Johannes; Larsson, Jan-Åke; Abellán, Carlos; Amaya, Waldimar; Mitchell, Morgan W.; Beyer, Jörn; Gerrits, Thomas; Lita, Adriana E.; Shalm, Lynden K.; Nam, Sae Woo; Scheidl, Thomas; Ursin, Rupert; Wittmann, Bernhard; Zeilinger, Anton

2017-10-01

John Bell's theorem of 1964 states that local elements of physical reality, existing independent of measurement, are inconsistent with the predictions of quantum mechanics (Bell, J. S. (1964), Physics (College. Park. Md). Specifically, correlations between measurement results from distant entangled systems would be smaller than predicted by quantum physics. This is expressed in Bell's inequalities. Employing modifications of Bell's inequalities, many experiments have been performed that convincingly support the quantum predictions. Yet, all experiments rely on assumptions, which provide loopholes for a local realist explanation of the measurement. Here we report an experiment with polarization-entangled photons that simultaneously closes the most significant of these loopholes. We use a highly efficient source of entangled photons, distributed these over a distance of 58.5 meters, and implemented rapid random setting generation and high-efficiency detection to observe a violation of a Bell inequality with high statistical significance. The merely statistical probability of our results to occur under local realism is less than 3.74×10-31, corresponding to an 11.5 standard deviation effect.

Decreased 133Xe clearance in the proximal femur in acromegaly

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kapitola, J.; Marek, J.; Jahoda, I.; Vilimovska, D.

1986-01-01

Using the 133 Xe tissue clearance method, the blood flow in the greater trochanter of the femur was studied in 30 patients with acromegaly. Both the washout rate constant (k 2 ) and blood flow (P 2 ) values are significantly decreased in acromegaly (p < 0.01). There is a significant negative correlation (r = -0.42, p < 0.05) between the flow values and mean daily concentrations of growth hormone in serum of acromegalic patients. The observation is presented as a preliminary evidence of a possible influence of growth hormone on the blood flow in bone. (author)

Heterotopic cardiac transplantation decreases the capacity for rat myocardial protein synthesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klein, I.; Samarel, A.M.; Welikson, R.; Hong, C.

1991-01-01

Heterotopic cardiac isografts are vascularly perfused hearts that maintain structural and functional integrity for prolonged periods of time. When placed in an infrarenal location, the heart is hemodynamically unloaded and undergoes negative growth, leading to cardiac atrophy. At 7 and 14 days after transplantation, the transplanted heart was decreased in size compared with the in situ heart (p less than 0.001). To assess the possible mechanism(s) to account for this reduction in size we studied in vivo rates of total left ventricular (LV) protein synthesis, total LV RNA content, and 18S ribosomal RNA content by nucleic acid hybridization. The LV protein synthetic rate was 4.7 and 5.3 mg/day in the in situ heart and was significantly decreased to 2.9 and 2.7 mg/day in the transplanted hearts at 7 and 14 days, respectively. LV RNA content of the transplant declined to 53% and 48% of the in situ value at 7 and 14 days, respectively. Hybridization studies revealed that LV 18S ribosomal subunit content was reduced proportionately to total RNA in the heterotopic hearts. As a result of these changes, there was no significant difference in the efficiency of total LV protein synthesis between the in situ and transplanted hearts. The present studies demonstrate that the hemodynamic unloading and cardiac atrophy that is characteristic of heterotopic cardiac transplantation is accompanied by a decrease in LV total RNA content and 18S RNA, resulting in a decreased capacity for myocardial protein synthesis

Endogenous and exogenous testosterone and prostate cancer: decreased-, increased- or null-risk?

Science.gov (United States)

Advani, Shailesh; Tsilidis, Konstantinos K.; Wang, Run; Canfield, Steven

2017-01-01

For more than 70 years, the contention that high levels of testosterone or that the use of testosterone therapy (TTh) increases the development and progression of prostate cancer (PCa) has been widely accepted and practiced. Yet, the increasing and emerging evidence on testosterone research seems to challenge that contention. To review literature on the associations of endogenous and exogenous testosterone with decreased-, increased-, or null-risk of PCa, and to further evaluate only those studies that reported magnitude of associations from multivariable modeling as it minimizes confounding effects. We conducted a literature search to identify studies that investigated the association of endogenous total testosterone [continuous (per 1 unit increment and 5 nmol/L increment) and categorical (high vs. low)] and use of TTh with PCa events [1990–2016]. Emphasis was given to studies/analyses that reported magnitude of associations [odds ratio (OR), relative risk (RR) and hazard ratios (HRs)] from multivariable analyses to determine risk of PCa and their statistical significance. Most identified studies/analyses included observational and randomized placebo-controlled trials. This review was organized in three parts: (I) association of endogenous total testosterone (per 1 unit increment and 5 nmol/L increment) with PCa; (II) relationship of endogenous total testosterone (categorical high vs. low) with PCa; and (III) association of use of TTh with PCa in meta-analyses of randomized placebo-controlled trials. The first part included 31 observational studies [20 prospective (per 5 nmol/L increment) and 11 prospective and retrospective cohort studies (per 1 unit increment)]. None of the 20 prospective studies found a significant association between total testosterone (5 nmol/L increment) and increased- or decreased-risk of PCa. Two out of the 11 studies/analyses showed a significant decreased-risk of PCa for total testosterone per 1 unit increment, but also two other

Dexmedetomidine decreases inhibitory but not excitatory neurotransmission to cardiac vagal neurons in the nucleus ambiguus.

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Sharp, Douglas B; Wang, Xin; Mendelowitz, David

2014-07-29

Dexmedetomidine, an α2 adrenergic agonist, is a useful sedative but can also cause significant bradycardia. This decrease in heart rate may be due to decreased central sympathetic output as well as increased parasympathetic output from brainstem cardiac vagal neurons. In this study, using whole cell voltage clamp methodology, the actions of dexmedetomidine on excitatory glutamatergic and inhibitory GABAergic and glycinergic neurotransmission to parasympathetic cardiac vagal neurons in the rat nucleus ambiguus was determined. The results indicate that dexmedetomidine decreases both GABAergic and glycinergic inhibitory input to cardiac vagal neurons, with no significant effect on excitatory input. These results provide a mechanism for dexmedetomidine induced bradycardia and has implications for the management of this potentially harmful side effect. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Converges More Convexly on Normal Smaller Optic Nerve Head.

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Jung, Kyoung In; Shin, Jeong Ah; Park, Hae-Young Lopilly; Park, Chan Kee

2015-08-01

To investigate retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) configuration in the optic nerve head (ONH) and peripapillary area according to disc size and to determine whether it explains cup discrepancy among eyes with different disc sizes. Horizontal and vertical RNFL curvature and mean thickness were measured using confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (Heidelberg Retina Tomograph) in 63 normal subjects grouped by disc size. Average and quadrant RNFL thickness, disc size, average cup-to-disc ratio (CDR), and convergence angle at the optic disc were also measured using Cirrus HD-optical coherence tomography. The relationships between disc size and RNFL curvature, thickness, angle at optic disc, and CDR were evaluated. RNFL curvature and convergence angle reflects convexity "on" and "into" the optic disc, respectively. CDR was smaller for small discs and was positively correlated with disc size (Poptic disc were positively correlated with disc size (POptic disc area was negatively correlated with mean RNFL thickness at the optic disc margin measured by HRT (P=0.002), but not in the peripapillary area by optical coherence tomography. Using imaging techniques, we demonstrated that the shape of the RNFLs converging "on" and entering "into" the optic disc was more convex for small optic discs compared with large discs. A low CDR for small discs could be mediated by these RNFL profiles at the ONH, which may guide the clinical evaluation of glaucomatous ONH damage.

Fluoxetine Decreases the Proliferation and Adipogenic Differentiation of Human Adipose-Derived Stem Cells

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Bo Kyung Sun

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Fluoxetine was originally developed as an antidepressant, but it has also been used to treat obesity. Although the anti-appetite effect of fluoxetine is well-documented, its potential effects on human adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs or mature adipocytes have not been investigated. Therefore, we investigated the mechanisms underlying the inhibitory effects of fluoxetine on the proliferation of ASCs. We also investigated its inhibitory effect on adipogenic differentiation. Fluoxetine significantly decreased ASC proliferation, and signal transduction PCR array analysis showed that it increased expression of autophagy-related genes. In addition, fluoxetine up-regulated SQSTM1 and LC3B protein expression as detected by western blotting and immunofluorescence. The autophagy inhibitor, 3-methyladenine (3-MA, significantly attenuated fluoxetine-mediated effects on ASC proliferation and SQSTM1/LC3B expression. In addition, 3-MA decreased the mRNA expression of two autophagy-related genes, beclin-1 and Atg7, in ASCs. Fluoxetine also significantly inhibited lipid accumulation and down-regulated the levels of PPAR-γ and C/EBP-α in ASCs. Collectively, these results indicate that fluoxetine decreases ASC proliferation and adipogenic differentiation. This is the first in vitro evidence that fluoxetine can reduce fat accumulation by inhibiting ASC proliferation and differentiation.

Fluoxetine Decreases the Proliferation and Adipogenic Differentiation of Human Adipose-Derived Stem Cells

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Bo Kyung; Kim, Ji Hye; Choi, Joon-Seok; Hwang, Sung-Joo; Sung, Jong-Hyuk

2015-01-01

Fluoxetine was originally developed as an antidepressant, but it has also been used to treat obesity. Although the anti-appetite effect of fluoxetine is well-documented, its potential effects on human adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) or mature adipocytes have not been investigated. Therefore, we investigated the mechanisms underlying the inhibitory effects of fluoxetine on the proliferation of ASCs. We also investigated its inhibitory effect on adipogenic differentiation. Fluoxetine significantly decreased ASC proliferation, and signal transduction PCR array analysis showed that it increased expression of autophagy-related genes. In addition, fluoxetine up-regulated SQSTM1 and LC3B protein expression as detected by western blotting and immunofluorescence. The autophagy inhibitor, 3-methyladenine (3-MA), significantly attenuated fluoxetine-mediated effects on ASC proliferation and SQSTM1/LC3B expression. In addition, 3-MA decreased the mRNA expression of two autophagy-related genes, beclin-1 and Atg7, in ASCs. Fluoxetine also significantly inhibited lipid accumulation and down-regulated the levels of PPAR-γ and C/EBP-α in ASCs. Collectively, these results indicate that fluoxetine decreases ASC proliferation and adipogenic differentiation. This is the first in vitro evidence that fluoxetine can reduce fat accumulation by inhibiting ASC proliferation and differentiation. PMID:26204837

Curcumin decreases astrocytic reaction after gliotoxic injury in the rat brainstem

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Eduardo Bondan

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Recent studies have demonstrated that curcumin (Cur has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic effects. Ethidium bromide (EB injections into the central nervous system (CNS are known to induce local oligodendroglial and astrocytic loss, resulting in primary demyelination and neuroinflammation. Peripheral astrogliosis is seen around the injury site with increased immunoreactivity to glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP. This investigation aimed to evaluate the effect of Cur administration on astrocytic response following gliotoxic injury. Wistar rats were injected with EB into the cisterna pontis and treated, or not, with Cur (100 mg/kg/day, intraperitoneal route during the experimental period. Brainstem sections were collected at 15, 21 and 31 days after EB injection and processed for GFAP immunohistochemical staining. Astrocytic reactivity was measured in a computerized system for image analysis. In Cur-treated rats, the GFAP-stained area around the lesion was significantly smaller in all periods after EB injection compared to untreated animals, showing that Cur reduces glial scar development following injury.

BMT decreases HFD-induced weight gain associated with decreased preadipocyte number and insulin secretion.

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Saeed Katiraei

Full Text Available Experimental bone marrow transplantation (BMT in mice is commonly used to assess the role of immune cell-specific genes in various pathophysiological settings. The application of BMT in obesity research is hampered by the significant reduction in high-fat diet (HFD-induced obesity. We set out to characterize metabolic tissues that may be affected by the BMT procedure and impair the HFD-induced response. Male C57BL/6 mice underwent syngeneic BMT using lethal irradiation. After a recovery period of 8 weeks they were fed a low-fat diet (LFD or HFD for 16 weeks. HFD-induced obesity was reduced in mice after BMT as compared to HFD-fed control mice, characterized by both a reduced fat (-33%; p<0.01 and lean (-11%; p<0.01 mass, while food intake and energy expenditure were unaffected. As compared to control mice, BMT-treated mice had a reduced mature adipocyte volume (approx. -45%; p<0.05 and reduced numbers of preadipocytes (-38%; p<0.05 and macrophages (-62%; p<0.05 in subcutaneous, gonadal and visceral white adipose tissue. In BMT-treated mice, pancreas weight (-46%; p<0.01 was disproportionally decreased. This was associated with reduced plasma insulin (-68%; p<0.05 and C-peptide (-37%; p<0.01 levels and a delayed glucose clearance in BMT-treated mice on HFD as compared to control mice. In conclusion, the reduction in HFD-induced obesity after BMT in mice is at least partly due to alterations in the adipose tissue cell pool composition as well as to a decreased pancreatic secretion of the anabolic hormone insulin. These effects should be considered when interpreting results of experimental BMT in metabolic studies.

Decreased coronary reserve in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamaguchi, Ryutaro

1987-01-01

To assess coronary flow reserve in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), split dose thallium-201 dipyridamole (DP) myocardial scintigraphy was performed. Subjects included 30 HCM patients with asymmetric septal hypertrophy and normal coronary angiogram, 10 hypertensive patients with left ventricular hypertrophy (posterior wall thickness ≥ 15 mm) and 13 healthy controls. Coronary reserve index (CRI) was calculated as a ratio of myocardial thallium uptake after dipyridamole (0.5 mg/kg) to the baseline value. HCM patients showed a significantly lower CRI (177 %) as compared with controls (281 %) or hypertensive patients (214 %), and 17 of them had abnormally decreased CRI below the normal range (mean-2SD of controls). These HCM patients with abnormal CRI showed significantly more frequent family histrory of HCM (71 vs 31 %), and a greater degree of systolic narrowing of the septal perforator as compared with those normal CRI. Maximal work loads were significantly lower (82 vs 106 watts) in those with abnormal CRI, 31 % developed ST depression at 80 watts. However, patients with abnormal CRI did not differ from those with normal CRI in septal and posterior wall thickness, left ventricular end-diastolic pressure, and in the degree of systolic narrowing of the left anterior descending artery. In the segmental CRI analysis, 13 HCM patients showed abnormal CRI in the septal and/or apical segments, while 8 patients presented diffuse CRI decrease, including the non-hypertrophied posterior segment. These findings indicate that 57 % of HCM patients have impaired coronary vasodilatory reserve, which may not only be a consequence of left ventricular hypertrophy, elevated left ventricular end-diastolic pressure, and systolic narrowing of the coronary artery, but may be related to small vessel coronary disease. (J.P.N.)

Radiolarians decreased silicification as an evolutionary response to reduced Cenozoic ocean silica availability.

Science.gov (United States)

Lazarus, David B; Kotrc, Benjamin; Wulf, Gerwin; Schmidt, Daniela N

2009-06-09

It has been hypothesized that increased water column stratification has been an abiotic "universal driver" affecting average cell size in Cenozoic marine plankton. Gradually decreasing Cenozoic radiolarian shell weight, by contrast, suggests that competition for dissolved silica, a shared nutrient, resulted in biologic coevolution between radiolaria and marine diatoms, which expanded dramatically in the Cenozoic. We present data on the 2 components of shell weight change--size and silicification--of Cenozoic radiolarians. In low latitudes, increasing Cenozoic export of silica to deep waters by diatoms and decreasing nutrient upwelling from increased water column stratification have created modern silica-poor surface waters. Here, radiolarian silicification decreases significantly (r = 0.91, P stratification and abundance of diatoms. In high southern latitudes, Southern Ocean circulation, present since the late Eocene, maintains significant surface water silica availability. Here, radiolarian silicification decreased insignificantly (r = 0.58, P = 0.1), from approximately 0.13 at 35 Ma to 0.11 today. Trends in shell size in both time series are statistically insignificant and are not correlated with each other. We conclude that there is no universal driver changing cell size in Cenozoic marine plankton. Furthermore, biologic and physical factors have, in concert, by reducing silica availability in surface waters, forced macroevolutionary changes in Cenozoic low-latitude radiolarians.

A neuro-data envelopment analysis approach for optimization of uncorrelated multiple response problems with smaller the better type controllable factors

Science.gov (United States)

Bashiri, Mahdi; Farshbaf-Geranmayeh, Amir; Mogouie, Hamed

2013-11-01

In this paper, a new method is proposed to optimize a multi-response optimization problem based on the Taguchi method for the processes where controllable factors are the smaller-the-better (STB)-type variables and the analyzer desires to find an optimal solution with smaller amount of controllable factors. In such processes, the overall output quality of the product should be maximized while the usage of the process inputs, the controllable factors, should be minimized. Since all possible combinations of factors' levels, are not considered in the Taguchi method, the response values of the possible unpracticed treatments are estimated using the artificial neural network (ANN). The neural network is tuned by the central composite design (CCD) and the genetic algorithm (GA). Then data envelopment analysis (DEA) is applied for determining the efficiency of each treatment. Although the important issue for implementation of DEA is its philosophy, which is maximization of outputs versus minimization of inputs, this important issue has been neglected in previous similar studies in multi-response problems. Finally, the most efficient treatment is determined using the maximin weight model approach. The performance of the proposed method is verified in a plastic molding process. Moreover a sensitivity analysis has been done by an efficiency estimator neural network. The results show efficiency of the proposed approach.

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.

Faster diffraction-based overlay measurements with smaller targets using 3D gratings

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jie; Kritsun, Oleg; Liu, Yongdong; Dasari, Prasad; Volkman, Catherine; Hu, Jiangtao

2012-03-01

Diffraction-based overlay (DBO) technologies have been developed to address the overlay metrology challenges for 22nm technology node and beyond. Most DBO technologies require specially designed targets that consist of multiple measurement pads, which consume too much space and increase measurement time. The traditional empirical approach (eDBO) using normal incidence spectroscopic reflectometry (NISR) relies on linear response of the reflectance with respect to overlay displacement within a small range. It offers convenience of quick recipe setup since there is no need to establish a model. However it requires three or four pads per direction (x or y) which adds burden to throughput and target size. Recent advances in modeling capability and computation power enabled mDBO, which allows overlay measurement with reduced number of pads, thus reducing measurement time and DBO target space. In this paper we evaluate the performance of single pad mDBO measurements using two 3D targets that have different grating shapes: squares in boxes and L-shapes in boxes. Good overlay sensitivities are observed for both targets. The correlation to programmed shifts and image-based overlay (IBO) is excellent. Despite the difference in shapes, the mDBO results are comparable for square and L-shape targets. The impact of process variations on overlay measurements is studied using a focus and exposure matrix (FEM) wafer. Although the FEM wafer has larger process variations, the correlation of mDBO results with IBO measurements is as good as the normal process wafer. We demonstrate the feasibility of single pad DBO measurements with faster throughput and smaller target size, which is particularly important in high volume manufacturing environment.

The response of soil and stream chemistry to decreases in acid deposition in the Catskill Mountains, New York, USA

Science.gov (United States)

McHale, Michael; Burns, Douglas A.; Siemion, Jason; Antidormi, Michael

2017-01-01

The Catskill Mountains have been adversely impacted by decades of acid deposition, however, since the early 1990s, levels have decreased sharply as a result of decreases in emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. This study examines trends in acid deposition, stream-water chemistry, and soil chemistry in the southeastern Catskill Mountains. We measured significant reductions in acid deposition and improvement in stream-water quality in 5 streams included in this study from 1992 to 2014. The largest, most significant trends were for sulfate (SO42−) concentrations (mean trend of −2.5 μeq L−1 yr−1); hydrogen ion (H+) and inorganic monomeric aluminum (Alim) also decreased significantly (mean trends of −0.3 μeq L−1 yr−1 for H+ and −0.1 μeq L−1 yr−1 for Alim for the 3 most acidic sites). Acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) increased by a mean of 0.65 μeq L−1 yr−1 for all 5 sites, which was 4 fold less than the decrease in SO42−concentrations. These upward trends in ANC were limited by coincident decreases in base cations (−1.3 μeq L−1 yr−1 for calcium + magnesium). No significant trends were detected in stream-water nitrate (NO3−) concentrations despite significant decreasing trends in NO3− wet deposition. We measured no recovery in soil chemistry which we attributed to an initially low soil buffering capacity that has been further depleted by decades of acid deposition. Tightly coupled decreasing trends in stream-water silicon (Si) (−0.2 μeq L−1 yr−1) and base cations suggest a decrease in the soil mineral weathering rate. We hypothesize that a decrease in the ionic strength of soil water and shallow groundwater may be the principal driver of this apparent decrease in the weathering rate. A decreasing weathering rate would help to explain the slow recovery of stream pH and ANC as well as that of soil base cations.

Decreased Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Content Contributes to Increased Survival in Human Colon Cancer

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Manuela Oraldi

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Among diet components, some fatty acids are known to affect several stages of colon carcinogenesis, whereas others are probably helpful in preventing tumors. In light of this, our aim was to determine the composition of fatty acids and the possible correlation with apoptosis in human colon carcinoma specimens at different Duke's stages and to evaluate the effect of enriching human colon cancer cell line with the possible reduced fatty acid(s. Specimens of carcinoma were compared with the corresponding non-neoplastic mucosa: a significant decrease of arachidonic acid, PPARα, Bad, and Bax and a significant increase of COX-2, Bcl-2, and pBad were found. The importance of arachidonic acid in apoptosis was demonstrated by enriching a Caco-2 cell line with this fatty acid. It induced apoptosis in a dose- and time-dependent manner via induction of PPARα that, in turn, decreased COX-2. In conclusion, the reduced content of arachidonic acid is likely related to carcinogenic process decreasing the susceptibility of cancer cells to apoptosis.

The cell-free fetal DNA fraction in maternal blood decreases after physical activity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schlütter, Jacob Mørup; Hatt, Lotte; Bach, Cathrine

2014-01-01

of cycling with a pulse-rate of 150 beats per minute. The concentrations of cffDNA (DYS14) and cfDNA (RASSF1A) were assessed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: The fetal fraction decreased significantly in all participants after physical activity (p decrease varying......OBJECTIVE: If noninvasive prenatal testing using next generation sequencing is to be effective for pregnant women, a cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA) fraction above 4% is essential unless the depth of sequencing is increased. This study's objective is to determine whether physical activity has...... from 1-17 percentage points. This was due to a significant increase in the concentration of cfDNA (p physical activity. CONCLUSION: When planning the timing of noninvasive...

Inhibition of neutral sphingomyelinase decreases elevated levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase and apoptotic cell death in ocular hypertensive rats

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aslan, Mutay, E-mail: mutayaslan@akdeniz.edu.tr [Department of Medical Biochemistry, Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine, Antalya (Turkey); Basaranlar, Goksun [Department of Biophysics, Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine, Antalya (Turkey); Unal, Mustafa [Department of Ophthalmology, Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine, Antalya (Turkey); Ciftcioglu, Akif [Department of Pathology, Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine, Antalya (Turkey); Derin, Narin [Department of Biophysics, Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine, Antalya (Turkey); Mutus, Bulent [Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario (Canada)

2014-11-01

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and excessive nitric oxide production via induction of inducible nitric oxide synthase (NOS2) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of neuronal retinal cell death in ocular hypertension. Neutral sphingomyelinase (N-SMase)/ceramide pathway can regulate NOS2 expression, hence this study determined the role of selective neutral sphingomyelinase (N-SMase) inhibition on retinal NOS2 levels, ER stress, apoptosis and visual evoked potentials (VEPs) in a rat model of elevated intraocular pressure (EIOP). NOS2 expression and retinal protein nitration were significantly greater in EIOP and significantly decreased with N-SMase inhibition. A significant increase was observed in retinal ER stress markers pPERK, CHOP and GRP78 in EIOP, which were not significantly altered by N-SMase inhibition. Retinal TUNEL staining showed increased apoptosis in all EIOP groups; however N-SMase inhibition significantly decreased the percent of apoptotic cells in EIOP. Caspase-3, -8 and -9 activities were significantly increased in EIOP and returned to baseline levels following N-SMase inhibition. Latencies of all VEP components were significantly prolonged in EIOP and shortened following N-SMase inhibition. Data confirm the role of nitrative injury in EIOP and highlight the protective effect of N-SMase inhibition in EIOP via down-regulation of NOS2 levels and nitrative stress. - Highlights: • Inhibition of N-SMase decreases NOS2 levels in ocular hypertension. • Inhibition of N-SMase decreases protein nitration in ocular hypertension. • Inhibition of N-SMase decreases caspase activation in ocular hypertension. • Inhibition of N-SMase decreases apoptosis in ocular hypertension.

Price of forest chips decreasing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hakkila, P.

2001-01-01

Use of forest chips was studied in 1999 in the national Puuenergia (Wood Energy) research program. Wood combusting heating plants were questioned about are the main reasons restricting the increment of the use of forest chips. Heating plants, which did not use forest chips at all or which used less than 250 m 3 (625 bulk- m 3 ) in 1999 were excluded. The main restrictions for additional use of forest chips were: too high price of forest chips; lack of suppliers and/or uncertainty of deliveries; technical problems of reception and processing of forest chips; insufficiency of boiler output especially in winter; and unsatisfactory quality of chips. The price of forest chips becomes relatively high because wood biomass used for production of forest chips has to be collected from wide area. Heavy equipment has to be used even though small fragments of wood are processed, which increases the price of chips. It is essential for forest chips that the costs can be pressed down because competition with fossil fuels, peat and industrial wood residues is hard. Low market price leads to the situation in which forest owner gets no price of the raw material, the entrepreneurs operate at the limit of profitability and renovation of machinery is difficult, and forest chips suppliers have to sell the chips at prime costs. Price of forest chips has decreased significantly during the past decade. Nominal price of forest chips is now lower than two decades ago. The real price of chips has decreased even more than the nominal price, 35% during the past decade and 20% during the last five years. Chips, made of small diameter wood, are expensive because the price includes the felling costs and harvesting is carried out at thinning lots. Price is especially high if chips are made of delimbed small diameter wood due to increased the work and reduced amount of chips. The price of logging residue chips is most profitable because cutting does not cause additional costs. Recovery of chips is

Decreasing prematurity in twin gestations: predicaments and possibilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Zork, Noelia; Biggio, Joseph; Tita, Alan; Rouse, Dwight; Gyamfi-Bannerman, Cynthia

2013-08-01

The twin birth rate has been steadily increasing in the United States over the past 10 years attributable in large part to the increased use of reproductive technologies. Despite advancements in the prevention of preterm labor for singletons, the overall rate of preterm birth has decreased only minimally. Several interventions to prevent preterm birth in twins have been studied, but none has proven effective. Inpatient bedrest has not been shown to be effective and can cause significant maternal morbidity. Although intramuscular 17α-hydroxyprogesterone caproate is effective in decreasing the risk of recurrent preterm delivery in singletons, neither it nor cerclage is effective in twin gestations, even in those with a short cervix. However, small trials, subgroup analyses, and a meta-analysis suggest that vaginal progesterone and the Arabin cervical pessary may reduce rates of preterm birth in twins of mothers with a short cervix. Given the current lack of effective therapies to prevent preterm birth in twins, large multicenter trials are needed to assess the effectiveness of vaginal progesterone and pessary in twins of mothers with a short cervix.

Secondary inorganic aerosols in Europe: sources and the significant influence of biogenic VOC emissions, especially on ammonium nitrate

Science.gov (United States)

Aksoyoglu, Sebnem; Ciarelli, Giancarlo; El-Haddad, Imad; Baltensperger, Urs; Prévôt, André S. H.

2017-06-01

Contributions of various anthropogenic sources to the secondary inorganic aerosol (SIA) in Europe as well as the role of biogenic emissions on SIA formation were investigated using the three-dimensional regional model CAMx (comprehensive air quality model with extensions). Simulations were carried out for two periods of EMEP field campaigns, February-March 2009 and June 2006, which are representative of cold and warm seasons, respectively. Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) are known mainly as precursors of ozone and secondary organic aerosol (SOA), but their role on inorganic aerosol formation has not attracted much attention so far. In this study, we showed the importance of the chemical reactions of BVOCs and how they affect the oxidant concentrations, leading to significant changes, especially in the formation of ammonium nitrate. A sensitivity test with doubled BVOC emissions in Europe during the warm season showed a large increase in secondary organic aerosol (SOA) concentrations (by about a factor of two), while particulate inorganic nitrate concentrations decreased by up to 35 %, leading to a better agreement between the model results and measurements. Sulfate concentrations decreased as well; the change, however, was smaller. The changes in inorganic nitrate and sulfate concentrations occurred at different locations in Europe, indicating the importance of precursor gases and biogenic emission types for the negative correlation between BVOCs and SIA. Further analysis of the data suggested that reactions of the additional terpenes with nitrate radicals at night were responsible for the decline in inorganic nitrate formation, whereas oxidation of BVOCs with OH radicals led to a decrease in sulfate. Source apportionment results suggest that the main anthropogenic source of precursors leading to formation of particulate inorganic nitrate is road transport (SNAP7; see Table 1 for a description of the categories), whereas combustion in energy and

The response of clouds and aerosols to cosmic ray decreases

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svensmark, J.; Enghoff, Martin Andreas Bødker; Shaviv, N. J.

2016-01-01

A method is developed to rank Forbush Decreases (FDs) in the galactic cosmic ray radiation according to their expected impact on the ionization of the lower atmosphere. Then a Monte Carlo bootstrap based statistical test is formulated to estimate the significance of the apparent response in physi......A method is developed to rank Forbush Decreases (FDs) in the galactic cosmic ray radiation according to their expected impact on the ionization of the lower atmosphere. Then a Monte Carlo bootstrap based statistical test is formulated to estimate the significance of the apparent response...... in physical and micro-physical cloud parameters to FDs. The test is subsequently applied to one ground based and three satellite based datasets. Responses (> 95%) to FDs are found in the following parameters of the analyzed datasets. AERONET: Ångström exponent (cloud condensation nuclei changes), SSM...... with the strength of the FDs, and the signs and magnitudes of the responses agree with model based expectations. The effect is mainly seen in liquid clouds. An impact through changes in UV driven photo chemistry is shown to be negligible and an impact via UV absorption in the stratosphere is found to have no effect...

Twentieth-century shifts in forest structure in California: Denser forests, smaller trees, and increased dominance of oaks.

Science.gov (United States)

McIntyre, Patrick J; Thorne, James H; Dolanc, Christopher R; Flint, Alan L; Flint, Lorraine E; Kelly, Maggi; Ackerly, David D

2015-02-03

We document changes in forest structure between historical (1930s) and contemporary (2000s) surveys of California vegetation through comparisons of tree abundance and size across the state and within several ecoregions. Across California, tree density in forested regions increased by 30% between the two time periods, whereas forest biomass in the same regions declined, as indicated by a 19% reduction in basal area. These changes reflect a demographic shift in forest structure: larger trees (>61 cm diameter at breast height) have declined, whereas smaller trees (Forest composition in California in the last century has also shifted toward increased dominance by oaks relative to pines, a pattern consistent with warming and increased water stress, and also with paleohistoric shifts in vegetation in California over the last 150,000 y.

Trps1 deficiency inhibits the morphogenesis of secondary hair follicles via decreased Noggin expression

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sun, Yujing [Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan Wen Hua Xi Road 44, Jinan 250012 (China); Nakanishi, Masako; Sato, Fuyuki; Oikawa, Kosuke [First Department of Pathology, Wakayama Medical University School of Medicine, 811-1 Kimiidera, Wakayama 641-0012 (Japan); Muragaki, Yasuteru, E-mail: ymuragak@wakayama-med.ac.jp [First Department of Pathology, Wakayama Medical University School of Medicine, 811-1 Kimiidera, Wakayama 641-0012 (Japan); Zhou, Gengyin, E-mail: zhougy@sdu.edu.cn [Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan Wen Hua Xi Road 44, Jinan 250012 (China)

2015-01-16

Highlights: • The number of secondary hair follicles is reduced by half in Trps1 KO embryonic skin compared to wild-type skin. • Noggin expression is significantly decreased and BMP signaling is promoted in Trps1 KO embryonic skin. • Treatment with a Noggin or BMP inhibitor rescued the decreased number of hair follicles in Trps1 KO skin graft cultures. • Cell proliferation and apoptosis of the epidermis were normalized by Noggin treatment. - Abstract: A representative phenotype of patients with tricho-rhino-phalangeal syndrome (TRPS) is sparse hair. To understand the developmental defects of these patient’s hair follicles, we analyzed the development of hair follicles histologically and biochemically using Trps1 deficient (KO) mice. First, we compared the numbers of primary hair follicles in wild-type (WT) and KO embryos at different developmental stages. No differences were observed in the E14.5 skins of WT and KO mice. However, at later time points, KO fetal skin failed to properly develop secondary hair follicles, and the number of secondary hair follicles present in E18.5 KO skin was approximately half compared to that of WT skin. Sonic hedgehog expression was significantly decreased in E17.5 KO skin, whereas no changes were observed in Eda/Edar expression in E14.5 or E17.5 skins. In addition, Noggin expression was significantly decreased in E14.5 and E17.5 KO skin compared to WT skin. In parallel with the suppression of Noggin expression, BMP signaling was promoted in the epidermal cells of KO skins compared to WT skins as determined by immunohistochemistry for phosphorylated Smad1/5/8. The reduced number of secondary hair follicles was restored in skin graft cultures treated with a Noggin and BMP inhibitor. Furthermore, decreased cell proliferation, and increased apoptosis in KO skin was rescued by Noggin treatment. Taken together, we conclude that hair follicle development in Trps1 KO embryos is impaired directly or indirectly by decreased Noggin

Trps1 deficiency inhibits the morphogenesis of secondary hair follicles via decreased Noggin expression

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun, Yujing; Nakanishi, Masako; Sato, Fuyuki; Oikawa, Kosuke; Muragaki, Yasuteru; Zhou, Gengyin

2015-01-01

Highlights: • The number of secondary hair follicles is reduced by half in Trps1 KO embryonic skin compared to wild-type skin. • Noggin expression is significantly decreased and BMP signaling is promoted in Trps1 KO embryonic skin. • Treatment with a Noggin or BMP inhibitor rescued the decreased number of hair follicles in Trps1 KO skin graft cultures. • Cell proliferation and apoptosis of the epidermis were normalized by Noggin treatment. - Abstract: A representative phenotype of patients with tricho-rhino-phalangeal syndrome (TRPS) is sparse hair. To understand the developmental defects of these patient’s hair follicles, we analyzed the development of hair follicles histologically and biochemically using Trps1 deficient (KO) mice. First, we compared the numbers of primary hair follicles in wild-type (WT) and KO embryos at different developmental stages. No differences were observed in the E14.5 skins of WT and KO mice. However, at later time points, KO fetal skin failed to properly develop secondary hair follicles, and the number of secondary hair follicles present in E18.5 KO skin was approximately half compared to that of WT skin. Sonic hedgehog expression was significantly decreased in E17.5 KO skin, whereas no changes were observed in Eda/Edar expression in E14.5 or E17.5 skins. In addition, Noggin expression was significantly decreased in E14.5 and E17.5 KO skin compared to WT skin. In parallel with the suppression of Noggin expression, BMP signaling was promoted in the epidermal cells of KO skins compared to WT skins as determined by immunohistochemistry for phosphorylated Smad1/5/8. The reduced number of secondary hair follicles was restored in skin graft cultures treated with a Noggin and BMP inhibitor. Furthermore, decreased cell proliferation, and increased apoptosis in KO skin was rescued by Noggin treatment. Taken together, we conclude that hair follicle development in Trps1 KO embryos is impaired directly or indirectly by decreased Noggin

Breastfeeding Is Associated with Decreased Childhood Maltreatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Kremer, Kristen P; Kremer, Theodore R

Child maltreatment has serious implications for youth outcomes, yet its associations with early parenting practices are not fully understood. This study investigated whether breastfeeding practices are correlated with childhood maltreatment. Data were utilized from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, a nationally representative and longitudinal study of adolescents. The analytic sample comprised 4,159 adolescents. The outcome variables included four subtypes of childhood maltreatment (neglect, inadequate supervision, physical abuse, and sexual abuse). The primary independent variable was breastfeeding duration. Covariates of the child, mother, and household were included in analyses. Logistic regression models were employed to predict odds of maltreatment subtypes from breastfeeding duration and covariates. Compared with adolescents never breastfed, adolescents breastfed 9 months or longer had a reduced odds of having experienced neglect (odds ratio [OR] = 0.54; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.35-0.83) and sexual abuse (OR = 0.47; 95% CI = 0.24-0.93) after controlling for covariates. Breastfeeding duration is significantly associated with decreased childhood neglect and sexual abuse. Breastfeeding practices should be explored as a consideration among clinicians when assessing maltreatment risk. Further research should examine whether a causal relationship exists between breastfeeding and decreased maltreatment.

The effect of decreased interletter spacing on orthographic processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Montani, Veronica; Facoetti, Andrea; Zorzi, Marco

2015-06-01

There is growing interest in how perceptual factors such as the spacing between letters within words modulate performance in visual word recognition and reading aloud. Extra-large letter spacing can strongly improve the reading performance of dyslexic children, and a small increase with respect to the standard spacing seems beneficial even for skilled word recognition in adult readers. In the present study we examined the effect of decreased letter spacing on perceptual identification and lexical decision tasks. Identification in the decreased spacing condition was slower than identification of normally spaced strings, thereby confirming that the reciprocal interference among letters located in close proximity (crowding) poses critical constraints on visual word processing. Importantly, the effect of spacing was not modulated by string length, suggesting that the locus of the spacing effect is at the level of letter detectors. Moreover, the processing of crowded letters was facilitated by top-down support from orthographic lexical representation as indicated by the fact that decreased spacing affected pseudowords significantly more than words. Conversely, in the lexical decision task only word responses were affected by the spacing manipulation. Overall, our findings support the hypothesis that increased crowding is particularly harmful for phonological decoding, thereby adversely affecting reading development in dyslexic children.

Intralipid decreases apolipoprotein M levels and insulin sensitivity in rats.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lu Zheng

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Apolipoprotein M (ApoM is a constituent of high-density lipoproteins (HDL. It plays a crucial role in HDL-mediated reverse cholesterol transport. Insulin resistance is associated with decreased ApoM levels. AIMS: To assess the effects of increased free fatty acids (FFAs levels after short-term Intralipid infusion on insulin sensitivity and hepatic ApoM gene expression. METHODS: Adult male Sprague-Dawley (SD rats infused with 20% Intralipid solution for 6 h. Glucose infusion rates (GIR were determined by hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp during Intralipid infusion and plasma FFA levels were measured by colorimetry. Rats were sacrificed after Intralipid treatment and livers were sampled. Human embryonic kidney 293T cells were transfected with a lentivirus mediated human apoM overexpression system. Goto-Kakizaki (GK rats were injected with the lentiviral vector and insulin tolerance was assessed. Gene expression was assessed by real-time RT-PCR and PCR array. RESULTS: Intralipid increased FFAs by 17.6 folds and GIR was decreased by 27.1% compared to the control group. ApoM gene expression was decreased by 40.4% after Intralipid infusion. PPARβ/δ expression was not changed by Intralipid. Whereas the mRNA levels of Acaca, Acox1, Akt1, V-raf murine sarcoma 3611 viral oncogene homolog, G6pc, Irs2, Ldlr, Map2k1, pyruvate kinase and RBC were significantly increased in rat liver after Intralipid infusion. The Mitogen-activated protein kinase 8 (MAPK8 was significantly down-regulated in 293T cells overexpressing ApoM. Overexpression of human ApoM in GK rats could enhance the glucose-lowering effect of exogenous insulin. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that Intralipid could decrease hepatic ApoM levels. ApoM overexpression may have a potential role in improving insulin resistance in vivo and modulating apoM expression might be a future therapeutic strategy against insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes.

Home interventions are effective at decreasing indoor nitrogen dioxide concentrations.

Science.gov (United States)

Paulin, L M; Diette, G B; Scott, M; McCormack, M C; Matsui, E C; Curtin-Brosnan, J; Williams, D L; Kidd-Taylor, A; Shea, M; Breysse, P N; Hansel, N N

2014-08-01

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2 ), a by-product of combustion produced by indoor gas appliances such as cooking stoves, is associated with respiratory symptoms in those with obstructive airways disease. We conducted a three-armed randomized trial to evaluate the efficacy of interventions aimed at reducing indoor NO2 concentrations in homes with unvented gas stoves: (i) replacement of existing gas stove with electric stove; (ii) installation of ventilation hood over existing gas stove; and (iii) placement of air purifiers with high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) and carbon filters. Home inspection and NO2 monitoring were conducted at 1 week pre-intervention and at 1 week and 3 months post-intervention. Stove replacement resulted in a 51% and 42% decrease in median NO2 concentration at 3 months of follow-up in the kitchen and bedroom, respectively (P = 0.01, P = 0.01); air purifier placement resulted in an immediate decrease in median NO2 concentration in the kitchen (27%, P kitchen (20%, P = 0.05). NO2 concentrations in the kitchen and bedroom did not significantly change following ventilation hood installation. Replacing unvented gas stoves with electric stoves or placement of air purifiers with HEPA and carbon filters can decrease indoor NO2 concentrations in urban homes. Several combustion sources unique to the residential indoor environment, including gas stoves, produce nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and higher NO2 concentrations, are associated with worse respiratory morbidity in people with obstructive lung disease. A handful of studies have modified the indoor environment by replacing unvented gas heaters; this study, to our knowledge, is the first randomized study to target unvented gas stoves. The results of this study show that simple home interventions, including replacement of an unvented gas stove with an electric stove or placement of HEPA air purifiers with carbon filters, can significantly decrease indoor NO2 concentrations. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A

Decreases in soil microbial function and functional diversity in response to depleted uranium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meyer, M.C.; Paschke, M.W.; McLendon, T.

1998-01-01

A soil microcosm experiment was used to analyze effects of depleted uranium (DU) on soil function, and the concomitant changes in bacterial functional diversity. Uranium treatment levels were 0, 50, 500, 5000, 10,000 and 25,000 mg DU kg -1 soil. Three measures of soil function were made. Overall soil biological activity was assessed via measurement of soil respiration. Decomposition was assessed by measurement of mass loss of four different plant litter types: wood sticks, cellulose paper, high-N grass, and low-N grass. Mineral N availability in the microcosms was estimated using ion-exchange resin bags. Functional diversity of the microcosms was analyzed through the use of the Biolog-system of sole-C-utilization patterns. Soil respiration was the most sensitive measure of functional changes, with significant decreases observed starting at the 500 mg kg -1 treatment. No differences in N availability were observed across the U treatments. Litter decomposition was significantly decreased at the 25,000 mg kg -1 level relative to the control for all litter types except the high-N grass. Wood decomposition was reduced by 84% at the 25,000 mg kg - treatment, cellulose paper by 68%, and low-N grass by 15%. Decreases in the functional diversity of the bacterial community were related to the observed decrease in soil respiration, and to the greater effect on decomposition of the lower-quality litter types

Decreased VEGF-A and sustained PEDF expression in a human retinal pigment epithelium cell line cultured under hypothermia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masayuki Takeyama

2015-01-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Previous reports have described a decrease in retinal temperature and clinical improvement of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD after vitrectomy. We hypothesized that the retinal temperature decrease after vitrectomy plays a part in the suppression of wet AMD development. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated the temperature dependence of the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A and in vitro angiogen-esis in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE. RESULTS: We cultured ARPE-19 cells at 37, 35, 33 and 31°C and measured the expression of VEGF-A, VEGF-A splicing variants, and pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF. We performed an in vitro tube formation assay. The dehydrogenase activity was also evaluated at each temperature. Expression of VEGF-A significantly decreased with decreased temperature while PEDF expression did not. VEGF165 expression and in vitro angiogenesis also were temperature dependent. The dehydrogenase activity significantly decreased as the culture temperature decreased. CONCLUSIONS: RPE cultured under hypothermia that decreased cellular metabolism also had decreased VEGF-A and sustained PEDF expression, creating an anti-angiogenic environment. This mechanism may be associated with a beneficial effect after vitrectomy in patients with wet AMD.

Growth phase significantly decreases the DHA-to-EPA ratio in marine microalgae

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boelen, Peter; Van Mastrigt, Audrey; Van De Bovenkamp, Henk H.; Heeres, Hero J.; Buma, Anita G. J.

Microalgae are the principal producers of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in marine ecosystems. Algae are used in aquaculture systems as direct or indirect feed for zooplankton, filter-feeding mollusks and larval

Decreased hedonic responsiveness following chronic mild stress is not secondary to loss of body weight.

Science.gov (United States)

Willner, P; Moreau, J L; Nielsen, C K; Papp, M; Sluzewska, A

1996-07-01

Chronic exposure to mild unpredictable stress (CMS) has previously been found to decrease hedonic responsiveness, as measured by the consumption of palatable sweet solutions or sensitivity to brain stimulation reward. These effects are reversed by chronic treatment with antidepressant drugs, and the CMS procedure has been proposed as a relatively valid animal model of depression. It has recently been suggested that the behavioural effects of CMS may be secondary to loss of body weight. This article collates data from five laboratories using the CMS procedure. Data are presented from seven studies using five different rat strains, as well as CD1 mice. Three-week exposure to CMS significantly decreased sucrose consumption by Lister hooded, PVG hooded, Wistar, and Wistar WU rats, and by CD1 mice, and sensitivity to brain stimulation reward in Ibm:Ro Ro rats. Weight loss in different experiments varied between 0 and 10%. Hedonic sensitivity relative to body weight (e.g., mg sucrose/g body weight) decreased significantly in all experiments. Animals maintained on a restricted feeding regime lost weight but did not show decreases in sucrose intake. It is concluded that decreased hedonic sensitivity following chronic mild stress cannot be attributed to loss of body weight.

Metabolic consequences of decreased nitric oxide synthesis in the hearth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pechanova, O.; Bernatova, I.; Pelouch, V.

1998-01-01

The aim of the present study was to determine long-term effect of NO-synthase inhibitor N G -nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) on concentrations of cyclic nucleotides, nucleic acids and of collagenous proteins in the left ventricle. Male Wistar rats were investigated. NO-synthase activity in the homogenates of left ventricle was determined by measuring the formation of 3 H]-L-citrulline from [ 3 H]-L-arginine. Cyclic GMP and cAMP concentrations were determined by using radioimmunoassay procedures and commercial cGMP and cAMP 125 I scintillation proximity assay systems.Significantly more remarkable decrease of NO-synthase activity was recorded in the group with higher dose (40 mg/kg/day) of L-NAME. The changes in metabolic parameters corresponded well with the dose-depend decrease of NO-synthase activity. (authors)

Low doses of alcohol substantially decrease glucose metabolism in the human brain.

Science.gov (United States)

Volkow, Nora D; Wang, Gene-Jack; Franceschi, Dinko; Fowler, Joanna S; Thanos, Panayotis Peter K; Maynard, Laurence; Gatley, S John; Wong, Christopher; Veech, Richard L; Kunos, George; Kai Li, Ting

2006-01-01

Moderate doses of alcohol decrease glucose metabolism in the human brain, which has been interpreted to reflect alcohol-induced decreases in brain activity. Here, we measure the effects of two relatively low doses of alcohol (0.25 g/kg and 0.5 g/kg, or 5 to 10 mM in total body H2O) on glucose metabolism in the human brain. Twenty healthy control subjects were tested using positron emission tomography (PET) and FDG after placebo and after acute oral administration of either 0.25 g/kg, or 0.5 g/kg of alcohol, administered over 40 min. Both doses of alcohol significantly decreased whole-brain glucose metabolism (10% and 23% respectively). The responses differed between doses; whereas the 0.25 g/kg dose predominantly reduced metabolism in cortical regions, the 0.5 g/kg dose reduced metabolism in cortical as well as subcortical regions (i.e. cerebellum, mesencephalon, basal ganglia and thalamus). These doses of alcohol did not significantly change the scores in cognitive performance, which contrasts with our previous results showing that a 13% reduction in brain metabolism by lorazepam was associated with significant impairment in performance on the same battery of cognitive tests. This seemingly paradoxical finding raises the possibility that the large brain metabolic decrements during alcohol intoxication could reflect a shift in the substrate for energy utilization, particularly in light of new evidence that blood-borne acetate, which is markedly increased during intoxication, is a substrate for energy production by the brain.

Decreased Time from 9-1-1 Call to PCI among Patients Experiencing STEMI Results in a Decreased One Year Mortality.

Science.gov (United States)

Studnek, Jonathan R; Infinger, Allison; Wilson, Hadley; Niess, Gary; Jackson, Patrick; Swanson, Doug

2018-03-29

The impact on mortality due to prompt recognition of ST-segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) patients by EMS has not been well described. The objective of this study was to describe the association between the time interval, 9-1-1 call to percutaneous intervention (PCI), and mortality at one year. This retrospective analysis included patients that were transported by EMS as a "code STEMI" and underwent PCI.  Total time from 9-1-1 call to PCI was calculated for each patient and was the independent variable of interest. Each patient's mortality status at one year was the outcome variable, collected by querying medical records and the national death index. Confounding variables were abstracted from hospital records. Logistic regression was conducted to determine the likelihood of survival given differences in time to PCI. A total of 550 patients were included in the analyses of which 68% were male with an average age 59.8 (SD 12.8). Mean reperfusion time was 81.8 min (SD 20.0) and was significantly lower in patients alive at one year (80.8 min, SD 19.7) vs. deceased at one year (93.9 min, SD 19.6), respectively. Odds of survival at one year decreased by 3% (OR 0.97; 95% CI 0.96-0.99) for every one minute increase in time to PCI. This relationship practically represents a 30% increase in mortality for every 10 minute delay from 9-1-1 call to PCI. The model produced suggests that a linear relationship exists between time to PCI and mortality in the prehospital environment with the probability of survival decreasing significantly as time to PCI increases.

Decreasing asthma morbidity

African Journals Online (AJOL)

1994-12-12

Dec 12, 1994 ... Apart from the optimal use of drugs, various supplementary methods have been tested to decrease asthma morbidity, usually in patients from reiatively affluent socio-economic backgrounds. A study of additional measures taken in a group of moderate to severe adult asthmatics from very poor socio- ...

Decreased surface albedo driven by denser vegetation on the Tibetan Plateau

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tian, Li; Zhang, Yangjian; Zhu, Juntao

2014-01-01

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) has fundamental ecological and environmental significance to China and Asia through its influence on regional and continental climates. In recent years, climate warming has caused unprecedented changes to land surface processes on the TP, which would unavoidably undermine the ecological and environmental functions of the TP. Among the numerous land surface processes potentially impacted by climate warming, the effect of vegetation greenness on surface energy balance is one of the most critical, but has been long ignored. In this study, we investigated the spatial and temporal patterns of land surface albedo (LSA) on the TP and evaluated the vegetation greenness in relation to patterns of LSA. We found that LSA has been decreasing in most of the vegetated grasslands on the TP from 2000 to 2013, as compared to a flat trend for desert area. The regions where LSA has been decreasing were spatially correlated to areas of increased vegetation greenness. Along rising altitude, LSA decreasing rate exhibited an overall decreasing trend. Across the TP, elevated vegetation greenness in grasslands acted as a primary factor pulling down LSA. The driving effects of vegetation greenness on LSA vary with grassland types, as revealed by a more significant relationship between vegetation greenness and LSA for the sparsely vegetated zone (i.e. steppe) than the more densely vegetated zone (i.e. meadow). Furthermore, the driving effect of vegetation greenness on LSA exhibited an obvious dependence on altitude as effects with rising altitude were relatively strong up to 3000 m, then weakened from 3500 m to 5000 m, and then the effects again increased from 5000 to 6000 m. The growing season LSA trend revealed in this study emphasizes the need to give greater attention to the growing season LSA flux in future surface energy balance studies. (letter)

Significance of lower-pole pelvicaliceal anatomy on stone clearance after shockwave lithotripsy in nonobstructive isolated renal pelvic stones.

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Sozen, Sinan; Kupeli, Bora; Acar, Cenk; Gurocak, Serhat; Karaoglan, Ustunol; Bozkirli, Ibrahim

2008-05-01

To investigate the probable effect of lower-pole pelvicaliceal anatomy on stone clearance after shockwave lithotripsy (SWL) in patients with nonobstructive renal pelvic stones. The clinical records of patients with isolated renal pelvic stones who underwent SWL between 1996 and 2005 were reviewed. After excluding patients with obstruction leading to dilatation, major anatomic abnormalities, noncalcium stones, metabolic abnormalities, history of recurrent stone disease, multiple stones, and previous renal surgery, 153 patients were enrolled in the study. Lower pole infundibulopelvic angle (IPA) and infundibular length and width were measured from intravenous urography. Patients were classified into three groups according to stone burden (group 1, renal pelvis, and both in 50 (32.6%), 29 (18.9%), and 8 (5.2%) patients, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in pelvicaliceal anatomic features except narrower IPA (P=0.02) in group 1 patients with residual stones. The falling of stone fragments to the lower calix in spite of the ureter whether clinically significant or not after SWL of pelvic stones initially seems to be related to stone burden rather than lower caliceal anatomy. However, existence of a more narrow IPA in group 1 patients with residual fragments led us to believe that lower-pole IPA can play a role in stone clearance, especially for smaller stones, probably because of smaller residual fragment size or the more mobile nature of the primary stone.

Increased Arousal Levels and Decreased Sleep by Brain Music in Rats

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Guang-Zhan Fang; Chun-Peng Zhang; Dan Wu; Yang Xia; Yong-Xiu Lai; De-Zhong Yao

2009-01-01

More and more studies have been reported on whether music and other types of auditory stimulation would improve the quality of sleep.Many of these studies have found significant results,but others argue that music is not significantly better than the tones or control conditions in improving sleep.For further understanding the relationship between music and sleep or music and arousal,the present study therefore examines the effects of brain music on sleep and arousal by means of biofeedback.The music is from the transformation of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) of rats using an algorithm in the Chengdu Brain Music (CBM) system.When the brain music was played back to rats,EEG data were recorded to assess the efficacy of music to induce or improve sleep,or increase arousal levels by sleep staging,etc.Our results demonstrate that exposure to the brain music increases arousal levels and decreases sleep in rats,and the underlying mechanism of decreased non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and REM sleep may be different.

Decreased electrophysiological activity represents the conscious state of emptiness in meditation

Science.gov (United States)

Hinterberger, Thilo; Schmidt, Stephanie; Kamei, Tsutomu; Walach, Harald

2014-01-01

Many neuroscientific theories explain consciousness with higher order information processing corresponding to an activation of specific brain areas and processes. In contrast, most forms of meditation ask for a down-regulation of certain mental processing activities while remaining fully conscious. To identify the physiological properties of conscious states with decreased mental and cognitive processing, the electrical brain activity (64 channels of EEG) of 50 participants of various meditation proficiencies was measured during distinct and idiosyncratic meditative tasks. The tasks comprised a wakeful “thoughtless emptiness (TE),” a “focused attention,” and an “open monitoring” task asking for mindful presence in the moment and in the environment without attachment to distracting thoughts. Our analysis mainly focused on 30 highly experienced meditators with at least 5 years and 1000 h of meditation experience. Spectral EEG power comparisons of the TE state with the resting state or other forms of meditation showed decreased activities in specific frequency bands. In contrast to a focused attention task the TE task showed significant central and parietal gamma decreases (p meditation practice did not present those differences significantly. Our findings indicate that a conscious state of TE reached by experienced meditators is characterized by reduced high-frequency brain processing with simultaneous reduction of the low frequencies. This suggests that such a state of meditative conscious awareness might be different from higher cognitive and mentally focused states but also from states of sleep and drowsiness. PMID:24596562

Neonatal morphine enhances nociception and decreases analgesia in young rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Guo Hua; Sweitzer, Sarah M

2008-03-14

The recognition of the impact of neonatal pain experience on subsequent sensory processing has led to the increased advocacy for the use of opioids for pain relief in infants. However, following long-term opioid exposure in intensive care units more than 48% of infants exhibited behaviors indicative of opioid abstinence syndrome, a developmentally equivalent set of behaviors to opioid withdrawal as seen in adults. Little is known about the long-term influence of repeated neonatal morphine exposure on nociception and analgesia. To investigate this, we examined mechanical and thermal nociception on postnatal days 11, 13, 15, 19, 24, 29, 39 and 48 following subcutaneous administration of morphine (3 mg/kg) once daily on postnatal days 1-9. The cumulative morphine dose-response was assessed on postnatal days 20 and 49, and stress-induced analgesia was assessed on postnatal days 29 and 49. Both basal mechanical and thermal nociception in neonatal, morphine-exposed rats were significantly lower than those in saline-exposed, handled-control rats and naive rats until P29. A rightward-shift of cumulative dose-response curves for morphine analgesia upon chronic neonatal morphine was observed both on P20 and P49. The swim stress-induced analgesia was significantly decreased in neonatal morphine-exposed rats on P29, but not on P49. These data indicate that morphine exposure equivalent to the third trimester of gestation produced prolonged pain hypersensitivity, decreased morphine antinociception, and decreased stress-induced analgesia. The present study illustrates the need to examine the long-term influence of prenatal morphine exposure on pain and analgesia in the human pediatric population.

Decreased function of survival motor neuron protein impairs endocytic pathways.

Science.gov (United States)

Dimitriadi, Maria; Derdowski, Aaron; Kalloo, Geetika; Maginnis, Melissa S; O'Hern, Patrick; Bliska, Bryn; Sorkaç, Altar; Nguyen, Ken C Q; Cook, Steven J; Poulogiannis, George; Atwood, Walter J; Hall, David H; Hart, Anne C

2016-07-26

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is caused by depletion of the ubiquitously expressed survival motor neuron (SMN) protein, with 1 in 40 Caucasians being heterozygous for a disease allele. SMN is critical for the assembly of numerous ribonucleoprotein complexes, yet it is still unclear how reduced SMN levels affect motor neuron function. Here, we examined the impact of SMN depletion in Caenorhabditis elegans and found that decreased function of the SMN ortholog SMN-1 perturbed endocytic pathways at motor neuron synapses and in other tissues. Diminished SMN-1 levels caused defects in C. elegans neuromuscular function, and smn-1 genetic interactions were consistent with an endocytic defect. Changes were observed in synaptic endocytic proteins when SMN-1 levels decreased. At the ultrastructural level, defects were observed in endosomal compartments, including significantly fewer docked synaptic vesicles. Finally, endocytosis-dependent infection by JC polyomavirus (JCPyV) was reduced in human cells with decreased SMN levels. Collectively, these results demonstrate for the first time, to our knowledge, that SMN depletion causes defects in endosomal trafficking that impair synaptic function, even in the absence of motor neuron cell death.

The Significance of Farm Size in the Evaluation of Labour Productivity in Agriculture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martina Novotná

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The paper deal with the analysis of difference in labour productivity of farms categorised according to their size, to determine if the set subsidy system influences labour productivity in the size groups of the farms. The source of data for enterprises analysis was the firms database, which contains accounting data of 926 farms with at least one employee. The observed data were from the 6 year period (2007–2012. The farms were divided, according to their size into four categories defined by the European Commission: micro, small, medium and large enterprises. The analysis of the labour productivity I based on the added value and labour costs revealed that there are big differences of the labour productivity levels in particular size groups of farms. The further analysis revealed that an adjustment of the farm approach of the labour productivity, when the paid operation subsidies are added (labour productivity II, changes this conclusion and the differences between particular size groups of farms decreased. Using σ-convergence, it was proved that the relative variability of the labour productivity II values decreased significantly in the case of the medium-sized farms. We can say that subsidies significantly influence the labour productivity in farms. On one hand, there is decrease of differences between the level values of particular size groups of farms; on the other hand, there is no significant decrease its variability (except the medium-sized farms.

Categorization of safety related motor operated valve safety significance for Ulchin Unit 3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, D. I.; Kim, K. Y.

2002-03-01

We performed a categorization of safety related Motor Operated Valve (MOV) safety significance for Ulchin Unit 3. The safety evaluation of MOV of domestic nuclear power plants affects the generic data used for the quantification of MOV common cause failure ( CCF) events in Ulchin Units 3 PSA. Therefore, in this study, we re-estimated the MGL(Multiple Greek Letter) parameter used for the evaluation of MOV CCF probabilities in Ulchin Units 3 Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) and performed a classification of the MOV safety significance. The re-estimation results of the MGL parameter show that its value is decreased by 30% compared with the current value in Ulchin Unit 3 PSA. The categorization results of MOV safety significance using the changed value of MGL parameter shows that the number of HSSCs(High Safety Significant Components) is decreased by 54.5% compared with those using the current value of it in Ulchin Units 3 PSA

Decreased renal function and hypertension are long-term complications of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, C.M.; Kaude, J.V.; Newman, R.C.; Peterson, J.C.; Thomas, W.C.

1987-01-01

Quantitative radionuclide renography performed in 21 patients 17-21 months after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy showed a significant decrease in the percentage of effective renal plasma flow (%ERPF) of the treated kidney; in five (24%) patients the %ERPF had decreased by more than 5 percentage units. In seven (8%) of 91 patients sustained hypertension developed that required pharmacologic treatment after lithotripsy. Decreased %ERPF of a treated kidney and hypertension may be related to a Page kidney or similar process resulting from renal trauma and hemorrhage occurring as a side effect of lithotripsy. Hypertension is an important complication of lithotripsy in about 8% of patients

Empagliflozin decreases remnant-like particle cholesterol in type 2 diabetes patients with insulin resistance.

Science.gov (United States)

Hattori, Sachiko

2017-11-28

Remnant lipoproteins are thought to be atherogenic. Remnant-like particle cholesterol (RLP-C), which reflects the levels of various kinds of remnant lipoproteins in the blood, has a significant correlation with insulin resistance. In the present study, we measured the effect of empagliflozin (EMPA) on the levels of RLP-C, and investigated whether EMPA-mediated change in RLP-C is associated with a change in insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes patients who have insulin resistance. Patients were allocated to receive a placebo (n = 51) or EMPA (n = 58) as an add-on treatment. Fasting blood samples were collected before and 12 weeks after this intervention. EMPA significantly decreased glycated hemoglobin, bodyweight, systolic blood pressure, plasma triglycerides, liver transaminases and estimated glomerular filtration rate, and increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Furthermore, EMPA decreased RLP-C and homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance. In the placebo group, there were no significant changes in these factors except for slight increases in liver transaminases. Multiple regression analysis showed that the change in homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (P = 0.0102) and the change in alanine aminotransferase (P = 0.0301) were significantly associated with the change in RLP-C in the EMPA group. The change in RLP-C significantly correlated with the change in homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (Pearson correlation coefficient 0.503, 95% confidence interval 0.199-0.719; P = 0.00241). EMPA decreases RLP-C levels, which is closely associated with amelioration of insulin sensitivity in diabetes patients who have insulin resistance. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Diabetes Investigation published by Asian Association for the Study of Diabetes (AASD) and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

The decrease of mineralcorticoid receptor drives angiogenic pathways in colorectal cancer.

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Laura Tiberio

Full Text Available Angiogenesis plays a crucial role in tumor growth and progression. Low expression of mineralocorticoid receptor (MR in several malignant tumors correlates with disease recurrence and overall survival. Previous studies have shown that MR expression is decreased in colorectal cancer (CRC. Here we hypothesize that decreased MR expression can contribute to angiogenesis and poor patient survival in colorectal malignancies. In a cohort of CRC patients, we analyzed tumor MR expression, its correlation with tumor microvascular density and its impact on survival. Subsequently, we interrogated the role of MR in angiogenesis in an in vitro model, based on the colon cancer cell line HCT116, ingenierized to re-express a physiologically controlled MR. In CRC, decreased MR expression was associated with increased microvascular density and poor patient survival. In pchMR transfected HCT116, aldosterone or natural serum steroids largely inhibited mRNA expression levels of both VEGFA and its receptor 2/KDR. In CRC, MR activation may significantly decrease angiogenesis by directly inhibiting dysregulated VEGFA and hypoxia-induced VEGFA mRNA expression. In addition, MR activation attenuates the expression of the VEGF receptor 2/KDR, possibly dampening the activation of a VEGFA/KDR dependent signaling pathway important for the survival of tumor cells under hypoxic conditions.

Lipopolysaccharide significantly influences the hepatic triglyceride metabolism in growing pigs.

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Liu, Zhiqing; Liu, Weifeng; Huang, Yanping; Guo, Jun; Zhao, Ruqian; Yang, Xiaojing

2015-06-30

In the practical commercial pig farms, inflammation is a perennial problem, yet most of studies on inflammation are focused on immune response. Actually, inflammation can induce body metabolism disorder which will finally influence animals' growth. In this study, we investigated the effect of acute inflammation on the triglyceride (TG) metabolism in the liver of growing pigs and the possible underlying mechanisms. Twelve male growing pigs were randomly divided into two groups, a control group (received saline) and a LPS group (intramuscular injected with 15 μg/kg LPS). Six hours after LPS injection, the pigs were euthanized and sampled. Biochemical indexes, inflammation factors, lipid metabolism related parameters and mitochondrial function were evaluated. The relationship between glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and the key enzymes of de novo lipogenesis were also investigated by chromatin immunoprecipitation assay (ChIP). LPS induced a serious inflammation in the liver of growing pigs proved by liver morphologic changes, the up-regulated plasma cortisol, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) content and gene expression of inflammation related genes in liver. For de novo lipogenesis, LPS significantly decreased the gene expression of fatty acid synthase (FAS), Acetyl-CoA carboxylase-1 (ACC-1) and Stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 (SCD-1), and the protein expression of ACC-1 and SCD-1. For lipolysis, only the gene expression of adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) was decreased. LPS did nothing to the gene expression of hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) and the lipolytic enzymes activities. For β-oxidation, LPS significantly increased the protein expression of CPT-1α, but the gene expression of mitochondrial DNA-encoded genes and the activities of mitochondrial complex IV and V demonstrated no obviously changes. Furthermore, ChIP results showed that LPS significantly decreased the level of GR binding to ACC-1 promoter. LPS infection has a profound impact on hepatic TG metabolism

Decreased respiratory symptoms in cannabis users who vaporize

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Barnwell Sara

2007-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Cannabis smoking can create respiratory problems. Vaporizers heat cannabis to release active cannabinoids, but remain cool enough to avoid the smoke and toxins associated with combustion. Vaporized cannabis should create fewer respiratory symptoms than smoked cannabis. We examined self-reported respiratory symptoms in participants who ranged in cigarette and cannabis use. Data from a large Internet sample revealed that the use of a vaporizer predicted fewer respiratory symptoms even when age, sex, cigarette smoking, and amount of cannabis used were taken into account. Age, sex, cigarettes, and amount of cannabis also had significant effects. The number of cigarettes smoked and amount of cannabis used interacted to create worse respiratory problems. A significant interaction revealed that the impact of a vaporizer was larger as the amount of cannabis used increased. These data suggest that the safety of cannabis can increase with the use of a vaporizer. Regular users of joints, blunts, pipes, and water pipes might decrease respiratory symptoms by switching to a vaporizer

Cooking does not decrease hydrophilic antioxidant capacity of wild blueberries.

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Murphy, Rebecca Ree; Renfroe, Michael H; Brevard, Patricia Bowling; Lee, Robert E; Gloeckner, Janet W

2009-01-01

The present study examined the effects of domestic cooking methods on the hydrophilic antioxidant activity (HAA) of wild blueberries. Baked, microwaved, simmered, and pan-fried frozen wild blueberries, and a thawed uncooked control, were analyzed for HAA using an ABTS/H(2)O(2)/HRP decoloration method. All cooking treatments were derived from recipes using wild blueberries, and were performed in triplicate. A randomized block design was used to determine whether there were statistical differences in antioxidant content after cooking and between each of the trials. There were no statistically significant decreases after cooking the thawed berries. On both a fresh weight and a dry weight basis, pan-fried blueberries had significantly higher HAA than baked, simmered, and control blueberries (Pcooked berries retained significant HAA. Cooked wild blueberries can be recommended as a good source of dietary antioxidants.

Warm Parenting Associated with Decreasing or Stable Child BMI during Treatment.

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Rhee, Kyung E; Jelalian, Elissa; Boutelle, Kerri; Dickstein, Susan; Seifer, Ronald; Wing, Rena

2016-04-01

While authoritative parenting, which includes high levels of warmth and behavioral control, has been associated with lower risk of obesity, little is known about how general parenting impacts child weight loss during treatment. Our goal was to examine the relationship between several general parenting dimensions and 'decreasing /stable' child BMI during a 16-week family-based behavioral weight control program. Forty-four overweight parent-child dyads (child age 8 to 12 years) enrolled in the program. Families were videotaped at baseline eating dinner in their home. Using the General Parenting Observational Scale (GPOS), meals were coded for several general parenting dimensions. Primary outcome was percent of children whose BMI 'decreased or stayed the same.' Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine the relationship between general parenting and decreasing/stable child BMI. Forty families (91%) completed the program. Children had a mean BMI change of -0.40 (SD 1.57), which corresponds to a -0.15 (SD 0.20) change in BMI z-score (BMI-Z); 75% of children had decreasing/stable BMI. In the unadjusted models, lower parent BMI, higher parent education, and higher levels of parental warmth were significantly associated with decreasing/stable child BMI. In the multivariable model, only higher level of warmth was associated with increased odds of decreasing/stable child BMI (OR = 1.28; 95% CI, 1.01, 1.62). Baseline parental warmth may influence a child's ability to lower/maintain BMI during a standard family-based behavioral weight control program. Efforts to increase parent displays of warmth and emotional support towards their overweight child may help to increase the likelihood of treatment success.

A current perspective on the risk significance of steam explosions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Snyder, A.W.

1982-01-01

The view currently held in the Sandia National Laboratory is that, in the case of a meltdown in the reactor core, the probability of a steam explosion is greater than was estimated in WASH-1400, but that the extent and effect of an explosion will be very much smaller than assumed in WASH-1400. This results in a far smaller total risk with regard to containment. In WASH-1400, a nominal conditional probability of 1% was assumed for a containment rupture in a PWR-type reactor, should a large part of the reactor fuel be subject to meltdown during the course of the accident. The German risk analysis study 'Deutsche Risikostudie Kernkraftwerke' dated 1979 considers an explosion of a size sufficient to represent a threat to containment to be considerably more improbable than was assumed in WASH-1400. (orig./DG) [de

[Why is bread consumption decreasing?].

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Rolland, M F; Chabert, C; Serville, Y

1977-01-01

In France bread plays a very special and ambivalent role among our foodstuffs because of the considerable drop in its consumption, its alleged harmful effects on our health and the respect in which it is traditionally held. More than half the 1 089 adults interviewed in this study say they have decreased their consumption of bread in the last 10 years. The reasons given vary according to age, body weight and urbanization level. The main reasons given for this restriction are the desire to prevent or reduce obesity, the decrease in physical activity, the general reduction in food consumption and the possibility of diversifying foods even further. Moreover, the decreasing appeal of bread in relation to other foods, as well as a modification in the structure of meals, in which bread becomes less useful to accompany other food, accentuate this loss of attraction. However, the respect for bread as part of the staple diet remains very acute as 95 p. 100 of those interviewed express a reluctance to throw bread away, more for cultural than economic reasons. Mechanization and urbanization having brought about a decrease in energy needs, the most common alimentary adaptation is general caloric restriction by which glucids, and especially bread, are curtailed.

A Teacher-Focused Intervention to Decrease PE Students' Amotivation by Increasing Need Satisfaction and Decreasing Need Frustration.

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Cheon, Sung Hyeon; Reeve, Johnmarshall; Song, Yong-Gwan

2016-06-01

Intervention-induced gains in need satisfaction decrease PE students' amotivation. The present study adopted a dual-process model to test whether an intervention could also decrease need frustration and hence provide a second supplemental source to further decrease students' PE amotivation. Using an experimental, longitudinal research design, 19 experienced PE teachers (9 experimental, 10 control) and their 1,017 students participated in an intervention program to help teachers become both more autonomy supportive and less controlling. Multilevel repeated measures analyses showed that students of teachers in the experimental group reported greater T2, T3, and T4 perceived autonomy support, need satisfaction, and engagement and lesser T2, T3, and T4 perceived teacher control, need frustration, and amotivation than did students of teachers in the control group. Multilevel structural equation modeling analyses confirmed the hypothesized dual-process model in which both intervention-induced increases in need satisfaction and intervention-induced decreases need frustration decreased students' end-of-semester amotivation. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of this new finding on the dual antecedents of diminished amotivation.

Tritiated imipramine binding sites are decreased in the frontal cortex of suicides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stanley, M.; Virgilio, J.; Gershon, S.

1982-01-01

Binding characteristics of tritiated imipramine were determined in the frontal cortex of suicides and well-matched controls. Maximal binding was significantly lower in brains from the suicides. This finding is consistent with reports of decreased tritiated imipramine binding in the platelets of patients diagnosed as having a major affective disorder

Phenomenological study on the significance of the scalar potential and Lamb shift

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuan Xuhao; Li Xueqian; Ke Hongwei

2011-01-01

We indicated in our previous work that for QED the contributions of the scalar potential, which appears at the loop level, is much smaller than that of the vector potential, and in fact negligible. But the situation may be different for QCD, the reason being that the loop effects are more significant because α s is much larger than α, and secondly the non-perturbative QCD effects may induce the scalar potential. In this work, we phenomenologically study the contribution of the scalar potential to the spectra of charmonium. Taking into account both vector and scalar potentials, by fitting the well measured charmonium spectra, we re-fix the relevant parameters and test them by calculating other states of the charmonium family. We also consider the role of the Lamb shift and present the numerical results with and without involving the Lamb shift. (authors)

Decreases in fasting leptin and insulin concentrations after acute energy restriction and subsequent compensation in food intake.

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Mars, Monica; de Graaf, Cees; de Groot, Lisette C P G M; Kok, Frans J

2005-03-01

The decrease in leptin after energy restriction is a starvation signal to the brain. Several studies have found an association between this decrease and subjective appetite; however, no solid data are available on the acute decrease in fasting leptin concentration and subsequent caloric compensation. The objective was to assess the effect of acute decreases in fasting leptin concentrations, induced by energy restriction, on subsequent energy intake compensation. We hypothesized that men with a large decrease in fasting leptin concentrations would have larger ad libitum energy intakes than would men with a small decrease in leptin. Thirty-four male unrestrained eaters [age: 23 +/- 3 y; body mass index (in kg/m(2)): 22.3 +/- 1.6] participated in a semicontrolled intervention study. Fasting serum leptin and insulin concentrations were measured before and 2 d after 62% energy restriction. Energy intake was measured on the 2 following days on which food was provided ad libitum. During energy restriction, fasting leptin and insulin concentrations decreased by 27.2% (95% CI: -34.4%, -19.9%) and 30.7% (95% CI: -41.0%, -20.4%), respectively. Subjects consumed 143 +/- 27% of their estimated energy requirements (18.3 +/- 2.9 MJ) on the first day and 124 +/- 20% (16.0 +/- 2.6 MJ) on the second day of ad libitum intake. No significant correlations were observed between decreases in fasting leptin or insulin concentrations and subsequent ad libitum energy intake; however, decreases in insulin were correlated with an increase in carbohydrate intake (r=-0.49, P < 0.01). Although fasting leptin concentrations decreased significantly during energy restriction and subjects showed compensatory behavior during subsequent ad libitum food intake, no association was observed between the decrease in fasting leptin concentrations and caloric compensation.

Hydrogen Sulfide Alleviates Aluminum Toxicity via Decreasing Apoplast and Symplast Al Contents in Rice

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Chun Q. Zhu

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Hydrogen sulfide (H2S plays a vital role in Al3+ stress resistance in plants, but the underlying mechanism is unclear. In the present study, pretreatment with 2 μM of the H2S donor NaHS significantly alleviated the inhibition of root elongation caused by Al toxicity in rice roots, which was accompanied by a decrease in Al contents in root tips under 50 μM Al3+ treatment. NaHS pretreatment decreased the negative charge in cell walls by reducing the activity of pectin methylesterase and decreasing the pectin and hemicellulose contents in rice roots. This treatment also masked Al-binding sites in the cell wall by upregulating the expression of OsSATR1 and OsSTAR2 in roots and reduced Al binding in the cell wall by stimulating the expression of the citrate acid exudation gene OsFRDL4 and increasing the secretion of citrate acid. In addition, NaHS pretreatment decreased the symplasmic Al content by downregulating the expression of OsNRAT1, and increasing the translocation of cytoplasmic Al to the vacuole via upregulating the expression of OsALS1. The increment of antioxidant enzyme [superoxide dismutase (SOD, ascorbate peroxidase (APX, catalase (CAT, and peroxidase (POD] activity with NaHS pretreatment significantly decreased the MDA and H2O2 content in rice roots, thereby reducing the damage of Al3+ toxicity on membrane integrity in rice. H2S exhibits crosstalk with nitric oxide (NO in response to Al toxicity, and through reducing NO content in root tips to alleviate Al toxicity. Together, this study establishes that H2S alleviates Al toxicity by decreasing the Al content in the apoplast and symplast of rice roots.

Longitudinal Lung Function Decrease in Subjects with Spontaneous Healed Pulmonary Tuberculosis.

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Lee, Seung Heon; Kwon, Amy M; Yang, Hae-Chung; Lee, Seung Ku; Kim, Young; Choi, Jong Hyun; Kim, Je Hyeong; Shin, Chol

2016-01-01

We compared the longitudinal course of post-bronchodilator Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second (pFEV1) over a 10-year period in subjects with spontaneous healed pulmonary tuberculosis (SHPTB) with that in normal subjects. We prospectively investigated 339 subjects with SHPTB and 3211 normal subjects. pFEV1 values measured biannually over 10 years were analyzed using mixed effects model. At baseline, there were no differences in gender, smoking amount, and mean height, except mean age (50.0 ± 8.1 VS. 48.1 ± 7.3, P< 0.001) between the SHPTB and normal group. 52% of the 339 participants with SHPTB and 56% of the 3211 normal participants participated till the end of study. According to the final model, the SHPTB group showed significantly larger decrease in the average pFEV1 over the time than the normal group (P< 0.001) adjusted for gender, age, height, smoking pack years, and time effects. Especially, the interaction effect between time and group was statistically significant (P = 0.036). The average lung function in terms of pFEV1 decreases faster in subjects with SHPTB than in normal individuals over time.

p53 tumor suppressor gene: significance in neoplasia - a review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alam, J.M.

2000-01-01

p53 is a tumor suppressor gene located on chromosome 17p13.1. Its function includes cell cycle control and apoptosis. Loss of p53 function, either due to decreased level or genetic transformation, is associated with loss of cell cycle control, decrease, apoptosis and genomic modification, such mutation of p53 gene is now assessed and the indicator of neoplasia of cancer of several organs and cell types, p53 has demonstrated to have critical role in defining various progressive stages of neoplasia, therapeutic strategies and clinical application. The present review briefly describes function of p53 in addition to its diagnostic and prognostic significance in detecting several types of neoplasia. (author)

Decreased levels of soluble Toll-like Receptor 2 in patients with asthma

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Mohsen Tehrani

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Recently, reports have indicated a role for the membrane form of Toll-like Receptor 2 (TLR2 in asthma pathogenesis. In this study we examined soluble TLR2 levels in serum and sputum of asthmatic and healthy subjects. Methods: Serum and sputum samples were obtained from 33 asthmatic and 19 healthy subjects. The asthmatics were classified into four groups according to the Global Initiative for Asthma. A sandwich ELISA was developed to measure soluble TLR2 (sTLR2 in serum and sputum. TLR2 mRNA expression was determined by semi-quantitative RT-PCR of all sputum samples. Results: The mean sTLR2 levels from serum and sputum of asthmatics were significantly lower than those from healthy subjects. Moreover, sTLR2 concentration decreased concomitantly with asthma severity. The differences observed, however, were not statistically significant. TLR2/GAPDH mRNA of sputum leukocytes was also significantly lower in asthmatics than in healthy subjects. Conclusion: This study demonstrated for the first time thatsTLR2 levels are lower in serum and sputum samples from asthmatic than from healthy subjects, and this could be an indicator of TLR2 expression. We also found that sTLR2 concentration in serum decreased concomitantly with an increase of asthma severity clinical score.

Decreasing trend in severe weather occurrence over China during the past 50 years

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Zhang, Qinghong; Ni, Xiang; Zhang, Fuqing

2017-04-01

Understanding the trend of localized severe weather under the changing climate is of great significance but remains challenging which is at least partially due to the lack of persistent and homogeneous severe weather observations at climate scales while the detailed physical processes of severe weather cannot be resolved in global climate models. Based on continuous and coherent severe weather reports from over 500 manned stations, for the first time, this study shows a significant decreasing trend in severe weather occurrence across China during the past five decades. The total number of severe weather days that have either thunderstorm, hail and/or damaging wind decrease about 50% from 1961 to 2010. It is further shown that the reduction in severe weather occurrences correlates strongly with the weakening of East Asian summer monsoon which is the primary source of moisture and dynamic forcing conducive for warm-season severe weather over China.

Walking speed-related changes in stride time variability: effects of decreased speed

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Dubost Veronique

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Conflicting results have been reported regarding the relationship between stride time variability (STV and walking speed. While some studies failed to establish any relationship, others reported either a linear or a non-linear relationship. We therefore sought to determine the extent to which decrease in self-selected walking speed influenced STV among healthy young adults. Methods The mean value, the standard deviation and the coefficient of variation of stride time, as well as the mean value of stride velocity were recorded while steady-state walking using the GAITRite® system in 29 healthy young adults who walked consecutively at 88%, 79%, 71%, 64%, 58%, 53%, 46% and 39% of their preferred walking speed. Results The decrease in stride velocity increased significantly mean values, SD and CoV of stride time (p Conclusion The results support the assumption that gait variability increases while walking speed decreases and, thus, gait might be more unstable when healthy subjects walk slower compared with their preferred walking speed. Furthermore, these results highlight that a decrease in walking speed can be a potential confounder while evaluating STV.

Decreasing delays in urgent and expedited surgery in a university teaching hospital through audit and communication between peri-operative and surgical directorates.

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Cosgrove, J F; Gaughan, M; Snowden, C P; Lees, T

2008-06-01

National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death guidelines for urgent surgery recommend a fully staffed emergency operating theatre and restriction of 'after-midnight' operating to immediate life-, limb- or organ-threatening conditions. Audit performed in our institution demonstrated significant decreases in waiting times for urgent surgery and an increased seniority of medical care associated with overnight pre-operative assessment of patients by anaesthetic trainees. Nevertheless, urgent cases continued to be delayed unnecessarily. A classification of delays was developed from existing guidelines and their incidence was audited. The results were disseminated to involved directorates. A repeat of the audit demonstrated a significant decrease in delays (p = 0.001), a significant increase in the availability of surgeons (p = 0.001) and a significant decrease in the median waiting time for urgent surgery compared to the first audit cycle and a previous standard (p auditing delays and disseminating the results of the audit significantly decreases delays and median waiting times for urgent surgery because of improved surgical availability.

Fluoromica nanoparticle cytotoxicity in macrophages decreases with size and extent of uptake

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Tee N

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Nicolin Tee,1 Yingdong Zhu,2 Gysell M Mortimer,1 Darren J Martin,2 Rodney F Minchin11School of Biomedical Science, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia; 2Australian Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, AustraliaAbstract: Polyurethanes are widely used in biomedical devices such as heart valves, pacemaker leads, catheters, vascular devices, and surgical dressings because of their excellent mechanical properties and good biocompatibility. Layered silicate nanoparticles can significantly increase tensile strength and breaking strain of polyurethanes potentially increasing the life span of biomedical devices that suffer from wear in vivo. However, very little is known about how these nanoparticles interact with proteins and cells and how they might exert unwanted effects. A series of fluoromica nanoparticles ranging in platelet size from 90 to over 600 nm in diameter were generated from the same base material ME100 by high energy milling and differential centrifugation. The cytotoxicity of the resulting particles was dependent on platelet size but in a manner that is opposite to many other types of nanomaterials. For the fluoromicas, the smaller the platelet size, the less toxicity was observed. The small fluoromica nanoparticles (<200 nm were internalized by macrophages via scavenger receptors, which was dependent on the protein corona formed in serum. This internalization was associated with apoptosis in RAW cells but not in dTHP-1 cells. The larger particles were not internalized efficiently but mostly decorated the surface of the cells, causing membrane disruption, even in the presence of 80% serum. This work suggests the smaller fluoromica platelets may be safer for use in humans but their propensity to recognize macrophage scavenger receptors also suggests that they will target the reticulo-endoplasmic system in vivo.Keywords: layered silicates, accumulation, phagocytosis, high

Decreasing the effective radiation dose in pediatric craniofacial CT by changing head position

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Didier, Ryne A.; Kuang, Anna A.; Schwartz, Daniel L.; Selden, Nathan R.; Stevens, Donna M.; Bardo, Dianna M.E.

2010-01-01

Children are exposed to ionizing radiation during pre- and post-operative evaluation for craniofacial surgery. The primary purpose of the study was to decrease effective radiation dose while preserving the diagnostic quality of the study. In this prospective study 49 children were positioned during craniofacial CT (CFCT) imaging with their neck fully extended into an exaggerated sniff position, parallel to the CT gantry, to eliminate the majority of the cervical spine and the thyroid gland from radiation exposure. Image-quality and effective radiation dose comparisons were made retrospectively in age-matched controls (n = 49). When compared to CT scans reviewed retrospectively, the prospective examinations showed a statistically significant decrease in z-axis length by 16% (P < 0.0001) and delivered a reduced effective radiation dose by 18% (P < 0.0001). The subjective diagnostic quality of the exams performed in the prospective arm was maintained despite a slight decrease in the quality of the brain windows. There was statistically significant improvement in the quality of the bone windows and three-dimensional reconstructed images. Altering the position of the head by extending the neck during pediatric craniofacial CT imaging statistically reduces the effective radiation dose while maintaining the diagnostic quality of the images. (orig.)

Hemodialysis decreases serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor concentration in humans.

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Zoladz, Jerzy A; Śmigielski, Michał; Majerczak, Joanna; Nowak, Łukasz R; Zapart-Bukowska, Justyna; Smoleński, Olgierd; Kulpa, Jan; Duda, Krzysztof; Drzewińska, Joanna; Bartosz, Grzegorz

2012-12-01

In the present study we have evaluated the effect of a single hemodialysis session on the brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels in plasma [BDNF](pl) and in serum [BDNF](s) as well as on the plasma isoprostanes concentration [F(2) isoprostanes](pl), plasma total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and plasma cortisol levels in chronic kidney disease patients. Twenty male patients (age 69.8 ± 2.9 years (mean ± SE)) with end-stage renal disease undergoing maintenance hemodialysis on regular dialysis treatment for 15-71 months participated in this study. A single hemodialysis session, lasting 4.2 ± 0.1 h, resulted in a decrease (P = 0.014) in [BDNF](s) by ~42 % (2,574 ± 322 vs. 1,492 ± 327 pg ml(-1)). This was accompanied by an increase (P 0.05) in [BDNF](pl) and the platelets count were observed after a single dialysis session. Furthermore, basal [BDNF](s) in the chronic kidney disease patients was significantly lower (P = 0.03) when compared to the age-matched control group (n = 23). We have concluded that the observed decrease in serum BDNF level after hemodialysis accompanied by elevated [F(2)-Isoprostanes](pl) and decreased plasma TAC might be caused by enhanced oxidative stress induced by hemodialysis.

Sevelamer does not decrease lipopolysaccharide or soluble CD14 levels but decreases soluble tissue factor, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and oxidized LDL cholesterol levels in individuals with untreated HIV infection.

Science.gov (United States)

Sandler, Netanya G; Zhang, Xinyan; Bosch, Ronald J; Funderburg, Nicholas T; Choi, Andrew I; Robinson, Janet K; Fine, Derek M; Coombs, Robert W; Jacobson, Jeffrey M; Landay, Alan L; Douek, Daniel C; Tressler, Randall; Read, Sarah W; Wilson, Cara C; Deeks, Steven G; Lederman, Michael M; Gandhi, Rajesh T

2014-11-15

Abnormal levels of inflammation are associated with cardiovascular disease and mortality in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients. Microbial translocation, which may cause inflammation, is decreased by sevelamer in patients undergoing hemodialysis. In this single-arm study, we evaluated the effects of 8 weeks of sevelamer therapy on 36 HIV-infected subjects who were not receiving antiretroviral therapy. Sevelamer did not significantly change markers of microbial translocation, inflammation, or T-cell activation. During sevelamer treatment, however, levels of soluble tissue factor, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and oxidized LDL cholesterol decreased significantly, whereas D-dimer levels increased. Thus, in this study population, sevelamer did not reduce microbial translocation but may have yielded cardiovascular benefits. NCT 01543958. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Significance of diagnosis of liver metastases from colorectal cancer by angio helical CT and intermittent hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy after hepatic resection in terms of prognosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hatsuse, Kazuo; Aoki, Hideki; Murayama, Michinori

1997-01-01

Seventy five cases had undergone hepatic resection for liver metastases from colorectal cancer from 1979 to 1994. Computed tomography during hepatic angiography (angio CT) was tried in 27 cases. At first, we compared detection ratios of angio CT for liver metastase to those of ultrasonography, conventional CT, and operative ultrasonography on these 27 cases. Next, the prognosis of seventy five cases was examined. They were divided into three groups; the HX group 29 cases with only hepatic resection; the HX+AP group of 19 cases with intermittent hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy after hepatic resection; the angio CT group of 27 cases selected for hepatic resection by angio CT, followed by the same infusion chemotherapy as that given to the HX+AP group. Fifty metastases were diagnosed histopathologically in twenty seven cases that underwent hepatic resection after angio CT. Detection ratios for small metastases 1.0 cm or smaller in diameter were 8.3% with ultrasonography, 25% with CT, 75% with angio CT, and 50% with operative ultrasonography. Detection ratios of angio CT were superior to those of ultrasonography and CT. Recurrence rates of the remnant liver were significantly low and survival rates were significantly superior in the angio CT group compared to the other two groups (p<0.02). The prognosis with and without intermittent hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy after hepatic resection were significantly different (p<0.03). The above data suggest that improvement of detection ratios for liver metastases by angio CT, and probably concomitant intermittent hepatic infusion chemotherapy contribute to decreased remnant liver recurrence and an increased survival rate. (author)

Estrogen inhibits lysyl oxidase and decreases mechanical function in engineered ligaments.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Cassandra A; Lee-Barthel, Ann; Marquino, Louise; Sandoval, Natalie; Marcotte, George R; Baar, Keith

2015-05-15

Women are more likely to suffer an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture than men, and the incidence of ACL rupture in women rises with increasing estrogen levels. We used an engineered ligament model to determine how an acute rise in estrogen decreases the mechanical properties of ligaments. Using fibroblasts isolated from human ACLs from male or female donors, we engineered ligaments and determined that ligaments made from female ACL cells had more collagen and were equal in strength to those made from male ACL cells. We then treated engineered ligaments for 14 days with low (5 pg/ml), medium (50 pg/ml), or high (500 pg/ml) estrogen, corresponding to the range of in vivo serum estrogen concentrations and found that collagen within the grafts increased without a commensurate increase in mechanical strength. Mimicking the menstrual cycle, with 12 days of low estrogen followed by 2 days of physiologically high estrogen, resulted in a decrease in engineered ligament mechanical function with no change in the amount of collagen in the graft. The decrease in mechanical stiffness corresponded with a 61.7 and 76.9% decrease in the activity of collagen cross-linker lysyl oxidase with 24 and 48 h of high estrogen, respectively. Similarly, grafts treated with the lysyl oxidase inhibitor β-aminoproprionitrile (BAPN) for 24 h showed a significant decrease in ligament mechanical strength [control (CON) = 1.58 ± 0.06 N; BAPN = 1.06 ± 0.13 N] and stiffness (CON = 7.7 ± 0.46 MPa; BAPN = 6.1 ± 0.71 MPa) without changing overall collagen levels (CON = 396 ± 11.5 μg; BAPN = 382 ± 11.6 μg). Together, these data suggest that the rise in estrogen during the follicular phase decreases lysyl oxidase activity in our engineered ligament model and if this occurs in vivo may decrease the stiffness of ligaments and contribute to the elevated rate of ACL rupture in women. Copyright © 2015 the American Physiological Society.

DECREASE Final Technical Report: Development of a Commercial Ready Enzyme Application System for Ethanol

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Teter, Sarah A

2012-04-18

.5 kg kettle reactors) was performed to compare the starting enzyme mixture CZP00005 with CTec3 alone; these results indicated a 1.9X dose- reduction for 80% conversion. The CTec3 composition does not include the best available enzyme components from the DECREASE effort. While these components are not yet available in a commercial product, experimental mixtures were assayed in a smaller scale assay using DECREASE PCS, at high solids loadings (21.5% TS). The results indicated that the newer mixtures required 2.9X-less enzyme for 90% conversion, and 3.2X-less enzyme for 80% conversion, relative to the starting enzyme cocktail. In conclusion, CTec3 delivers a 1.8-1.9X dose reduction on NREL PCS at high solids loadings, and the next generation enzyme from Novozymes will continue to show dramatically improved biochemical performance. CTec3 allows reduced costs today, and the experimental cocktails point to continued biotechnological improvements that will further drive down costs for biorefineries of tomorrow.

Significant enhancement by biochar of caproate production via chain elongation.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yuhao; He, Pinjing; Shao, Liming; Zhang, Hua; Lü, Fan

2017-08-01

In this study, biochar was introduced into a chain elongation system to enhance the bioproduction of caproate and caprylate. The concentration of caproate increased to 21.1 g/L upon the addition of biochar, which is the highest level of caproate reported for such a system to date when ethanol was used as electron donor. The addition of biochar created a tougher system with more stable microorganism community structure for chain elongation, in which no obvious inhibition by products or substrates was observed, moreover, the lag phase was reduced 2.3-fold compared to the system without biochar. These reinforcement effect of biochar are attributed to the enhanced conductivity due to the significant enrichment of functional microorganisms via the microbial network surrounding smaller biochar particles, and via the adsorption on the rough surfaces or pores of larger particles, which facilitated electron transfer. Higher amounts of extracellular polymer substances and higher conductivity induced by biochar could contribute to the reinforcement effect in chain elongation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Decreased oxidative stress may contribute to the disease process in placenta accreta

Science.gov (United States)

Öztaş, Efser; Özler, Sibel; Ergin, Merve; Erel, Özcan; Gümüş Güler, Başak; Çağlar, Ali Turhan; Yücel, Aykan; Uygur, Dilek; Danışman, Nuri

2017-08-23

Background/aim: The main aim of this study was to investigate serum total oxidant status (TOS), total antioxidant status (TAS), oxidative stress index (OSI), and arylesterase levels in pregnant women with placenta accreta and to compare those with age-matched healthy pregnant women. Materials and methods: A total of 27 pregnant women who had clinically and pathologically proven placenta accreta and 30 age- and BMI- matched healthy pregnant women were enrolled in this case control study. Maternal serum TOS, TAS, OSI, and arylesterase levels were evaluated using logistic regression analysis to determine if there was an association with abnormal placental invasion or not. Results: Decreased OSI (OR= 0.999, 95%CI: 0.998-1.000, P = 0.035) and increased arylesterase levels (OR= 0.981, 95%CI: 0.970-0.993, P = 0.001) were significantly associated with the presence of placenta accreta. Maternal serum TOS, TAS, OSI, and arylesterase levels were not predictive for adverse perinatal outcomes (P > 0.05). Conclusions: Decreased OSI and increased arylesterase levels are significantly associated with placenta accreta and may contribute to the abnormal invasion process.

Two phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinases coexist in the Crassulacean Acid Metabolism plant Ananas comosus. Isolation and characterization of the smaller 65 kDa form.

Science.gov (United States)

Martín, Mariana; Rius, Sebastián Pablo; Podestá, Florencio Esteban

2011-06-01

Two phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK, EC 4.1.1.49) isoforms of 74 and 65 kDa were found to coexist in vivo in pineapple leaves, a constitutive Crassulacean Acid Metabolism plant. The 65 kDa form was not the result of proteolytic cleavage of the larger form since extraction methods reported to prevent PEPCK proteolysis in other plant tissues failed to yield a single immunoreactive PEPCK polypeptide in leaf extracts. In this work, the smaller form of 65 kDa was purified to homogeneity and physically and kinetically characterized and showed parameters compatible with a fully active enzyme. The specific activity was nearly twice higher for decarboxylation of oxaloacetate when compared to carboxylation of phosphoenolpyruvate. Kinetic parameters fell within the range of those estimated for other plant PEPCKs. Its activity was affected by several metabolites, as shown by inhibition by 3-phosphoglycerate, citrate, malate, fructose-1,6-bisphosphate, l-asparagine and activation of the decarboxylating activity by succinate. A break in the Arrhenius plot at about 30°C indicates that PEPCK structure is responsive to changes in temperature. The results indicate that pineapple leaves contain two PEPCK forms. The biochemical characterization of the smaller isoform performed in this work suggests that it could participate in both carbon and nitrogen metabolism in vivo by acting as a decarboxylase. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Teneligliptin Decreases Uric Acid Levels by Reducing Xanthine Dehydrogenase Expression in White Adipose Tissue of Male Wistar Rats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chihiro Moriya

2016-01-01

Full Text Available We investigated the effects of teneligliptin on uric acid metabolism in male Wistar rats and 3T3-L1 adipocytes. The rats were fed with a normal chow diet (NCD or a 60% high-fat diet (HFD with or without teneligliptin for 4 weeks. The plasma uric acid level was not significantly different between the control and teneligliptin groups under the NCD condition. However, the plasma uric acid level was significantly decreased in the HFD-fed teneligliptin treated rats compared to the HFD-fed control rats. The expression levels of xanthine dehydrogenase (Xdh mRNA in liver and epididymal adipose tissue of NCD-fed rats were not altered by teneligliptin treatment. On the other hand, Xdh expression was reduced significantly in the epididymal adipose tissue of the HFD-fed teneligliptin treated rats compared with that of HFD-fed control rats, whereas Xdh expression in liver did not change significantly in either group. Furthermore, teneligliptin significantly decreased Xdh expression in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. DPP-4 treatment significantly increased Xdh expression in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. With DPP-4 pretreatment, teneligliptin significantly decreased Xdh mRNA expression compared to the DPP-4-treated 3T3-L1 adipocytes. In conclusion, our studies suggest that teneligliptin reduces uric acid levels by suppressing Xdh expression in epididymal adipose tissue of obese subjects.

Decreased Oxidative Stress in Male Patients with Active Phase Ankylosing Spondylitis Who Underwent Whole-Body Cryotherapy in Closed Cryochamber

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agata Stanek

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. The aim of the study was to estimate the impact of whole body cryotherapy (WBC on oxidative stress when performed in a closed cryochamber on patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS. Material and methods. The effect of ten WBC procedures lasting 3 minutes a day with a subsequent 60-minute session kinesiotherapy on oxidative stress in male AS patients (WBC group n=16 was investigated. To assess the disease activity, the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Diseases Activity Index (BASDAI and Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI were calculated. The WBC group was compared to the kinesiotherapy only (KT; n=16 group. The routine parameters of oxidative stress (antioxidant enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidant status, lipid peroxidation products, total oxidative status (TOS, and oxidative stress index (OSI were estimated one day before the beginning and one day after the completion of the research program. Results. After the completion of the treatment in the WBC group, a significant decrease of oxidative stress markers (TOS and OSI and a significant increase of total antioxidant status were observed. The erythrocyte activity of glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase decreased significantly in both groups, but the differences of activity of that enzymes prior to post treatment values (Δ in the KT group were significantly higher as compared to the WBC group. The activity of erythrocyte catalase and plasma ZnCu isoenzyme of superoxide dismutase showed a decreased tendency; erythrocyte total superoxide dismutase activity showed an increased tendency in the WBC group after the completion of the treatment. The BASDAI and BASFI decreased significantly in both groups, but the differences of value indexes prior to post treatment (Δ were significantly higher in the WBC than KT group. Conclusion. WBC performed in a closed cryochamber decreases oxidative stress and improves BASDAI and BASFI indexes in male patients during the active

Smaller than a gnat

CERN Multimedia

2006-01-01

"CERN in Geneva is the largest research center for particle physics in the world; the Institute is a Mecca for scientists. Particle are projected into each other in gigantic ring accelerators to gain information from their reactions about the force and relations inside the elements. These experiments require high vacuum - Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum recently competed in a Eyropean call for bids for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and won the contract." (1,5 page)

Decreasing patient identification band errors by standardizing processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Walley, Susan Chu; Berger, Stephanie; Harris, Yolanda; Gallizzi, Gina; Hayes, Leslie

2013-04-01

Patient identification (ID) bands are an essential component in patient ID. Quality improvement methodology has been applied as a model to reduce ID band errors although previous studies have not addressed standardization of ID bands. Our specific aim was to decrease ID band errors by 50% in a 12-month period. The Six Sigma DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve, and control) quality improvement model was the framework for this study. ID bands at a tertiary care pediatric hospital were audited from January 2011 to January 2012 with continued audits to June 2012 to confirm the new process was in control. After analysis, the major improvement strategy implemented was standardization of styles of ID bands and labels. Additional interventions included educational initiatives regarding the new ID band processes and disseminating institutional and nursing unit data. A total of 4556 ID bands were audited with a preimprovement ID band error average rate of 9.2%. Significant variation in the ID band process was observed, including styles of ID bands. Interventions were focused on standardization of the ID band and labels. The ID band error rate improved to 5.2% in 9 months (95% confidence interval: 2.5-5.5; P error rates. This decrease in ID band error rates was maintained over the subsequent 8 months.

One arm exercise induces significant interarm diastolic blood pressure difference.

Science.gov (United States)

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.

Relationships among nocturnal jaw muscle activities, decreased esophageal pH, and sleep positions.

Science.gov (United States)

Miyawaki, Shouichi; Tanimoto, Yuko; Araki, Yoshiko; Katayama, Akira; Imai, Mikako; Takano-Yamamoto, Teruko

2004-11-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among nocturnal jaw muscle activities, decreased esophageal pH, and sleep positions. Twelve adult volunteers, including 4 bruxism patients, participated in this study. Portable pH monitoring, electromyography of the temporal muscle, and audio-video recordings were conducted during the night in the subjects' homes. Rhythmic masticatory muscle activity (RMMA) episodes were observed most frequently, with single short-burst episodes the second most frequent. The frequencies of RMMA, single short-burst, and clenching episodes were significantly higher during decreased esophageal pH episodes than those during other times. Both the electromyography and the decreased esophageal pH episodes were most frequently observed in the supine position. These results suggest that most jaw muscle activities, ie, RMMA, single short-burst, and clenching episodes, occur in relation to gastroesophageal reflux mainly in the supine position.

Decrease in Suicide Rates after a Change of Policy Reducing Access to Firearms in Adolescents: A Naturalistic Epidemiological Study

Science.gov (United States)

Lubin, Gad; Werbeloff, Nomi; Halperin, Demian; Shmushkevitch, Mordechai; Weiser, Mark; Knobler, Haim Y.

2010-01-01

The use of firearms is a common means of suicide. We examined the effect of a policy change in the Israeli Defense Forces reducing adolescents' access to firearms on rates of suicide. Following the policy change, suicide rates decreased significantly by 40%. Most of this decrease was due to decrease in suicide using firearms over the weekend.…

Regional White Matter Decreases in Alzheimer's Disease Using Optimized Voxel-Based Morphometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shuyu Li; Fang Pu; Feng Shi; Sheng Xie; Yinhua Wang; Tianzi Jiang

2008-01-01

Background: Most studies that attempt to clarify structural abnormalities related to functional disconnection in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have focused on exploring pathological changes in cortical gray matter. However, white matter fibers connecting these cerebral areas may also be abnormal. Purpose: To investigate the regional changes of white matter volume in patients with AD compared to healthy subjects. Material and Methods: White matter volume changes in whole-brain magnetic resonance images acquired from 19 patients with AD and 20 healthy subjects (control group) were observed using the optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM) method. In addition, the corpus callosum (CC) of AD patients and the control group was investigated further by outlining manually the boundary of the CC on a midsagittal slice. Each area of the CC was then corrected by dividing each subject's intracranial area in the midsagittal plane. Results: Compared with the control group, AD patients showed significantly reduced white matter volumes in the posterior part of the CC and the temporal lobe in the left and right hemispheres. Moreover, the voxel showing peak statistical difference in the posterior of the CC was left sided. The five subdivisions of the CC were also significantly smaller among the AD patients relative to the control group. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that these abnormalities in white matter regions may contribute to the functional disconnections in AD

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...

The PPARalpha agonist, fenofibrate decreases levels of anorectic N-acylethanolamines in the small intestine of mice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Diep, Thi Ai; Golbas, Golfam; Hansen, Harald S.

2014-01-01

contribute to the hyperphagic effect of dietary fat. Male C57BL/6 mice were fed with either chow (minced Altromin) (n=8 from Taconic and n=8 from Charles River) or chow mixed with supplemented 0.5 wt% Fenofibrate (n=8 from Taconic and n=8 from Charles River) for seven days, and intestinal levels of NAEs were...... measured by LC-MS as previously described (3,4). The levels of PEA and LEA were significantly decreased (23-64%) in both strain of mice , while the decrease in OEA only reached significance in Charles river mice. There was no difference in levels of anandamide in any strain of mice. This suggests...

Effect of Smaller Left Ventricular Capture Threshold Safety Margins to Improve Device Longevity in Recipients of Cardiac Resynchronization-Defibrillation Therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Steinhaus, Daniel A; Waks, Jonathan W; Collins, Robert; Kleckner, Karen; Kramer, Daniel B; Zimetbaum, Peter J

2015-07-01

Device longevity in cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is affected by the pacing capture threshold (PCT) and programmed pacing amplitude of the left ventricular (LV) pacing lead. The aims of this study were to evaluate the stability of LV pacing thresholds in a nationwide sample of CRT defibrillator recipients and to determine potential longevity improvements associated with a decrease in the LV safety margin while maintaining effective delivery of CRT. CRT defibrillator patients in the Medtronic CareLink database were eligible for inclusion. LV PCT stability was evaluated using ≥2 measurements over a 14-day period. Separately, a random sample of 7,250 patients with programmed right atrial and right ventricular amplitudes ≤2.5 V, LV thresholds ≤ 2.5 V, and LV pacing ≥90% were evaluated to estimate theoretical battery longevity improvement using LV safety margins of 0.5 and 1.5 V. Threshold stability analysis in 43,256 patients demonstrated LV PCT stability of 1 V had the greatest increases in battery life (mean increase 0.86 years, 95% confidence interval 0.85 to 0.87). In conclusion, nearly all CRT defibrillator patients had LV PCT stability <1.0 V. Decreasing the LV safety margin from 1.5 to 0.5 V provided consistent delivery of CRT for most patients and significantly improved battery longevity. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Decreased outer membrane permeability in imipenem-resistant mutants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

OpenAIRE

Trias, J; Dufresne, J; Levesque, R C; Nikaido, H

1989-01-01

The outer membrane of imipenem-resistant mutants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was shown to have decreased permeability to imipenem but not to cephaloridine. These experiments were performed with intact cells and liposomes containing imipenem-hydrolyzing beta-lactamase derived from Pseudomonas maltophilia, in both cases utilizing an imipenem concentration of 50 microM. In contrast, liposome swelling assays using imipenem at 8 mM detected no significant difference between the imipenem-resistant mu...

Decrease in anogenital distance among male infants with prenatal phthalate exposure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Swan, Shanna H; Main, Katharina M; Liu, Fan

2005-01-01

a summary phthalate score to quantify joint exposure to these four phthalate metabolites. The age-adjusted AGI decreased significantly with increasing phthalate score (p-value for slope = 0.009). The associations between male genital development and phthalate exposure seen here are consistent...... States, based on a nationwide sample. These data support the hypothesis that prenatal phthalate exposure at environmental levels can adversely affect male reproductive development in humans....

The use of metformin is associated with decreased lumbar radiculopathy pain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taylor A

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Amber Taylor,1 Anton H Westveld,2,6 Magdalena Szkudlinska,1 Prathima Guruguri,1 Emil Annabi,3 Amol Patwardhan,3 Theodore J Price,4 Hussein N Yassine51Department of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA; 2Statistics Laboratory, Bio5 Institute, Statistics GIDP, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA; 3Department of Anesthesia, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA; 4Department of Pharmacology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA; 5Department of Medicine, University of Southern California, LA, CA, USA; 6Faculty of ESTeM, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, AustraliaAbstract: Lumbar radiculopathy pain represents a major public health problem, with few effective long-term treatments. Preclinical neuropathic and postsurgical pain studies implicate the kinase adenosine monophosphate activated kinase (AMPK as a potential pharmacological target for the treatment of chronic pain conditions. Metformin, which acts via AMPK, is a safe and clinically available drug used in the treatment of diabetes. Despite the strong preclinical rationale, the utility of metformin as a potential pain therapeutic has not yet been studied in humans. Our objective was to assess whether metformin is associated with decreased lumbar radiculopathy pain, in a retrospective chart review. We completed a retrospective chart review of patients who sought care from a university pain specialist for lumbar radiculopathy between 2008 and 2011. Patients on metformin at the time of visit to a university pain specialist were compared with patients who were not on metformin. We compared the pain outcomes in 46 patients on metformin and 94 patients not taking metformin therapy. The major finding was that metformin use was associated with a decrease in the mean of “pain now,” by −1.85 (confidence interval: −3.6 to −0.08 on a 0–10 visual analog scale, using a matched propensity scoring analysis and confirmed using a Bayesian analysis, with a significant mean decrease

Technique-dependent decrease in thyroid absorbed dose for dental radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wood, R.E.; Bristow, R.G.; Clark, G.M.; Nussbaum, C.; Taylor, K.W.

1989-01-01

A LiF thermoluminescent dosimetry (TLD) system, calibrated in the tissue of interest with the beam used for experimentation, was employed to investigate dosages (muGy) to the thyroid region of an anthropomorphic phantom resultant from two dental complete-mouth radiographic procedures. Both techniques were compared in terms of dosages associated with combinations of lead apron and thyroid collar shielding while using a 70-kVp or 90-kVp x-ray beam for a 20-film complete-mouth series. Lead shielding significantly decreased the dose to the thyroid using both techniques (p less than 0.05). The use of the 90-kVp beam resulted in a significant reduction in the thyroid absorbed dose when using the bisecting angle technique (p less than 0.05) but caused a significant increase in the thyroid absorbed dose when the paralleling technique was used (p less than 0.05). The implementation of higher kilovoltage techniques in dental offices must therefore be dependent on the radiographic technique employed

Early intravenous ibuprofen decreases narcotic requirement and length of stay after traumatic rib fracture.

Science.gov (United States)

Bayouth, Lilly; Safcsak, Karen; Cheatham, Michael L; Smith, Chadwick P; Birrer, Kara L; Promes, John T

2013-11-01

Pain control after traumatic rib fracture is essential to avoid respiratory complications and prolonged hospitalization. Narcotics are commonly used, but adjunctive medications such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may be beneficial. Twenty-one patients with traumatic rib fractures treated with both narcotics and intravenous ibuprofen (IVIb) (Treatment) were retrospectively compared with 21 age- and rib fracture-matched patients who received narcotics alone (Control). Pain medication requirements over the first 7 hospital days were evaluated. Mean daily IVIb dose was 2070 ± 880 mg. Daily intravenous morphine-equivalent requirement was 19 ± 16 vs 32 ± 24 mg (P pain scores were lower in the Treatment group (P rib fractures significantly decreases narcotic requirement and results in clinically significant decreases in hospital length of stay. IVIb therapy should be initiated in patients with traumatic rib fractures to improve patient comfort and reduce narcotic requirement.

Amotivation is associated with smaller ventral striatum volumes in older patients with schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Caravaggio, Fernando; Fervaha, Gagan; Iwata, Yusuke; Plitman, Eric; Chung, Jun Ku; Nakajima, Shinichiro; Mar, Wanna; Gerretsen, Philip; Kim, Julia; Chakravarty, M Mallar; Mulsant, Benoit; Pollock, Bruce; Mamo, David; Remington, Gary; Graff-Guerrero, Ariel

2018-03-01

Motivational deficits are prevalent in patients with schizophrenia, persist despite antipsychotic treatment, and predict long-term outcomes. Evidence suggests that patients with greater amotivation have smaller ventral striatum (VS) volumes. We wished to replicate this finding in a sample of older, chronically medicated patients with schizophrenia. Using structural imaging and positron emission tomography, we examined whether amotivation uniquely predicted VS volumes beyond the effects of striatal dopamine D 2/3 receptor (D 2/3 R) blockade by antipsychotics. Data from 41 older schizophrenia patients (mean age: 60.2 ± 6.7; 11 female) were reanalysed from previously published imaging data. We constructed multivariate linear stepwise regression models with VS volumes as the dependent variable and various sociodemographic and clinical variables as the initial predictors: age, gender, total brain volume, and antipsychotic striatal D 2/3 R occupancy. Amotivation was included as a subsequent step to determine any unique relationships with VS volumes beyond the contribution of the covariates. In a reduced sample (n = 36), general cognition was also included as a covariate. Amotivation uniquely explained 8% and 6% of the variance in right and left VS volumes, respectively (right: β = -.38, t = -2.48, P = .01; left: β = -.31, t = -2.17, P = .03). Considering cognition, amotivation levels uniquely explained 9% of the variance in right VS volumes (β = -.43, t = -0.26, P = .03). We replicate and extend the finding of reduced VS volumes with greater amotivation. We demonstrate this relationship uniquely beyond the potential contributions of striatal D 2/3 R blockade by antipsychotics. Elucidating the structural correlates of amotivation in schizophrenia may help develop treatments for this presently irremediable deficit. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Simvastatin decreases steroid production in the H295R cell line and decreases steroids and FSH in female rats

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Anna Guldvang; Hansen, Cecilie Hurup; Weisser, Johan J

2015-01-01

.10-0.13μM for SV and from 0.019-0.055μM for SVA. In rats, SV decreased progestagens in ovaries, brain and plasma, and plasma FSH in the M (72.4% decrease) and H group (76.6% decrease). Because progestagens and gonadotropins are major players in fertility, administration of SV might exert negative effects...

Clinical significance of plasma atrial natriuretic factor and endothelin detection in hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu Yalin; Huo Ying; Pan Yunlong

2005-01-01

Plasma at rial natriuretic factor (ANF) and endothelin (ET) were detected by RIA in 58 cases of hyperthyroidism and 47 cases of hypothyroidism. Before the ANF and ET concentration of untreatment hyperthyroid patients was much higher than that of treatment hyperthyroid patients, hypothyroid patients before and after treatment and the normal group (P 3 and FT 4 . Compared with the normal group, ANF concentration in treatment hyperthyroid patients, hypothyroid patients before and after treatment was no significantly different (P>0.05), but that in hypothyroid patients before treatment was significantly decreased compared with hypothyroid patients after treatment (P 0.05), but that in hypothyroid patients before treatment was significantly decreased compared with others (P<0.01 and P<0.05). Detection of ANF and ET level may be have a role in supplementary diagnosis and curative effect observation of hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism. (authors)

The U.S.-Canada Border Effect : Smaller Than Previously Thought and Becoming Smaller

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-30

We revisit the effect of the U.S.-Canada national border on trade, considering to what extent the border reduces trade when : observable economic factors are controlled. A reexamination of the data yields estimates of the border effect that are 50% :...

Phenobarbital at Low Dose in the presence of Curcumin Decreases Progress of Cancer in Rats

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mazen, G.M.A.

2011-01-01

This current investigation was conducted on male albino rats to elucidate the effects of curcumin alone or in the presence of phenobarbital at low dose to decrease the progress of hepato-gastrointestinal carcinogenesis induced by N-diethylnitrosoamine (DEN) in rats. As a result of cancer induction, the levels of serum tumour markers [carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA), alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and cancer antigen (CA19.9)] were significantly elevated. On the other hand, glutathione (GSH) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) were decreased significantly in blood, liver, stomach and intestine whereas the levels of malondialdehyde (MAD) in liver, stomach and intestine were significantly elevated in the cancer group of rats in comparison to their corresponding control group. The administration of curcumin alone or together with phenobarbital ameliorated all these alterations depending on the time of administration. The data of this study suggested that low dose of phenobarbital in the presence of curcumin may inhibit the development of hepato-gastrointestinal carcinogenesis initiated with DEN.

COGNITIVE THERAPY DECREASE THE LEVEL OF DEPRESSION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ah. Yusuf

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Aging is a natural process in individuals. Most of the elderly have problems in dealing with this natural process. Lost of occupation, friends and loneliness may result in depression in this age group. Cognitive therapy changes pessimistic idea, unrealistic hopes and excessive self evaluation may result and justify depression. Cognitive therapy may help elderly to recognize the problem in life, to develop positive objective of life and to create more positive personality. The aimed of this study was to analyze the effect of cognitive therapy to reduce the level of depression. Method: This study was used a pre experimental pre post test design. Sample were 10 elderly people who met to the inclusion criteria. The independent variable was cognitive therapy and dependent variable was the level of depression in elderly. Data were collected by using Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS 15, then analyzed by using Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test with significance levelα≤0.05. Result: The result showed that cognitive therapy has an effect on reducing depression with significance level p=0.005. Discussion: It can be concluded that cognitive therapy was effective in reducing depression level in elderly. Further studies are recommended to analyze the effect of cognitive therapy on decreasing anxiety in elderly by measuring cathecolamin.

Smaller food item sizes of snack foods influence reduced portions and caloric intake in young adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Marchiori, David; Waroquier, Laurent; Klein, Olivier

2011-05-01

Studies considering the impact of food-size variations on consumption have predominantly focused on portion size, whereas very little research has investigated variations in food-item size, especially at snacking occasions, and results have been contradictory. This study evaluated the effect of altering the size of food items (ie, small vs large candies) of equal-size food portions on short-term energy intake while snacking. The study used a between-subjects design (n=33) in a randomized experiment conducted in spring 2008. In a psychology laboratory (separate cubicles), participants (undergraduate psychology students, 29 of 33 female, mean age 20.3±2 years, mean body mass index 21.7±3.7) were offered unlimited consumption of candies while participating in an unrelated computerized experiment. For half of the subjects, items were cut in two to make the small food-item size. Food intake (weight in grams, kilocalories, and number of food items) was examined using analysis of variance. Results showed that decreasing the item size of candies led participants to decrease by half their gram weight intake, resulting in an energy intake decrease of 60 kcal compared to the other group. Appetite ratings and subject and food characteristics had no moderating effect. A cognitive bias could explain why people tend to consider that one unit of food (eg, 10 candies) is the appropriate amount to consume, regardless of the size of the food items in the unit. This study suggests a simple dietary strategy, decreasing food-item size without having to alter the portion size offered, may reduce energy intake at snacking occasions. Copyright © 2011 American Dietetic Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effectiveness of Tai-Chi for decreasing acute pain in fibromyalgia patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Segura-Jiménez, V; Romero-Zurita, A; Carbonell-Baeza, A; Aparicio, V A; Ruiz, J R; Delgado-Fernández, M

2014-05-01

Tai-Chi has shown benefits in physical and psychological outcomes in diverse populations. We aimed to determine the changes elicited by a Tai-Chi program (12 and 24 weeks) in acute pain (before vs. after session) in fibromyalgia patients. We also assessed the cumulative changes in pain brought about by a Tai-Chi program. Thirty-six patients (29 women) with fibromyalgia participated in a low-moderate intensity Tai-Chi program for 12 weeks (3 sessions/week). Twenty-eight patients (27 women) continued the program for an additional 12 weeks (i. e., 24 weeks). We assessed pain by means of a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) before and after each single session (i. e., 72 sessions). We observed significant immediate changes (P-values from 0.037 to 0.0001) with an approximately 12% mean decrease of acute pain in the comparison of VAS-values before and after each session (72 sessions in total), with the exception of 4 sessions. We observed significant changes in cumulative pain pre-session (95% CI=-0.019; -0.014; PTai-Chi program for 12 weeks (3 times/week) decreased levels of acute pain in fibromyalgia patients. A longer period is necessary (e. g. 24 weeks) for observing cumulative changes in pain. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Evaluation of an ultraviolet room disinfection protocol to decrease nursing home microbial burden, infection and hospitalization rates.

Science.gov (United States)

Kovach, Christine R; Taneli, Yavuz; Neiman, Tammy; Dyer, Elaine M; Arzaga, Alvin Jason A; Kelber, Sheryl T

2017-03-03

The focus of nursing home infection control procedures has been on decreasing transmission between healthcare workers and residents. Less evidence is available regarding whether decontamination of high-touch environmental surfaces impacts infection rates or resident outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine if ultraviolet disinfection is associated with changes in: 1) microbial counts and adenosine triphosphate counts on high-touch surfaces; and 2) facility wide nursing home acquired infection rates, and infection-related hospitalization. The study was conducted in one 160-bed long-term care facility. Following discharge of each resident, their room was cleaned and then disinfected using a newly acquired ultraviolet light disinfection device. Shared living spaces received weekly ultraviolet light disinfection. Thirty-six months of pretest infection and hospitalization data were compared with 12 months of posttest data. Pre and posttest cultures were taken from high-touch surfaces, and luminometer readings of adenosine triphosphate were done. Nursing home acquired infection rates were analyzed relative to hospital acquired infection rates using analysis of variance procedures. Wilcoxon signed rank tests, The Cochran's Q, and Chi Square were also used. There were statistically significant decreases in adenosine triphosphate readings on all high-touch surfaces after cleaning and disinfection. Culture results were positive for gram-positive cocci or rods on 33% (n = 30) of the 90 surfaces swabbed at baseline. After disinfectant cleaning, 6 of 90 samples (7.1%) tested positive for a gram-positive bacilli, and after ultraviolet disinfection 4 of the 90 samples (4.4%) were positive. There were significant decreases in nursing home acquired relative to hospital-acquired infection rates for the total infections (p = .004), urinary tract infection rates (p = .014), respiratory system infection rates (p = .017) and for rates of infection of the skin

Decreased lung function after preschool wheezing rhinovirus illnesses in children at risk to develop asthma.

Science.gov (United States)

Guilbert, Theresa W; Singh, Anne Marie; Danov, Zoran; Evans, Michael D; Jackson, Daniel J; Burton, Ryan; Roberg, Kathy A; Anderson, Elizabeth L; Pappas, Tressa E; Gangnon, Ronald; Gern, James E; Lemanske, Robert F

2011-09-01

Preschool rhinovirus (RV) wheezing illnesses predict an increased risk of childhood asthma; however, it is not clear how specific viral illnesses in early life relate to lung function later on in childhood. To determine the relationship of virus-specific wheezing illnesses and lung function in a longitudinal cohort of children at risk for asthma. Two hundred thirty-eight children were followed prospectively from birth to 8 years of age. Early life viral wheezing respiratory illnesses were assessed by using standard techniques, and lung function was assessed annually by using spirometry and impulse oscillometry. The relationships of these virus-specific wheezing illnesses and lung function were assessed by using mixed-effect linear regression. Children with RV wheezing illness demonstrated significantly decreased spirometry values, FEV(1) (P = .001), FEV(0.5) (P Children who wheezed with respiratory syncytial virus or other viral illnesses did not have any significant differences in spirometric or impulse oscillometry indices when compared with children who did not. Children diagnosed with asthma at ages 6 or 8 years had significantly decreased FEF(25-75) (P = .05) compared with children without asthma. Among outpatient viral wheezing illnesses in early childhood, those caused by RV infections are the most significant predictors of decreased lung function up to age 8 years in a high-risk birth cohort. Whether low lung function is a cause and/or effect of RV wheezing illnesses is yet to be determined. Copyright © 2011 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Ramelteon combined with an α1-blocker decreases nocturia in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Science.gov (United States)

Kawahara, Takashi; Morita, Satoshi; Ito, Hiroki; Terao, Hideyuki; Sakata, Ryoko; Ishiguro, Hitoshi; Tanaka, Katsuyuki; Miyamoto, Hiroshi; Matsuzaki, Junichi; Kubota, Yoshinobu; Uemura, Hiroji

2013-06-12

Nocturia is defined as waking one or more times during the night due to the urge to void. Recently, the effectiveness of several sedatives and analgesics for nocturia has been reported. We herein investigated the effects of ramelteon, an antioxidant and sleep inducer, on nocturia unresponsive to α1-blocker monotherapy in males with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) as a pilot study. Subjects were 19 patients who had LUTS suggestive of benign prostate hyperplasia, received α1-blockers (tamsulosin, silodosin, or naftopidil), and continued to have two or more episodes of nocturia per night before starting ramelteon. Ramelteon at 8 mg once daily for one month was added to the α1-blocker. A self-administered questionnaire including the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), quality of life (QoL) index, Overactive Bladder Symptom Score (OABSS), and Nocturia Quality-of-Life Questionnaire (N-QOL) were assessed before and one month after starting ramelteon. The mean score on IPSS question 7 (nocturia) decreased significantly from 2.88 before starting ramelteon to 2.41 one month after starting the medication (P = 0.03). The mean total OABSS decreased significantly from 6.31 to 5.38 (P = 0.03), and the mean for OABSS question 2 (nighttime frequency of nocturia) also significantly decreased from 2.63 to 2.13 (P = 0.01). The mean total N-QOL score did not change significantly. Two patients had dizziness; the remaining patients had no adverse drug-related events. Ramelteon in combination with an α1-blocker could be a treatment option for reducing nocturia in men with BPH.

Mobile-phone-based home exercise training program decreases systemic inflammation in COPD: a pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chun-Hua; Chou, Pai-Chien; Joa, Wen-Ching; Chen, Li-Fei; Sheng, Te-Fang; Ho, Shu-Chuan; Lin, Horng-Chyuan; Huang, Chien-Da; Chung, Fu-Tsai; Chung, Kian Fan; Kuo, Han-Pin

2014-08-30

Moderate-intensity exercise training improves skeletal muscle aerobic capacity and increased oxidative enzyme activity, as well as exercise tolerance in COPD patients. To investigate whether the home-based exercise training program can reduce inflammatory biomarkers in patients with COPD, twelve patients using mobile phone assistance and 14 with free walk were assessed by incremental shuttle walk test (ISWT), spirometry, strength of limb muscles, and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and inflammatory cytokines. Patients in the mobile phone group improved their ISWT walking distance, with decrease in serum CRP after 2 months, and sustained at 6 months. Patients in the control group had no improvement. Serum IL-8 in the mobile phone group was significantly reduced at 2, 3 and 6 months after doing home exercise training compared to baseline. IL-6 and TNF-α were significantly elevated at 3 and 6 months in control group, while there were no changes in mobile phone group. The strength of limb muscles was significantly greater compared to baseline at 3 and 6 months in the mobile phone group. A mobile-phone-based system can provide an efficient home endurance exercise training program with improved exercise capacity, strength of limb muscles and a decrease in serum CRP and IL-8 in COPD patients. Decreased systemic inflammation may contribute to these clinical benefits. (Clinical trial registration No.: NCT01631019).

The sap of Acer okamotoanum decreases serum alcohol levels after acute ethanol ingestion in rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoo, Yeong-Min; Jung, Eui-Man; Kang, Ha-Young; Choi, In-Gyu; Choi, Kyung-Chul; Jeung, Eui-Bae

2011-10-01

In the present study, we examined whether Acer okamotoanum (A. okamotoanum) sap decreased the serum alcohol and acetaldehyde levels after acute ethanol treatment in a rat model. Male rats were orally administered 25, 50 or 100% A. okamotoanum sap 30 min prior to oral challenge with 3 ml of ethanol (15 ml/kg of a 20% ethanol solution in water), and the blood concentrations of alcohol and acetaldehyde were analyzed up to 7 h after the treatment. Pre-treatment with the sap significantly decreased the blood ethanol and acetaldehyde concentrations after 5 h when compared with ethanol treatment alone (a negative control). The expression levels of liver alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) mRNA were increased significantly in animals pre-treated with A. okamotoanum sap when compared with negative and positive controls. The data suggest that sap pre-treatment enhanced the alcohol metabolism rate in the rat liver. To investigate the involvement of mitochondrial regulation in the ethanol-induced hepatocyte apoptosis, we carried out an immunohistochemical analysis of Bax and Bcl-2. Pre-treatment with sap significantly decreased Bax expression and increased Bcl-2 expression 7 h after ethanol administration when compared with the negative control. The data suggest that A. okamotoanum sap pre-treatment may reduce the alcohol-induced oxidative stress in the rat liver.

Plasma prolactin and homovanillic acid as markers for psychopathology and abnormal movements after neuroleptic dose decrease.

Science.gov (United States)

Newcomer, J W; Riney, S J; Vinogradov, S; Csernansky, J G

1992-01-01

Plasma prolactin concentration (pPRL), plasma homovanillic acid concentration (pHVA), and symptomatology were measured in 24 male subjects with schizophrenia during maintenance haloperidol treatment. Fourteen subjects subsequently underwent 50 percent dose decreases under placebo-controlled, double-blind conditions. At baseline, a significant inverse correlation was found between pPRL and both tardive dyskinesia (TD) and "thinking disorder"; pPRL was directly correlated with negative symptoms. No such relationship was found with pHVA. In the patients who underwent a dose decrease, no relationship was found between baseline pPRL or pHVA and any clinical variable after the decrease. These data do not support the use of baseline pPRL or pHVA as markers of central dopamine function subsequent to a neuroleptic dose decrease.

Hypoxia Decreases Invasin-Mediated Yersinia enterocolitica Internalization into Caco-2 Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeitouni, Nathalie E; Dersch, Petra; Naim, Hassan Y; von Köckritz-Blickwede, Maren

2016-01-01

Yersinia enterocolitica is a major cause of human yersiniosis, with enterocolitis being a typical manifestation. These bacteria can cross the intestinal mucosa, and invade eukaryotic cells by binding to host β1 integrins, a process mediated by the bacterial effector protein invasin. This study examines the role of hypoxia on the internalization of Y. enterocolitica into intestinal epithelial cells, since the gastrointestinal tract has been shown to be physiologically deficient in oxygen levels (hypoxic), especially in cases of infection and inflammation. We show that hypoxic pre-incubation of Caco-2 cells resulted in significantly decreased bacterial internalization compared to cells grown under normoxia. This phenotype was absent after functionally blocking host β1 integrins as well as upon infection with an invasin-deficient Y. enterocolitica strain. Furthermore, downstream phosphorylation of the focal adhesion kinase was also reduced under hypoxia after infection. In good correlation to these data, cells grown under hypoxia showed decreased protein levels of β1 integrins at the apical cell surface whereas the total protein level of the hypoxia inducible factor (HIF-1) alpha was elevated. Furthermore, treatment of cells with the HIF-1 α stabilizer dimethyloxalylglycine (DMOG) also reduced invasion and decreased β1 integrin protein levels compared to control cells, indicating a potential role for HIF-1α in this process. These results suggest that hypoxia decreases invasin-integrin-mediated internalization of Y. enterocolitica into intestinal epithelial cells by reducing cell surface localization of host β1 integrins.

P53 Is Involved in a Three-Dimensional Architecture-Mediated Decrease in Chemosensitivity in Colon Cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Jianming; Liang, Xi; Luo, Fen; Chen, Xuedan; Xu, Xueqing; Wang, Fengchao; Zhang, Zhenping

2016-01-01

Three-dimensional (3D) culture models represent a better approximation of solid tumor tissue architecture, especially cell adhesion, in vivo than two-dimensional (2D) cultures do. Here, we explored the role of architecture in chemosensitivity to platinum in colon cancer. Under the 3D culture condition, colon cancer cells formed multicellular spheroids, consisting of layers of cells. 3D cultures displayed significantly decreased sensitivity to platinum compared with 2D cultures. Platinum increased p53 in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner. There was no detectable difference in basal p53 levels between 3D cultures and 2D cultures but cisplatin induced less p53 in both HCT116 3D cultures and LoVo 3D cultures. It was not due to cisplatin concentration because cisplatin induced similar γ-H2AX in 3D vs 2D. Knockdown of p53 significantly decreased sensitivity to platinum in 3D cultures. Knockdown of p53 decreased cleaved caspase 3 and apoptosis induced by cisplatin. These findings indicate that 3D architecture confers decreased chemosensitivity to platinum and p53 is involved in the mechanism. Knockdown of p53 decreased cisplatin's induction of c-Jun N-terminal kinase 1/2 (JNK1/2) activation, whereas inhibition of JNK1/2 activation increased chemosensitivity. Inhibition of p38 activation decreased cisplatin's induction of p53, but no difference in p38 activation by cisplatin was observed between 2D cultures and 3D cultures. Taken together, our results suggest that p53 is involved in a 3D architecture-mediated decrease in chemosensitivity to platinum in colon cancer. Mitogen-activated protein kinases (JNK1/2 and p38) do not play a dominant role in the mechanism.

Exploring the Association Between the Doppler Findings of Endometriomal Wall Vascularization and Volume of the Endometrioma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Berna Seçkin

2016-05-01

CONCLUSION: We could not demonstrate a significant association between endometriomal volume and amount of blood flow along the endometrioma wall. However, the increased volume of endometrioma is found to be correlated with high vascular resistance, thus decreased vascularization compared to smaller endometriomas assessed by pulsed Doppler indices. This finding may aid in the development of adjuvant treatments for patients with smaller endometriomas and lower resistance to blood flow.

Spontaneous entropy decrease and its statistical formula

OpenAIRE

Xing, Xiu-San

2007-01-01

Why can the world resist the law of entropy increase and produce self-organizing structure? Does the entropy of an isolated system always only increase and never decrease? Can be thermodymamic degradation and self-organizing evolution united? How to unite? In this paper starting out from nonequilibrium entropy evolution equation we proved that a new entropy decrease could spontaneously emerge in nonequilibrium system with internal attractive interaction. This new entropy decrease coexists wit...

Test the Overall Significance of p-values by Using Joint Tail Probability of Ordered p-values as Test Statistic

OpenAIRE

Fang, Yongxiang; Wit, Ernst

2008-01-01

Fisher’s combined probability test is the most commonly used method to test the overall significance of a set independent p-values. However, it is very obviously that Fisher’s statistic is more sensitive to smaller p-values than to larger p-value and a small p-value may overrule the other p-values and decide the test result. This is, in some cases, viewed as a flaw. In order to overcome this flaw and improve the power of the test, the joint tail probability of a set p-values is proposed as a ...

Egret-Hibernia(!), a significant petroleum system, northern Grand Banks area, offshore eastern Canada

Science.gov (United States)

Magoon, L.B.; Hudson, T.L.; Peters, K.E.

2005-01-01

Egret-Hibernia(!) is a well-explored petroleum system (3.25 billion barrels oil equivalent [BOE]) located in the Jeanne d'Arc Basin on the Labrador - Newfoundland shelf. Rifting and sediment fill began in the Late Triassic. Egret source rock was deposited in the Late Jurassic at about 153 Ma. After this time, alternating reservoir rock and seal rock were deposited with some syndepositional faulting. By the end of the Early Cretaceous, faults and folds had formed numerous structural traps. For the next 100 m.y., overburden rock thermally matured the source rock when it reached almost 4 km (2.5 mi) burial depth. For 2 km (1.25 mi) below this depth, oil and gas were expelled, until the source was depleted. The expelled petroleum migrated updip to nearby faulted, anticlinal traps, where much of it migrated across faults and upsection to the Hibernia Formation (44% recoverable oil) and Avalon Formation (28%). Accumulation size decreased, and gas content increased from west to east, independent of trap size. These changes correspond to a decrease in source rock richness and quality from west to east. Almost all (96%) of the discovered petroleum resides in the Lower Cretaceous or older reservoir rock units. All accumulations found to date are normally pressured in structural traps. Fifty-two exploration wells found eighteen discoveries. Their size ranges from 1.2 to 0.01 billion BOE. Most discoveries were made between 1979 and 1991. The discovery cycle began with larger accumulations and progressed to smaller accumulations. The estimated sizes of the larger accumulations have grown since 1990. Estimated mean value for undiscovered hydrocarbons is 3.8 billion BOE, thereby raising the ultimate size of Egret-Hibernia(!) to 6.19 billion BOE. Copyright ?? 2005. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.

Response of microbial communities to experimental warming and precipitation decrease in Rzecin peatland (Poland)

Science.gov (United States)

Basińska, Anna M.; Gąbka, Maciej; Reczuga, Monika; Łuców, Dominika; Stróżecki, Marcin; Samson, Mateusz; Józefczyk, Damian; Chojnicki, Bogdan; Urbaniak, Marek; Leśny, Jacek; Olejnik, Janusz; Gilbert, Daniel; Silvennoinen, Hanna; Juszczak, Radosław; Lamentowicz, Mariusz

2017-04-01

community was characterised by higher abundance of mixotrophic species (Hyalosphenia papilio, Archerella flavum, Heleopera sphagni) in all plots, after half year of warming and decreased precipitation we found significant decrease of mixotrophic species biomass. Redundancy analysis showed that TA species distribution (in first year of manipulation) was significantly affected by the treatment type and upper and lower Sphagnum segment. The combination of warming and decreased precipitation led to significant testate amoeba biomass decrease (especially of mixotrophic dominant Hyalosphenia papilio). For less abundant species like Nebela tincta we found an increase of biomass in all treatments, compared to control plots. Changes in microbial communities structure, caused by the combination of drought and warming can influence peatland functioning. For instance, reduction of microbial primary production and intensified consumption may modify physicochemical water parameters as well as carbon dynamics. Project financed by the Polish-Norwegian Research Programme operated by the National Centre for Research and Development under the Norwegian Financial Mechanism (No. Pol-Nor/203258/31/2013, WETMAN). Anna M. Basinska acknowledges support from Franche-Comté regional council and Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté.

Cranberry juice concentrate does not significantly decrease the incidence of acquired bacteriuria in female hip fracture patients receiving urine catheter: a double-blind randomized trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gunnarsson AK

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Anna-Karin Gunnarsson,1 Lena Gunningberg,2 Sune Larsson,1 Kenneth B Jonsson1 1Institution of Surgical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; 2Institution of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden Background: Urinary tract infection (UTI is a common complication among patients with hip fractures. Receiving an indwelling urinary catheter is a risk factor for developing UTIs. Treatment of symptomatic UTIs with antibiotics is expensive and can result in the development of antimicrobial resistance. Cranberries are thought to prevent UTI. There is no previous research on this potential effect in patients with hip fracture who receive urinary catheters. Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate whether intake of cranberry juice concentrate preoperatively decreases the incidence of postoperative UTIs in hip fracture patients that received a urinary catheter. Design: This study employed a randomized, placebo-controlled double-blind trial. Method: Female patients, aged 60 years and older, with hip fracture (n=227 were randomized to receive cranberry or placebo capsules daily, from admission, until 5 days postoperatively. Urine cultures were obtained at admission, 5 and 14 days postoperatively. In addition, Euro Qual five Dimensions assessments were performed and patients were screened for UTI symptoms. Result: In the intention-to-treat analysis, there was no difference between the groups in the proportion of patients with hospital-acquired postoperative positive urine cultures at any time point. When limiting the analysis to patients that ingested at least 80% of the prescribed capsules, 13 of 33 (39% in the placebo group and 13 of 47 (28% in the cranberry group (P=0.270 had a positive urine culture at 5 days postoperatively. However, this difference was not statistically significant (P=0.270. Conclusion: Cranberry concentrate does not seem to effectively prevent UTIs in female patients with hip fracture and

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.

Risk control and the minimum significant risk

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seiler, F.A.; Alvarez, J.L.

1996-01-01

Risk management implies that the risk manager can, by his actions, exercise at least a modicum of control over the risk in question. In the terminology of control theory, a management action is a control signal imposed as feedback on the system to bring about a desired change in the state of the system. In the terminology of risk management, an action is taken to bring a predicted risk to lower values. Even if it is assumed that the management action taken is 100% effective and that the projected risk reduction is infinitely well known, there is a lower limit to the desired effects that can be achieved. It is based on the fact that all risks, such as the incidence of cancer, exhibit a degree of variability due to a number of extraneous factors such as age at exposure, sex, location, and some lifestyle parameters such as smoking or the consumption of alcohol. If the control signal is much smaller than the variability of the risk, the signal is lost in the noise and control is lost. This defines a minimum controllable risk based on the variability of the risk over the population considered. This quantity is the counterpart of the minimum significant risk which is defined by the uncertainties of the risk model. Both the minimum controllable risk and the minimum significant risk are evaluated for radiation carcinogenesis and are shown to be of the same order of magnitude. For a realistic management action, the assumptions of perfectly effective action and perfect model prediction made above have to be dropped, resulting in an effective minimum controllable risk which is determined by both risk limits. Any action below that effective limit is futile, but it is also unethical due to the ethical requirement of doing more good than harm. Finally, some implications of the effective minimum controllable risk on the use of the ALARA principle and on the evaluation of remedial action goals are presented

Developing the RIAM method (rapid impact assessment matrix) in the context of impact significance assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ijaes, Asko; Kuitunen, Markku T.; Jalava, Kimmo

2010-01-01

In this paper the applicability of the RIAM method (rapid impact assessment matrix) is evaluated in the context of impact significance assessment. The methodological issues considered in the study are: 1) to test the possibilities of enlarging the scoring system used in the method, and 2) to compare the significance classifications of RIAM and unaided decision-making to estimate the consistency between these methods. The data used consisted of projects for which funding had been applied for via the European Union's Regional Development Trust in the area of Central Finland. Cases were evaluated with respect to their environmental, social and economic impacts using an assessment panel. The results showed the scoring framework used in RIAM could be modified according to the problem situation at hand, which enhances its application potential. However the changes made in criteria B did not significantly affect the final ratings of the method, which indicates the high importance of criteria A1 (importance) and A2 (magnitude) to the overall results. The significance classes obtained by the two methods diverged notably. In general the ratings given by RIAM tended to be smaller compared to intuitive judgement implying that the RIAM method may be somewhat conservative in character.

Decrease of Airway Allergies After Lung Transplantation Is Associated With Reduced Basophils and Eosinophils.

Science.gov (United States)

Niedzwiecki, M; Yamada, Y; Inci, I; Weder, W; Jungraithmayr, W

2016-01-01

Allergies are hypersensitive reactions of the immune system on antigen exposure similar to immune reactions after transplantation (Tx). Their activity can change after Tx. The lung as a transplantable organ is challenged two-fold, by antigens from the blood and the air environment. Herein we analyzed if airway allergies change after lung Tx. We systematically reviewed patients' airway allergies before and after lung Tx between 1992 and 2014. The course of lymphocytes, thrombocytes, and leukocytes, among them neutrophils, eosinophils, and basophils, was analyzed in patients in whom airway allergies have changed and in whom they did not change. From 362 lung transplanted patients, 44 patients had suffered from allergies before Tx (12.2%). In 20 of these patients (45.5%), airway allergies disappeared completely within 1 year after lung Tx and were persistently absent thereafter. In these patients, basophils and eosinophils decreased significantly (P allergies did not disappear. Leukocytes overall, and in particular, neutrophils, decreased significantly in patients whose allergy disappeared (P allergies disappeared in almost half of cases after lung Tx. Along with this reduction, basophils and eosinophils decreased as potentially responsible cells for this phenomenon. These findings may stimulate intensified research on basophils and eosinophils as major drivers of airway allergies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ezetimibe decreased nonalcoholic fatty liver disease activity score but not hepatic steatosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Hyo Young; Jun, Dae Won; Kim, Hyun Jung; Oh, Hyunwoo; Saeed, Waqar Khalid; Ahn, Hyeongsik; Cheung, Ramsey C; Nguyen, Mindie H

2018-03-20

A number of clinical trials reported varying effects of cholesterol lowering agents in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients. We, therefore, assessed the changes in hepatic steatosis and NAFLD activity score (NAS) after treatment with cholesterol lowering agents in NAFLD patients by metaanalysis. The Cochrane Library, the MEDLINE, and the Embase databases were searched until May 2015, without any language restrictions, for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and nonrandomized studies (NRSs). Additional references were obtained from review of bibliography of relevant articles. The quality of evidence was assessed using the grading of recommendations assessment, development and evaluation guidelines. Three RCTs (n = 98) and two NRSs (n = 101) met our study inclusion criteria (adult, NAFLD, liver biopsy). Liver biopsy was performed in all five studies, but only the three studies reported NAS. Ezetimibe significantly decreased NAS (standardized mean difference [SMD], -0.30; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.57 to -0.03) but not hepatic steatosis in RCT (SMD, -0.1; 95% CI, -0.53 to 0.32), while the effect was significant for both NAS and intrahepatic content in NRSs (SMD, -3.0; 95% CI, -6.9 to 0.91). Ezetimibe decreased NAS without improving hepatic steatosis.

Decreasing relative risk premium

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Frank

2007-01-01

such that the corresponding relative risk premium is a decreasing function of present wealth, and we determine the set of associated utility functions. We find a new characterization of risk vulnerability and determine a large set of utility functions, closed under summation and composition, which are both risk vulnerable...

Decreased thickness of the lower trapezius muscle in patients with unilateral neck pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Uthaikhup, Sureeporn; Pensri, Chalomjai; Kawsoiy, Kanokon

2016-09-01

Thickness of the lower trapezius muscle in patients with neck pain has not been established. We examined the thickness of the lower trapezius muscle in patients with and without unilateral neck pain. Twenty women with unilateral (right) neck pain and 20 matched controls participated in the study. Thickness of the lower trapezius muscles was measured bilaterally at rest (0 ° and 120 ° of shoulder abduction) and during contraction (120 ° of shoulder abduction) using ultrasound imaging. The neck pain group had smaller thickness of the lower trapezius muscle on the painful side compared with controls both at rest and during contraction (P  0.05). Patients with neck pain had smaller thickness of the lower trapezius muscle on the painful side compared with healthy controls. Muscle Nerve 54: 439-443, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Smaller Brains and Optic Lobes in Reproductive Workers of the Ant Harpegnathos

Science.gov (United States)

Gronenberg, Wulfila; Liebig, Jürgen

Most animals show long-term modifications of their behavior which often reflect an adaptation to seasonal variations (e.g., hibernation) or result from changes in the animal's internal state (e.g., estrous cycle or sexual maturity). Such modifications may substantially affect the nervous system [1, 2]. A particularly striking behavioral change can occur in workers of the ant Harpegnathos. A few young workers in the colony may become reproductives and are thus confined to their dark nest chambers, whereas most workers spend their lives as foragers, employing acute vision when hunting prey. This behavioral difference coincides with a marked decrease in brain volume and with an even stronger reduction in the large visual brain centers. Instead of maintaining superfluous brain functions, these ants reduce brain matter which is expensive to support.

Decreased plasma thiol antioxidant barrier and selenoproteins as potential biomarkers for ongoing methylmercury intoxication and an individual protective capacity.

Science.gov (United States)

Usuki, Fusako; Fujimura, Masatake

2016-04-01

Manifestation of methylmercury (MeHg) toxicity depends on individual susceptibility to MeHg, as well as MeHg burden level. Therefore, biomarkers that reflect the protective capacity against MeHg are needed. The critical role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of MeHg cytotoxicity has been demonstrated. Because MeHg has high affinity for selenohydryl groups, sulfhydryl groups, and selenides, and causes posttranscriptional defects in selenoenzymes, proteins with selenohydryl and sulfhydryl groups should play a critical role in mediating MeHg-induced oxidative stress. Here, plasma oxidative stress markers and selenoproteins were investigated in MeHg-intoxicated rats showing neuropathological changes after 4 weeks of MeHg exposure. The thiol antioxidant barrier (-SHp) level significantly decreased 2 weeks after MeHg exposure, which is an early stage at which no systemic oxidative stress, histopathological changes, or clinical signs were detected. Diacron reactive oxidant metabolite (d-ROM) levels significantly increased 3 weeks after MeHg exposure, indicating the occurrence of systemic oxidative stress. Rats treated with lead acetate or cadmium chloride showed no changes in levels of -SHp and d-ROM. Selenoprotein P1 abundance significantly decreased in MeHg-treated rats, whereas it significantly increased in rats treated with Pb or Cd. Plasma selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase (GPx3) activity also significantly decreased after MeHg exposure, whereas plasma non-selenoenzyme glutathione reductase activity significantly increased in MeHg-treated rats. The results suggest that decreased capacity of -SHp and selenoproteins (GPx3 and selenoprotein P) can be useful biomarkers of ongoing MeHg cytotoxicity and the individual protective capacity against the MeHg body burden.

Decreased medial prefrontal cortex activation during self-referential processing in bipolar mania.

Science.gov (United States)

Herold, Dorrit; Usnich, Tatiana; Spengler, Stephanie; Sajonz, Bastian; Bauer, Michael; Bermpohl, Felix

2017-09-01

Patients with bipolar disorder in mania exhibit symptoms pointing towards altered self-referential processing, such as decreased self-focus, flight of ideas and high distractibility. In depression, the opposite pattern of symptoms has been connected to increased activation of medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) during self-referential processing. In this study, we hypothesized that (1) patients with mania will exhibit decreased activation in the mPFC during self-referential processing and (2) will be more alexithymic and that levels of alexithymia will correlate negatively with mPFC activation. The neural response to standardized pictures was compared in 14 patients with bipolar I disorder in mania to 14 healthy controls using blood oxygen level dependent contrast magnetic resonance imaging. Participants were asked to indicate with button press during the scanning session for each picture whether the pictures personally related to them or not. Toronto alexithymia scale (TAS) scores were recorded from all participants. In the group analysis, patients with mania exhibited decreased activation in a predefined region of interest in the mPFC during self-referential processing compared to healthy controls. Patients with mania showed significantly higher levels of alexithymia, attributable to difficulties in identifying and describing emotions. Activation in the mPFC correlated negatively with levels of alexithymia. Results presented here should be replicated in a larger group, potentially including unmedicated patients. The finding of decreased mPFC activation during self-referential processing in mania may reflect decreased self-focus and high distractibility. Support for this view comes from the negative correlation between higher alexithymia scores and decreased mPFC activation. These findings represent an opposite clinical and neuroimaging pattern to findings in depression. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Dietary beet pulp decreases taurine status in dogs fed low protein diet

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Kwang Suk Ko

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background It is known that large dogs who are fed lamb and rice diets are at increased risk to develop taurine-deficiency-induced dilated cardiomyopathy. Since dogs obligatorily conjugate bile acids (BA with taurine, we determined whether rice bran (RB or other fibers (cellulose; CL, beet pulp; BP would affect BA excretion and/or the taurine status of dogs. Results Eighteen medium/large mixed-breed dogs were given purified diets containing CL, BP, or RB for 12 weeks. Taurine concentrations in plasma and whole blood were significantly decreased at week 12. The BP group, compared to the CL or RB groups, showed significantly lower taurine concentrations in plasma (6.5 ± 0.5 vs 20.4 ± 3.9 and 13.1 ± 2.0 μmol/L, respectively, P < 0.01, mean ± SEM and in whole blood (79 ± 10 vs 143 ± 14 and 127 ± 14 μmol/L, respectively, P < 0.01, lower apparent protein digestibility (81.9 ± 0.6 vs 88.8 ± 0.6 and 88.1 ± 1.2 %, respectively, P < 0.01, and higher BA excretions (5.6 ± 0.1 vs 3.4 ± 0.5 and 3.4 ± 0.4 μmol/g feces, respectively, P < 0.05 at week 12. Conclusions These results do not support the hypothesis that RB is likely to be a primary cause of lamb meal and rice diets, increasing the risk of taurine deficiency in large dogs. However these indicate that BP may contribute to a decrease taurine status in dogs by increasing excretion of fecal BA and decreasing protein digestibility, thus decreasing the bioavailability of sulfur amino acids, the precursors of taurine.

CT colonography at low tube potential: using iterative reconstruction to decrease noise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, K.J.; Heisler, M.A.; Mahesh, M.; Baird, G.L.; Mayo-Smith, W.W.

2015-01-01

Aim: To determine the level of iterative reconstruction required to reduce increased image noise associated with low tube potential computed tomography (CT). Materials and methods: Fifty patients underwent CT colonography with a supine scan at 120 kVp and a prone scan at 100 kVp with other scan parameters unchanged. Both scans were reconstructed with filtered back projection (FBP) and increasing levels of adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction (ASiR) at 30%, 60%, and 90%. Mean noise, soft tissue and tagged fluid attenuation, contrast, and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were collected from reconstructions at both 120 and 100 kVp and compared using a generalised linear mixed model. Results: Decreasing tube potential from 120 to 100 kVp significantly increased image noise by 30–34% and tagged fluid attenuation by 120 HU at all ASiR levels (p<0.0001, all measures). Increasing ASiR from 0% (FBP) to 30%, 60%, and 90% resulted in significant decreases in noise and increases in CNR at both tube potentials (p<0.001, all comparisons). Compared to 120 kVp FBP, ASiR greater than 30% at 100 kVp yielded similar or lower image noise. Conclusions: Iterative reconstruction adequately compensates for increased image noise associated with low tube potential imaging while improving CNR. An ASiR level of approximately 50% at 100 kVp yields similar noise to 120 kVp without ASiR. -- Highlights: •Peak kilovoltage (kVp) can be reduced to decrease radiation dose and increase contrast attenuation at a cost of increased image noise. •Utilizing iterative reconstruction can decrease image noise and increase contrast to noise ratio (CNR) independent of kVp. •Iterative reconstruction adequately compensates for increased image noise associated with low dose low kVp imaging while improving CNR. •An ASiR level of approximately 50% at 100 kVp yields similar noise to 120 kVp without ASiR

Density increment and decreased survival of rat red blood cells induced by cadmium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kunimoto, M.; Miura, T.

1986-01-01

Male Wistar rats were injected with CdCl 2 subcutaneously to examine in vivo effects of Cd on density and survival of red blood cells. During the 7 days after administration of 1.0 mg Cd/kg, the following sequence of events occurred: (1) a progressive increase in the amount of more dense red blood cells concomitant with a decrease in that of light red blood cells from the first to the third day; (2) an increase in the spleen weight at the third day; (3) a decrease in the hematocrit value and an increase in the amount of light red blood cells at the fifth day; and (4) a recovery of the hematocrit value at the seventh day. Five days after administration, the hematocrit value decreased in a dose-dependent mode and the decrease was significant at the 1% level at 1.0 and 1.5 mg Cd/kg. A highly significant splenomegaly was also observed at 0.5 to 1.5 mg Cd/kg. In order to label red blood cells in vivo, [ 3 H] diisopropylfluorophosphate ([ 3 H]DFP) was injected into rats. At Day 11, Cd at either 0.5 or 1.0 mg/kg was administered to [ 3 H]DFP-prelabeled animals. Cd administration accelerated 3 H-labeled red cell clearance from the blood. Six days after Cd administration, the radioactivity of red blood cells was 76 and 68% of the control at 0.5 and 1.0 mg Cd/kg, respectively. In vitro treatment of rat red density and accelerated in vivo clearance of red blood cells from the recipient circulation. These results show that Cd at low dose can cause anemia by increasing red cell density and by accelerating red cell sequestration, presumably in the spleen

The activity of the primary motor cortex ipsilateral to the exercising hand decreases during repetitive handgrip exercise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shibuya, Kenichi

2011-01-01

The brain function controlling muscle force production is not yet fully understood. The purpose of this study was to examine bilateral primary motor cortex (M1) oxygenation during static-handgrip exercises performed with the right hand (60% maximal voluntary contraction; 10 s exercise/75 s rest; five sets). Twelve healthy, right-handed male subjects participated in this study. Near-infrared spectroscopy probes were positioned over the bilateral M1 to measure cortical oxygenation during handgrip exercises. The maximum values of the changes in concentrations of oxyhemoglobin (HbO 2 ) and deoxyhemoglobin (Hb) across the trials (i) did not change significantly during the contralateral M1 activation (p > 0.05), whereas (ii) in the case of the ipsilateral M1 activation a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in HbO 2 and a significant (p < 0.01) decrease in Hb could be measured. The activation in ipsilateral M1 at the fifth trial was significantly decreased compared with that in the first trial (HbO 2 : p < 0.001; Hb: p < 0.001). The present results suggest that the ipsilateral M1 is recruited during the motor task in compensation for the contralateral M1 and the habituation to motor task might alter the efficiency for interaction of the ipsilateral M1 to the contralateral M1. The interhemispheric interaction might change due to habituation to motor task

Decreased cerebral blood flow in renal transplant recipients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kamano, Chisako; Komaba, Yuichi; Sakayori, Osamu; Iino, Yasuhiko; Katayama, Yasuo

2002-01-01

We performed single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) to investigate the influence of renal transplantation on cerebral blood flow (CBF). Fifteen renal transplant recipients and twelve normal subjects underwent cerebral SPECT with N-isopropyl-p-[ 123 I] iodoamphetamine ( 123 I-IMP). All transplant recipients received prednisolone and cyclosporine (CyA). Regional CBF (rCBF) was measured by defining regions of interest in the cerebral cortex, deep white matter, striatum, thalamus, and cerebellum. In transplant recipients, correlations to the mean overall cortical CBF were assessed using the interval from transplantation to measurement of SPECT, as well as the serum creatinine concentration. Moreover, to investigate the influence of CyA on CBF, the correlation between mean overall cortical CBF and CyA trough concentrations was assessed. In all regions, CBF in renal transplant recipients was significantly lower than in normal subjects. No significant correlation was seen between serum creatinine, interval from transplantation, or CyA trough concentrations and mean overall cortical CBF. Renal transplant recipients demonstrated a decrease in CBF, that can have an associated secondary pathology. Therefore, renal transplant recipients may benefit from post-operative MRI or CT. (author)

Dynamics of myelin content decrease in the rat stroke model

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Kisel, A.; Khodanovich, M.; Atochin, D.; Mustafina, L.; Yarnykh, V.

2017-08-01

The majority of studies were usually focused on neuronal death after brain ischemia; however, stroke affects all cell types including oligodendrocytes that form myelin sheath in the CNS. Our study is focused on the changes of myelin content in the ischemic core and neighbor structures in early terms (1, 3 and 10 days) after stroke. Stroke was modeled with middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) in 15 male rats that were divided into three groups by time points after operation. Brain sections were histologically stained with Luxol Fast Blue (LFB) for myelin quantification. The significant demyelination was found in the ischemic core, corpus callosum, anterior commissure, whereas myelin content was increased in caudoputamen, internal capsule and piriform cortex compared with the contralateral hemisphere. The motor cortex showed a significant increase of myelin content on the 1st day and a significant decrease on the 3rd and 10th days after MCAo. These results suggest that stroke influences myelination not only in the ischemic core but also in distant structures.

Magical thinking decreases across adulthood.

Science.gov (United States)

Brashier, Nadia M; Multhaup, Kristi S

2017-12-01

Magical thinking, or illogical causal reasoning such as superstitions, decreases across childhood, but almost no data speak to whether this developmental trajectory continues across the life span. In four experiments, magical thinking decreased across adulthood. This pattern replicated across two judgment domains and could not be explained by age-related differences in tolerance of ambiguity, domain-specific knowledge, or search for meaning. These data complement and extend findings that experience, accumulated over decades, guides older adults' judgments so that they match, or even exceed, young adults' performance. They also counter participants' expectations, and cultural sayings (e.g., "old wives' tales"), that suggest that older adults are especially superstitious. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Decreased Hsp90 expression in infiltrative lobular carcinoma: an immunohistochemical study

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Zagouri, Flora; Patsouris, Effstratios; Zografos, George; Sergentanis, Theodoros; Nonni, Afrodite; Papadimitriou, Christos; Pazaiti, Anastasia; Michalopoulos, Nikolaos V; Safioleas, Panagiotis; Lazaris, Andreas; Theodoropoulos, George

2010-01-01

Elevated Hsp90 expression has been documented in breast ductal carcinomas, whereas decreased Hsp90 expression has been reported in precursor lobular lesions. This study aims to assess Hsp90 expression in infiltrative lobular carcinomas of the breast. Tissue specimens were taken from 32 patients with infiltrative lobular carcinoma. Immunohistochemical assessment of Hsp90 was performed both in the lesion and the adjacent normal breast ducts and lobules; the latter serving as control. Concerning Hsp90 assessment: i) the percentage of positive cells and ii) the intensity were separately analyzed. Subsequently, the Allred score was adopted and calculated. The intensity was treated as an ordinal variable-score (0: negative, low: 1, moderate: 2, high: 3). Statistical analysis followed. All infiltrative lobular carcinoma foci mainly presented with a positive cytoplasmic immunoreaction for Hsp90. Compared to the adjacent normal ducts and lobules, infiltrative lobular carcinoma exhibited a statistically significant decrease in Hsp90 expression, both in terms of Hsp90 positive cells (%) and Allred score (74.2 ± 11.2 vs. 59.1 ± 14.2 p = 0.0001; 7.00 ± 0.95 vs. 6.22 ± 1.01, p = 0.007, Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test). Concerning the intensity of Hsp90 immunostaining only a marginal decrease was noted (2.16 ± 0.68 vs. 1.84 ± 0.63, p = 0.087, Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test). ILC lesions seem to exhibit decreased Hsp90 expression, a finding contrary to what might have been expected, given that high Hsp90 expression is a trait of invasive ductal carcinomas

Peripheral Blood CD64 Levels Decrease in Crohn’s Disease following Granulocyte and Monocyte Adsorptive Apheresis

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Toshimi Chiba

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Granulocyte and monocyte adsorptive apheresis (GMA is reportedly useful as induction therapy for Crohn’s disease (CD. However, the effects of GMA on CD64 have not been well characterized. We report here our assessment of CD64 expression on neutrophils before and after treatment with GMA in two patients with CD. The severity of CD was assessed with the CD activity index (CDAI. The duration of each GMA session was 60 min at a flow rate of 30 ml/min as per protocol. CD64 expression on neutrophils was measured by analyzing whole blood with a FACScan flow cytometer. In case 1, CD64 levels after each session of GMA tended to decrease compared to pretreatment levels, whereas in case 2, CD64 levels dropped significantly after treatment. The CDAI decreased after GMA in both cases 1 and 2. A significant correlation was noted between CDAI scores and CD64 levels in both cases. In conclusion, GMA reduced blood CD64 levels, which would be an important factor for the decrease of CDAI scores.

Effects of increasing and decreasing physiological arousal on anticipation timing performance during competition and practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Duncan, Michael J; Smith, Mike; Bryant, Elizabeth; Eyre, Emma; Cook, Kathryn; Hankey, Joanne; Tallis, Jason; Clarke, Neil; Jones, Marc V

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate if the effects of changes in physiological arousal on timing performance can be accurately predicted by the catastrophe model. Eighteen young adults (8 males, 10 females) volunteered to participate in the study following ethical approval. After familiarisation, coincidence anticipation was measured using the Bassin Anticipation Timer under four incremental exercise conditions: Increasing exercise intensity and low cognitive anxiety, increasing exercise intensity and high cognitive anxiety, decreasing exercise intensity and low cognitive anxiety and decreasing exercise intensity and high cognitive anxiety. Incremental exercise was performed on a treadmill at intensities of 30%, 50%, 70% and 90% heart rate reserve (HRR) respectively. Ratings of cognitive anxiety were taken at each intensity using the Mental Readiness Form 3 (MRF3) followed by performance of coincidence anticipation trials at speeds of 3 and 8 mph. Results indicated significant condition × intensity interactions for absolute error (AE; p = .0001) and MRF cognitive anxiety intensity scores (p = .05). Post hoc analysis indicated that there were no statistically significant differences in AE across exercise intensities in low-cognitive anxiety conditions. In high-cognitive anxiety conditions, timing performance AE was significantly poorer and cognitive anxiety higher at 90% HRR, compared to the other exercise intensities. There was no difference in timing responses at 90% HRR during competitive trials, irrespective of whether exercise intensity was increasing or decreasing. This study suggests that anticipation timing performance is negatively affected when physiological arousal and cognitive anxiety are high.

Male circumcision significantly reduces prevalence and load of genital anaerobic bacteria.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Cindy M; Hungate, Bruce A; Tobian, Aaron A R; Serwadda, David; Ravel, Jacques; Lester, Richard; Kigozi, Godfrey; Aziz, Maliha; Galiwango, Ronald M; Nalugoda, Fred; Contente-Cuomo, Tania L; Wawer, Maria J; Keim, Paul; Gray, Ronald H; Price, Lance B

2013-04-16

Male circumcision reduces female-to-male HIV transmission. Hypothesized mechanisms for this protective effect include decreased HIV target cell recruitment and activation due to changes in the penis microbiome. We compared the coronal sulcus microbiota of men from a group of uncircumcised controls (n = 77) and from a circumcised intervention group (n = 79) at enrollment and year 1 follow-up in a randomized circumcision trial in Rakai, Uganda. We characterized microbiota using16S rRNA gene-based quantitative PCR (qPCR) and pyrosequencing, log response ratio (LRR), Bayesian classification, nonmetric multidimensional scaling (nMDS), and permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PerMANOVA). At baseline, men in both study arms had comparable coronal sulcus microbiota; however, by year 1, circumcision decreased the total bacterial load and reduced microbiota biodiversity. Specifically, the prevalence and absolute abundance of 12 anaerobic bacterial taxa decreased significantly in the circumcised men. While aerobic bacterial taxa also increased postcircumcision, these gains were minor. The reduction in anaerobes may partly account for the effects of circumcision on reduced HIV acquisition. The bacterial changes identified in this study may play an important role in the HIV risk reduction conferred by male circumcision. Decreasing the load of specific anaerobes could reduce HIV target cell recruitment to the foreskin. Understanding the mechanisms that underlie the benefits of male circumcision could help to identify new intervention strategies for decreasing HIV transmission, applicable to populations with high HIV prevalence where male circumcision is culturally less acceptable.

MDMA (Ecstasy) Decreases the Number of Neurons and Stem Cells in Embryonic Cortical Cultures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kindlundh-Högberg, Anna M S; Pickering, Chris; Wicher, Grzegorz

2010-01-01

Ecstasy, 3,4-methylenedioxymetamphetamine (MDMA), is a recreational drug used among adolescents, including young pregnant women. MDMA passes the placental barrier and may therefore influence fetal development. The aim was to investigate the direct effect of MDMA on cortical cells using dissociated...... CNS cortex of rat embryos, E17. The primary culture was exposed to a single dose of MDMA and collected 5 days later. MDMA caused a dramatic, dose-dependent (100 and 400 muM) decrease in nestin-positive stem cell density, as well as a significant reduction (400 muM) in NeuN-positive cells. By q......PCR, MDMA (200 muM) caused a significant decrease in mRNA expression of the 5HT3 receptor, dopamine D(1) receptor, and glutamate transporter EAAT2-1, as well as an increase in mRNA levels of the NMDA NR1 receptor subunit and the 5HT(1A) receptor. In conclusion, MDMA caused a marked reduction in stem cells...

Is there any relationship between decreased AgNOR protein synthesis and human hair loss?

Science.gov (United States)

Eroz, R; Tasdemir, S; Dogan, H

2012-11-01

Argyrophilic nucleolar organizing region associated proteins (AgNORs) play roles in cell proliferation and a variety of diseases. We attempted to determine whether decreased NOR protein synthesis causes human hair loss. We studied 21 healthy males who suffered hair loss on the frontal/vertex portion of the head. Hair root cells from normal and hair loss sites were stained for AgNOR. One hundred nuclei per site were evaluated and the AgNOR number and NORa/TNa proportions of individual cells were determined using a computer program. The cells from normal sites had significantly higher AgNOR counts than those from hair loss sites. Also, the cells from the normal sites had significantly higher NORa/TNa than cells from the hair loss sites. In the normal sites, the cells demonstrated more NOR protein synthesis than cells in hair loss sites. Therefore, decreased NOR protein synthesis appears to be related to hair loss in humans.

The response of soil solution chemistry in European forests to decreasing acid deposition.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, James; Graf Pannatier, Elisabeth; Carnicelli, Stefano; Cecchini, Guia; Clarke, Nicholas; Cools, Nathalie; Hansen, Karin; Meesenburg, Henning; Nieminen, Tiina M; Pihl-Karlsson, Gunilla; Titeux, Hugues; Vanguelova, Elena; Verstraeten, Arne; Vesterdal, Lars; Waldner, Peter; Jonard, Mathieu

2018-03-31

Acid deposition arising from sulphur (S) and nitrogen (N) emissions from fossil fuel combustion and agriculture has contributed to the acidification of terrestrial ecosystems in many regions globally. However, in Europe and North America, S deposition has greatly decreased in recent decades due to emissions controls. In this study, we assessed the response of soil solution chemistry in mineral horizons of European forests to these changes. Trends in pH, acid neutralizing capacity (ANC), major ions, total aluminium (Al tot ) and dissolved organic carbon were determined for the period 1995-2012. Plots with at least 10 years of observations from the ICP Forests monitoring network were used. Trends were assessed for the upper mineral soil (10-20 cm, 104 plots) and subsoil (40-80 cm, 162 plots). There was a large decrease in the concentration of sulphate (SO42-) in soil solution; over a 10-year period (2000-2010), SO42- decreased by 52% at 10-20 cm and 40% at 40-80 cm. Nitrate was unchanged at 10-20 cm but decreased at 40-80 cm. The decrease in acid anions was accompanied by a large and significant decrease in the concentration of the nutrient base cations: calcium, magnesium and potassium (Bc = Ca 2+  + Mg 2+  + K + ) and Al tot over the entire dataset. The response of soil solution acidity was nonuniform. At 10-20 cm, ANC increased in acid-sensitive soils (base saturation ≤10%) indicating a recovery, but ANC decreased in soils with base saturation >10%. At 40-80 cm, ANC remained unchanged in acid-sensitive soils (base saturation ≤20%, pHCaCl2 ≤ 4.5) and decreased in better-buffered soils (base saturation >20%, pHCaCl2 > 4.5). In addition, the molar ratio of Bc to Al tot either did not change or decreased. The results suggest a long-time lag between emission abatement and changes in soil solution acidity and underline the importance of long-term monitoring in evaluating ecosystem response to decreases in deposition. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons

Clinical significance of changes of serum expression of IGF-I in patients with astrocytoma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Jianbo; Ding Dongmei; Yang Fubing

2005-01-01

Objective: To investigate the serum expression of IGF-I in patients with astrocytoma of different degrees of malignancy as well as the changes of levels after operative removal of the tumor. Methods: Serum IGF-I contents were measured with IRMA in 16 patients with Grade I-II astrocytoma and 14 patients with Grade III-IV astrocytoma both before and after operation as well as in 30 controls. Results: The serum contents of IGF-I in both groups of patients were significantly higher than those in controls (P<0.05). The levels in Grade III-IV patients were significantly higher than those in Grade I-II patients (P < 0.05 ). After operation, the levels dropped significantly (vs before operation, P<0.05). Conclusion: The serum contents of IGF - I in patients with astrocytoma were positively correlated with the degree of malignancy. Post-operative decrease of IGF-I contents was related to the decrease of tumor burden. (authors)

Cost decreases in environmental technology. Evidence from four case studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oosterhuis, F. [Instituut for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit VU, Amsterdam (Netherlands)

2007-07-15

The cost of a new technology tends to decrease as its uptake grows, and environmental technology is no exception to this general rule. Factors that can bring about such cost reductions include economies of scale, 'learning-by-doing', incremental technological improvements, and growing competition. In preparing environmental policies, the potential for future cost reductions is often disregarded. The present study aims to provide some additional empirical evidence on the cost decreases in environmental technology and the factors that lie behind them. To this end, four exemplary case studies have been selected. The first case (NOx emission abatement by Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR)), shows a wide variety in cost estimates, without a clear trend. This is even true for the costs of a fairly homogeneous type of investment (SCR in coal fired power plants). Nevertheless, it is clear that an important cost decrease has been achieved by prolonging the lifetime of the catalyst, which is one of the main cost components in SCR. In the second case (NH3 emission abatement by chemical air scrubbers in pig farming) there is not yet sufficient experience with the technology to draw conclusions on the development of costs. However, it is already clear that economizing on the capacity of the system can contribute to important cost savings. Three-way catalytic converters in cars have shown significant price decreases following their large scale introduction on the European market in the early 1990s. Probably economies of scale have played an important role in this case, as the size of the market made mass production possible. To some extent, cost reductions may also be attributed to improvements such as the need for less materials (e.g. platinum). Furthermore, the performance of catalytic converters has improved, implying that the cost per unit of emission reduction has decreased even more than the cost of the device itself. Market prices of Compact Fluorescent Lamps

Glucocorticosteroids associated with a decreased risk of psychosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Laan, Wijnand; Smeets, Hugo; de Wit, Niek J; Kahn, René S; Grobbee, Diederick E; Burger, Huibert

2009-06-01

The hypothesis that chronic inflammation may play a role in psychosis receives increasing attention. In this study, we aim to investigate whether the use of steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is associated with a decreased risk of psychosis.A longitudinal nested case-control study was performed investigating the association of glucocorticosteroid (GCS) consumption with a new diagnosis of a psychotic disorder. Significantly reduced odds ratios of 0.52 (95% confidence interval, 0.36-0.75) were found for GCS in men only (odds ratio in women, 0.84 [95% confidence interval, 0.590-1.20]). Similar risk reductions were present for the inhaled and systemic GCSs. A dose-response relationship was present. Our finding of an inverse relation between GCS consumption and new psychotic episodes may promote further research into inflammation in schizophrenia.

Ammonia causes decreased brain monoamines in fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas)

Science.gov (United States)

Ronan, Patrick J.; Gaikowski, Mark P.; Hamilton, Steven J.; Buhl, Kevin J.; Summers, Cliff H.

2007-01-01

Hyperammonemia, arising from variety of disorders, leads to severe neurological dysfunction. The mechanisms of ammonia toxicity in brain are not completely understood. This study investigated the effects of ammonia on monoaminergic systems in brains of fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas). Fish serve as a good model system to investigate hyperammonemic effects on brain function since no liver manipulations are necessary to increase endogenous ammonia concentrations. Using high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection, monoamines and some associated metabolites were measured from whole brain homogenate. Adult males were exposed for 48 h to six different concentrations of ammonia (0.01–2.36 mg/l unionized) which bracketed the 96-h LC50 for this species. Ammonia concentration-dependent decreases were found for the catecholamines (norepinephrine and dopamine) and the indoleamine serotonin (5-HT). After an initial increase in the 5-HT precursor 5-hydroxytryptophan it too decreased with increasing ammonia concentrations. There were also significant increases in the 5-HIAA/5-HT and DOPAC/DA ratios, often used as measures of turnover. There were no changes in epinephrine (Epi) or monoamine catabolites (DOPAC, 5-HIAA) at any ammonia concentrations tested. Results suggest that ammonia causes decreased synthesis while also causing increased release and degradation. Increased release may underlie behavioral reactions to ammonia exposure in fish. This study adds weight to a growing body of evidence demonstrating that ammonia leads to dysfunctional monoaminergic systems in brain which may underlie neurological symptoms associated with human disorders such as hepatic encephalopathy.

Depression and Quality of Life in Relation to Decreased Glomerular Filtration Rate Among Adults with Hypertension in Rural Northeast China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaofan Guo

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Background/Aims: We aim to investigate the extent to which depression and quality of life might be associated with decreased glomerular filtration rate (GFR in a large hypertensive population in rural Northeast China. Methods: A total of 5566 hypertensive participants aged 35 years and older were screened with a stratified cluster multistage sampling scheme in rural areas of Liaoning Province during 2012-2013. Decreased GFR was defined as estimated GFR 2. Results: The overall prevalence of decreased GFR was 3.2%. In the multivariable regression model, participants with moderate or greater depression had a greater risk for having a decreased GFR (OR: 1.739, 95%CI: 1.004 to 3.014 after full adjustment. Every 1-point increase of all the domains in WHOQOL-BREF, except for physical and environment domains, was significantly related to a lower risk for decreased GFR adjusting for age, gender and race. However, after fully adjustment, only social relations remained significant (OR: 0.899, 95%CI: 0.820 to 0.985. Increasing in total scores of WHOQOL-BREF was a protective factor against decreased GFR after fully adjustment. Conclusion: We found that moderate or greater depression and lower quality of life were associated with higher risks for developing decreased GFR.

Placental oxidative stress and decreased global DNA methylation are corrected by copper in the Cohen diabetic rat

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ergaz, Zivanit, E-mail: zivanit@hadassah.org.il [Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem (Israel); Guillemin, Claire [Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montreal (Canada); Neeman-azulay, Meytal; Weinstein-Fudim, Liza [Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem (Israel); Stodgell, Christopher J.; Miller, Richard K. [Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Rochester, Rochester (United States); Szyf, Moshe [Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montreal (Canada); Ornoy, Asher [Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem (Israel)

2014-05-01

Fetal Growth Restriction (FGR) is a leading cause for long term morbidity. The Cohen diabetic sensitive rats (CDs), originating from Wistar, develop overt diabetes when fed high sucrose low copper diet (HSD) while the original outbred Sabra strain do not. HSD induced FGR and fetal oxidative stress, more prominent in the CDs, that was alleviated more effectively by copper than by the anti-oxidant vitamins C and E. Our aim was to evaluate the impact of copper or the anti-oxidant Tempol on placental size, protein content, oxidative stress, apoptosis and total DNA methylation. Animals were mated following one month of HSD or regular chow diet and supplemented throughout pregnancy with either 0, 1 or 2 ppm of copper sulfate or Tempol in their drinking water. Placental weight on the 21st day of pregnancy decreased in dams fed HSD and improved upon copper supplementation. Placental/fetal weight ratio increased among the CDs. Protein content decreased in Sabra but increased in CDs fed HSD. Oxidative stress biochemical markers improved upon copper supplementation; immunohistochemistry for oxidative stress markers was similar between strains and diets. Caspase 3 was positive in more placentae of dams fed HSD than those fed RD. Placental global DNA methylation was decreased only among the CDs dams fed HSD. We conclude that FGR in this model is associated with smaller placentae, reduced DNA placental methylation, and increased oxidative stress that normalized with copper supplementation. DNA hypomethylation makes our model a unique method for investigating genes associated with growth, oxidative stress, hypoxia and copper. - Highlights: • Sensitive Cohen diabetic rats (CDs) had small placentae and growth restricted fetuses. • CDs dams fed high sucrose low copper diet had placental global DNA hypomethylation. • Caspase 3 was positive in more placentae of dams fed HSD than those fed RD. • Oxidative stress parameters improved by Tempol and resolved by copper

Placental oxidative stress and decreased global DNA methylation are corrected by copper in the Cohen diabetic rat

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ergaz, Zivanit; Guillemin, Claire; Neeman-azulay, Meytal; Weinstein-Fudim, Liza; Stodgell, Christopher J.; Miller, Richard K.; Szyf, Moshe; Ornoy, Asher

2014-01-01

Fetal Growth Restriction (FGR) is a leading cause for long term morbidity. The Cohen diabetic sensitive rats (CDs), originating from Wistar, develop overt diabetes when fed high sucrose low copper diet (HSD) while the original outbred Sabra strain do not. HSD induced FGR and fetal oxidative stress, more prominent in the CDs, that was alleviated more effectively by copper than by the anti-oxidant vitamins C and E. Our aim was to evaluate the impact of copper or the anti-oxidant Tempol on placental size, protein content, oxidative stress, apoptosis and total DNA methylation. Animals were mated following one month of HSD or regular chow diet and supplemented throughout pregnancy with either 0, 1 or 2 ppm of copper sulfate or Tempol in their drinking water. Placental weight on the 21st day of pregnancy decreased in dams fed HSD and improved upon copper supplementation. Placental/fetal weight ratio increased among the CDs. Protein content decreased in Sabra but increased in CDs fed HSD. Oxidative stress biochemical markers improved upon copper supplementation; immunohistochemistry for oxidative stress markers was similar between strains and diets. Caspase 3 was positive in more placentae of dams fed HSD than those fed RD. Placental global DNA methylation was decreased only among the CDs dams fed HSD. We conclude that FGR in this model is associated with smaller placentae, reduced DNA placental methylation, and increased oxidative stress that normalized with copper supplementation. DNA hypomethylation makes our model a unique method for investigating genes associated with growth, oxidative stress, hypoxia and copper. - Highlights: • Sensitive Cohen diabetic rats (CDs) had small placentae and growth restricted fetuses. • CDs dams fed high sucrose low copper diet had placental global DNA hypomethylation. • Caspase 3 was positive in more placentae of dams fed HSD than those fed RD. • Oxidative stress parameters improved by Tempol and resolved by copper

Smaller scars--what is the big deal: a survey of the perceived value of laparoscopic pyloromyotomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Haricharan, Ramanath N; Aprahamian, Charles J; Morgan, Traci L; Harmon, Carroll M; Georgeson, Keith E; Barnhart, Douglas C

2008-01-01

Laparoscopic and open pyloromyotomies are equally safe and effective, with the principal benefit of laparoscopy being better cosmesis. The goal of this study was to measure the perceived value of laparoscopic pyloromyotomy. Four hundred sixteen subjects (177 college freshmen, 126 first-year medical students, and 101 parents) were asked to complete a questionnaire after photographs of mature pyloromyotomy (open and laparoscopic) scars were shown to them. To measure the perceived value, subjects' willingness to pay hypothetical additional out-of-pocket expenses for their preferred operation was assessed. Data were analyzed using Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test, t test and multivariable regression. Four hundred four surveys were complete. Overall, 74% preferred the appearance after laparoscopy. Eighty-eight percent would pay an additional out-of-pocket amount for their daughter and 85% for their son to have the cosmetic outcome after laparoscopy. Respondents were willing to pay more for their daughters (P < .0001) and sons (P < .0001) than themselves. As expected, income level (P < .0001) influenced the willingness to pay, whereas ethnicity, education, number of children, and sex did not. The cosmetic benefit of laparoscopic pyloromyotomy was valued by a wide demographic with 85% being willing to pay additional expenses for their children to have smaller scars.

Combining glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor gene delivery (AdGDNF) with L-arginine decreases contusion size but not behavioral deficits after traumatic brain injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Degeorge, M L; Marlowe, D; Werner, E; Soderstrom, K E; Stock, M; Mueller, A; Bohn, M C; Kozlowski, D A

2011-07-27

Our laboratory has previously demonstrated that viral administration of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (AdGDNF), one week prior to a controlled cortical impact (CCI) over the forelimb sensorimotor cortex of the rat (FL-SMC) is neuroprotective, but does not significantly enhance recovery of sensorimotor function. One possible explanation for this discrepancy is that although protected, neurons may not have been functional due to enduring metabolic deficiencies. Additionally, metabolic events following TBI may interfere with expression of therapeutic proteins administered to the injured brain via gene therapy. The current study focused on enhancing the metabolic function of the brain by increasing cerebral blood flow (CBF) with l-arginine in conjunction with administration of AdGDNF immediately following CCI. An adenoviral vector harboring human GDNF was injected unilaterally into FL-SMC of the rat immediately following a unilateral CCI over the FL-SMC. Within 30min of the CCI and AdGDNF injections, some animals were injected with l-arginine (i.v.). Tests of forelimb function and asymmetry were administered for 4weeks post-injury. Animals were sacrificed and contusion size and GDNF protein expression measured. This study demonstrated that rats treated with AdGDNF and l-arginine post-CCI had a significantly smaller contusion than injured rats who did not receive any treatment, or injured rats treated with either AdGDNF or l-arginine alone. Nevertheless, no amelioration of behavioral deficits was seen. These findings suggest that AdGDNF alone following a CCI was not therapeutic and although combining it with l-arginine decreased contusion size, it did not enhance behavioral recovery. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

On detection and assessment of statistical significance of Genomic Islands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chaudhuri Probal

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Many of the available methods for detecting Genomic Islands (GIs in prokaryotic genomes use markers such as transposons, proximal tRNAs, flanking repeats etc., or they use other supervised techniques requiring training datasets. Most of these methods are primarily based on the biases in GC content or codon and amino acid usage of the islands. However, these methods either do not use any formal statistical test of significance or use statistical tests for which the critical values and the P-values are not adequately justified. We propose a method, which is unsupervised in nature and uses Monte-Carlo statistical tests based on randomly selected segments of a chromosome. Such tests are supported by precise statistical distribution theory, and consequently, the resulting P-values are quite reliable for making the decision. Results Our algorithm (named Design-Island, an acronym for Detection of Statistically Significant Genomic Island runs in two phases. Some 'putative GIs' are identified in the first phase, and those are refined into smaller segments containing horizontally acquired genes in the refinement phase. This method is applied to Salmonella typhi CT18 genome leading to the discovery of several new pathogenicity, antibiotic resistance and metabolic islands that were missed by earlier methods. Many of these islands contain mobile genetic elements like phage-mediated genes, transposons, integrase and IS elements confirming their horizontal acquirement. Conclusion The proposed method is based on statistical tests supported by precise distribution theory and reliable P-values along with a technique for visualizing statistically significant islands. The performance of our method is better than many other well known methods in terms of their sensitivity and accuracy, and in terms of specificity, it is comparable to other methods.

Comparison of Optic Nerve Head Blood Flow Autoregulation among Quadrants Induced by Decreased Ocular Perfusion Pressure during Vitrectomy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ryuya Hashimoto

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The present study aimed to examine changes in optic nerve head (ONH blood flow autoregulation in 4 quadrants (superior, nasal, inferior, and temporal with decreased ocular perfusion pressure (OPP during vitrectomy in order to determine whether there is a significant difference of autoregulatory capacity in response to OPP decrease at each ONH quadrant. Methods. This study included 24 eyes with an epiretinal membrane or macular hole that underwent vitrectomy at Toho University Sakura Medical Center. Following vitrectomy, the tissue mean blur rate (MBR, which reflects ONH blood flow, was measured. Mean tissue MBRs in the four quadrants were generated automatically in the software analysis report. Measurements were conducted before and 5 and 10 min after intraocular pressure (IOP elevation of approximately 15 mmHg in the subjects without systemic disorders. Results. The baseline tissue MBR of the temporal quadrant was significantly lower than that of the other 3 quadrants (all P<0.05. However, the time courses of tissue MBR in response to OPP decrease were not significantly different among the four quadrants during vitrectomy (P=0.23. Conclusions. There is no significant difference in the autoregulatory capacity of the four ONH quadrants in patients without systemic disorders during vitrectomy.

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.

Hypoxia and loss of PHD2 inactivate stromal fibroblasts to decrease tumour stiffness and metastasis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Chris D; Pedersen, Jesper Thorhauge; Venning, Freja A

2015-01-01

, which can be prevented by simultaneous depletion of HIF-1α. Treatment with the PHD inhibitor DMOG in an orthotopic breast cancer model significantly decreases spontaneous metastases to the lungs and liver, associated with decreased tumour stiffness and fibroblast activation. PHD2 depletion in CAFs co......-injected with tumour cells similarly prevents CAF-induced metastasis to lungs and liver. Our data argue that reversion of CAFs towards a less active state is possible and could have important clinical implications....

Why droplet dimension can be larger than, equal to, or smaller than the nanowire dimension

Science.gov (United States)

Mohammad, S. Noor

2009-11-01

Droplets play central roles in the nanowire (NW) growth by vapor phase mechanisms. These mechanisms include vapor-liquid-solid (VLS), vapor-solid-solid or vapor-solid (VSS), vapor-quasisolid-solid or vapor-quasiliquid-solid (VQS), oxide-assisted growth (OAG), and self-catalytic growth (SCG) mechanisms. Fundamentals of the shape, size, characteristics, and dynamics of droplets and the impacts of them on the NW growth, have been studied. The influence of growth techniques, growth parameters (e.g., growth temperature, partial pressure, gas flow rates, etc.), thermodynamic conditions, surface and interface energy, molar volume, chemical potentials, etc. have been considered on the shapes and sizes of droplets. A model has been presented to explain why droplets can be larger than, equal to, or smaller than the associated NWs. Various growth techniques have been analyzed to understand defects created in NWs. Photoluminescence characteristics have been presented to quantify the roles of droplets in the creation of NW defects. The study highlights the importance of the purity of the droplet material. It attests to the superiority of the SCG mechanism, and clarifies the differences between the VSS, VQS, VLS, and SCG mechanisms. It explains why droplets produced by some mechanisms are visible but droplets produced by some other mechanisms are not visible. It elucidates the formation mechanisms of very large and very small droplets, and discusses the ground rules for droplets creating necked NWs. It puts forth reasons to demonstrate that very large droplets may not behave as droplets.

IRIS-50. A 50 MWe advanced PWR design for smaller, regional grids and specialized applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petrovic, Bojan; Carelli, Mario; Conway, Larry; Hundal, Rolv; Barbaso, Enrico; Gamba, Federica; Centofante, Mario

2009-01-01

IRIS is an advanced, medium-power (1000 MWt or ∼335 MWe) advanced PWR design of integral configuration, that has gained wide recognition due to its innovative 'safety-by-design' safety approach. In spite of its smaller size compared to large monolithic nuclear power plants, it is economically competitive due to its simplicity and advantages of modular deployment. However, the optimum power level for a class of specific applications (e.g., power generation in small regional isolated grids; water desalination and biodiesel production at remote locations; autonomous power source for special applications, etc.) may be even lower, of the order of tens rather than hundreds of MWe. The simple and robust IRIS 335 MWe design provides a solid basis for establishing a 20-100 MWe design, utilizing the same safety and economics principles, so that it will retain economic attractiveness compared to other alternatives of the same power level. A conceptual 50 MWe design, IRIS-50, was initially developed and then assessed in a 2001 report to the US Congress on small and medium reactors, as a design mature enough to have deployment potential within a decade. In the meantime, while the main efforts have focused on the 335 MWe design completion and licensing, parallel efforts have progressed toward the preliminary design of IRIS-50. This paper summarizes the main IRIS-50 features and presents an update on its design status. (author)

Intravenous Tranexamic Acid Decreases Allogeneic Transfusion Requirements in Periacetabular Osteotomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Bryan, Andrew J; Sanders, Thomas L; Trousdale, Robert T; Sierra, Rafael J

2016-01-01

Bernese (Ganz) periacetabular osteotomy is associated with significant blood loss and the need for perioperative transfusion. Tranexamic acid decreases blood loss and minimizes transfusion rates in total joint arthroplasty. However, no reports have described its use in patients undergoing Bernese periacetabular osteotomy. This study reports the use of intravenous tranexamic acid in these patients. The study included 137 patients (150 hips) who underwent isolated periacetabular osteotomy at a single institution between 2003 and 2014. Of these, 68 patients (75 hips) received intravenous tranexamic acid 1 g at the time of incision and 1 g at the time of closure. A group of 69 patients (75 hips) served as control subjects who underwent periacetabular osteotomy without administration of intravenous tranexamic acid. Thromboembolic disease was defined as deep venous thrombosis or pulmonary embolism occurring within 6 weeks of surgery. Outcomes measured included transfusion requirements, pre- and postoperative hemoglobin values, operative times, and thromboembolic disease rates. Aspirin was used as the thromboembolic prophylactic regimen in 95% of patients. The rate of allogeneic transfusion was 0 in the tranexamic acid group compared with 21% in the control group (P=.0001). No significant difference was found in the autologous cell salvage requirement (.96 vs 1.01; P=.43) or the thromboembolic disease rate between the tranexamic acid group and the control group (2.67% vs 1.33%; P=.31). The use of intravenous tranexamic acid led to a decreased transfusion requirement with no increased risk of thromboembolic disease in this contemporary cohort of patients undergoing periacetabular osteotomy. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.

Decrease in blood pressure, body mass index and glycemia after aerobic training in elderly women with type 2 diabetes.

Science.gov (United States)

Monteiro, Luciana Zaranza; Fiani, Cássio Ricardo Vaz; Freitas, Maria Cristina Foss de; Zanetti, Maria Lúcia; Foss, Milton César

2010-10-01

The aging process is associated with the development of several diseases, which can be attenuated by the practice of physical activities. Aerobic training is an effective method to maintain and improve cardiovascular function. Additionally, it has a crucial role in the prevention and treatment of several chronic-degenerative diseases, especially diabetes mellitus. } To verify the effect of a 13-week aerobic training program on blood pressure (BP), body mass index (BMI) and glycemia levels in elderly women with type-2 diabetes mellitus (DM2). Eleven sedentary elderly women with DM2, aged 61.0 ± 9.1 years, were submitted a 13-week aerobic training program, constituting group G2. Eleven controlled elderly women (aged 60.2 ± 6.8 years) were not submitted to the aerobic training, constituting the control group (G1). G1 attended educational lectures once a week, whereas G2 walked three times a week. Both groups presented a significant decrease in glycemia and diastolic blood pressure levels. No significant decreases in BMI were observed after the aerobic training in either group. The 13-week aerobic training program was enough to promote significant decrease in the diastolic blood pressure and glycemia levels; therefore, this type of exercise training decreases the risk factors for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.

Cryotherapy decreases synovial Doppler activity and pain in knee arthritis: A randomized-controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Guillot, Xavier; Tordi, Nicolas; Prati, Clément; Verhoeven, Frank; Pazart, Lionel; Wendling, Daniel

2017-07-01

To measure and compare the effects of 2 local cryotherapy techniques on synovial power Doppler activity (primary outcome) and pain in non-septic knee arthritis without any concurrent treatment. 30 patients were randomized (ice: 30min, n=15 or cold CO 2 : 2min, n=15 both applied twice at 8h interval). Contralateral non-treated arthritic knees were used as paired controls (n=11 and n=10 respectively). The PDUS semi-quantitative score (0-3) and pain visual analogic scale were evaluated before/after each cold application, 2min, 2h, 24h after the first application. PDUS scores were checked in double-blind by 2 ultrasonographists. The inter-class effect size of local cryotherapy on the power Doppler score remained significant the day after treatment in local cryotherapy-treated compared to contralateral non-treated knees (Global difference: -1 [95% confidence interval: -1.23; -0.77]; ice: -0.73 [-1.06; -0.4]; CO 2 : -0.7 [-1.18; -0.22]). Both techniques significantly and to the same extent reduced the power Doppler score and pain visual analogic scale at all evaluation times and globally throughout the 24 hour-study period. No dropout nor adverse event was reported. In multivariate analysis, the Power Doppler score decrease was associated with pain decrease, while pain decrease was associated with the female sex and ice technique. Local ice and cold CO 2 applied twice equally reduced synovial Power Doppler activity and pain over 24h in knee arthritis. These effects remained significant the day after treatment. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02573298. Copyright © 2016 Société française de rhumatologie. Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

Improving Providers' Role Definitions to Decrease Overcrowding and Improve In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Response.

Science.gov (United States)

Leary, Marion; Schweickert, William; Neefe, Stacie; Tsypenyuk, Boris; Falk, Scott Austin; Holena, Daniel N

2016-07-01

How nontechnical factors such as inadequate role definition and overcrowding affect outcomes of in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) is unknown. Using a bundled intervention, we sought to improve providers' role definitions and decrease overcrowding during IHCA events. To determine if a bundled intervention consisting of a nurse/physician leadership dyad, visual cues for provider roles, and a "role check" would lead to reductions in crowding and improve perceptions of communication and team leadership. Baseline data on the number and type of IHCA providers were collected. Providers were asked to complete a postevent survey rating communication and leadership. A bundled intervention was then introduced. Data were then obtained for the subsequent IHCA events. Twenty ICHA events were captured before and 34 after the intervention. The number of physicians present at pulse checks 2 (median [interquartile range]: 6 [5-8] before vs 5 [3-6] after, P = .02) and 3 (7 [5-9] vs 4 [4-5], P = .004) decreased significantly after the intervention. The overall number of providers at the third pulse check (18 [14-22] before vs 14 [12-16] after, P = .04) also decreased after the intervention. On a 10-point Likert scale, ratings of communication (8 [7-8]) and physician leadership (8 [7-9]) did not differ significantly from before to after the intervention. Both the physician leads (90%) and patients' primary nurses (97%) were able to identify clear nurse leaders. A bundled intervention targeted at improving IHCA response led to a decrease in overcrowding at ICHA events without substantial changes in the perceptions of communication or physician leadership. ©2016 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

Epidural morphine and detomidine decreases postoperative hindlimb lameness in horses after bilateral stifle arthroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Goodrich, Laurie R; Nixon, Alan J; Fubini, Susan L; Ducharme, Norm G; Fortier, Lisa A; Warnick, Lorin D; Ludders, John W

2002-01-01

To determine whether preoperative epidural administration of morphine and detomidine would decrease postoperative lameness after bilateral stifle arthroscopy in horses. Prospective clinical controlled study. Eight adult horses that had bilateral arthroscopic procedures, including drilling of cartilage and subchondral bone within the femoropatellar joints. Horses were randomly separated into 2 groups. Preoperatively, 4 horses were administered a combination of epidural morphine (0.2 mg/kg) and detomidine (30 microg/kg), and 4 horses were administered an equivalent volume of epidural saline (0.9% NaCl) solution. Postoperative pain was assessed using 6 video recordings made at hourly intervals of each horse at a walk. Assessments began 1 hour after recovery from anesthesia. The recordings were scrambled out of sequence and evaluated by 3 observers, unaware of treatment groups, who scored lameness from 0 to 4. Lameness scores of the 2 groups of horses were compared using a Wilcoxon's rank sum test. Heart and respiratory rates were also measured at each hourly interval and compared between groups using a repeated-measures ANOVA; statistical significance was set at P detomidine significantly decreased lameness and heart rates after bilateral stifle arthroscopy. The greatest decrease was detected at hours 1 and 2 after recovery from anesthesia. We conclude that horses undergoing a painful arthroscopic procedure of the stifle joint benefit from the administration of preoperative epidural morphine and detomidine. Preoperative epidural administration of detomidine and morphine may be useful in decreasing postoperative pain after stifle arthroscopy as well as pain associated with other painful disorders involving the stifle joint, such as septic arthritis and trauma. Copyright 2002 by The American College of Veterinary Surgeons

Evaluation of Bar and Nightclub Intervention to Decrease Young Adult Smoking in New Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalkhoran, Sara; Lisha, Nadra E; Neilands, Torsten B; Jordan, Jeffrey W; Ling, Pamela M

2016-08-01

Over 20% of young adults in New Mexico currently smoke. We evaluated cigarette smoking prevalence of young adult bar patrons during an anti-tobacco Social Branding intervention. The Social Branding intervention used a smoke-free brand, "HAVOC," to compete with tobacco marketing within the "Partier" young adult peer crowd. A series of cross-sectional surveys were collected from adults aged 18-26 in bars and nightclubs in Albuquerque, New Mexico, from 2009 to 2013 using randomized time-location sampling. Multivariable multinomial regression using full information maximum likelihood estimation to account for missing data evaluated differences in daily and nondaily smoking during the intervention, controlling for demographics, other risk behaviors, and tobacco-related attitudes. Data were collected from 1,069 individuals at Time 1, and 720, 1,142, and 1,149 participants at Times 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Current smoking rates decreased from 47.5% at Time 1 to 37.5% at Time 4 (p < .001). Among Partiers, the odds of daily smoking decreased significantly, but nondaily smoking was unchanged. Partiers that recalled, liked, and understood the smoke-free message of HAVOC had lower odds of nondaily (odds ratio: .48, 95% CI: .31-.75) and daily (odds ratio: .31, 95% CI: .14-.68) smoking than those who did not recall HAVOC. HAVOC recall was associated with attitudes that were also associated with smoking behavior. The significant decrease in daily smoking among young adult Partiers in New Mexico was associated with HAVOC recall and understanding. Social Branding interventions efficiently target and may decrease tobacco use among young adult bar patrons. Copyright © 2016 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hypoglycemia-Induced Decrease of EEG Coherence in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rubega, Maria; Sparacino, Giovanni; Sejling, A. S.

2016-01-01

investigated. The aim of the present work is to use a coherence approach to quantitatively assess how hypoglycemia affects mutual connectivity of different brain areas. MATERIALS AND METHODS: EEG multichannel data were obtained from 19 patients with T1D (58% males; mean age, 55 ± 2.4 years; diabetes duration......: In passing from eu- to hypoglycemia, absolute values of the iPDC function tend to decrease in both bands in all combinations of the considered channels. In particular, the scalar indicator [Formula: see text], which summarizes iPDC information, significantly decreased (P ...-A1A2 to C3-A1A2 from O1-A1A2 to C4-A1A2 and from O2-A1A2 to Cz-A1A2 in the theta band and from O1-A1A2 to T4-A1A2 and from O1-A1A2 to C4-A1A2 in the alpha band. CONCLUSIONS: The coherence decrease measured by iPDC in passing from eu- to hypoglycemia is likely related to the progressive loss...

Decreased Lumbar Lordosis and Deficient Acetabular Coverage Are Risk Factors for Subchondral Insufficiency Fracture.

Science.gov (United States)

Jo, Woo Lam; Lee, Woo Suk; Chae, Dong Sik; Yang, Ick Hwan; Lee, Kyoung Min; Koo, Kyung Hoi

2016-10-01

Subchondral insufficiency fracture (SIF) of the femoral head occurs in the elderly and recipients of organ transplantation. Osteoporosis and deficient lateral coverage of the acetabulum are known risk factors for SIF. There has been no study about relation between spinopelvic alignment and anterior acetabular coverage with SIF. We therefore asked whether a decrease of lumbar lordosis and a deficiency in the anterior acetabular coverage are risk factors. We investigated 37 patients with SIF. There were 33 women and 4 men, and their mean age was 71.5 years (59-85 years). These 37 patients were matched with 37 controls for gender, age, height, weight, body mass index and bone mineral density. We compared the lumbar lordosis, pelvic incidence, pelvic tilt, sacral slope, acetabular index, acetabular roof angle, acetabular head index, anterior center-edge angle and lateral center-edge angle. Lumbar lordosis, pelvic tilt, sacral slope, lateral center edge angle, anterior center edge angle, acetabular index and acetabular head index were significantly different between SIF group and control group. Lumbar lordosis (OR = 1.11), lateral center edge angle (OR = 1.30) and anterior center edge angle (OR = 1.27) had significant associations in multivariate analysis. Decreased lumbar lordosis and deficient anterior coverage of the acetabulum are risk factors for SIF as well as decreased lateral coverage of the acetabulum.

Blue lighting decreases the amount of food consumed in men, but not in women.

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Sungeun; Han, Ashley; Taylor, Michael H; Huck, Alexandria C; Mishler, Amanda M; Mattal, Kyle L; Barker, Caleb A; Seo, Han-Seok

2015-02-01

Previous research has demonstrated that colors of lighting can modulate participants' motivation to consume the food placed under the lighting. This study was designed to determine whether the colors of lighting can affect the amount of food consumed, in addition to sensory perception of the food. The influence of lighting color was also compared between men and women. One-hundred twelve participants (62 men and 50 women) were asked to consume a breakfast meal (omelets and mini-pancakes) under one of three different lighting colors: white, yellow, and blue. During the test, hedonic impression of the food's appearance, willingness to eat, overall flavor intensity and overall impression of the food, and meal size (i.e., the amount of food consumed) were measured. Blue lighting decreased the hedonic impression of the food's appearance, but not the willingness to eat, compared to yellow and white lighting conditions. The blue lighting significantly decreased the amount consumed in men, but not in women, compared to yellow and white lighting conditions. Overall flavor intensity and overall impression of the food were not significantly different among the three lighting colors. In conclusion, this study provides empirical evidence that the color of lighting can modulate the meal size. In particular, blue lighting can decrease the amount of food eaten in men without reducing their acceptability of the food. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Hyper-arousal decreases human visual thresholds.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adam J Woods

Full Text Available Arousal has long been known to influence behavior and serves as an underlying component of cognition and consciousness. However, the consequences of hyper-arousal for visual perception remain unclear. The present study evaluates the impact of hyper-arousal on two aspects of visual sensitivity: visual stereoacuity and contrast thresholds. Sixty-eight participants participated in two experiments. Thirty-four participants were randomly divided into two groups in each experiment: Arousal Stimulation or Sham Control. The Arousal Stimulation group underwent a 50-second cold pressor stimulation (immersing the foot in 0-2° C water, a technique known to increase arousal. In contrast, the Sham Control group immersed their foot in room temperature water. Stereoacuity thresholds (Experiment 1 and contrast thresholds (Experiment 2 were measured before and after stimulation. The Arousal Stimulation groups demonstrated significantly lower stereoacuity and contrast thresholds following cold pressor stimulation, whereas the Sham Control groups showed no difference in thresholds. These results provide the first evidence that hyper-arousal from sensory stimulation can lower visual thresholds. Hyper-arousal's ability to decrease visual thresholds has important implications for survival, sports, and everyday life.

Selenium Supplementation does not Decrease Thyroid Peroxidase Antibody Concentration in Children and Adolescents with Autoimmune Thyroiditis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. Bonfig

2010-01-01

Full Text Available In adults, selenium supplementation decreases thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO Ab concentrations in patients with autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT. Our aim in this study was to investigate if selenium supplementation decreased TPO Ab and thyroglobulin antibody (Tg Ab concentrations in children with AIT. Forty-nine patients (33 females with newly diagnosed AIT and hypothyroidism were randomized to daily oral therapy with levothyroxine alone (group A, n = 18, levothyroxine plus 100 µg sodium-selenite (group B, n = 13, or levothyroxine plus 200 µg sodium-selenite (group C, n = 18. Mean age at diagnosis was 12.2 ± 2.2 years. All 49 patients needed a mean levothyroxine dose of 1.6 ± 0.5 µg/kg body weight to lower TSH to the treatment goal of 1–2 µU/ml, with no significant difference between groups. At study entry and after 12 months, TPO Ab concentrations were comparable in all three groups. Tg Ab concentrations decreased significantly after 12 months in group A and group C (p = 0.03 and p = 0.01, but not in group B (p = 0.06. It is our conclusion that selenium supplementation with sodium-selenite does not decrease TPO Ab concentrations in children and adolescents, neither given in the reduced dose of 100 µg daily nor given in the “adult” supplementation dose of 200 µg daily.

Alcohol consumption decreases the protection efficiency of the antioxidant network and increases the risk of sunburn in human skin.

Science.gov (United States)

Darvin, M E; Sterry, W; Lademann, J; Patzelt, A

2013-01-01

In recent years, epidemiological data has demonstrated that alcohol consumption is a risk factor for sunburn, melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer. We hypothesized that if the concentration of the antioxidants in the skin has already decreased due to alcohol consumption, then an adequate neutralization of the free radicals induced by ultraviolet light cannot be performed. Based on this hypothesis, we determined the carotenoid concentration in the skin and the minimal erythema dose (MED) of 6 male human volunteers before and after consumption of alcohol or alcohol and orange juice combined. The results showed a significant decrease in the carotenoid concentration in the skin and the MED after alcohol consumption, but no significant decrease after a combined intake of alcohol and orange juice. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Decrease in effective electron mobility in the channel of a metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor as the gate length is decreased

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frantsuzov, A. A.; Boyarkina, N. I.; Popov, V. P.

2008-01-01

Effective electron mobility μ eff in channels of metal-oxide-semiconductor transistors with a gate length L in the range of 3.8 to 0.34 μm was measured; the transistors were formed on wafers of the silicon-oninsulator type. It was found that μ eff decreases as L is decreased. It is shown that this decrease can be accounted for by the effect of series resistances of the source and drain only if it is assumed that there is a rapid increase in these resistances as the gate voltage is decreased. This assumption is difficult to substantiate. A more realistic model is suggested; this model accounts for the observed decrease in μ eff as L is decreased. The model implies that zones with a mobility lower than that in the middle part of the channel originate at the edges of the gate. An analysis shows that, in this case, the plot of the dependence of 1/μ eff on 1/L should be linear, which is exactly what is observed experimentally. The use of this plot makes it possible to determine both the electron mobility μ 0 in the middle part of the channel and the quantity A that characterizes the zones with lowered mobility at the gate’s edges.

Community-based primary prevention programs decrease the rate of metabolic syndrome among socioeconomically disadvantaged women.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilstrap, Lauren Gray; Malhotra, Rajeev; Peltier-Saxe, Donna; Slicas, Donna; Pineda, Eliana; Culhane-Hermann, Catherine; Cook, Nakela; Fernandez-Golarz, Carina; Wood, Malissa

2013-04-01

Metabolic Syndrome (MetSyn) is one of the strongest predictors of type 2 diabetes (DM2) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). It is associated with a 4- to 10-fold increased risk of DM2 and a 2- to 3-fold increased risk of CVD. Low income and minority women have some of the highest rates of MetSyn. This study examines the effect of a unique, community based, primary prevention program on the rates of MetSyn and health habits. Sixty-four low income and minority women were enrolled in the HAPPY (Health Awareness and Primary Prevention in Your neighborhood) Heart Program in an eastern suburb of Boston. Over these 2 years, patients were evaluated by an interdisciplinary medical team: their primary physician, cardiologist, nutritionist, physical therapist, and health coach. The rate of MetSyn was measured at baseline, year 1, and year 2. Comparisons were made either using the paired t test for normally distributed variables or the Wilcoxon Sign test for non-normal variables. The rate of MetSyn fell from 64.7% at baseline to 34.9% at year 1 (p=0.01) and 28.2% at year 2 (p<0.001). This was driven by increases in high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C) (p<0.001) and decreases in blood pressure (p=0.05). Fasting blood glucose trended down, but the hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) reached significance (decreasing from 6 to 5.8, p<0.01). Nutrition and exercise habits trended toward improvement. There were significant decreases in anxiety (p<0.001), depression (p=0.006) and stress (p=0.002). This lifestyle intervention program is effective at decreasing MetSyn in a socioeconomically disadvantaged, largely minority, female population. This program also decreases anxiety, stress, and depression among participants.

Aerobic Swim Training Restores Aortic Endothelial Function by Decreasing Superoxide Levels in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

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Camila P. Jordão

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine whether aerobic training decreases superoxide levels, increases nitric oxide levels, and improves endothelium-dependent vasodilation in the aortas of spontaneously hypertensive rats. METHODS: Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR and Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY were distributed into 2 groups: sedentary (SHRsd and WKYsd, n=10 each and swimming-trained (SHRtr, n=10 and WKYtr, n=10, respectively. The trained group participated in training sessions 5 days/week for 1 h/day with an additional work load of 4% of the animal’s body weight. After a 10-week sedentary or aerobic training period, the rats were euthanized. The thoracic aortas were removed to evaluate the vasodilator response to acetylcholine (10-10 to 10-4 M with or without preincubation with L-NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester hydrochloride (L-NAME; 10-4 M in vitro. The aortic tissue was also used to assess the levels of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide oxidase subunit isoforms 1 and 4 proteins, as well as the superoxide and nitrite contents. Blood pressure was measured using a computerized tail-cuff system. RESULTS: Aerobic training significantly increased the acetylcholine-induced maximum vasodilation observed in the SHRtr group compared with the SHRsd group (85.9±4.3 vs. 71.6±5.2%. Additionally, in the SHRtr group, superoxide levels were significantly decreased, nitric oxide bioavailability was improved, and the levels of the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide oxidase subunit isoform 4 protein were decreased compared to the SHRsd group. Moreover, after training, the blood pressure of the SHRtr group decreased compared to the SHRsd group. Exercise training had no effect on the blood pressure of the WKYtr group. CONCLUSIONS: In SHR, aerobic swim training decreased vascular superoxide generation by nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide oxidase subunit isoform 4 and increased nitric oxide bioavailability, thereby improving

Silicon Decreases Dimethylarsinic Acid Concentration in Rice Grain and Mitigates Straighthead Disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Limmer, Matthew Alan; Wise, Patrick; Dykes, Gretchen E; Seyfferth, Angelia L

2018-04-17

While root Si transporters play a role in the uptake of arsenite and organic As species dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) and monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) in rice ( Oryza sativa L.), the impact of Si addition on the accumulation of DMA and MMA in reproductive tissues has not been directly evaluated, particularly in isolation from inorganic As species. Furthermore, DMA and MMA are suspected causal agents of straighthead disorder. We performed a hydroponic study to disentangle the impact of Si on accumulation of DMA and MMA in rice grain. At 5 μM, MMA was toxic to rice, regardless of Si addition, although Si significantly decreased root MMA concentrations. Plants dosed with 5 μM DMA grew well vegetatively but exhibited straighthead disorder at the lowest Si dose, and this DMA-induced yield loss reversed with increasing solution Si. Increasing Si also significantly decreased DMA concentrations in roots, straw, husk, and grain, particularly in mature plants. Si restricted grain DMA through competition for root uptake and downregulation of root Si transporters particularly at later stages of growth when Si uptake was greatest. Our finding that DMA causes straighthead disorder under low Si availability but not under high Si availability suggests Si as a straighthead management strategy.

Mastery Learning and the Decreasing Variability Hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Livingston, Jennifer A.; Gentile, J. Ronald

1996-01-01

This report results from studies that tested two variations of Bloom's decreasing variability hypothesis using performance on successive units of achievement in four graduate classrooms that used mastery learning procedures. Data do not support the decreasing variability hypothesis; rather, they show no change over time. (SM)

Investigation of distributor vane jets to decrease the unsteady load on hydro turbine runner blades

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, B. J.; Cimbala, J. M.; Wouden, A. M.

2012-11-01

As the runner blades of a Francis hydroturbine pass though the wakes created from the wicket gates, they experience a significant change in absolute velocity, flow angle, and pressure. The concept of adding jets to the trailing edge of the wicket gates is proposed as a method for reducing the dynamic load on the hydroturbine runner blades. Computational experiments show a decrease in velocity variation experienced by the runner blade with the addition of the jets. The decrease in velocity variation resulted in a 43% decrease in global torque variation at the runner passing frequency. However, an increased variation was observed at the wicket gate passing frequency. Also, a 5.7% increase in average global torque was observed with the addition of blowing from the trailing-edge of the wicket gates.

Investigation of distributor vane jets to decrease the unsteady load on hydro turbine runner blades

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewis, B J; Cimbala, J M; Wouden, A M

2012-01-01

As the runner blades of a Francis hydroturbine pass though the wakes created from the wicket gates, they experience a significant change in absolute velocity, flow angle, and pressure. The concept of adding jets to the trailing edge of the wicket gates is proposed as a method for reducing the dynamic load on the hydroturbine runner blades. Computational experiments show a decrease in velocity variation experienced by the runner blade with the addition of the jets. The decrease in velocity variation resulted in a 43% decrease in global torque variation at the runner passing frequency. However, an increased variation was observed at the wicket gate passing frequency. Also, a 5.7% increase in average global torque was observed with the addition of blowing from the trailing-edge of the wicket gates.

Preliminary Evidence That Yoga Practice Progressively Improves Mood and Decreases Stress in a Sample of UK Prisoners

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Amy C. Bilderbeck

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Objectives. In the first randomized controlled trial of yoga on UK prisoners, we previously showed that yoga practice was associated with improved mental wellbeing and cognition. Here, we aimed to assess how class attendance, self-practice, and demographic factors were related to outcome amongst prisoners enrolled in the 10-week yoga intervention. Methods. The data of 55 participants (52 male, 3 female who completed a 10-week yoga course were analysed. Changes in pre- and postyoga measures of affect, perceived stress, and psychological symptoms were entered into linear regression analyses with bias-corrected and accelerated bootstrap confidence intervals. Class attendance, self-practice, demographic variables, and baseline psychometric variables were included as regressors. Results. Participants who attended more yoga classes and those who engaged in frequent (5 times or more self-practice reported significantly greater decreases in perceived stress. Decreases in negative affect were also significantly related to high frequency self-practice and greater class attendance at a near-significant level. Age was positively correlated with yoga class attendance, and higher levels of education were associated with greater decreases in negative affect. Conclusions. Our results suggest that there may be progressive beneficial effects of yoga within prison populations and point to subpopulations who may benefit the most from this practice.

Low FEV1, smoking history, and obesity are factors associated with oxygen saturation decrease in an adult population cohort

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Vold ML

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Monica Linea Vold,1,3 Ulf Aasebø,1,2 Hasse Melbye3 1Department of Respiratory Medicine, University Hospital of North Norway, 2Department of Clinical Medicine, 3Department of Community Medicine, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway Background: Worsening of pulmonary diseases is associated with a decrease in oxygen saturation (SpO2. Such a decrease in SpO2 and associated factors has not been previously evaluated in a general adult population. Aim: We sought to describe SpO2 in a sample of adults, at baseline and after 6.3 years, to determine whether factors predicting low SpO2 in a cross-sectional study were also associated with a decrease in SpO2 in this cohort. Methods: As part of the Tromsø Study, 2,822 participants were examined with pulse oximetry in Tromsø 5 (2001/2002 and Tromsø 6 (2007/2008. Low SpO2 by pulse oximetry was defined as an SpO2 ≤95%, and SpO2 decrease was defined as a ≥2% decrease from baseline to below 96%. Results: A total of 139 (4.9% subjects had a decrease in SpO2. Forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1 <50% of the predicted value and current smoking with a history of ≥10 pack-years were the baseline characteristics most strongly associated with an SpO2 decrease in multivariable logistic regression (odds ratio 3.55 [95% confidence interval (CI 1.60–7.89] and 2.48 [95% CI 1.48–4.15], respectively. Male sex, age, former smoking with a history of ≥10 pack-years, body mass index ≥30 kg/m2, and C-reactive protein ≥5 mg/L were also significantly associated with an SpO2 decrease. A significant decrease in FEV1 and a new diagnosis of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease during the observation period most strongly predicted a fall in SpO2. A lower SpO2 decrease was observed in those who quit smoking and those who lost weight, but these tendencies were not statistically significant. Conclusion: A decrease in SpO2 was most strongly associated with severe airflow limitation and a history of