In Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction, the Impact of Hyperglycemia as a Risk Factor for Mortality Is Not Homogeneous Across Age-Groups

OBJECTIVE To assess the impact of hyperglycemia in different age-groups of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AM I). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A total of 2,027 patients with AMI were categorized into one of five age-groups: <50 years (n = 301), >= 50 and <60 (n = 477),>= 60 and <70 (n = 545), >= 70 and <80 (n = 495), and years (n = 209). Hyperglycemia was defined as initial glucose >= 115 mg/dL. RESULTS The adjusted odds ratios for hyperglycemia predicting hospital mortality in groups 1-5 were, respectively, 7.57 (P = 0.004), 3.21 (P 0.046), 3.50 (P = 0.003), 3.20 (P < 0.001.), and 2.16 (P = 0.021). The adjusted P values for correlation between glucose level (as a continuous variable) and mortality were 0.007, <0.001, 0.043, <0.001, and 0.064. The areas under the ROC curves (AUCs) were 0.785, 0.709, 0.657, 0.648, and 0.613. The AUC in group 1 was significantly higher than those in groups 3-5. CONCLUSIONS The impact of hyperglycemia as a risk factor for hospital mortality in AMI is more pronounced in younger patients.

First report on the kinetics of the uncatalyzed esterification of cellulose under homogeneous reaction conditions: a rationale for the effect of carboxylic acid anhydride chain-length on the degree of biopolymer substitution

The kinetics of the homogeneous acylation of microcrystalline cellulose, MCC, with carboxylic acid anhydrides with different acyl chain-length (Nc; ethanoic to hexanoic) in LiCl/N,N-dimethylacetamide have been studied by conductivity measurements from 65 to 85 A degrees C. We have employed cyclohexylmethanol, CHM, and trans-1,2-cyclohexanediol, CHD, as model compounds for the hydroxyl groups of the anhydroglucose unit of cellulose. The ratios of rate constants of acylation of primary (CHM; Prim-OH) and secondary (CHD; Sec-OH) groups have been employed, after correction, in order to split the overall rate constants of the reaction of MCC into contributions from the discrete OH groups. For the model compounds, we have found that k((Prim-OH))/k((Sec-OH)) > 1, akin to reactions of cellulose under heterogeneous conditions; this ratio increases as a function of increasing Nc. The overall, and partial rate constants of the acylation of MCC decrease from ethanoic- to butanoic-anhydride and then increase for pentanoic- and hexanoic anhydride, due to subtle changes in- and compensations of the enthalpy and entropy of activation.

On the Milnor fibre and L numbers of semi-weighted homogeneous arrangements

Inthispaperwestudygermsofpolynomialsformedbytheproductofsemi-weighted homogeneous polynomials of the same type, which we call semi-weighted homogeneous arrangements. It is shown how the L numbers of such polynomials are computed using only their weights and degree of homogeneity. A key point of the main theorem is to find the number called polar ratio of this polynomial class. An important consequence is the description of the Euler characteristic of the Milnor fibre of such arrangements only depending on their weights and degree of homogeneity. The constancy of the L numbers in families formed by such arrangements is shown, with the deformed terms having weighted degree greater than the weighted degree of the initial germ. Moreover, using the results of Massey applied to families of function germs, we obtain the constancy of the homology of the Milnor fibre in this family of semi-weighted homogeneous arrangements.

Further results in J and CTOD estimation procedures for SE(T) fracture specimens - Part I: Homogeneous materials

This study provides further developments of the evaluation procedure for J and CTOD in SE(T) fracture specimens based on plastic eta-factors and load separation analysis. Non-linear finite element analyses for plane-strain and 3-D models provide the relationship between plastic work and crack driving forces which define the eta-values. Further analyses based on the load separation method define alternative eta-values for the analyzed specimen configurations. Overall, the present results provide improved estimation equations for J and CTOD as a function of loading condition (pin load vs. clamp ends), crack geometry and strain hardening properties. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Homogeneous structures and rigidity of isoparametric submanifolds in Hilbert space

We study isoparametric submanifolds of rank at least two in a separable Hilbert space, which are known to be homogeneous by the main result in [E. Heintze and X. Liu, Ann. of Math. (2), 149 (1999), 149-181], and with such a submanifold M and a point x in M we associate a canonical homogeneous structure I" (x) (a certain bilinear map defined on a subspace of T (x) M x T (x) M). We prove that I" (x) , together with the second fundamental form alpha (x) , encodes all the information about M, and we deduce from this the rigidity result that M is completely determined by alpha (x) and (Delta alpha) (x) , thereby making such submanifolds accessible to classification. As an essential step, we show that the one-parameter groups of isometries constructed in [E. Heintze and X. Liu, Ann. of Math. (2), 149 (1999), 149-181] to prove their homogeneity induce smooth and hence everywhere defined Killing fields, implying the continuity of I" (this result also seems to close a gap in [U. Christ, J. Differential Geom., 62 (2002), 1-15]). Here an important tool is the introduction of affine root systems of isoparametric submanifolds.

Identification and characterization of drought/wet events homogeneous environments based on regional climate simulations

The objective of this study was to identify and characterize homogeneous environments based on the probability of drought/wet occurrence in the central-northern Brazil, considering Rondonia, Mato Grosso, Goias and Tocantins States. The drought index denominated the moisture anomaly Z-index (Z-index) was used. The input climate data for the drought index was generated by the regional climate model RegCM3 for the period from 1975 to 1989. As result of cluster analysis, it was identified 13 homogeneous environments. These environments were characterized based on the probability of drought/wet, relative density of drought/wet occurrence, annual rainfall variability and probability of drought occurrence during the rainy season (October to March). The Mato Grosso State had the highest number of homogeneous environments and the environment 11, located at southwest of this State had the highest probability of drought occurrence, 9%. The environment 10, located at the extreme east of Goias State, showed the lowest median for the total annual rainfall. The climatic event with the highest probability of occurrence in the study area is close to normal or normality moisture.

EQUIVALENCE OF REAL MILNOR FIBRATIONS FOR QUASI-HOMOGENEOUS SINGULARITIES

We show that for real quasi-homogeneous singularities f : (R-m, 0) -> (R-2, 0) with isolated singular point at the origin, the projection map of the Milnor fibration S-epsilon(m-1) \ K-epsilon -> S-1 is given by f/parallel to f parallel to. Moreover, for these singularities the two versions of the Milnor fibration, on the sphere and on a Milnor tube, are equivalent. In order to prove this, we show that the flow of the Euler vector field plays and important role. In addition, we present, in an easy way, a characterization of the critical points of the projection (f/parallel to f parallel to) : S-epsilon(m-1) \ K-epsilon -> S-1.

Homogeneous metallicities and radial velocities for Galactic globular clusters

Well determined radial velocities and abundances are essential for analyzing the properties of the globular cluster system of the Milky Way. However more than 50% of these clusters have no spectroscopic measure of their metallicity. In this context, this work provides new radial velocities and abundances for twenty Milky Way globular clusters which lack or have poorly known values for these quantities. The radial velocities and abundances are derived from spectra obtained at the Ca II triplet using the FORS2 imager and spectrograph at the VLT, calibrated with spectra of red giants in a number of clusters with well determined abundances. For about half of the clusters in our sample we present significant revisions of the existing velocities or abundances, or both. We also confirm the existence of a sizable abundance spread in the globular cluster M 54, which lies at the center of the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy. In addition evidence is provided for the existence of a small intrinsic internal abundance spread (sigma[Fe/H](int) approximate to 0.11-0.14 dex, similar to that of M 54) in the luminous distant globular cluster NGC 5824. This cluster thus joins the small number of Galactic globular clusters known to possess internal metallicity ([Fe/H]) spreads.

RNA extraction from ten year old formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded breast cancer samples: a comparison of column purification and magnetic bead-based technologies

Abstract Background The development of protocols for RNA extraction from paraffin-embedded samples facilitates gene expression studies on archival samples with known clinical outcome. Older samples are particularly valuable because they are associated with longer clinical follow up. RNA extracted from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue is problematic due to chemical modifications and continued degradation over time. We compared quantity and quality of RNA extracted by four different protocols from 14 ten year old and 14 recently archived (three to ten months old) FFPE breast cancer tissues. Using three spin column purification-based protocols and one magnetic bead-based protocol, total RNA was extracted in triplicate, generating 336 RNA extraction experiments. RNA fragment size was assayed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for the housekeeping gene glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), testing primer sets designed to target RNA fragment sizes of 67 bp, 151 bp, and 242 bp. Results Biologically useful RNA (minimum RNA integrity number, RIN, 1.4) was extracted in at least one of three attempts of each protocol in 86–100% of older and 100% of recently archived ("months old") samples. Short RNA fragments up to 151 bp were assayable by RT-PCR for G6PD in all ten year old and months old tissues tested, but none of the ten year old and only 43% of months old samples showed amplification if the targeted fragment was 242 bp. Conclusion All protocols extracted RNA from ten year old FFPE samples with a minimum RIN of 1.4. Gene expression of G6PD could be measured in all samples, old and recent, using RT-PCR primers designed for RNA fragments up to 151 bp. RNA quality from ten year old FFPE samples was similar to that extracted from months old samples, but quantity and success rate were generally higher for the months old group. We preferred the magnetic bead-based protocol because of its speed and higher quantity of extracted RNA, although it produced similar quality RNA to other protocols. If a chosen protocol fails to extract biologically useful RNA from a given sample in a first attempt, another attempt and then another protocol should be tried before excluding the case from molecular analysis.

Figures of equilibrium for tidally deformed non-homogeneous celestial bodies

Abstract (2,250 Maximum Characters): Several theories of tidal evolution, since the theory developed by Darwin in the XIX century, are based on the figure of equilibrium of the tidally deformed body. Frequently the adopted figure is a Jeans prolate spheroid. In some case, however, the rotation is important and Roche ellipsoids are used. The main limitations of these models are (a) they refer to homogeneous bodies; (b) the rotation axis is perpendicular to the plane of the orbit. This communication aims at presenting several results in which these hypotheses are not done. In what concerns the non-homogeneity, the presented results concerns initially bodies formed by N homogeneous layers and we study the non sphericity of each layer and relate them to the density distribution. The result is similar to the Clairaut figure of equilibrium, often used in planetary sciences, but taking into full account the tidal deformation. The case of the rotation axis non perpendicular to the orbital plane is much more complex and the study has been restricted for the moment to the case of homogeneous bodies.