Growth standards of patients with Noonan and Noonan-like syndromes with mutations in the RAS/MAPK pathway

Noonan syndrome (NS) and Noonan-like syndromes (NLS) are autosomal dominant disorders caused by heterozygous mutations in genes of the RAS/MAPK pathway. The aim of the study was to construct specific growth charts for patients with NS and NLS. Anthropometric measurements (mean of 4.3 measurements per patient) were obtained in a mixed cross-sectional and longitudinal mode from 127 NS and 10 NLS patients with mutations identified in PTPN11 (n?=?90), SOS1 (n?=?14), RAF1 (n?=?10), KRAS (n?=?8), BRAF (n?=?11), and SHOC2 (n?=?4) genes. Height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) references were constructed using the lambda, mu, sigma (LMS) method. Patients had birth weight and length within normal ranges for gestational age although a higher preterm frequency (16%) was observed. Mean final heights were 157.4?cm [-2.4 standard deviation score (SDS)] and 148.4?cm (-2.2?SDS) for adult males and females, respectively. BMI SDS was lower when compared to Brazilian standards (BMI SDS of -0.9 and -0.5 SDS for males and females, respectively). Patients harboring mutations in RAF1 and SHOC2 gene were shorter than other genotypes, whereas patients with SOS1 and BRAF mutations had more preserved postnatal growth. In addition, patients with RAF1 and BRAF had the highest BMI whereas patients with SHOC2 and KRAS mutations had the lowest BMI. The present study established the first height, weight, and BMI reference curves for NS and NLS patients, based only on patients with a proven molecular cause. These charts can be useful for the clinical follow-up of patients with NS and NLS. (c) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A SIMPLIFIED MODEL FOR EVALUATING TIRE WEAR DURING CONCEPTUAL DESIGN

In the field of vehicle dynamics, commercial software can aid the designer during the conceptual and detailed design phases. Simulations using these tools can quickly provide specific design metrics, such as yaw and lateral velocity, for standard maneuvers. However, it remains challenging to correlate these metrics with empirical quantities that depend on many external parameters and design specifications. This scenario is the case with tire wear, which depends on the frictional work developed by the tire-road contact. In this study, an approach is proposed to estimate the tire-road friction during steady-state longitudinal and cornering maneuvers. Using this approach, a qualitative formula for tire wear evaluation is developed, and conceptual design analyses of cornering maneuvers are performed using simplified vehicle models. The influence of some design parameters such as cornering stiffness, the distance between the axles, and the steer angle ratio between the steering axles for vehicles with two steering axles is evaluated. The proposed methodology allows the designer to predict tire wear using simplified vehicle models during the conceptual design phase.

Toward Global Standards for Comparator Pharmaceutical Products: Case Studies of Amoxicillin, Metronidazole, and Zidovudine in the Americas

This study compared in vitro dissolution characteristics and other quality measures of different amoxicillin, metronidazole, and zidovudine products purchased in the Americas to a comparator pharmaceutical product (CPP). These three drugs are classified as Biopharmaceutics Classification System Class I drugs with the possibility that dissolution findings might be used to document bioequivalence. All investigated zidovudine products were found to be in vitro equivalent to the CPP. Only 3 of 12 tested amoxicillin products were found to be in vitro equivalent to the CPP. None of the tested metronidazole products were in vitro equivalent to the CPP. These findings suggest but do not confirm bioinequivalence where in vitro comparisons failed, given that an in vivo blood level study might have confirmed bioequivalence. At times, identifying a CPP in one of the selected markets proved difficult. The study demonstrates that products sold across national markets may not be bioequivalent. When coupled with the challenge of identifying a CPP in different countries, the results of this study suggest the value of an international CPP as well as increased use of BCS approaches as means of either documenting bioequivalence or signaling the need for further in vivo studies. Because of increased movement of medicines across national borders, practitioners and patients would benefit from these approaches.

Cochlear implanted children present vocal parameters within normal standards

Objective: to compare acoustic and perceptual parameters regarding the voice of cochlear implanted children, with normal hearing children. Method: this is a cross-sectional, quantitative and qualitative study. Methods: Thirty six cochlear implanted children aged between 3y and 3 m to 5y and 9 m and 25 children with normal hearing, aged between 3y and 11 m and 6y and 6 m, participated in this study. The recordings and the acoustics analysis of the sustained vowel/a/and spontaneous speech were performed using the PRAAT program. The parameters analyzed for the sustained vowel were the mean of the fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer and harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR). For the spontaneous speech, the minimum and maximum frequencies and the number of semitones were extracted. The perceptual analysis of the speech material was analyzed using visual-analogical scales of 100 points, composing the aspects related to the overall severity of the vocal deviation, roughness, breathiness, strain, pitch, loudness and resonance deviation, and instability. This last parameter was only analyzed for the sustained vowel. Results: The results demonstrated that the majority of the vocal parameters analyzed in the samples of the implanted children disclosed values similar to those obtained by the group of children with normal hearing. Conclusion: implanted children who participate in a (re) habilitation and follow-up program, can present vocal characteristics similar to those vocal characteristics of children with normal hearing. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

White paper sobre Open Source, Open Access, open Standards e o futuro da catalogação

The discussions on the future of cataloging has received increased attention in the last ten years, mainly due to the impact of rapid development of information and communication technologies in the same period, which has provided access to the Web anytime, anywhere. These discussions revolve around the need for a new bibliographic framework to meet the demand of this new reality in the digital environment, ie how libraries can process, store, deliver, share and integrate their collections (physical, digital or scanned), in current post-PC era? Faced with this question, Open Access, Open Source and Open Standards are three concepts that need to receive greater attention in the field of Library and Information Science, as it is believed to be fundamental elements for the change of paradigm of descriptive representation, currently based conceptually on physical item rather than intellectual work. This paper aims to raise and discuss such issues and instigate information professionals, especially librarians, to think, discuss and propose initiatives for such problems, contributing and sharing ideas and possible solutions, in multidisciplinary teams. At the end is suggested the effective creation of multidisciplinary and inter-institutional study groups on the future of cataloging and its impact on national collections, in order to contribute to the area of descriptive representation in national and international level