Devices in heart failure: potential methods for device-based monitoring of congestive heart failure.

Congestive heart failure has long been one of the most serious medical conditions in the United States; in fact, in the United States alone, heart failure accounts for 6.5 million days of hospitalization each year. One important goal of heart-failure therapy is to inhibit the progression of congestive heart failure through pharmacologic and device-based therapies. Therefore, there have been efforts to develop device-based therapies aimed at improving cardiac reserve and optimizing pump function to meet metabolic requirements. The course of congestive heart failure is often worsened by other conditions, including new-onset arrhythmias, ischemia and infarction, valvulopathy, decompensation, end-organ damage, and therapeutic refractoriness, that have an impact on outcomes. The onset of such conditions is sometimes heralded by subtle pathophysiologic changes, and the timely identification of these changes may promote the use of preventive measures. Consequently, device-based methods could in the future have an important role in the timely identification of the subtle pathophysiologic changes associated with congestive heart failure.

Workgroup report: incorporating in vitro alternative methods for developmental neurotoxicity into international hazard and risk assessment strategies.

This is the report of the first workshop on Incorporating In Vitro Alternative Methods for Developmental Neurotoxicity (DNT) Testing into International Hazard and Risk Assessment Strategies, held in Ispra, Italy, on 19-21 April 2005. The workshop was hosted by the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) and jointly organized by ECVAM, the European Chemical Industry Council, and the Johns Hopkins University Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing. The primary aim of the workshop was to identify and catalog potential methods that could be used to assess how data from in vitro alternative methods could help to predict and identify DNT hazards. Working groups focused on two different aspects: a) details on the science available in the field of DNT, including discussions on the models available to capture the critical DNT mechanisms and processes, and b) policy and strategy aspects to assess the integration of alternative methods in a regulatory framework. This report summarizes these discussions and details the recommendations and priorities for future work.

Prognostic relevance of TTF-1 and MMP-9 expression in advanced lung adenocarcinoma

Background: The thyroid transcription factor-1 (TTF-1) is a tissue-specific transcription factor that Could playan important role in cell differentiation and morphogenesis of lung tumors. Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) is a protease commonly expressed in non-small cell lung cancer, conferring angiogenic and metastatic potential. Methods: We assessed TTF-1 and MMP-9 tumor expression by immunohistochemistry in 51 patients with lung adenocarcinoma, stage 11113 or IV, treated with platinum regimens. A bicategorical prognostic model was obtained using the Kaplan-Meier method, COX regression, and conjunctive consolidation. Results: The median expression of TTF-1 was 30.0% (range: 0-85.9%). All tumors expressed MMP-9 (median: 78.7%: range: 15.2-96.1%). Median survival was 41.6 weeks, with estimated 1- and 2-year survival rates of 45.0% and 22.0%, respectively. Poor performance status (Karnofsky scale) - hazards ratio(HR): 1.03. 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01-1.06: low TTF-1 expression (<40%) - FIR: 4.00, 95% CI: 1.75-9.09: and high MMP-9 expression (>= 80%) - HR: 2.82, 95% CI: 1.30-6.08 were independent prognostic factors. Patients could be stratified in three death risk groups according to markers expression: low risk (high TTF-1 and low MMP-9; median survival: 127.6 weeks), intermediate risk (low TTF-1 OF high MMP-9; median survival: 39.0 weeks): and high risk (low TTF-1 and high MMP-9: median survival: 16.4 weeks). Conclusion: TTF-1 and MMP-9 tumor expression as detected by immunohistochemistry may allow identification of different, clinically meaningful, prognostic groups of advanced lung adenocarcinoma patients treated with platinum regimens. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

E-cadherin abnormalities resulting from CPG methylation promoter in metastatic and nonmetastatic oral cancer

Background. This study aims to compare the alterations in the methylation profiles of E-cadherin in oral cancer, especially in tumors with lowest metatastic potential. Methods. Nine oral verrucous carcinomas (VCs), 20 oral well-differentiated squamous cell carcinomas without lymph node involvement (SCC-pNO), and 17 with lymph node involvement (SCC-pN+) were analyzed using methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemical expression of E-cadherin gene. Results. The immunohistochemical expression of E-cadherin in VC was significantly higher (p = .016) when compared with SCC-pNO and SCC-pN+ groups. The E-cadherin gene methylation was not correlated with its abnormal immunohistochemical expression in VC and SCC-pNO. All tumors of the SCC-pN+ group with unmethylated E-cadherin gene showed significant loss of E-cadherin immunoexpression (p = .044). Conclusions. The E-cadherin gene methylation presence in tumors with lowest invasive and metastatic potential, such as VC, suggests the early involvement of this epigenetic event in the multistep progression of the oral carcinogenesis. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Desenvolvimento de um modelo de previsão de preços no mercado ibérico de eletricidade

Com este trabalho pretende-se efetuar o levantamento e análise dos fatores que estão na base da volatilidade do preço da energia elétrica no mercado ibérico de energia. Posteriormente à definição dos potenciais métodos utilizados na previsão do preço da energia elétrica, é desenvolvido um modelo capaz de prever os preços do mercado de energia para um horizonte de vários períodos temporais (trimestral, mensal, semanal e diário). Por fim são comparados os resultados dos modelos aplicados, tendo como base a análise qualitativa e quantitativa da evolução das respetivas previsões, bem como a análise estatística obtida em cada um deles.

Living-engineered valves for transcatheter venous valve repair.

Background: Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) represents a major global health problem with increasing prevalence and morbidity. CVI is due to an incompetence of the venous valves, which causes venous reflux and distal venous hypertension. Several studies have focused on the replacement of diseased venous valves using xeno- and allogenic transplants, so far with moderate success due to immunologic and thromboembolic complications. Autologous cell-derived tissue-engineered venous valves (TEVVs) based on fully biodegradable scaffolds could overcome these limitations by providing non-immunogenic, non-thrombogenic constructs with remodeling and growth potential. Methods: Tri- and bicuspid venous valves (n=27) based on polyglycolic acid-poly-4-hydroxybutyrate composite scaffolds, integrated into self-expandable nitinol stents, were engineered from autologous ovine bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) and endothelialized. After in vitro conditioning in a (flow) pulse duplicator system, the TEVVs were crimped (n=18) and experimentally delivered (n=7). The effects of crimping on the tissue-engineered constructs were investigated using histology, immunohistochemistry, scanning electron microscopy, grating interferometry (GI), and planar fluorescence reflectance imaging. Results: The generated TEVVs showed layered tissue formation with increasing collagen and glycosaminoglycan levels dependent on the duration of in vitro conditioning. After crimping no effects were found on the MSC level in scanning electron microscopy analysis, GI, histology, and extracellular matrix analysis. However, substantial endothelial cell loss was detected after the crimping procedure, which could be reduced by increasing the static conditioning phase. Conclusions: Autologous living small-diameter TEVVs can be successfully fabricated from ovine BM-MSCs using a (flow) pulse duplicator conditioning approach. These constructs hold the potential to overcome the limitations of currently used non-autologous replacement materials and may open new therapeutic concepts for the treatment of CVI in the future.

The Current Situation of Sewage Sludge and Manure Treatment in Livestock Enterprises in the Leningrad Region

The problem concerning livestock waste handling in the Leningrad region has been subjected to a number of research works. However, the requirements for use of manure and sewage sludge as well as for treatment processes are not certain. So, this problem remains relevant and, therefore, further investigation ought to be made. Currently a large amount of sewage sludge and manure is generated in the Leningrad region. These livestock wastes have to be obligatory treated. The most common methods for treatment in the region, such as anaerobic digestion, composting and aging as well as the most potential methods are described in the thesis. The most potential methods for the Leningrad region are anaerobic digestion, composting and combustion. Each method has strengths and weaknesses, which are also considered in the paper. Aging was not considered as potential treatment method because it does not meet the sanitary and epidemiological requirements. Furthermore, the work gives an overview and comparison of Finnish and Russian legislative and normative acts concerning livestock wastes handling. On the whole the requirements of the Russian Federation concerning sewage sludge and manure are not much different from the Finnish ones.

Kullan talteenotto takaisinuuttoliuoksista

Työssä tutkittiin kirjallisuuden ja laboratoriomittausten avulla vaihtoehtoja kullan pelkistämiseen ja talteenottoon kultauuton takaisinuuttoliuoksista. Tavoitteena oli löytää menetelmä, jolla saadaan puhdasta kiinteää lopputuotetta ilman kullan häviöitä. Käytettyjä pelkistimiä olivat D-(+)-glukoosi, natriumboorihydridi, L-askorbiinihappo, D-(-)-isoaskorbiinihappo ja aktiivihiili. Laboratoriokokeiden perusteella D-(-)-isoaskorbiinihappo sekä aktiivihiili olivat sopivimmat pelkistimet kokeissa käytetylle kultaliuokselle. Isoaskorbiinihapolla suoritettiin panoskokeita lasireaktorissa eri alku-pH:ssa sekä erilaisilla pelkistimen ja kullan moolisuhteilla. Tulosten perusteella havaittiin pH:n ja pelkistimen ylimäärän vaikuttavan merkittävästi lopputuotteen puhtauteen. Myös redox-potentiaalia säätämällä ja happopesulla pelkistyksen jälkeen voidaan vaikuttaa lopputuotteen puhtauteen. Aktiivihiilellä suoritettiin panoskokeita adsorptiotasapainojen (latausisotermi) ja kinetiikan tutkimiseksi. Hiileen on mahdollista saada kultaa 383 mg/g kuivaa hiiltä. Suurempi lataus voitaisiin saavuttaa käyttämällä hiiltä, jolla on pienempi partikkelikoko. Kolonnikokeita tehtiin eri virtausnopeuksilla. Kolonnikokeissa kullan dynaaminen adsorptiokapasiteetti hiileen odotetusti kasvoi virtausnopeuden laskiessa. Pienin käytetty virtausnopeus oli 2,40 BV/h, jolloin kapasiteetti oli 75,4 mg/g kuivaa hiiltä (c (Au feed) = 129 mg/L). Kullasta voidaan poistaa myös kolonnipelkistyksen jälkeen epäpuhtauksia happopesulla. Isoaskorbiinihapolla pelkistyksen kinetiikka on nopea ja sillä saatiin pelkistettyä puhdasta lopputuotetta. Sekä isoaskorbiinihappo, että aktiivihiili ovat potentiaalisia menetelmiä kullan talteenottoon.

Letter - Nikola Tesla to William B. Rankine, 19 April 1904

A letter from Nikola Tesla to William B. Rankine in the year 1904. Tesla discusses the worth of his patents/companies. Tesla also remarks on the power of several of his machines including "Tesla Coil", "Tesla Transformer", and "Tesla High-Potential Methods".

Évaluation de l’ototoxicité secondaire au bleu de méthylène chez le cochon d’Inde : étude animale prospective

INTRODUCTION: Le bleu de méthylène est un colorant grandement utilisé dans le domaine médical, notamment pour ses propriétés de coloration histologique. Il est également utilisé comme agent photosensibilisant dans la thérapie photodynamique antimicrobienne, qui une fois photoactivé devient efficace pour l’éradication de plusieurs germes multirésistants. L’objectif de cette étude est d’investiguer le potentiel ototoxique du bleu de méthylène. MÉTHODES: Vingt cochons d’Inde divisés en deux groupes, ont reçu une solution de bleu de méthylène et de gentamicine dans l’oreille testée. L’oreille controlatérale a reçu une solution saline contrôle. Nous avons procédés à des potentiels évoqués auditifs du tronc cérébral avant et une semaine suivant la série d’injections. À la suite des dissections, des analyses histologiques et immunohistochimiques ont été réalisées. RÉSULTATS: La différence moyenne de perte auditive dans le groupe gentamicine comparativement au groupe normal salin était de 66.25 dB (p<0.001). Toutefois, la différence moyenne de perte auditive dans le groupe ayant reçu du bleu de méthylène comparativement à celui ayant reçu des injections de la solution saline était de 1.50 dB, et n’a pas été démontré comme étant statistiquement significative (p=0.688). De plus, la captation de caspase-3 en immunohistochimie (marqueur d’apoptose) n’a pas été significative dans le groupe recevant le bleu de méthylène. CONCLUSION: À la lumière de nos résultats, les injections intratympaniques de bleu de méthylène n’ont pas démontrées de potentiel ototoxique. Nous recommandons des études supplémentaires afin d’en préciser son utilisation sécuritaire dans le domaine otologique.

Fluorescence characterization and gain studies on a dye-doped graded index polymer optical-fiber preform

Preparation of an appropriate optical-fiber preform is vital for the fabrication of graded-index polymer optical fibers (GIPOF), which are considered to be a good choice for providing inexpensive high bandwidth data links, for local area networks and telecommunication applications. Recent development of the interfacial gel polymerization technique has caused a dramatic reduction in the total attenuation in GIPOF, and this is one of the potential methods to prepare fiber preforms for the fabrication of dye-doped polymer-fiber amplifiers. In this paper, the preparation of a dye-doped graded-index poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) rod by the interfacial gel polymerization method using a PMMA tube is reported. An organic compound of high-refractive index, viz., diphenyl phthalate (DPP), was used to obtain a graded-index distribution, and Rhodamine B (Rh B), was used to dope the PMMA rod. The refractive index profile of the rod was measured using an interferometric technique and the index exponent was estimated. The single pass gain of the rod was measured at a pump wavelength of 532 nm. The extent of doping of the Rh B in the preform was studied by axially exciting a thin slice of the rod with white light and measuring the spatial variation of the fluorescence intensity across the sample.

The impact of climate change on the treatability of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in upland water supplies: A UK perspective

Climate change in the UK is expected to cause increases in temperatures, altered precipitation patterns and more frequent and extreme weather events. In this review we discuss climate effects on dissolved organic matter (DOM), how altered DOM and water physico-chemical properties will affect treatment processes and assess the utility of techniques used to remove DOM and monitor water quality. A critical analysis of the literature has been undertaken with a focus on catchment drivers of DOM character, removal of DOM via coagulation and the formation of disinfectant by-products (DBPs). We suggest that: (1) upland catchments recovering from acidification will continue to produce more DOM with a greater hydrophobic fraction as solubility controls decrease; (2) greater seasonality in DOM export is likely in future due to altered precipitation patterns; (3) changes in species diversity and water properties could encourage algal blooms; and (4) that land management and vegetative changes may have significant effects on DOM export and treatability but require further research. Increases in DBPs may occur where catchments have high influence from peatlands or where algal blooms become an issue. To increase resilience to variable DOM quantity and character we suggest that one or more of the following steps are undertaken at the treatment works: a) ‘enhanced coagulation’ optimised for DOM removal; b) switching from aluminium to ferric coagulants and/or incorporating coagulant aids; c) use of magnetic ion-exchange (MIEX) pre-coagulation; and d) activated carbon filtration post-coagulation. Fluorescence and UV absorbance techniques are highlighted as potential methods for low-cost, rapid on-line process optimisation to improve DOM removal and minimise DBPs.

Aluminium distribution in ZSM-5 revisited: the role of Al-Al interactions

We present a theoretical study of the distribution of Al atoms in zeolite ZSM-5 with Si/Al=47, where we focus on the role of Al-Al interactions rather than on the energetics of Al/Si substitutions at individual sites. Using interatomic potential methods, we evaluate the energies of the full set of symmetrically independent configurations of Al siting in a Si94Al2O192 cell. The equilibrium Al distribution is determined by the interplay of two factors: the energetics of the Al/Si substitution at an individual site, which tends to populate particular T sites (e.g. the T14 site), and the Al-Al interaction, which at this Si/Al maximises Al-Al distances in agreement with Dempsey’s rule. However, it is found that the interaction energy changes approximately as the inverse of the square of the distance between the two Al atoms, rather than the inverse of the distance expected if this were merely charge repulsion. Moreover, we find that the anisotropic nature of the framework density plays an important role in determining the magnitude of the interactions, which are not simply dependent on Al-Al distances.

Mesh adaptation on the sphere using optimal transport and the numerical solution of a Monge-Ampère type equation

An equation of Monge-Ampère type has, for the first time, been solved numerically on the surface of the sphere in order to generate optimally transported (OT) meshes, equidistributed with respect to a monitor function. Optimal transport generates meshes that keep the same connectivity as the original mesh, making them suitable for r-adaptive simulations, in which the equations of motion can be solved in a moving frame of reference in order to avoid mapping the solution between old and new meshes and to avoid load balancing problems on parallel computers. The semi-implicit solution of the Monge-Ampère type equation involves a new linearisation of the Hessian term, and exponential maps are used to map from old to new meshes on the sphere. The determinant of the Hessian is evaluated as the change in volume between old and new mesh cells, rather than using numerical approximations to the gradients. OT meshes are generated to compare with centroidal Voronoi tesselations on the sphere and are found to have advantages and disadvantages; OT equidistribution is more accurate, the number of iterations to convergence is independent of the mesh size, face skewness is reduced and the connectivity does not change. However anisotropy is higher and the OT meshes are non-orthogonal. It is shown that optimal transport on the sphere leads to meshes that do not tangle. However, tangling can be introduced by numerical errors in calculating the gradient of the mesh potential. Methods for alleviating this problem are explored. Finally, OT meshes are generated using observed precipitation as a monitor function, in order to demonstrate the potential power of the technique.

Risky business: social media metrics and political risk analysis

A quantificação do risco país – e do risco político em particular – levanta várias dificuldades às empresas, instituições, e investidores. Como os indicadores econômicos são atualizados com muito menos freqüência do que o Facebook, compreender, e mais precisamente, medir – o que está ocorrendo no terreno em tempo real pode constituir um desafio para os analistas de risco político. No entanto, com a crescente disponibilidade de “big data” de ferramentas sociais como o Twitter, agora é o momento oportuno para examinar os tipos de métricas das ferramentas sociais que estão disponíveis e as limitações da sua aplicação para a análise de risco país, especialmente durante episódios de violência política. Utilizando o método qualitativo de pesquisa bibliográfica, este estudo identifica a paisagem atual de dados disponíveis a partir do Twitter, analisa os métodos atuais e potenciais de análise, e discute a sua possível aplicação no campo da análise de risco político. Depois de uma revisão completa do campo até hoje, e tendo em conta os avanços tecnológicos esperados a curto e médio prazo, este estudo conclui que, apesar de obstáculos como o custo de armazenamento de informação, as limitações da análise em tempo real, e o potencial para a manipulação de dados, os benefícios potenciais da aplicação de métricas de ferramentas sociais para o campo da análise de risco político, particularmente para os modelos qualitativos-estruturados e quantitativos, claramente superam os desafios.