Analysis of the Atmosphere Aerosol and Ozone Condition Over Tbilisi Using Satellite Data and Ground Truth Measurements

Ground-based measurements of the parameters of atmosphere in Tbilisi during the same period, which are provided by the Mikheil Nodia Institute of geophysics, were used as calibration data. Satellite data monthly averaging, preprocessing, analysis and visualization was performed using Giovanni web-based application. Maps of trends and periodic components of the atmosphere aerosol optical thickness and ozone concentration over the study area were calculated.

Síndrome Metabólica, Strain e Redução da Função Miocárdica: Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Fundamento: A doença cardiovascular subclínica é prevalente em pacientes com síndrome metabólica (SM). O strain circunferencial (εCC) e o strain longitudinal (εLL) do ventriculo esquerdo (VE), avaliados pelo ecocardiograma com speckle tracking (STE), são índices de função sistólica: o encurtamento das fibras circunferenciais e longitudinais do VE é indicado por um valor negativo do strain. Portanto, quanto mais negativo o strain, melhor a função sistólica do VE. O εCC e o εLL têm sido usados para demonstrar disfunção ventricular subclínica em vários distúrbios clínicos. Objetivo: Levantamos a hipótese de que a SM está associada com comprometimento da função miocárdica, quando avaliada pelo STE. Métodos: Este estudo analisou participantes do Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) que realizaram o STE e foram avaliados para todos os componentes da SM. Resultados: Entre os 133 participantes incluídos (mulheres: 63%; idade: 65 ± 9 anos), a prevalência de SM foi de 31% (41/133). Indivíduos com SM apresentaram valores menores do εCC e do εLL que aqueles sem SM (-16,3% ± 3,5% vs. -18,4% ± 3,7%, p < 0,01; e -12,1% ± 2,5% vs. -13,9% ± 2,3%, p < 0,01, respectivamente). A fração de ejeção do VE (FEVE) foi semelhante nos dois grupos (p = 0,09). Na análise multivariada, a SM associou-se a um valor mais baixo do strain circunferencial (B = 2,1%, IC 95%: 0,6-3,5; p < 0,01), mesmo após ajuste para idade, etnia, massa VE e FEVE. De maneira semelhante, a presença de SM (B = 1,3%, IC 95%: 0,3-2,2; p < 0,01) e a massa do VE (B = 0,02%, IC 95%: 0,01 0,03; p = 0,02) associaram-se a um valor menor do strain longitudinal após ajuste para etnia, FEVE e creatinina. Conclusão: O εCC e o εLL do VE, marcadores de doença cardiovascular subclínica, estão comprometidos em indivíduos assintomáticos com SM e sem história prévia de infarto miocárdico, insuficiência cardíaca e/ou de FEVE < 50%.

Optical measurements in disperse two-phase flows : application to rain formation in cumulus clouds

Magdeburg, Univ., Fak. für Verfahrens- und Systemtechnik, Diss., 2012

Relevance to Home Blood Pressure Monitoring Protocol of Blood Pressure Measurements Taken Before First- Morning Micturition and in the Afternoon

Background: The importance of measuring blood pressure before morning micturition and in the afternoon, while working, is yet to be established in relation to the accuracy of home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM). Objective: To compare two HBPM protocols, considering 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (wakefulness ABPM) as gold-standard and measurements taken before morning micturition (BM) and in the afternoon (AM), for the best diagnosis of systemic arterial hypertension (SAH), and their association with prognostic markers. Methods: After undergoing 24-hour wakefulness ABPM, 158 participants (84 women) were randomized for 3- or 5-day HBPM. Two variations of the 3-day protocol were considered: with measurements taken before morning micturition and in the afternoon (BM+AM); and with post-morning-micturition and evening measurements (PM+EM). All patients underwent echocardiography (for left ventricular hypertrophy - LVH) and urinary albumin measurement (for microalbuminuria - MAU). Result: Kappa statistic for the diagnosis of SAH between wakefulness-ABPM and standard 3-day HBPM, 3-day HBPM (BM+AM) and (PM+EM), and 5-day HBPM were 0.660, 0.638, 0.348 and 0.387, respectively. The values of sensitivity of (BM+AM) versus (PM+EM) were 82.6% × 71%, respectively, and of specificity, 84.8% × 74%, respectively. The positive and negative predictive values were 69.1% × 40% and 92.2% × 91.2%, respectively. The comparisons of intraclass correlations for the diagnosis of LVH and MAU between (BM+AM) and (PM+EM) were 0.782 × 0.474 and 0.511 × 0.276, respectively. Conclusions: The 3 day-HBPM protocol including measurements taken before morning micturition and during work in the afternoon showed the best agreement with SAH diagnosis and the best association with prognostic markers.

More skull characters of the beaked whale Indopacetus pacificus and comparative measurements of Austral relatives.

v.62:no.1(1972)

Records and measurements of neotropical bats.

v.20:no.13(1936)

Measurements of the age of the solar system / by Robley D. Evans --

v.7:no.6(1943)

Vaccination of Callithrix jacchus (Linné, 1758) marmosets with the PF strain of Trypanosoma cruzi

Callithrix jacchus marmosets, vaccinated more than once with high doses of the PF strain of Trypanosoma cruzi, showed a certain degree of parasitemia related to the number of parasites injected. Thirty days after vaccination, all animals were alive and showed no apparent morbid symptoms. The relationship between the dose of injected trypanosomes and the observed parasitemias is discussed and analysed as well as the immunologic incompetence of the experimental animals used.

Unsusceptibility of Biomphalaria occidentalis to infection with a strain of Schistosoma mansoni

Susceptibility experiments with 1582 specimens of Biomphalaria occidentalis, 3-6 mm in shell diameter, from 10 localities of the states of Mato Groso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraná and São Paulo, exposed individually to 5 miracidia of Schistosoma mansoni (SJ2 strain), gave negative results. B. tenagophila from Joinville (Santa Catarina) and Taubaté (São Paulo), used as controls, showed infection rates of 17.9% and 14.8%, respectively. Experiments with other strains of S. mansoni are in progress. If the present results are confirmed, expansion of schistosomiasis toward far-western Brazil through the agency of B. occidentalis becomes less probable.

Trypanosoma cruzi: strain selection by diferent schedules of mouse passage of an initially mixed infection

From an initial double infection in mice, established by simultaneous and equivalent inocula of bloodstream forms of strains Y and F of Trypanosoma cruzi, two lines were derived by subinoculations: one (W) passaged every week, the other (M) every month. Through biological and biochemical methods only the Y strain was identified at the end of the 10th and 16th passages of line W and only the F strain at the 2nd and 4th passages of line M. The results illustrate strain selection through laboratory manipulation of initially mixed populations of T. cruzi.

New measurements of energy expenditure and physical activity in chronic kidney disease.

The accurate estimation of total daily energy expenditure (TEE) in chronic kidney patients is essential to allow the provision of nutritional requirements; however, it remains a challenge to collect actual physical activity and resting energy expenditure in maintenance dialysis patients. The direct measurement of TEE by direct calorimetry or doubly labeled water cannot be used easily so that, in clinical practice, TEE is usually estimated from resting energy expenditure and physical activity. Prediction equations may also be used to estimate resting energy expenditure; however, their use has been poorly documented in dialysis patients. Recently, a new system called SenseWear Armband (BodyMedia, Pittsburgh, PA) was developed to assess TEE, but so far no data have been published in chronic kidney disease patients. The aim of this review is to describe new measurements of energy expenditure and physical activity in chronic kidney disease patients.

Which screening strategy using BMD measurements would be most cost effective for hip fracture prevention in elderly women? A decision analysis based on a Markov model.

INTRODUCTION: Hip fractures are responsible for excessive mortality, decreasing the 5-year survival rate by about 20%. From an economic perspective, they represent a major source of expense, with direct costs in hospitalization, rehabilitation, and institutionalization. The incidence rate sharply increases after the age of 70, but it can be reduced in women aged 70-80 years by therapeutic interventions. Recent analyses suggest that the most efficient strategy is to implement such interventions in women at the age of 70 years. As several guidelines recommend bone mineral density (BMD) screening of postmenopausal women with clinical risk factors, our objective was to assess the cost-effectiveness of two screening strategies applied to elderly women aged 70 years and older. METHODS: A cost-effectiveness analysis was performed using decision-tree analysis and a Markov model. Two alternative strategies, one measuring BMD of all women, and one measuring BMD only of those having at least one risk factor, were compared with the reference strategy "no screening". Cost-effectiveness ratios were measured as cost per year gained without hip fracture. Most probabilities were based on data observed in EPIDOS, SEMOF and OFELY cohorts. RESULTS: In this model, which is mostly based on observed data, the strategy "screen all" was more cost effective than "screen women at risk." For one woman screened at the age of 70 and followed for 10 years, the incremental (additional) cost-effectiveness ratio of these two strategies compared with the reference was 4,235 euros and 8,290 euros, respectively. CONCLUSION: The results of this model, under the assumptions described in the paper, suggest that in women aged 70-80 years, screening all women with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) would be more effective than no screening or screening only women with at least one risk factor. Cost-effectiveness studies based on decision-analysis trees maybe useful tools for helping decision makers, and further models based on different assumptions should be performed to improve the level of evidence on cost-effectiveness ratios of the usual screening strategies for osteoporosis.

Determination of displacement, stress- and strain-distribution in the human heart: a FE-model on the basis of MR imaging.

The determination of characteristic cardiac parameters, such as displacement, stress and strain distribution are essential for an understanding of the mechanics of the heart. The calculation of these parameters has been limited until recently by the use of idealised mathematical representations of biventricular geometries and by applying simple material laws. On the basis of 20 short axis heart slices and in consideration of linear and nonlinear material behaviour we have developed a FE model with about 100,000 degrees of freedom. Marching Cubes and Phong's incremental shading technique were used to visualise the three dimensional geometry. In a quasistatic FE analysis continuous distribution of regional stress and strain corresponding to the endsystolic state were calculated. Substantial regional variation of the Von Mises stress and the total strain energy were observed at all levels of the heart model. The results of both the linear elastic model and the model with a nonlinear material description (Mooney-Rivlin) were compared. While the stress distribution and peak stress values were found to be comparable, the displacement vectors obtained with the nonlinear model were generally higher in comparison with the linear elastic case indicating the need to include nonlinear effects.

Influence of Trypanosoma cruzi strain on the pathogenesis of chronic myocardiopathy in mice

The murine model of chronic Chaga's myocardiopathy was developed in 201 inbred and outbred mice. The experimental groups consisted of 1st: 73 inbred AKR and A/J mice inoculated with one of the following. Trypanosoma cruzi strains: Peruvian (Type I), 12 SF (Type II) or Colombian (Type III); 2nd: 128 outbred Swiss mice, chronically infected either with Type II or Type III strains isolated from human patients from different geographical areas. All T. cruzi strains were previoulsly characterized by their morphobiological behaviour in mice and by isoenzymatic patterns. For the 1st group the inoculum was 5 x 10**4 for the Peruvian strain and 1 x 10**5 for the 12 SF and Colombian strains. In the 2nd group-Swiss mice the inoculum size varied from 2 x 10**4 to 2 x 10**5. The inbred animals were killed at a 3 time-point scale (90, 180 and 240 days) post-infection. The Swiss mice were killed from 180 to 660 days after infection. The evaluation of parasitemia and serology (xeodiagnosis and indirect immunofluorescent test) was performed. The incidence of macroscopic alterations of the heart and cardiac index were evaluated. Histopathological lesions of the myocardium were graded. The influence of T. cruzi strain on the intensity of cardiac lesions was evaluated by the Chi-square test; the incidence of inflammatory lesions and its relationship to the parasite strain was evaluated by the Fisher test. The influence of the duration of infection was evaluated by using the Gamma Coefficient of Kruskal and Goodman and its measure of significance. Slight to severe microscopic alterations occurred in 85% of the chronically infected nice. There were a clear predominance on the incidence and intensity of inflammatory and fibrotic alterations for the mice infected with Type III strains. Statistical analysis has shown significant differences among the infected groups, in the inflammatory and fibrotic lesions. Macroscopic alterations (right cavities dilatation and apex aneurism of left ventricle), differed in incidence according to mice strains; in Swiss and AKR mice, significant differences were seen in mice infected with different T. cruzi strains, but the A/J mice failed to show significant differences correlated with different parasite strains. The duration of infection, from 90 to 240 days, could not be correlated with the degree of lesions in the several groups.