Bio-electrical impedance analysis for estimation of fat-free mass and muscle mass in cystic fibrosis patients.

The nutritional status of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients has to be regularly evaluated and alimentary support instituted when indicated. Bio-electrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a recent method for determining body composition. The present study evaluates its use in CF patients without any clinical sign of malnutrition. Thirty-nine patients with CF and 39 healthy subjects aged 6-24 years were studied. Body density and mid-arm muscle circumference were determined by anthropometry and skinfold measurements. Fat-free mass was calculated taking into account the body density. Muscle mass was obtained from the urinary creatinine excretion rate. The resistance index was calculated by dividing the square of the subject's height by the body impedance. We show that fat-free mass, mid-arm muscle circumference and muscle mass are each linearly correlated to the resistance index and that the regression equations are similar for both CF patients and healthy subjects.

Valoración de credit default swaps: una aplicación del modelo de Hull-White al mercado español

En este trabajo se presenta una aplicación empírica del modelo de Hull-White (2000) al mercado de renta fija español. Este modelo proporciona la expresión por el cálculo de los pagos hechos por el comprador de un credit default swap (CDS), bajo la hipótesis de que no existe riesgo de contrapartida. Se supone, además, que la curva cupón cero, la tasa de recuperación constante y el momento del suceso de crédito son independientes. Se utilizan bonos del Banco Santander Central Hispano para mesurar la probabilidad neutra al riesgo de quiebra y, bajo hipótesis de no arbitraje, se calculan las primas de un CDS, por un bono subyacente con la misma calificación crediticia que la entidad de referencia. Se observa que las primas se ajustan bien a los spreads crediticios del mercado, que se acostumbran a utilizar como alternativa a las mismas.

Iowa Civil Rights Commission 46 Years of Working Toward a State Free of Discrimination Through Enforcement of Civil Rights Laws Annual Report Fiscal Year 2011

Annual Report for the Iowa Civil Rights Commission

Non-constant discounting in finite horizon: The free terminal time case

This paper derives the HJB (Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman) equation for sophisticated agents in a finite horizon dynamic optimization problem with non-constant discounting in a continuous setting, by using a dynamic programming approach. A simple example is used in order to illustrate the applicability of this HJB equation, by suggesting a method for constructing the subgame perfect equilibrium solution to the problem.Conditions for the observational equivalence with an associated problem with constantdiscounting are analyzed. Special attention is paid to the case of free terminal time. Strotz¿s model (an eating cake problem of a nonrenewable resource with non-constant discounting) is revisited.

Mediation Fast, Free, Confidental, Everyone Wins

Booklet produced by the Iowa Civil Rights Commission

Automated scoring of AFLPs using RawGeno v 2.0, a free R CRAN library.

Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms (AFLPs) are a cheap and efficient protocol for generating large sets of genetic markers. This technique has become increasingly used during the last decade in various fields of biology, including population genomics, phylogeography, and genome mapping. Here, we present RawGeno, an R library dedicated to the automated scoring of AFLPs (i.e., the coding of electropherogram signals into ready-to-use datasets). Our program includes a complete suite of tools for binning, editing, visualizing, and exporting results obtained from AFLP experiments. RawGeno can either be used with command lines and program analysis routines or through a user-friendly graphical user interface. We describe the whole RawGeno pipeline along with recommendations for (a) setting the analysis of electropherograms in combination with PeakScanner, a program freely distributed by Applied Biosystems; (b) performing quality checks; (c) defining bins and proceeding to scoring; (d) filtering nonoptimal bins; and (e) exporting results in different formats.

Serum-free aggregate cultures of rat CNS glial cells: biochemical, immunocytochemical and morphological characterization.

Aggregate cultures of mixed glial cells, as well as of enriched astrocytes and oligodendrocytes were prepared, and maintained in serum-free medium for up to 25 days. Biochemical measurements of both neuron-specific and glia-specific enzyme activities showed that these three types of aggregate cultures were virtually devoid of neurons. Astrocyte-enriched cultures were greater than 95% pure, with oligodendrocytes as the only apparent contaminant, whereas oligodendrocyte-enriched cultures still contained a considerable proportion of astrocytes. In all these neuron-free aggregate cultures both astrocytes and oligodendrocytes attained a high degree of maturation. These findings were confirmed by morphological examinations, and by immunofluorescence studies. Furthermore, ultrastructural as well as immunocytochemical investigations using antibodies to myelin basic protein revealed that all three types of glial cell aggregate cultures contained myelin membranes, indicating that the presence of axons is not a prerequisite for the formation of myelin.

Formation and distribution of point defects on a disclination line near a free nematic interface

Point defects of opposite signs can alternately nucleate on the -1/2 disclination line that forms near the free surface of a confined nematic liquid crystal. We show the existence of metastable configurations consisting of periodic repetitions of such defects. These configurations are characterized by a minimal interdefect spacing that is seen to depend on sample thickness and on an applied electric field. The time evolution of the defect distribution suggests that the defects attract at small distances and repel at large distances.

Free-living energy expenditure measured by two independent techniques in pregnant and nonpregnant Gambian women.

Free-living energy expenditure (EE) was assessed in 37 young pregnant Gambian women at the 12th (n = 11, 53.5 +/- 1.7 kg), 24th (n = 14, 54.7 +/- 2.1 kg), and 36th (n = 12, 65.0 +/- 2.6 kg) wk of pregnancy and was compared with nonpregnant nonlactating (NPNL) control women (n = 12, 50.3 +/- 1.6 kg). The following two methods were used to assess EE: 1) the heart rate (HR) method using individual regression lines (HR vs EE) established at different activity levels in a respiration chamber and 2) the doubly labeled water (2H2(18)O) method in a subgroup of 25 pregnant and 7 control women. With the HR method the EE during the agricultural rainy season was found to be 2,408 +/- 87, 2,293 +/- 122, and 2,782 +/- 130 kcal/day at 12, 24, and 36 wk of gestation and were not significantly different from the control group (2,502 +/- 133 kcal/day). These findings were confirmed by the 2H2(18)O measurements, which failed to show any effect of pregnancy on EE. Expressed per unit body weight, the free-living EE was found to be lower (P less than 0.01 with 2H2(18)O method) at 36 wk of gestation than in the NPNL group. It is concluded that, in these Gambian women, energy-sparing mechanisms that contribute to meet the additional energy stress of gestation are operating during pregnancy (e.g., diminished spontaneous physical activity).

Performance of a new gadolinium-based intravascular contrast agent in free-breathing inversion-recovery 3D coronary MRA.

In three-dimensional (3D) coronary magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), the in-flow contrast between the coronary blood and the surrounding myocardium is attenuated as compared to thin-slab two-dimensional (2D) techniques. The application of a gadolinium (Gd)-based intravascular contrast agent may provide an additional source of signal and contrast by reducing T(1blood) and supporting the visualization of more distal or branching segments of the coronary arterial tree. In six healthy adults, the left coronary artery (LCA) system was imaged pre- and postcontrast with a 0.075-mmol/kg bodyweight dose of the intravascular contrast agent B-22956. For imaging, an optimized free-breathing, navigator-gated and -corrected 3D inversion recovery (IR) sequence was used. For comparison, state-of-the-art baseline 3D coronary MRA with T(2) preparation for non-exogenous contrast enhancement was acquired. The combination of IR 3D coronary MRA, sophisticated navigator technology, and B-22956 allowed for an extensive visualization of the LCA system. Postcontrast, a significant increase in both the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR; 46%, P < 0.05) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR; 160%, P < 0.01) was observed, while vessel sharpness of the left anterior descending (LAD) artery and the left coronary circumflex (LCX) were improved by 20% (P < 0.05) and 18% (P < 0.05), respectively.

Audit report on the Delaware County Solid Waste Disposal Commission for the year ended June 30, 2012

Audit report on the Delaware County Solid Waste Disposal Commission for the year ended June 30, 2012

Waste Authority of Jackson County (formerly known as the Jackson County Sanitary Disposal Agency) independent auditor's reports, basic financial statements, required supplementary information, schedule of findings, June 30, 2012

Audit report on the Waste Authority of Jackson County (formerly known as the Jackson County Sanitary Disposal Agency) for the year ended June 30, 2012