Absolute height-specific thresholds to identify elevated blood pressure in children

Identification of children with elevated blood pressure (BP) is difficult because of the multiple sex, age, and height-specific thresholds to define elevated BP. We propose a simple set of absolute height-specific BP thresholds and evaluate their performance to identify children with elevated BP in two different populations.

Akupunkturpunkte am Ohr bei neugeborenen Drillingen

Die vorliegende Kasuistik beschreibt die gefundenen Ohr-Akupunkturpunkte bei frühgeborenen bichorial triamnioten Drillingen im Alter von 31 Wochen und 2 Tagen. Die Schwangerschaft ist durch IVF entstanden und wurde wegen einer Präeklampsie per Sectio beendet. Die Drillinge wurden am 17. Lebenstag mit dem Svesa Pointselektor 1 070 auf elektrisch aktive Akupunkturpunkte am Ohr untersucht. Je schlechter der klinische Zustand des Neugeborenen, desto mehr Akupunkturpunkte konnten am Ohr gefunden werden. Die identifizierten Reflexzonen/Akupunkturpunkte am Ohr zeigen zum Teil Übereinstimmungen mit der Pathologie im Körper und dem klinischen Zustand des Neugeborenen. Der Schwerpunkt lag bei Organpunkten, was mit dem entsprechenden klinischen Zustand des Organs korrelierte. Psychische Punkte wurden nicht gefunden.

Coronary collateral flow in response to endurance exercise training

BACKGROUND: In humans, it is not known whether physical endurance exercise training promotes coronary collateral growth. The following hypotheses were tested: the expected collateral flow reduction after percutaneous coronary intervention of a stenotic lesion is prevented by endurance exercise training; collateral flow supplied to an angiographically normal coronary artery improves in response to exercise training; there is a direct relationship between the change of fitness after training and the coronary collateral flow change. METHODS AND RESULTS: Forty patients (age 61+/-8 years) underwent a 3-month endurance exercise training program with baseline and follow-up assessments of coronary collateral flow. Patients were divided into an exercise training group (n=24) and a sedentary group (n=16) according to the fact whether they adhered or not to the prescribed exercise program, and whether or not they showed increased endurance (VO2max in ml/min per kg) and performance (W/kg) during follow-up versus baseline bicycle spiroergometry. Collateral flow index (no unit) was obtained using pressure sensor guidewires positioned in the coronary artery undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention and in a normal vessel. In the vessel initially undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention, there was an increase in collateral flow index among exercising but not sedentary patients from 0.155+/-0.081 to 0.204+/-0.056 (P=0.03) and from 0.189+/-0.084 to 0.212+/-0.077 (NS), respectively. In the normal vessel, collateral flow index changes were from 0.176+/-0.075 to 0.227+/-0.070 in the exercise group (P=0.0002), and from 0.219+/-0.103 to 0.238+/-0.086 in the sedentary group (NS). A direct correlation existed between the change in collateral flow index from baseline to follow-up and the respective alteration of VO2max (P=0.007) and Watt (P=0.03). CONCLUSION: A 3-month endurance exercise training program augments coronary collateral supply to normal vessels, and even to previously stenotic arteries having undergone percutaneous coronary intervention before initiating the program. There appears to be a dose-response relation between coronary collateral flow augmentation and exercise capacity gained.

Association of lipopolysaccharide-binding protein and coronary artery disease in men

OBJECTIVES: In this study we tested the hypothesis that lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP) might be able to be used as a biomarker for coronary artery disease (CAD). BACKGROUND: The mechanisms by which the innate immune recognition of pathogens could lead to atherosclerosis remain unclear. Lipopolysaccharide-binding protein is the first protein to encounter lipopolysaccharide and to deliver it to its cellular targets, toll-like receptors; therefore, its presence might be a reliable biomarker that indicates activation of innate immune responses. METHODS: A total of 247 men undergoing elective coronary angiography were studied, and the extent of coronary atherosclerosis was assessed by 2 established scores: "extent score" and "severity score." Levels of LBP, markers of inflammation, and traditional risk factors for CAD were assessed. RESULTS: Serum LBP concentration was significantly increased in 172 patients with angiographically confirmed CAD compared with 75 individuals without coronary atherosclerosis (20.6 +/- 8.7 pg/ml vs. 17.1 +/- 6.0 pg/ml, respectively; p = 0.002). Moreover in multivariable logistic regression analyses, adjusted for established cardiovascular risk factors and markers of systemic inflammation, LBP was a significant and independent predictor of prevalent CAD (p < 0.05 in all models). CONCLUSIONS: Lipopolysaccharide-binding protein might serve as a novel marker for CAD in men. The present results underlie the potential importance of innate immune mechanisms for CAD. Further studies are warranted to bolster the data and to identify pathogenetic links between innate immune system activation and atherosclerosis.

Vegetation and hydrologic influences on carbon and nitrogen in subsurface water of a forested riparian wetland

Vegetation communities affect carbon and nitrogen dynamics in the subsurface water of mineral wetlands through the quality of their litter, their uptake of nutrients, root exudation and their effects on redox potential. However, vegetation influence on subsurface nutrient dynamics is often overshadowed by the influences of hydrology, soils and geology on nutrient dynamics. The effects of vegetation communities on carbon and nitrogen dynamics are important to consider when managing land that may change vegetation type or quantity so that wetland ecosystem functions can be retained. This study was established to determine the magnitude of the influences and interaction of vegetation cover and hydrology, in the form of water table fluctuations, on carbon and nitrogen dynamics in a northern forested riparian wetland. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), nitrate (NO3-) and ammonium (NH4+) concentrations were collected from a piezometer network in four different vegetation communities and were found to show complex responses to vegetation cover and water table fluctuations. Dissolved organic carbon, DIC, NO3- and NH4+ concentrations were influenced by forest vegetation cover. Both NO3- and NH4+ were also influenced by water table fluctuations. However, for DOC and NH4+ concentrations there appeared to be more complex interactions than were measured by this study. The results of canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) did not correspond in relationship to the significance of vegetation communities. Dissolved inorganic carbon was influenced by an interaction between vegetation cover and water table fluctuations. More hydrological information is needed to make stronger conclusions about the relationship between vegetation and hydrology in controlling carbon and nitrogen dynamics in a forested riparian wetland.

Implementation of a Variable Compression Ratio Mechanism in a Four Cylinder Engine

Ever since the invention of the internal combustion engine, generating more power and achieving better efficiency has been a major goal for the designers. Variable compression ratio technology is way to achieve those goals. This paper will discuss the method of varying the compression ratio of an inline 4-cylinder engine through the use of a 4-bar linkage and gear mechanism. This mechanism was proven to easily vary the compression ratio of the engine and shows promise of becoming a technology used for future engine designer.

Chromite Deposits Near Red Lodge and Silver Star, Montana

The Red Lodge and Silver Star chromite deposits of Montana have stimulated much interest during periods of war. The Red Lodge deposit is 25 miles southwest of Red Lodge which is also the nearest railroad point. Several workings are scattered throughout the area, exposing lense-like ore bodies averaging 33% chrome oxide. Silver Star is a much smaller deposit 5 miles west of Silver Star, Montana, which is its nearest rail­road point. Lenses of chromite are exposed by pits and trench­es, which average approximately 36% chromic oxide.

The Bison: 2001

This digital object was funded in part through a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The digitalization of this object was part of a collaborative effort with the Washington Research Library Consortium and George Washington University.

Integriertes Informationsmanagement für Bildungseinrichtungen

Der CampusSource Workshop fand vom 10. bis 12. Oktober 2006 an der Westfälischen Wilhelms Universität (WWU) in Münster statt. Kernpunkte der Veranstaltung waren die Entwicklung einer Engine zur Verknüpfung von e-Learning Anwendungen mit Systemen der HIS GmbH und die Erstellung von Lehr- und Lerninhalten mit dem Ziel der Wiederverwendung. Im zweiten Kapitel sind Vorträge der Veranstaltung im Adobe Flash Format zusammengetragen. Zur Betrachtung der Vorträge ist der Adobe Flash Player, mindestens in der Version 6 erforderlich

Topologically Accurate Dual Isosurfacing Using Ray Intersection

“Dual contouring” approaches provide an alternative to standard Marching Cubes (MC) method to extract and approximate an isosurface from trivariate data given on a volumetric mesh. These dual approaches solve some of the problems encountered by the MC methods. We present a simple method based on the MC method and the ray intersection technique to compute isosurface points in the cell interior. One of the advantages of our method is that it does not require us to use Hermite interpolation scheme, unlike other dual contouring methods. We perform a complete analysis of all possible configurations to generate a look-up table for all configurations. We use the look-up table to optimize the ray-intersection method to obtain minimum number of points necessarily sufficient for defining topologically correct isosurfaces in all possible configurations. Isosurface points are connected using a simple strategy.