An external site controls closing of the epithelial Na+ channel ENaC.

Members of the ENaC/degenerin family of ion channels include the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC), acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) and the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans degenerins. These channels are activated by a variety of stimuli such as ligands (ASICs) and mechanical forces (degenerins), or otherwise are constitutively active (ENaC). Despite their functional heterogeneity, these channels might share common basic mechanisms for gating. Mutations of a conserved residue in the extracellular loop, namely the 'degenerin site' activate all members of the ENaC/degenerin family. Chemical modification of a cysteine introduced in the degenerin site of rat ENaC (betaS518C) by the sulfhydryl reagents MTSET or MTSEA, results in a approximately 3-fold increase in the open probability. This effect is due to an 8-fold shortening of channel closed times and an increase in the number of long openings. In contrast to the intracellular gating domain in the N-terminus which is critical for channel opening, the intact extracellular degenerin site is necessary for normal channel closing, as illustrated by our observation that modification of betaS518C destabilises the channel closed state. The modification by the sulfhydryl reagents is state- and size-dependent consistent with a conformational change of the degenerin site during channel opening and closing. We propose that the intracellular and extracellular modulatory sites act on a common channel gate and control the activity of ENaC at the cell surface.

Gestão de Conteúdo: Site do “Parque Natural da ilha do Fogo”

A crescente utilização das tecnologias da informação, em especial dos sistemas de informação, nas mais diversas áreas, torna-se aos poucos um elemento tão importante à sociedade quanto o trabalho humano. Não que ela irá substituí-lo, mas mostra-se cada vez mais uma ferramenta primordial no desenvolvimento de qualquer actividade. A evolução do ambiente de globalização, aliado ao desenvolvimento de novas tecnologias e novas técnicas de organização da informação, provocam inúmeras transformações na gestão dos conteúdos para Web. Nesse sentido, o presente relatório trata-se do desenvolvimento do Web Site do Parque Natural da ilha do Fogo e a Gestão do seu Conteúdo utilizando o Joomla que é um CMS (Content Management System) em maior expansão, sendo provavelmente o CMS mais procurado, com a maior comunidade e recursos disponíveis. Este trabalho apresenta um tema de grande relevância, principalmente para as organizações que querem disponibilizar informações para Web. Tendo um sistema de gestão de conteúdo fica mais fácil de actualização dos seus conteúdos, visto que muitos sites disponíveis na Web carecem da sua actualização.

Why a Water Quality Index?, 2005

Iowa has nearly 72,000 miles of streams. With one week of camping, miles of paddling, on-going educational opportunities, and hundreds of dedicated and hard-working Iowans, Project AWARE can make a difference – one stretch of river, one week a year, one piece of trash at a time. If it seems like a vacation to the participants…it is. They just learn and improve the river as they go.

The association between body mass index and patients' experiences with inpatient care.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the association between patients' body mass index (BMI) and their experiences with inpatient care. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. Mail survey. SETTING: University Hospital of Geneva. PARTICIPANTS: Questionnaires were mailed to 2385 eligible adult patients, 6 weeks after discharge (response rate = 69%). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Patients' experiences with care were measured using the Picker inpatient survey questionnaire. BMI was calculated using self-reported height and weight. Main dependent variables were the global Picker patient experience (PPE-15) score and nine dimension-specific problem scores, scored from 0 (no reported problems) to 1 (all items coded as problems). We used linear regressions, adjusting for age, gender, education, subjective health, smoking and hospitalization, to assess the association between patients' BMI and their experiences with inpatient care. RESULTS: Of the patients, 4.8% were underweight, 50.8% had normal weight, 30.3% were overweight and 14.1% were obese. Adjusted analysis shows that compared with normal weight, obesity was significantly associated with fewer problematic items in the surgery-related information domain, and being underweight or overweight was associated with more problematic items in the involvement of family/friends domain. The global PPE-15 score was significantly higher (more problems) for underweight patients. CONCLUSIONS: Underweight patients, but not obese patients, reported more problems during hospitalization.

Beyond Smith's rule: An optimal dynamic index, rule for single machine stochastic scheduling with convex holding costs

Most research on single machine scheduling has assumedthe linearity of job holding costs, which is arguablynot appropriate in some applications. This motivates ourstudy of a model for scheduling $n$ classes of stochasticjobs on a single machine, with the objective of minimizingthe total expected holding cost (discounted or undiscounted). We allow general holding cost rates that are separable,nondecreasing and convex on the number of jobs in eachclass. We formulate the problem as a linear program overa certain greedoid polytope, and establish that it issolved optimally by a dynamic (priority) index rule,whichextends the classical Smith's rule (1956) for the linearcase. Unlike Smith's indices, defined for each class, ournew indices are defined for each extended class, consistingof a class and a number of jobs in that class, and yieldan optimal dynamic index rule: work at each time on a jobwhose current extended class has larger index. We furthershow that the indices possess a decomposition property,as they are computed separately for each class, andinterpret them in economic terms as marginal expected cost rate reductions per unit of expected processing time.We establish the results by deploying a methodology recentlyintroduced by us [J. Niño-Mora (1999). "Restless bandits,partial conservation laws, and indexability. "Forthcomingin Advances in Applied Probability Vol. 33 No. 1, 2001],based on the satisfaction by performance measures of partialconservation laws (PCL) (which extend the generalizedconservation laws of Bertsimas and Niño-Mora (1996)):PCL provide a polyhedral framework for establishing theoptimality of index policies with special structure inscheduling problems under admissible objectives, which weapply to the model of concern.

A genome-wide approach accounting for body mass index identifies genetic variants influencing fasting glycemic traits and insulin resistance.

Recent genome-wide association studies have described many loci implicated in type 2 diabetes (T2D) pathophysiology and β-cell dysfunction but have contributed little to the understanding of the genetic basis of insulin resistance. We hypothesized that genes implicated in insulin resistance pathways might be uncovered by accounting for differences in body mass index (BMI) and potential interactions between BMI and genetic variants. We applied a joint meta-analysis approach to test associations with fasting insulin and glucose on a genome-wide scale. We present six previously unknown loci associated with fasting insulin at P < 5 × 10(-8) in combined discovery and follow-up analyses of 52 studies comprising up to 96,496 non-diabetic individuals. Risk variants were associated with higher triglyceride and lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels, suggesting a role for these loci in insulin resistance pathways. The discovery of these loci will aid further characterization of the role of insulin resistance in T2D pathophysiology.

Sistema de Gestão de Conteúdos – Estudo de Caso “Projecto de Desenvolvimento do Site do Ministério da Saúde”

Este trabalho foi desenvolvido no âmbito do Curso de Licenciatura em Informática – Ramo Educacional e tem por objecto estudar e avaliar o Sistema de Gestão de Conteúdos no Projecto de Desenvolvimento do Site do Ministério da Saúde cujo o objectivo é a implementação de um sistema de informação para a divulgação das actividades realizadas pelo Ministério da Saúde de Cabo Verde. Com o desenvolvimento das tecnologias de informação e comunicação, uma das mais populares formas de divulgação da informação tem sido através de criação de sites e aplicações web. Nessa óptica torna-se de extrema importância que uma instituição como o Ministério da Saúde disponha de um sistema de recolha, tratamento e divulgação de informação utilizando as tecnologias de informação e comunicação. No primeiro momento do trabalho fiz-se uma analise das tecnologias de comunicação, a web, os protocolos utilizados, linguagens de programação, base de dados MYSQL, servidores web, e especialmente o Sistema de Gestão de Conteúdos, seguido de um levantamento dos requisitos e uma análise das necessidades em matéria de infra-estruturas tecnológicas, e escolha de ferramentas de desenvolvimento de sites. Passou-se á recolha de informações através de contactos com todos os departamentos e estruturas do Ministério da Saúde. Segue-se a modelação e análise das informações de acordo com as estruturas dessa Instituição. Seguiu-se para a codificação que consiste praticamente na instalação e configuração dos elementos do joomla que são os templates, componente, módulos, mambots. Após as configurações, fez-se as ligações ou links para os documentos e páginas do site e finalmente os testes do site. Serviram de apoio nesse trabalho disciplinas do curso como Organização Interactiva, Sistemas de Informação, Metodologias de Sistema de Informação, Desenho Software, Desenvolvimentos de Projectos Informáticos e Base de Dados. Com o desenvolvimento deste espaço passa-se a divulgar e publicar todas as actividades relacionadas com a saúde, nomeadamente campanhas de sensibilização e informação, publicação de documentos, dados estatísticos, fóruns de discussões sobre a saúde, inquéritos on-line, entre outros. De salientar que o site neste momento se encontra funcionando e com uma grande audiência.

Suprapineal recess: an alternate site for third ventriculostomy? Case report.

This 30-year-old woman presented with clinical symptoms and signs of intracranial hypertension and Parinaud syndrome secondary to ventriculoperitoneal shunt dysfunction. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging revealed gross triventricular hydrocephalus with a large suprapineal recess due to aqueductal stenosis. Using an endoscopic approach, a ventriculostomy was performed within the floor of the dilated suprapineal recess. Following this procedure the patient experienced alleviation of all her neurological symptoms and signs. Postoperative MR imaging and cerebrospinal fluid flow studies demonstrated a functioning ventriculostomy. The anatomy of the suprapineal recess and its suitability for endoscopic ventriculostomy are discussed.

Management of major accidents with on-site 144 dispatcher

Introduction: An excellent coordination between firefighters, policemen and medical rescue is the key to success in the management of major accidents. In order to improve and assist the medical teams engaged on site, the Swiss "medical command and control system" for rescue operations is based on a binomial set up involving one head emergency doctor and one head rescue paramedic, both trained in disaster medicine. We have recently experimented an innovative on-site "medical command and control system", based on the binomial team, supported by a dedicated 144 dispatcher. Methods: A major road traffic accident took place on the highway between Lausanne and Vevey on April 9th 2008. We have retrospectively collected all data concerning the victims as well as the logistics and dedicated structures, reported by the 144, the Hospitals, the Authority of the State and the Police and Fire Departments. Results: The 72-car pileup caused one death and 26 slightly injured patients. The management on the accident site was organized around a tripartite system, gathering together the medical command and control team with the police and fire departments. On the medical side, 16 ambulances, 2 medical response teams (SMUR), the Rega crew and the medical command and control team were dispatched by the 144. On that occasion an advanced medical command car equipped with communication devices and staffed with a 144 dispatcher was also engaged, allowing efficient medical regulation directly from the site. Discussion: The specific skills of one doctor and one paramedic both trained for disaster's management proved to be perfectly complementary. The presence of a dispatcher on site with a medical command car also proved to be useful, improving orders transmission from the medical command team to all other on- and off-site partners. It relieved the need of repeated back-and-forth communication with the 144, allowing both paramedic and doctor to focus on strategy and tactics rather than communication and logistics.