Continuous amperometric monitoring of glucose in a brittle diabetic chimpanzee with a miniature subcutaneous electrode

The performance of an amperometric biosensor, consisting of a subcutaneously implanted miniature (0.29 mm diameter, 5 × 10−4 cm2 mass transporting area), 90 s 10–90% rise/decay time glucose electrode, and an on-the-skin electrocardiogram Ag/AgCl electrode was tested in an unconstrained, naturally diabetic, brittle, type I, insulin-dependent chimpanzee. The chimpanzee was trained to wear on her wrist a small electronic package and to present her heel for capillary blood samples. In five sets of measurements, averaging 5 h each, 82 capillary blood samples were assayed, their concentrations ranging from 35 to 400 mg/dl. The current readings were translated to blood glucose concentration by assaying, at t = 1 h, one blood sample for each implanted sensor. The rms error in the correlation between the sensor-measured glucose concentration and that in capillary blood was 17.2%, 4.9% above the intrinsic 12.3% rms error of the Accu-Chek II reference, through which the illness of the chimpanzee was routinely managed. Linear regression analysis of the data points taken at t>1 h yielded the relationship (Accu-Chek) = 0.98 × (implanted sensor) + 4.2 mg/dl, r2 = 0.94. The capillary blood and the subcutaneous glucose concentrations were statistically indistinguishable when the rate of change was less than 1 mg/(dl⋅min). However, when the rate of decline exceeded 1.8 mg/(dl⋅min) after insulin injection, the subcutaneous glucose concentration was transiently higher.

Cultural variation in Africa: role of mechanisms of transmission and adaptation.

Cultural inheritance can be considered as a mechanism of adaptation made possible by communication, which has reached its greatest development in humans and can allow long-term conservation or rapid change of culturally transmissible traits depending on circumstances and needs. Conservativeness/flexibility is largely modulated by mechanisms of sociocultural transmission. An analysis was carried out by testing the fit of three models to 47 cultural traits (classified in six groups) in 277 African societies. Model A (demic diffusion) is conservation over generations, as shown by correlations of cultural traits with language, used as a measure of historical connection. Model B (environmental adaptation) is measured by correlation to the natural environment. Model C (cultural diffusion) is the spread to neighbors by social contact in an epidemic-like fashion and was tested by measuring the tightness of geographic clustering of the traits. Most traits examined, in particular those affecting family structure and kinship, showed great conservation over generations, as shown by the fit of model A. They are most probably transmitted by family members. This is in agreement with the theoretical demonstration that cultural transmission in the family (vertical) is the most conservative one. Some traits show environmental effects, indicating the importance of adaptation to physical environment. Only a few of the 47 traits showed tight geographic clustering indicating that their spread to nearest neighbors follows model C, as is usually the case for transmission among unrelated people (called horizontal transmission).

Time-motion analysis in women’s team handball: importance of aerobic performance

Women’s handball is a sport, which has seen an accelerated development over the last decade. Data on movement patterns in combination with physiological demands are nearly nonexistent in the literature. The aim of this study was twofold: first, to analyze the horizontal movement pattern, including the sprint acceleration profiles, of individual female elite handball players and the corresponding heart rates (HRs) during a match and secondly to determine underlying correlations with individual aerobic performance. Players from one German First League team (n = 11) and the Norwegian National Team (n = 14) were studied during one match using the Sagit system for movement analysis and Polar HR monitoring for analysis of physiological demands. Mean HR during the match was 86 % of maximum HR (HRmax). With the exception of the goalkeepers (GKs, 78 % of HRmax), no position-specific differences could be detected. Total distance covered during the match was 4614 m (2066 m in GKs and 5251 m in field players (FPs)). Total distance consisted of 9.2 % sprinting, 26.7 % fast running, 28.8 % slow running, and 35.5 % walking. Mean velocity varied between 1.9 km/h (0.52 m/s) (GKs) and 4.2 km/h (1.17 m/s) (FPs, no position effect). Field players with a higher level of maximum oxygen uptake (V̇O2max) executed run activities with a higher velocity but comparable percentage of HRmax as compared to players with lower aerobic performance, independent of FP position. Acceleration profile depended on aerobic performance and the field player’s position. In conclusion, a high V̇O2max appears to be important in top-level international women’s handball. Sprint and endurance training should be conducted according to the specific demands of the player’s position.

The European Union’s Regionalism Diplomacy in Africa: An English School Approach. Bruges Regional Integration & Global Governance Papers [BRIGG] #2.2015

This paper proposes an innovative analytical approach to regionalism promotion by the European Union (EU) in Africa. The approach pursues the dual aim of accommodating African approaches to regionalism in EU foreign policy analysis and of expounding the centrality of diplomacy in negotiating a renewed EU-African Union relationship. The concept of ‘regionalism diplomacy’ brings the negotiated and contentious nature of EU regionalism promotion to the fore. The paper espouses contemporary English School thinking about ‘international society’ and argues that EU regionalism promotion cannot just remain the expansion of European regional international society onto Africa. Instead, EU regionalism diplomacy should acknowledge and incorporate the anticolonial pan-African roots of African regionalism. Overall, the EU should seek a more diplomacy-focused, negotiated Africa-Europe interregional relationship. The paper concludes with an outline of a pan-African approach to regionalism diplomacy and avenues for future research.

Interagency workshop on aquatic monitoring and analysis for organotin compounds /

Sponsored by NOAA/National Ocean Service, National Marine Pollution Program Office.

Health in Africa /

"January 1975."

Use of umbilical artery Doppler velocimetry in the monitoring of pregnancy in women with pre-existing diabetes

Background: The usefulness of umbilical artery Doppler velocimetry for the monitoring of diabetic pregnancies is controversial. The aim of the present study was to assess whether umbilical artery Doppler velocity waveform analysis can predict adverse perinatal outcomes for pregnancies complicated by pre-existing diabetes mellitus. Methods: All diabetic pregnancies (type 1 and 2) delivered at Mater Mothers' Hospital, Queensland, between 1 January 1995 and 31 December 1999 were included. All pregnant diabetic women were monitored with umbilical artery Doppler velocimetry at 28, 32, 36, and 38 weeks' gestation. Adverse perinatal outcome was defined as pregnancies with one or more of the following: small-for-gestational age, Caesarean section for non-reassuring cardiotocography, fetal acidaemia at delivery, 1-min Apgar of 3 or less, 5-min Apgar of less than 7, hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy or perinatal death. Abnormal umbilical artery Doppler velocimetry was defined as a pulsatility index of 95th centile or higher for gestation. Results: One hundred and four pregnancies in women with pre-existing diabetes had umbilical arterial Doppler studies carried out during the study period. Twenty-three pregnancies (22.1%) had an elevated pulsatility index. If the scans were carried out within 2 weeks of delivery, 71% of pregnancies with abnormal umbilical Doppler had adverse outcomes (P < 0.01; likelihood ratio, 4.2). However, the sensitivity was 35%; specificity was 94%; positive predictive value was 80%; and negative predictive value was 68%. Only 30% of women with adverse perinatal outcomes had abnormal umbilical arterial Doppler flow. Conclusion: Umbilical artery Doppler velocimetry is not a good predictor of adverse perinatal outcomes in diabetic pregnancies.

Survey-gap analysis in expeditionary research: where do we go from here?

Research expeditions into remote areas to collect biological specimens provide vital information for understanding biodiversity. However, major expeditions to little-known areas are expensive and time consuming, time is short, and well-trained people are difficult to find. In addition, processing the collections and obtaining accurate identifications takes time and money. In order to get the maximum return for the investment, we need to determine the location of the collecting expeditions carefully. In this study we used environmental variables and information on existing collecting localities to help determine the sites of future expeditions. Results from other studies were used to aid in the selection of the environmental variables, including variables relating to temperature, rainfall, lithology and distance between sites. A survey gap analysis tool based on 'ED complementarity' was employed to select the sites that would most likely contribute the most new taxa. The tool does not evaluate how well collected a previously visited site survey site might be; however, collecting effort was estimated based on species accumulation curves. We used the number of collections and/or number of species at each collecting site to eliminate those we deemed poorly collected. Plants, birds, and insects from Guyana were examined using the survey gap analysis tool, and sites for future collecting expeditions were determined. The south-east section of Guyana had virtually no collecting information available. It has been inaccessible for many years for political reasons and as a result, eight of the first ten sites selected were in that area. In order to evaluate the remainder of the country, and because there are no immediate plans by the Government of Guyana to open that area to exploration, that section of the country was not included in the remainder of the study. The range of the ED complementarity values dropped sharply after the first ten sites were selected. For plants, the group for which we had the most records, areas selected included several localities in the Pakaraima Mountains, the border with the south-east, and one site in the north-west. For birds, a moderately collected group, the strongest need was in the north-west followed by the east. Insects had the smallest data set and the largest range of ED complementarity values; the results gave strong emphasis to the southern parts of the country, but most of the locations appeared to be equidistant from one another, most likely because of insufficient data. Results demonstrate that the use of a survey gap analysis tool designed to solve a locational problem using continuous environmental data can help maximize our resources for gathering new information on biodiversity. (c) 2005 The Linnean Society of London.

Eye movement analysis in congenital nystagmus:concise parameters estimation

Along with other diseases that can affect binocular vision, reducing the visual quality of a subject, Congenital Nystagmus (CN) is of peculiar interest. CN is an ocular-motor disorder characterized by involuntary, conjugated ocular oscillations and, while identified more than forty years ago, its pathogenesis is still under investigation. This kind of nystagmus is termed congenital (or infantile) since it could be present at birth or it can arise in the first months of life. The majority of CN patients show a considerable decrease of their visual acuity: image fixation on the retina is disturbed by nystagmus continuous oscillations, mainly horizontal. However, the image of a given target can still be stable during short periods in which eye velocity slows down while the target image is placed onto the fovea (called foveation intervals). To quantify the extent of nystagmus, eye movement recordings are routinely employed, allowing physicians to extract and analyze nystagmus main features such as waveform shape, amplitude and frequency. Use of eye movement recording, opportunely processed, allows computing "estimated visual acuity" predictors, which are analytical functions that estimate expected visual acuity using signal features such as foveation time and foveation position variability. Hence, it is fundamental to develop robust and accurate methods to measure both those parameters in order to obtain reliable values from the predictors. In this chapter the current methods to record eye movements in subjects with congenital nystagmus will be discussed and the present techniques to accurately compute foveation time and eye position will be presented. This study aims to disclose new methodologies in congenital nystagmus eye movements analysis, in order to identify nystagmus cycles and to evaluate foveation time, reducing the influence of repositioning saccades and data noise on the critical parameters of the estimation functions. Use of those functions extends the information acquired with typical visual acuity measurement (e.g., Landolt C test) and could be a support for treatment planning or therapy monitoring. © 2010 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

The possibilities of biodiversity monitoring based on Hungarian Light Trap Networks

Our method is presented with displaying time series, consisting of the daily amount of precipitation of 100 years, which has meant a separate challenge, as the precipitation data shows significant deviations. By nowadays, mankind has changed its environment to such an extent that it has a significant effect on other species as well. The Lepidoptera data series of the National Plant Protection and Forestry Light Trap Network can be used to justify this. This network has a national coverage, a large number of collected Lepidoptera, and an available, long data series of several years. For obtaining information from these data, the setting up of an easy to manage database is necessary. Furthermore, it is important to represent our data and our results in an easily analysable and expressive way. In this article the setting up of the database is introduced, together with the presentation of a three dimensional visualization method, which depicts the long-range and seasonal changes together.

Non-invasive monitoring of changes in exhaled markers of airway inflammation in Thoroughbred racehorses

Exhaled breath (EB) and exhaled breath condensate (EBC) contain numerous volatile gases and a wide-array of non-volatile compounds, several of which have been investigated as markers of lower airway inflammation in human and veterinary medicine and have been used to diagnose and monitor diseases associated with pulmonary inflammation. The identification of reliable biomarkers within EB and EBC is an active research focus with the common goal of establishing non-invasive and repeatable assessment of respiratory health and disease in mammals. The application of EB and EBC analysis holds considerable appeal in the investigation of respiratory disease in Thoroughbred racehorses, as inflammatory airway disease (IAD) is a common cause for poor performance in this population of animals. This study documented that EB and EBC samples can be safely collected from Thoroughbred racehorses in their own environment, without adverse effect or interference with the horse’s training regimen. The use of off-line collection and analysis of exhaled gases via chemiluminescence is suitable for the measurement of exhaled carbon monoxide, but is not appropriate for analyzing exhaled nitric oxide in horses. Significant changes in the concentration of exhaled CO and the pH of EBC occurred in response to strenuous exercise and when exercising in different environmental temperatures. Exhaled CO was associated with tracheal mucus score (and the number of neutrophils in the mucus) and EBC pH was significantly different in horses with evidence of neutrophilic IAD compared to horses without IAD. Numerous physiological and environmental variables were identified as confounding factors in the assessment of both exhaled CO and EBC pH, with respiratory rate prior to EB collection, and during EBC collection, consistently identified as an explanatory variable influencing the concentration of exhaled biomarkers. Further studies in EB and EBC analysis in horses need to focus on objectively accounting for key respiratory dynamics during sample collection.