[Dosimetric comparison of non-small cell lung cancer treatment with multi fields dynamic-MLC IMRT].

PubMed

Hao, Longying; Wang, Delin; Cao, Yujuan; Du, Fang; Cao, Feng; Liu, Chengwei

2015-05-19

We compared the dosimetric differences between the target and surrounding tissues/organs of the 5-field and 7,9-field (Hereinafter referred to as F5, F7, F9) treatment plan in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by the dynamic intensity-modulated radiotherapy (dIMRT), to provide reference for clinical application. Using Varian planning system (Eclipse 7.3), we randomly selected 30 cases of patients who received dIMRT to study, all patients were 5, 7, 9 fixed field dynamics intensity-modulated radiotherapy plans to meet the target prescription requirements (95% dose curve enveloping 100% of the PTV), by comparing dose-volume histogram DVH evaluation, and the maximum dose D(max), the minimum dose D(min), and the mean dose D(mean), and conformal index CI of PTV,organs at risk of spinal cord the maximum dose D(max), lung V(5), V(10), V(20), V(30), heart V(30) and esophageal V(50), V(60) of F5,F7 and F9 dIMRT plans,and compare the mu of the three treatment programs. The D(max), D(min) and D(mean) values of F5's PTV are (7 203 ± 128), (5 493 ± 331), (6 900 ± 138) cGy respectively; the D(max), D(min) and D(mean) values of F7's PTV are (7 304 ± 96), (5 526 ± 296), (6 976 ± 130) cGy respectively; and the D(max), D(min) and D(mean) values of F9's PTV are (7 356 ± 54), (5 578 ± 287), (7 019 ± 56) cGy respectively. The data shows that while we increased the numbers of fields, the isodose line surrounding the target area would also promote slightly. The conformity index CI of target became better with the increase of radiation fields. The whole lung V(5) and V(10) slightly became larger with increase of fields and the V(20) showed no significant difference in three models, V(30) of double lungs slightly decreased with the increase of fields. The above date was statistically meaningless (P > 0.05). With the increase of fields esophagus V(50) were reduced by 3% and 5% respectively, V(60) of the esophagus were reduced by 6% and 11%, the average dose reduced by 5% and 10% and spinal cord D(max) decreased by 9% and 13%. In the F7 and F9, heart V5 were lower than F5 plan by 11%, 19%. The mu of them were increased with the increase of radiation fields, Treatment time of F7 and F9 plan were longer by 15% and 25%. Through comparing the three fixed dIMRT plans, we could draw a conclusion that the three multi-field intensity-modulated radiotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer can meet the clinical target volume dose requirements. If the treatment is required to protect the patient's spinal cord, esophagus and heart, we can choose 7 or 9 fields. While other ordinary patients should be treated with 5 fields plan, to shorten the treatment time and improve the biological effects of lesions, and lower mu of plans to avoid unnecessary irradiation of normal tissues.

Turbulent, Extreme Multi-zone Model for Simulating Flux and Polarization Variability in Blazars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marscher, Alan P.

2014-01-01

The author presents a model for variability of the flux and polarization of blazars in which turbulent plasma flowing at a relativistic speed down a jet crosses a standing conical shock. The shock compresses the plasma and accelerates electrons to energies up to γmax >~ 104 times their rest-mass energy, with the value of γmax determined by the direction of the magnetic field relative to the shock front. The turbulence is approximated in a computer code as many cells, each with a uniform magnetic field whose direction is selected randomly. The density of high-energy electrons in the plasma changes randomly with time in a manner consistent with the power spectral density of flux variations derived from observations of blazars. The variations in flux and polarization are therefore caused by continuous noise processes rather than by singular events such as explosive injection of energy at the base of the jet. Sample simulations illustrate the behavior of flux and linear polarization versus time that such a model produces. The variations in γ-ray flux generated by the code are often, but not always, correlated with those at lower frequencies, and many of the flares are sharply peaked. The mean degree of polarization of synchrotron radiation is higher and its timescale of variability shorter toward higher frequencies, while the polarization electric vector sometimes randomly executes apparent rotations. The slope of the spectral energy distribution exhibits sharper breaks than can arise solely from energy losses. All of these results correspond to properties observed in blazars.

A randomized controlled pilot study of VO2 max testing: a potential model for measuring relative in vivo efficacy of different red blood cell products.

PubMed

Bennett-Guerrero, Elliott; Lockhart, Evelyn L; Bandarenko, Nicholas; Campbell, Mary L; Natoli, Michael J; Jamnik, Veronika K; Carter, Timothy R; Moon, Richard E

2017-03-01

Randomized trials, for example, RECESS, comparing "young" (median, 7-day) versus "middle-aged" (median, 28-day) red blood cells (RBCs), showed no difference in outcome. These data are important; however, they do not inform us about the safety and effectiveness of the oldest RBCs, which some patients receive. It may not be feasible to conduct a clinical trial randomizing patients to receive the oldest blood. Therefore, we propose strenuous exercise (VO 2 max testing) as a model to study the relative efficacy to increase oxygen delivery to tissue of different RBC products, for example, extremes of storage duration. In this pilot study, eight healthy subjects had 2 units of leukoreduced RBCs collected by apheresis in AS-3 using standard methods. Subjects were randomized to receive both (2) units of their autologous RBCs at either 7 or 42 days after blood collection. VO 2 max testing on a cycle ergometer was performed 2 days before (Monday) and 2 days after (Friday) the transfusion visit (Wednesday). This design avoids confounding effects on intravascular volume from the 2-unit blood transfusion. The primary outcome was the difference in VO 2 max between Friday and Monday (delta VO 2 max). VO 2 max increased more in the 7-day RBC arm (8.7 ± 6.9% vs. 1.9 ± 6.5%, p = 0.202 for comparison between arms). Exercise duration (seconds) increased in the 7-day RBC arm (8.4 ± 1.7%) but actually decreased in the 42-day arm (-2.6 ± 3.6%, p = 0.002). This pilot study suggests that VO 2 max testing has potential as a rigorous and quantitative in vivo functional assay of RBC function. Our preliminary results suggest that 42-day RBCs are inferior to 7-day RBCs at delivering oxygen to tissues. © 2016 AABB.

Phase unwrapping using region-based markov random field model.

PubMed

Dong, Ying; Ji, Jim

2010-01-01

Phase unwrapping is a classical problem in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar and Sonar (InSAR/InSAS), fringe pattern analysis, and spectroscopy. Although many methods have been proposed to address this problem, robust and effective phase unwrapping remains a challenge. This paper presents a novel phase unwrapping method using a region-based Markov Random Field (MRF) model. Specifically, the phase image is segmented into regions within which the phase is not wrapped. Then, the phase image is unwrapped between different regions using an improved Highest Confidence First (HCF) algorithm to optimize the MRF model. The proposed method has desirable theoretical properties as well as an efficient implementation. Simulations and experimental results on MRI images show that the proposed method provides similar or improved phase unwrapping than Phase Unwrapping MAx-flow/min-cut (PUMA) method and ZpM method.

Cognitive function in patients with stable coronary heart disease: Related cerebrovascular and cardiovascular responses.

PubMed

Gayda, Mathieu; Gremeaux, Vincent; Bherer, Louis; Juneau, Martin; Drigny, Joffrey; Dupuy, Olivier; Lapierre, Gabriel; Labelle, Véronique; Fortier, Annik; Nigam, Anil

2017-01-01

Chronic exercise has been shown to prevent or slow age-related decline in cognitive functions in otherwise healthy, asymptomatic individuals. We sought to assess cognitive function in a stable coronary heart disease (CHD) sample and its relationship to cerebral oxygenation-perfusion, cardiac hemodynamic responses, and [Formula: see text] peak compared to age-matched and young healthy control subjects. Twenty-two young healthy controls (YHC), 20 age-matched old healthy controls (OHC) and 25 patients with stable CHD were recruited. Cognitive function assessment included short term-working memory, perceptual abilities, processing speed, cognitive inhibition and flexibility and long-term verbal memory. Maximal cardiopulmonary function (gas exchange analysis), cardiac hemodynamic (impedance cardiography) and left frontal cerebral oxygenation-perfusion (near-infra red spectroscopy) were measured during and after a maximal incremental ergocycle test. Compared to OHC and CHD, YHC had higher [Formula: see text] peak, maximal cardiac index (CI max), cerebral oxygenation-perfusion (ΔO2 Hb, ΔtHb: exercise and recovery) and cognitive function (for all items) (P<0.05). Compared to OHC, CHD patients had lower [Formula: see text] peak, CI max, cerebral oxygenation-perfusion (during recovery) and short term-working memory, processing speed, cognitive inhibition and flexibility and long-term verbal memory (P<0.05). [Formula: see text] peak and CI max were related to exercise cerebral oxygenation-perfusion and cognitive function (P<0.005). Cerebral oxygenation-perfusion (exercise) was related to cognitive function (P<0.005). Stable CHD patients have a worse cognitive function, a similar cerebral oxygenation/perfusion during exercise but reduced one during recovery vs. their aged-matched healthy counterparts. In the all sample, cognitive functions correlated with [Formula: see text] peak, CI max and cerebral oxygenation-perfusion.

Modification of the Fox method to predict maximum oxygen uptake in female university students of Kolkata, India.

PubMed

Bandyopadhyay, Amit

2011-12-01

The present study was aimed to develop a simple method, i.e. the modified Fox test protocol (MFT) to predict VO2(max) in female sedentary university students of Kolkata, India. One hundred and eleven (111) healthy untrained female students of the University of Calcutta (mean age, body height and body mass of 22.76 ± 1.72 years, 163.52 ± 4.70 cm and 53.03 ± 3.78 kg, respectively) were randomly sampled for the study. They were further randomly divided into the study group (n = 60) and confirmatory group (n = 51). Direct estimation of the maximum oxygen uptake (VO2(max)) comprised an incremental bicycle exercise followed by expired gas analysis by the Scholander micro-gas analyzer. The submaximal heart rate (HR(sub)) was measured at the completion of five min of exercise at 110W workload. HR(sub) exhibited significant negative correlation (r = -0.87, P < 0.001) with VO2(max). Application of the computed norm in the confirmatory group depicted insignificant difference between VO2(max) and predicted VO2(max) or PVO2(max). Limits of agreement between PVO2(max) and VO2(max) were substantially small. The standard error of estimate of the norm was also substantially small. From the present study, MFT is recommended for application in the sedentary female university students for accurate and reliable assessment of cardiorespiratory fitness in terms of VO2(max).

Modification of Fox protocol for prediction of maximum oxygen uptake in male university students.

PubMed

Bandyopadhyay, Amit; Pal, Sangita

2015-01-01

Direct estimation of VO₂max involves labourious, exhaustive, hazardous, time consuming and expensive experimental protocols. Hence, application of various indirect protocols for prediction of VO₂max has become popular, subject to proper population-specific standardisation of the indirect protocol. Application of Fox (1973) protocol in male sedentary university students of Kolkata, India led to premature fatigue in their leg muscles that hindered the muscular activity leading to inability in completing the exercise. The present study was aimed at modifying and validating the Fox (1973) protocol with a convenient workload of 110 W (i.e., modified Fox test or MFT) in the said population. Ninety (90) sedentary male students were recruited by simple random sampling from the University of Calcutta, India and they were randomly assigned into study group (n=60) and confirmatory group (n=30). VO₂max was directly estimated by Scholander micro-gas analysis after incremental bicycle exercise. Predicted VO₂max (PVO₂max) was computed from MFT by using the submaximal heart rate (HR(sub). In the Study Group VO₂max (2216.63 ± 316.77 mL.min⁻¹ was significantly different (P< 0.001) from PVO₂max (3131.73 ± 234.32 mL.min⁻¹ measured by using the equation of Fox (1973). Simple and multiple regression equations have been computed for prediction of VO₂max from HR(sub) and physical parameters. Application of these norms in the confirmatory group depicted insignificant difference between VO₂max and PVO₂max with substantially small limits of agreement and lower values of SEE. The modified regression norms are therefore recommended for use in MFT for accurate assessment of VO₂max in the studied population.

UNiquant, a program for quantitative proteomics analysis using stable isotope labeling.

PubMed

Huang, Xin; Tolmachev, Aleksey V; Shen, Yulei; Liu, Miao; Huang, Lin; Zhang, Zhixin; Anderson, Gordon A; Smith, Richard D; Chan, Wing C; Hinrichs, Steven H; Fu, Kai; Ding, Shi-Jian

2011-03-04

Stable isotope labeling (SIL) methods coupled with nanoscale liquid chromatography and high resolution tandem mass spectrometry are increasingly useful for elucidation of the proteome-wide differences between multiple biological samples. Development of more effective programs for the sensitive identification of peptide pairs and accurate measurement of the relative peptide/protein abundance are essential for quantitative proteomic analysis. We developed and evaluated the performance of a new program, termed UNiquant, for analyzing quantitative proteomics data using stable isotope labeling. UNiquant was compared with two other programs, MaxQuant and Mascot Distiller, using SILAC-labeled complex proteome mixtures having either known or unknown heavy/light ratios. For the SILAC-labeled Jeko-1 cell proteome digests with known heavy/light ratios (H/L = 1:1, 1:5, and 1:10), UNiquant quantified a similar number of peptide pairs as MaxQuant for the H/L = 1:1 and 1:5 mixtures. In addition, UNiquant quantified significantly more peptides than MaxQuant and Mascot Distiller in the H/L = 1:10 mixtures. UNiquant accurately measured relative peptide/protein abundance without the need for postmeasurement normalization of peptide ratios, which is required by the other programs.

UNiquant, a Program for Quantitative Proteomics Analysis Using Stable Isotope Labeling

PubMed Central

Huang, Xin; Tolmachev, Aleksey V.; Shen, Yulei; Liu, Miao; Huang, Lin; Zhang, Zhixin; Anderson, Gordon A.; Smith, Richard D.; Chan, Wing C.; Hinrichs, Steven H.; Fu, Kai; Ding, Shi-Jian

2011-01-01

Stable isotope labeling (SIL) methods coupled with nanoscale liquid chromatography and high resolution tandem mass spectrometry are increasingly useful for elucidation of the proteome-wide differences between multiple biological samples. Development of more effective programs for the sensitive identification of peptide pairs and accurate measurement of the relative peptide/protein abundance are essential for quantitative proteomic analysis. We developed and evaluated the performance of a new program, termed UNiquant, for analyzing quantitative proteomics data using stable isotope labeling. UNiquant was compared with two other programs, MaxQuant and Mascot Distiller, using SILAC-labeled complex proteome mixtures having either known or unknown heavy/light ratios. For the SILAC-labeled Jeko-1 cell proteome digests with known heavy/light ratios (H/L = 1:1, 1:5, and 1:10), UNiquant quantified a similar number of peptide pairs as MaxQuant for the H/L = 1:1 and 1:5 mixtures. In addition, UNiquant quantified significantly more peptides than MaxQuant and Mascot Distiller in the H/L = 1:10 mixtures. UNiquant accurately measured relative peptide/protein abundance without the need for post-measurement normalization of peptide ratios, which is required by the other programs. PMID:21158445

Constraining the phantom braneworld model from cosmic structure sizes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhattacharya, Sourav; Kousvos, Stefanos R.

2017-11-01

We consider the phantom braneworld model in the context of the maximum turnaround radius, RTA ,max, of a stable, spherical cosmic structure with a given mass. The maximum turnaround radius is the point where the attraction due to the central inhomogeneity gets balanced with the repulsion of the ambient dark energy, beyond which a structure cannot hold any mass, thereby giving the maximum upper bound on the size of a stable structure. In this work we derive an analytical expression of RTA ,max for this model using cosmological scalar perturbation theory. Using this we numerically constrain the parameter space, including a bulk cosmological constant and the Weyl fluid, from the mass versus observed size data for some nearby, nonvirial cosmic structures. We use different values of the matter density parameter Ωm, both larger and smaller than that of the Λ cold dark matter, as the input in our analysis. We show in particular, that (a) with a vanishing bulk cosmological constant the predicted upper bound is always greater than what is actually observed; a similar conclusion holds if the bulk cosmological constant is negative (b) if it is positive, the predicted maximum size can go considerably below than what is actually observed and owing to the involved nature of the field equations, it leads to interesting constraints on not only the bulk cosmological constant itself but on the whole parameter space of the theory.

[Spectral sensitivity and visual pigments of the coastal crab Hemigrapsus sanguineus].

PubMed

Shukoliukov, S A; Zak, P P; Kalamkarov, G R; Kalishevich, O O; Ostrovskiĭ, M A

1980-01-01

It has been shown that the compound eye of the coastal crab has one photosensitive pigment rhodopsin and screening pigments, black and orange one. The orange pigment has lambda max = 480 nm, rhodopsin in digitonin is stable towards hydroxylamin action, has lambda max = 490-495 nm and after bleaching is transformed into free retinene and opsin. The pigments with lambda max = 430 and 475 nm of the receptor part of the eye are also solubilized. These pigments are not photosensitive but they dissociate under the effect of hydroxylamine. The curye of spectral sensitivity of the coastal crab has the basic maximum at approximately 525 nm and the additional one at 450 nm, which seems to be provided by a combination of the visual pigment--rhodopsin (lambda max 500 nm) with a carotinoid filter (lambda max 480-490). Specific features of the visual system of coastal crab are discussed.

The Evolution and Discharge of Electric Fields within a Thunderstorm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hager, William W.; Nisbet, John S.; Kasha, John R.

1989-05-01

A 3-dimensional electrical model for a thunderstorm is developed and finite difference approximations to the model are analyzed. If the spatial derivatives are approximated by a method akin to the ☐ scheme and if the temporal derivative is approximated by either a backward difference or the Crank-Nicholson scheme, we show that the resulting discretization is unconditionally stable. The forward difference approximation to the time derivative is stable when the time step is sufficiently small relative to the ratio between the permittivity and the conductivity. Max-norm error estimates for the discrete approximations are established. To handle the propagation of lightning, special numerical techniques are devised based on the Inverse Matrix Modification Formula and Cholesky updates. Numerical comparisons between the model and theoretical results of Wilson and Holzer-Saxon are presented. We also apply our model to a storm observed at the Kennedy Space Center on July 11, 1978.

Effect of ticagrelor on the pharmacokinetics of ethinyl oestradiol and levonorgestrel in healthy volunteers.

PubMed

Butler, Kathleen; Teng, Renli

2011-08-01

Cytochrome P450 3 A is involved in ticagrelor and ethinyl oestradiol/levonorgestrel metabolism; so a potential drug-drug interaction may occur. To assess: ticagrelor effects on ethinyl oestradiol/levonorgestrel pharmacokinetics, endogenous sex hormone levels; ethinyl oestradiol/levonorgestrel effects on ticagrelor pharmacokinetics; tolerability of ticagrelor + ethinyl oestradiol/levonorgestrel. This trial was a randomized, double-blind, two-way crossover, single-center study. Twenty-two healthy female volunteers (on stable ethinyl oestradiol/levonorgestrel) received 90 mg ticagrelor or placebo twice daily with ethinyl oestradiol/levonorgestrel (0.03 mg/0.15 mg; Nordette) on cycle days 1-21. Volunteers crossed over treatment on day 1/cycle 2. Pharmacokinetic parameters were evaluated on cycle day 21, and endogenous hormones assayed on cycle days 1, 7, 14 and 21. NCT006895906. Ethinyl oestradiol absorption was rapid (median t(max) approximately 1 hour), and was not affected by ticagrelor. Ticagrelor co-administration (90% confidence interval [CI]) increased AUC(0-τ), C(min), and C(max) of ethinyl oestradiol by 20% (1.03-1.40), 20% (0.96-1.50) and 31% (1.18-1.44), respectively. Ticagrelor had no effect on levonorgestrel pharmacokinetic parameters versus placebo (90% CI: AUC(0-τ) 0.97-1.10; C(min) 0.94-1.10; C(max) 1.02-1.16). Steady-state ticagrelor, and AR-C124910XX (major and equally pharmacologically active metabolite), AUC(0-τ), C(max), and t(max) were comparable with published findings. Pre-dose ticagrelor and AR-C124910XX plasma concentrations were higher on cycle day 21 versus days 7 and 14. Endogenous sex hormone plasma levels were unaffected by ticagrelor. Co-administration of ticagrelor with ethinyl oestradiol/levonorgestrel was well tolerated. Study limitations included: no ticagrelor-only arm; only one type of oral contraceptive; short study duration; using oestradiol/levonorgestrel pharmacokinetic parameters as surrogate marker for contraceptive efficacy. Ticagrelor co-administration with ethinyl oestradiol/levonorgestrel increased ethinyl oestradiol exposure by approximately 20%, with no effect on levonorgestrel pharmacokinetics. No clinically relevant effect on contraceptive efficacy is expected with ethinyl oestradiol/levonorgestrel and ticagrelor co-administration.

Protein intake induced an increase in exercise stimulated fat oxidation during stable body weight.

PubMed

Soenen, Stijn; Plasqui, Guy; Smeets, Astrid J; Westerterp-Plantenga, Margriet S

2010-12-02

Protein-rich weight-loss diets spare fat-free mass at the cost of fat mass. The objective was to examine if there is a change in stimulated fat oxidation related to protein intake during stable body weight. Subjects' (BMI 22±2kg/m(2), age 25±8 years) maximal fat oxidation (Fat(max)) was assessed during a graded bicycle test, before and after a 3-month dietary-intervention of 2MJ/day supplements exchanged with 2MJ/d of habitual energy intake. The parallel design consisted of protein-rich supplements in the protein group and an isocaloric combination of carbohydrate and fat supplements in the control group. Daily protein intake was determined according to 24-h urine nitrogen. Body composition was measured according to a 4-compartment model by a combination of underwater-weighing technique, deuterium-dilution technique and whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Subjects were weight stable and did not change their physical activity. The protein group (n=12) increased protein intake (11±14g, P<0.05) and had significantly higher daily protein intake vs. control (n=4) (80±21 vs.59±11g, P<0.05). Fat(max) increased significantly in the protein group (0.08±0.08g/min, P<0.01). Fat-free mass increased independent of change in body weight (P<0.01), and fat mass and fat percentage decreased (P<0.05). Change in Fat(max) was a function of change in protein intake (r=0.623, P<0.05), and not of changes in body composition or VO(2)max. Increased stimulated fat oxidation was related to increased protein intake. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Application of the Stable Isotope Label Approach in Clinical Development-Supporting Dissolution Specifications for a Commercial Tablet Product with Tafenoquine, a Long Half-life Compound.

PubMed

Goyal, Navin; Mohamed, Khadeeja; Rolfe, Katie; Sahota, Satty; Ernest, Terry; Duparc, Stephan; Taylor, Maxine; Casillas, Linda; Koh, Gavin C K W

2018-06-04

Bioavailability/bioequivalence studies supporting clinical drug development or commercial supply of drug formulations are often time, cost, and resource intensive. The drug's pharmacokinetic (PK) variability, systemic half-life, and safety issues may pose additional challenges. The stable isotope label (SIL) approach provides a useful tool to significantly reduce the study size in clinical PK studies. Tafenoquine (TQ) is an 8-aminoquinoline under development for preventing Plasmodium vivax malaria relapse. This SIL study assessed the impact of differences in the in vitro dissolution profiles on in vivo exposure of TQ tablets. Fourteen healthy volunteers received a single dose of 300 mg TQ Intermediate Aged or 300 mg TQ Control formulations in this single-center, two-arm, randomized, open-label, parallel-group study. Endpoints included the geometric means ratio of the area under the concentration-time curve (AUC (0-t) and AUC (0-∞) ; primary endpoint) and maximum plasma concentration (C max ) for Intermediate Aged versus Control TQ; correlation of PK parameters for venous versus peripheral (via microsample) blood samples; and safety and tolerability endpoints. Geometric mean ratios for PK parameters (AUC and C max ) and their 90% confidence intervals fell well within standard bioequivalence limits (0.80-1.25). Only one mild adverse event (skin abrasion) was reported. In summary, this SIL methodology-based study demonstrates that the observed differences in the in vitro dissolution profiles between the Control and Intermediate Aged TQ tablets have no clinically relevant effect on systemic TQ exposure. The SIL approach was successfully implemented to enable the setting of a clinically relevant dissolution specification. This study (GSK study number 201780) is registered at clinicaltrials.gov with identifier NCT02751294.

Field evaluations of the VD max approach for substantiation of a 25 kGy sterilization dose and its application to other preselected doses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kowalski, John B.; Herring, Craig; Baryschpolec, Lisa; Reger, John; Patel, Jay; Feeney, Mary; Tallentire, Alan

2002-08-01

The International and European standards for radiation sterilization require evidence of the effectiveness of a minimum sterilization dose of 25 kGy but do not provide detailed guidance on how this evidence can be generated. An approach, designated VD max, has recently been described and computer evaluated to provide safe and unambiguous substantiation of a 25 kGy sterilization dose. The approach has been further developed into a practical method, which has been subjected to field evaluations at three manufacturing facilities which produce different types of medical devices. The three facilities each used a different overall evaluation strategy: Facility A used VD max for quarterly dose audits; Facility B compared VD max and Method 1 in side-by-side parallel experiments; and Facility C, a new facility at start-up, used VD max for initial substantiation of 25 kGy and subsequent quarterly dose audits. A common element at all three facilities was the use of 10 product units for irradiation in the verification dose experiment. The field evaluations of the VD max method were successful at all three facilities; they included many different types of medical devices/product families with a wide range of average bioburden and sample item portion values used in the verification dose experiments. Overall, around 500 verification dose experiments were performed and no failures were observed. In the side-by-side parallel experiments, the outcomes of the VD max experiments were consistent with the outcomes observed with Method 1. The VD max approach has been extended to sterilization doses >25 and <25 kGy; verification doses have been derived for sterilization doses of 15, 20, 30, and 35 kGy. Widespread application of the VD max method for doses other than 25 kGy must await controlled field evaluations and the development of appropriate specifications/standards.

Tables of the Inverse Laplace Transform of the Function [Formula: see text].

PubMed

Dishon, Menachem; Bendler, John T; Weiss, George H

1990-01-01

The inverse transform, [Formula: see text], 0 < β < 1, is a stable law that arises in a number of different applications in chemical physics, polymer physics, solid-state physics, and applied mathematics. Because of its important applications, a number of investigators have suggested approximations to g ( t ). However, there have so far been no accurately calculated values available for checking or other purposes. We present here tables, accurate to six figures, of g ( t ) for a number of values of β between 0.25 and 0.999. In addition, since g ( t ), regarded as a function of β , is uni-modal with a peak occurring at t = t max we both tabulate and graph t max and 1/ g ( t max ) as a function of β , as well as giving polynomial approximations to 1/ g ( t max ).

Season-to-Season Variations of Physiological Fitness Within a Squad of Professional Male Soccer Players

PubMed Central

Clark, Niall A.; Edwards, Andrew M.; Morton, R. Hugh; Butterly, Ronald J.

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine season-to-season variations in physiological fitness parameters among a 1st team squad of professional adult male soccer players for the confirmatory purposes of identifying normative responses (immediately prior to pre-season training (PPS), mid-season (MID), and end-of-season (EOS)). Test-retest data were collected from a student population on the primary dependent variables of anaerobic threshold (AT) and maximal aerobic power (VO2 max) to define meaningful measurement change in excess of test-retest technical error between test-to-test performances. Participants from a pool of 42 professional soccer players were tested over a set sequence of tests during the 3-year period: 1) basic anthropometry, 2) countermovement jump (CMJ) tests 3) a combined AT and VO2 max test. Over the 3-year period there were no test-to-test changes in mean VO2 max performance exceeding pre-defined limits of test agreement (mean of eight measures: 61.6 ± 0.6 ml·kg-1·min-1). In contrast, VO2 at AT was significantly higher at the MID test occasion in seasons 2 (+4.8%; p = 0.04, p < 0.05) and 3 (+6.8%; p = 0.03, p < 0.05). The CMJ tests showed a test-to-test improvement of 6.3% (best of 3 jumps) (p = 0.03, p < 0.05) and 10.3% (20-s sustained jumping test) (p = 0.007, p < 0.01) between PPS2 and MID2 and thereafter remained stable. Anthropometrics were unaffected. In summary, despite some personnel changes in the elite cohort between test-to-test occasions, VO2 max values did not vary significantly over the study which supports previous short-term observations suggesting a general ‘elite’ threshold of 60 ml·kg-1 min. Interestingly, AT significantly varied where VO2 max was stable and these variations also coincided with on- and off-seasons suggesting that AT is a better indication of acute training state than VO2 max. Key points Maximal aerobic power remains fairly stable across inter- and intra-season measurements. Anaerobic threshold appears more sensitive of training state confirming our earlier observations. The professional players tended to attain optimal performances at the mid-season interval over the 3 seasons, presumably prior to the development of accumulative fatigue. PMID:24150149

Influence of acute moderate hypoxia on time to exhaustion at vVO2max in unacclimatized runners.

PubMed

Billat, V L; Lepretre, P M; Heubert, R P; Koralsztein, J P; Gazeau, F P

2003-01-01

Eight unacclimatized long-distance runners performed, on a level treadmill, an incremental test to determine the maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) and the minimal velocity eliciting VO2max (vVO2max) in normoxia (N) and acute moderate hypoxia (H) corresponding to an altitude of 2,400 m (PIO 2 of 109 mmHg). Afterwards, on separate days, they performed two all-out constant velocity runs at vO2 max in a random order (one in N and the other in H). The decrease in VO2max between N and H showed a great degree of variability amongst subjects as VO2max decreased by 8.9 +/- 4 ml x min(-1) x kg)(-1) in H vs. N conditions (-15.3 +/- 6.3 % with a range from -7.9 % to -23.8 %). This decrease in VO2max was proportional to the value of VO2max (VO2max vs. delta VO2max N-H, r = 0.75, p = 0.03). The time run at vVO2max was not affected by hypoxia (483 +/- 122 vs. 506 +/- 148 s, in N and H, respectively, p = 0.37). However, the greater the decrease in vVO2max during hypoxia, the greater the runners increased their time to exhaustion at vVO2max (vVO2max N-H vs. tlim @vVO2max N-H, r = -0.75, p = 0.03). In conclusion, this study showed that there was a positive association between the extent of decrease in vVO2max, and the increase in run time at vVO2max in hypoxia.

Jet Injection of 1% buffered lidocaine versus topical ELA-Max for anesthesia before peripheral intravenous catheterization in children: a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Spanos, Stephanie; Booth, Rebekah; Koenig, Heidi; Sikes, Kendra; Gracely, Edward; Kim, In K

2008-08-01

Peripheral intravenous (PIV) catheter insertion is a frequent, painful procedure that is often performed with little or no anesthesia. Current approaches that minimize pain for PIV catheter insertion have several limitations: significant delay for onset of anesthesia, inadequate anesthesia, infectious disease exposure risk from needlestick injuries, and patients' needle phobia. Comparison of the anesthetic effectiveness of J-Tip needle-free jet injection of 1% buffered lidocaine to the anesthetic effectiveness of topical 4% ELA-Max for PIV catheter insertion. A prospective, block-randomized, controlled trial comparing J-Tip jet injection of 1% buffered lidocaine to a 30-minute application of 4% ELA-Max for topical anesthesia in children 8 to 15 years old presenting to a tertiary care pediatric emergency department for PIV catheter insertion. All subjects recorded self-reported visual analog scale (VAS) scores for pain at time of enrollment and pain felt following PIV catheter insertion. Jet injection subjects also recorded pain of jet injection. Subjects were videotaped during jet injection and PIV catheter insertion. Videotapes were reviewed by a single blinded reviewer for observer-reported VAS pain scores for jet injection and PIV catheter insertion. Of the 70 children enrolled, 35 were randomized to the J-Tip jet injection group and 35 to the ELA-Max group. Patient-recorded enrollment VAS scores for pain were similar between groups (P = 0.74). Patient-recorded VAS scores were significantly different between groups immediately after PIV catheter insertion (17.3 for J-Tip jet injection vs 44.6 for ELA-Max, P < 0.001). Blinded reviewer assessed VAS scores for pain after PIV catheter insertion demonstrated a similar trend, but the comparison was not statistically significant (21.7 for J-Tip jet injection vs 31.9 ELA-Max, P = 0.23). J-Tip jet injection of 1% buffered lidocaine provided greater anesthesia than a 30-minute application of ELA-Max according to patient self-assessment of pain for children aged 8 to 15 years undergoing PIV catheter insertion.

Efficient Training Methods for Conditional Random Fields

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-02-01

Artificial Intelli - gence (UAI), 2002. [129] Ben Taskar, Carlos Guestrin, and Daphne Koller. Max...new, old) R es id ua l( ne w , c vg ) − R es id ua l( ol d, c vg ) −2 0 2 4 6 − 4 − 2 0 2 4 Error dynamic range (new, old) R es id ua l( ne w , c vg...R es id ua l( ol d, c vg ) −2 0 2 4 6 − 4 − 2 0 2 4 KL (old, new) R es id ua l( ne w , c vg ) − R es id ua

A randomized, double-blind comparison study of EMLA and ELA-Max for topical anesthesia in children undergoing intravenous insertion.

PubMed

Koh, Jeffrey L; Harrison, Dale; Myers, Robert; Dembinski, Robert; Turner, Helen; McGraw, Terrence

2004-12-01

Topical anesthetics may help reduce discomfort associated with procedures involving needle-puncture, such as intravenous (i.v.) insertions, in children. EMLA cream has become a common, noninvasive therapy for topical anesthesia in children. ELA-Max is a recently introduced topical anesthetic cream marketed as being as effective in producing topical anesthesia after a 30-min application as EMLA is after a 60-min application. The purpose of this research was to compare ELA-Max at 30 min with EMLA at 60 min for providing topical anesthesia for i.v. insertions in children. Sixty children, ages 8-17 years, requiring an i.v. were randomized to receive either the 30 min application of ELA-Max (n = 30) or the 60 min application of EMLA (n = 30). Children rated any pain associated with the i.v. insertion using a 100-mm Visual Analog Scale (VAS). The anesthesiologist assessed the presence of blanching at the site and rated the difficulty of placing the i.v. There was no clinically or statistically significant difference in pain ratings (P = 0.87) between the ELA-Max (mean = 25.7) and the EMLA (mean = 26.8) groups. ELA-Max caused significantly (P = 0.04) less blanching than EMLA, however there was no difference in the anesthesiologists' rating of the difficulty of the i.v. placement between the groups (P = 0.73). Results from this study support the claim that a 30-min application of ELA-Max (with occlusion) is as effective as a 60-min application of EMLA (with occlusion) for producing topical anesthesia for i.v. insertion in children.

Paramagnetic alignment of small grains: A novel method for measuring interstellar magnetic fields

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hoang, Thiem; Martin, P. G.; Lazarian, A.

2014-07-20

We present a novel method to measure the strength of interstellar magnetic fields using ultraviolet (UV) polarization of starlight that is in part produced by weakly aligned, small dust grains. We begin with calculating the degrees of the paramagnetic alignment of small (size a ∼ 0.01 μm) and very small (a ∼ 0.001 μm) grains in the interstellar magnetic field due to the Davis-Greenstein relaxation and resonance relaxation. To calculate the degrees of paramagnetic alignment, we use Langevin equations and take into account various interaction processes essential for the rotational dynamics of small grains. We find that the alignment ofmore » small grains is necessary to reproduce the observed polarization in the UV, although the polarization arising from these small grains is negligible at the optical and infrared (IR) wavelengths. Based on fitting theoretical models to observed extinction and polarization curves, we find that the best-fit model for the case with the peak wavelength of polarization λ{sub max} < 0.55 μm requires a higher degree of alignment of small grains than for the typical case with λ{sub max} = 0.55 μm. We interpret the correlation between the systematic increase of the UV polarization relative to maximum polarization (i.e., of p(6 μm{sup –1})/p{sub max}) with λ{sub max}{sup −1} for cases of low λ{sub max} by appealing to the higher degree of alignment of small grains. We utilize the correlation of the paramagnetic alignment of small grains with the magnetic field strength B to suggest a new way to measure B using the observable parameters λ{sub max} and p(6 μm{sup –1})/p{sub max}.« less

Ecological correlates of cortisol levels in two bat species with contrasting feeding habits.

PubMed

Lewanzik, Daniel; Kelm, Detlev H; Greiner, Sabine; Dehnhard, Martin; Voigt, Christian C

2012-05-15

The immediate release of adrenal glucocorticoids can be crucial for an animal's survival when facing a stressor, but constantly elevated or exceptionally high glucocorticoid levels are usually detrimental for health. Although baseline and maximal secretion of glucocorticoids are regulated within narrow ranges within species, plasma glucocorticoid levels vary largely across vertebrates. We asked what ecological factors affect baseline plasma cortisol levels (CortI) and maximum levels (CortMax) following a physiological challenge through administration of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). Specifically, we studied whether seasonal fluctuations in food abundance correlate with the capacity of cortisol increases in two phyllostomid bat species with contrasting feeding habits: the sanguinivorous vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) and the frugivorous short-tailed fruit bat (Carollia perspicillata). Both species coexist in habitats with various levels of seasonality (dry and rainforest). On a seasonal basis, resource abundance is more stable for vampire than for fruit bats, but previous studies suggested that daily foraging success may vary more for vampire than for fruit bats. CortI and CortMax varied seasonally in C. perspicillata from dry and rainforests, with the exception of CortMax in rainforest bats. Although we expected food availability to be stable year-round for vampire bats, we found CortI and CortMax of vampires to be higher during the rainy season than during the dry season. Also, we found CortMax to be higher in vampires from the rainforest than in those from the dry forest. CortMax of vampires were among the highest measured for a free-ranging mammal; a pattern that could be related to the species' vulnerability to starvation. We conclude that food availability modulates cortisol levels in free-ranging species that face seasonally fluctuating resources; in species, however, that benefit from food which is constantly abundant, other factors than food may become more important in modulating cortisol levels. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Folate bioavailability from foods rich in folates assessed in a short term human study using stable isotope dilution assays.

PubMed

Mönch, Sabine; Netzel, Michael; Netzel, Gabriele; Ott, Undine; Frank, Thomas; Rychlik, Michael

2015-01-01

Different sources of folate may have different bioavailability and hence may impact the standard definition of folate equivalents. In order to examine this, a short term human study was undertaken to evaluate the relative native folate bioavailabilities from spinach, Camembert cheese and wheat germs compared to pteroylmonoglutamic acid as the reference dose. The study had a single-centre, randomised, four-treatment, four-period, four-sequence, cross-over design, i.e. the four (food) items to be tested (referred to as treatments) were administered in sequences according to the Latin square, so that each experimental treatment occurred only once within each sequence and once within each study period. Each of the 24 subjects received the four experimental items separated by a 14-day equilibrium phase and received a pteroylmonoglutamic acid supplement for 14 days before the first testing and between the testings for saturation of body pools. Folates in test foods, plasma and urine samples were determined by stable isotope dilution assays, and in urine and plasma, the concentrations of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate were evaluated. Standard non-compartmental methods were applied to determine the biokinetic parameters C(max), t(max) and AUC from baseline corrected 5-methyltetrahydrofolate concentrations within the interval from 0 to 12 hours. The variability of AUC and C(max) was moderate for spinach and oral solution of pteroylmonoglutamic acid but high for Camembert cheese and very high for wheat germs. The median t(max) was lowest for spinach, though t(max) showed a high variability among all treatments. When comparing the ratio estimates of AUC and C(max) for the different test foods, highest bioavailability was found for spinach followed by that for wheat germs and Camembert cheese. The results underline the dependence of folate bioavailability on the type of food ingested. Therefore, the general assumption of 50% bioavailability as the rationale behind the definition of folate equivalents has to be questioned and requires further investigation.

Influence of genetic background, salinity, and inoculum size on growth of the ichthyotoxic golden alga (Prymnesium parvum).

PubMed

Rashel, Rakib H; Patiño, Reynaldo

2017-06-01

Salinity (5-30) effects on golden alga growth were determined at a standard laboratory temperature (22°C) and one associated with natural blooms (13°C). Inoculum-size effects were determined over a wide size range (100-100,000cellsml -1 ). A strain widely distributed in the USA, UTEX-2797 was the primary study subject but another of limited distribution, UTEX-995 was used to evaluate growth responses in relation to genetic background. Variables examined were exponential growth rate (r), maximum cell density (max-D) and, when inoculum size was held constant (100cellsml -1 ), density at onset of exponential growth (early-D). In UTEX-2797, max-D increased as salinity increased from 5 to ∼10-15 and declined thereafter regardless of temperature but r remained generally stable and only declined at salinity of 25-30. In addition, max-D correlated positively with r and early-D, the latter also being numerically highest at salinity of 15. In UTEX-995, max-D and r responded similarly to changes in salinity - they remained stable at salinity of 5-10 and 5-15, respectively, and declined at higher salinity. Also, max-D correlated with r but not early-D. Inoculum size positively and negatively influenced max-D and r, respectively, in both strains and these effects were significant even when the absolute size difference was small (100 versus 1000 cells ml -1 ). When cultured under similar conditions, UTEX-2797 grew faster and to much higher density than UTEX-995. In conclusion, (1) UTEX-2797's superior growth performance may explain its relatively wide distribution in the USA, (2) the biphasic growth response of UTEX-2797 to salinity variation, with peak abundance at salinity of 10-15, generally mirrors golden alga abundance-salinity associations in US inland waters, and (3) early cell density - whether artificially manipulated or naturally attained - can influence UTEX-2797 bloom potential. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Pharmacokinetics of oral sitamaquine taken with or without food and safety and efficacy for treatment of visceral leishmaniais: a randomized study in Bihar, India.

PubMed

Sundar, Shyam; Sinha, Prabhat K; Dixon, Susan A; Buckley, Renata; Miller, Ann K; Mohamed, Khadeeja; Al-Banna, Mahir

2011-06-01

This randomized, open-label study of patients in India with visceral leishmaniasis (VL) investigated the effect of food on sitamaquine and desethyl-sitamaquine pharmacokinetics. Patients were randomized to receive oral sitamaquine, 2 mg/kg/day, once a day for 21 days across four cohorts (n = 41) (fasted/fed, fed/fasted, fed/fed, and fasted/fasted) over two periods (days 1-10 and 11-21), or intravenous amphotericin B (AmB), 1 mg/kg every other day for 30 days (n = 20). Mean day 21 pharmacokinetics across the four cohorts were sitamaquine, area under curve (AUC)((0-τ)) = 6,627-8,903 ng.hr/mL, AUC((0-16)) = 4,859-6,633 ng.hr/mL, maximum plasma concentration (C(max)) = 401-570 ng/mL, apparent terminal half-life (t(1/2)) = 18.3-22.8 hr, time to reach C(max) (t(max)) = 3.5-6 hr; and desethyl-sitamaquine, AUC((0-τ)) = 2,307-3,163 ng.hr/mL, C(max) = 109-154 ng/mL, t(1/2) = 23.0-27.9 hr, t(max) = 2-10 hr, with no significant food effect. On-therapy adverse events were observed for sitamaquine in 4 (10%) of 41 patients and for AmB in 17 (85%) of 20 patients. The final clinical cure (day 180) was 85% (95% confidence interval = 70.8-94.4%) for sitamaquine and 95% (95% confidence interval = 75.1-99.9) for AmB. Sitamaquine can be taken regardless of food intake, was generally well tolerated, and showed potential efficacy in patients with visceral leishmaniasis.

Relationship between simulated extravehicular activity tasks and measurements of physical performance.

PubMed

Ade, C J; Broxterman, R M; Craig, J C; Schlup, S J; Wilcox, S L; Barstow, T J

2014-11-01

The purpose was to evaluate the relationships between tests of fitness and two activities that simulate components of Lunar- and Martian-based extravehicular activities (EVA). Seventy-one subjects completed two field tests: a physical abilities test and a 10km Walkback test. The relationships between test times and the following parameters were determined: running V˙O2max, gas exchange threshold (GET), speed at V˙O2max (s-V˙O2max), highest sustainable rate of aerobic metabolism [critical speed (CS)], and the finite distance that could be covered above CS (D'): arm cranking V˙O2peak, GET, critical power (CP), and the finite work that can be performed above CP (W'). CS, running V˙O2max, s-V˙O2max, and arm cranking V˙O2peak had the highest correlations with the physical abilities field test (r=0.66-0.82, P<0.001). For the 10km Walkback, CS, s-V˙O2max, and running V˙O2max were significant predictors (r=0.64-0.85, P<0.001). CS and to a lesser extent V˙O2max are most strongly associated with tasks that simulate aspects of EVA performance, highlighting CS as a method for evaluating astronaut physical capacity. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Analysis of Extreme Snow Water Equivalent Data in Central New Hampshire

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vuyovich, C.; Skahill, B. E.; Kanney, J. F.; Carr, M.

2017-12-01

Heavy snowfall and snowmelt-related events have been linked to widespread flooding and damages in many regions of the U.S. Design of critical infrastructure in these regions requires spatial estimates of extreme snow water equivalent (SWE). In this study, we develop station specific and spatially explicit estimates of extreme SWE using data from fifteen snow sampling stations maintained by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. The stations are located in the Mascoma, Pemigewasset, Winnipesaukee, Ossipee, Salmon Falls, Lamprey, Sugar, and Isinglass basins in New Hampshire. The average record length for the fifteen stations is approximately fifty-nine years. The spatial analysis of extreme SWE involves application of two Bayesian Hierarchical Modeling methods, one that assumes conditional independence, and another which uses the Smith max-stable process model to account for spatial dependence. We also apply additional max-stable process models, albeit not in a Bayesian framework, that better model the observed dependence among the extreme SWE data. The spatial process modeling leverages readily available and relevant spatially explicit covariate data. The noted additional max-stable process models also used the nonstationary winter North Atlantic Oscillation index, which has been observed to influence snowy weather along the east coast of the United States. We find that, for this data set, SWE return level estimates are consistently higher when derived using methods which account for the observed spatial dependence among the extreme data. This is particularly significant for design scenarios of relevance for critical infrastructure evaluation.

Inverting Monotonic Nonlinearities by Entropy Maximization

PubMed Central

López-de-Ipiña Pena, Karmele; Caiafa, Cesar F.

2016-01-01

This paper proposes a new method for blind inversion of a monotonic nonlinear map applied to a sum of random variables. Such kinds of mixtures of random variables are found in source separation and Wiener system inversion problems, for example. The importance of our proposed method is based on the fact that it permits to decouple the estimation of the nonlinear part (nonlinear compensation) from the estimation of the linear one (source separation matrix or deconvolution filter), which can be solved by applying any convenient linear algorithm. Our new nonlinear compensation algorithm, the MaxEnt algorithm, generalizes the idea of Gaussianization of the observation by maximizing its entropy instead. We developed two versions of our algorithm based either in a polynomial or a neural network parameterization of the nonlinear function. We provide a sufficient condition on the nonlinear function and the probability distribution that gives a guarantee for the MaxEnt method to succeed compensating the distortion. Through an extensive set of simulations, MaxEnt is compared with existing algorithms for blind approximation of nonlinear maps. Experiments show that MaxEnt is able to successfully compensate monotonic distortions outperforming other methods in terms of the obtained Signal to Noise Ratio in many important cases, for example when the number of variables in a mixture is small. Besides its ability for compensating nonlinearities, MaxEnt is very robust, i.e. showing small variability in the results. PMID:27780261

Inverting Monotonic Nonlinearities by Entropy Maximization.

PubMed

Solé-Casals, Jordi; López-de-Ipiña Pena, Karmele; Caiafa, Cesar F

2016-01-01

This paper proposes a new method for blind inversion of a monotonic nonlinear map applied to a sum of random variables. Such kinds of mixtures of random variables are found in source separation and Wiener system inversion problems, for example. The importance of our proposed method is based on the fact that it permits to decouple the estimation of the nonlinear part (nonlinear compensation) from the estimation of the linear one (source separation matrix or deconvolution filter), which can be solved by applying any convenient linear algorithm. Our new nonlinear compensation algorithm, the MaxEnt algorithm, generalizes the idea of Gaussianization of the observation by maximizing its entropy instead. We developed two versions of our algorithm based either in a polynomial or a neural network parameterization of the nonlinear function. We provide a sufficient condition on the nonlinear function and the probability distribution that gives a guarantee for the MaxEnt method to succeed compensating the distortion. Through an extensive set of simulations, MaxEnt is compared with existing algorithms for blind approximation of nonlinear maps. Experiments show that MaxEnt is able to successfully compensate monotonic distortions outperforming other methods in terms of the obtained Signal to Noise Ratio in many important cases, for example when the number of variables in a mixture is small. Besides its ability for compensating nonlinearities, MaxEnt is very robust, i.e. showing small variability in the results.

Ischemic preconditioning of the muscle improves maximal exercise performance but not maximal oxygen uptake in humans.

PubMed

Crisafulli, Antonio; Tangianu, Flavio; Tocco, Filippo; Concu, Alberto; Mameli, Ombretta; Mulliri, Gabriele; Caria, Marcello A

2011-08-01

Brief episodes of nonlethal ischemia, commonly known as "ischemic preconditioning" (IP), are protective against cell injury induced by infarction. Moreover, muscle IP has been found capable of improving exercise performance. The aim of the study was the comparison of standard exercise performances carried out in normal conditions with those carried out following IP, achieved by brief muscle ischemia at rest (RIP) and after exercise (EIP). Seventeen physically active, healthy male subjects performed three incremental, randomly assigned maximal exercise tests on a cycle ergometer up to exhaustion. One was the reference (REF) test, whereas the others were performed after the RIP and EIP sessions. Total exercise time (TET), total work (TW), and maximal power output (W(max)), oxygen uptake (VO(2max)), and pulmonary ventilation (VE(max)) were assessed. Furthermore, impedance cardiography was used to measure maximal heart rate (HR(max)), stroke volume (SV(max)), and cardiac output (CO(max)). A subgroup of volunteers (n = 10) performed all-out tests to assess their anaerobic capacity. We found that both RIP and EIP protocols increased in a similar fashion TET, TW, W(max), VE(max), and HR(max) with respect to the REF test. In particular, W(max) increased by ∼ 4% in both preconditioning procedures. However, preconditioning sessions failed to increase traditionally measured variables such as VO(2max), SV(max,) CO(max), and anaerobic capacity(.) It was concluded that muscle IP improves performance without any difference between RIP and EIP procedures. The mechanism of this effect could be related to changes in fatigue perception.

Flooding tolerance of soybean (Glycine max) germplasm from southeast Asia under field and screen-house environment

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) cultivars from the U.S. are generally intolerant to flooding stress. Soybean germplasm and cultivars originating from other countries and grown in rotations with paddy rice potentially could have better flooding tolerance. Screen-house and field tests were conducted to...

Single-dose pharmacokinetic properties of esomeprazole in children aged 1 - 11 years with endoscopically proven GERD: a randomized, open-label study.

PubMed

Youssef, Nader N; Tron, Eduardo; Tolia, Vasundhara; Hamer-Maansson, Jennifer E; Lundborg, Per; Illueca, Marta

2014-11-01

To assess the overall exposure after a single dose of esomeprazole in children with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Oral esomeprazole administered as an intact capsule with 30 - 180 mL of water, or as an opened capsule mixed with as much as 1 tablespoon of applesauce followed by 30 - 180 mL of water. In this randomized, open-label study of children aged 1 - 11 years with endoscopically proven GERD, patients weighing 8 - < 20 kg were randomized to a single 5- or 10-mg oral dose of esomeprazole, and patients weighing >= 20 kg were randomized to a single 10- or 20-mg oral dose of esomeprazole. Esomeprazole exposure (AUC(0-∞)), AUC from zero to last measurable concentration (AUC(0-t)), maximum plasma concentration (C(max)), time to C(max) (t(max)), terminal-phase half-life, apparent oral clearance, and apparent volume of distribution were determined. 28 patients were randomized to receive esomeprazole: 14 patients weighing 8 to < 20 kg received esomeprazole 5 mg (n = 7) or 10 mg (n = 7), and 14 patients weighing ≥20 kg received esomeprazole 10 mg (n = 6) or 20 mg (n = 8). Children weighing 8 - < 20 kg had a 1.8-fold higher exposure with the 10-mg vs. 5-mg dose (AUC(0-∞), 1.32 vs. 0.73 μmol·h/L, respectively); children weighing ≥ 20 kg had a 4.4-fold higher exposure with the 20-mg vs. 10-mg dose (AUC(0-∞), 3.06 vs. 0.69 μmol·h/L). C(max) was 2.2-fold higher for the 10-mg vs. 5-mg dose (8 to < 20 kg) and 2.4-fold higher for the 20-mg vs.10-mg dose (>= 20 kg). The pharmacokinetics of single-dose esomeprazole were dose-dependent in children weighing >= 20 kg but not in children weighing 8 to < 20 kg.

Computer Simulation and Field Experiment for Downlink Multiuser MIMO in Mobile WiMAX System.

PubMed

Yamaguchi, Kazuhiro; Nagahashi, Takaharu; Akiyama, Takuya; Matsue, Hideaki; Uekado, Kunio; Namera, Takakazu; Fukui, Hiroshi; Nanamatsu, Satoshi

2015-01-01

The transmission performance for a downlink mobile WiMAX system with multiuser multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) systems in a computer simulation and field experiment is described. In computer simulation, a MU-MIMO transmission system can be realized by using the block diagonalization (BD) algorithm, and each user can receive signals without any signal interference from other users. The bit error rate (BER) performance and channel capacity in accordance with modulation schemes and the number of streams were simulated in a spatially correlated multipath fading environment. Furthermore, we propose a method for evaluating the transmission performance for this downlink mobile WiMAX system in this environment by using the computer simulation. In the field experiment, the received power and downlink throughput in the UDP layer were measured on an experimental mobile WiMAX system developed in Azumino City in Japan. In comparison with the simulated and experimented results, the measured maximum throughput performance in the downlink had almost the same performance as the simulated throughput. It was confirmed that the experimental mobile WiMAX system for MU-MIMO transmission successfully increased the total channel capacity of the system.

Computer Simulation and Field Experiment for Downlink Multiuser MIMO in Mobile WiMAX System

PubMed Central

Yamaguchi, Kazuhiro; Nagahashi, Takaharu; Akiyama, Takuya; Matsue, Hideaki; Uekado, Kunio; Namera, Takakazu; Fukui, Hiroshi; Nanamatsu, Satoshi

2015-01-01

The transmission performance for a downlink mobile WiMAX system with multiuser multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) systems in a computer simulation and field experiment is described. In computer simulation, a MU-MIMO transmission system can be realized by using the block diagonalization (BD) algorithm, and each user can receive signals without any signal interference from other users. The bit error rate (BER) performance and channel capacity in accordance with modulation schemes and the number of streams were simulated in a spatially correlated multipath fading environment. Furthermore, we propose a method for evaluating the transmission performance for this downlink mobile WiMAX system in this environment by using the computer simulation. In the field experiment, the received power and downlink throughput in the UDP layer were measured on an experimental mobile WiMAX system developed in Azumino City in Japan. In comparison with the simulated and experimented results, the measured maximum throughput performance in the downlink had almost the same performance as the simulated throughput. It was confirmed that the experimental mobile WiMAX system for MU-MIMO transmission successfully increased the total channel capacity of the system. PMID:26421311

NCEP Air Quality Forecast(AQF). NOAA/NWS/NCEP/EMC

Science.gov Websites

19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Select Cycle: 12Z 06Z Select Field: target(4Z-4Z) day_1 O3 1h max target(4Z-4Z) day_2 O3 1h max target(4Z-4Z) day_1 O3 8h max target(4Z-4Z) day_2 O3 8h max Select

The effects of breathing a helium-oxygen gas mixture on maximal pulmonary ventilation and maximal oxygen consumption during exercise in acute moderate hypobaric hypoxia.

PubMed

Ogawa, Takeshi; Calbet, Jose A L; Honda, Yasushi; Fujii, Naoto; Nishiyasu, Takeshi

2010-11-01

To test the hypothesis that maximal exercise pulmonary ventilation (VE max) is a limiting factor affecting maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max) in moderate hypobaric hypoxia (H), we examined the effect of breathing a helium-oxygen gas mixture (He-O(2); 20.9% O(2)), which would reduce air density and would be expected to increase VE max. Fourteen healthy young male subjects performed incremental treadmill running tests to exhaustion in normobaric normoxia (N; sea level) and in H (atmospheric pressure equivalent to 2,500 m above sea level). These exercise tests were carried out under three conditions [H with He-O(2), H with normal air and N] in random order. VO2 max and arterial oxy-hemoglobin saturation (SaO(2)) were, respectively, 15.2, 7.5 and 4.0% higher (all p < 0.05) with He-O(2) than with normal air (VE max, 171.9 ± 16.1 vs. 150.1 ± 16.9 L/min; VO2 max, 52.50 ± 9.13 vs. 48.72 ± 5.35 mL/kg/min; arterial oxyhemoglobin saturation (SaO(2)), 79 ± 3 vs. 76 ± 3%). There was a linear relationship between the increment in VE max and the increment in VO2 max in H (r = 0.77; p < 0.05). When subjects were divided into two groups based on their VO2 max, both groups showed increased VE max and SaO(2) in H with He-O(2), but VO2 max was increased only in the high VO2 max group. These findings suggest that in acute moderate hypobaric hypoxia, air-flow resistance can be a limiting factor affecting VE max; consequently, VO2 max is limited in part by VE max especially in subjects with high VO2 max.

Prediction and synthesis of a family of atomic laminate phases with Kagomé-like and in-plane chemical ordering

PubMed Central

Dahlqvist, Martin; Lu, Jun; Meshkian, Rahele; Tao, Quanzheng; Hultman, Lars; Rosen, Johanna

2017-01-01

The enigma of MAX phases and their hybrids prevails. We probe transition metal (M) alloying in MAX phases for metal size, electronegativity, and electron configuration, and discover ordering in these MAX hybrids, namely, (V2/3Zr1/3)2AlC and (Mo2/3Y1/3)2AlC. Predictive theory and verifying materials synthesis, including a judicious choice of alloying M from groups III to VI and periods 4 and 5, indicate a potentially large family of thermodynamically stable phases, with Kagomé-like and in-plane chemical ordering, and with incorporation of elements previously not known for MAX phases, including the common Y. We propose the structure to be monoclinic C2/c. As an extension of the work, we suggest a matching set of novel MXenes, from selective etching of the A-element. The demonstrated structural design on simultaneous two-dimensional (2D) and 3D atomic levels expands the property tuning potential of functional materials. PMID:28776034

Understanding inhibitory mechanisms of lumbar spinal manipulation using H-reflex and F-wave responses: a methodological approach.

PubMed

Dishman, J Donald; Weber, Kenneth A; Corbin, Roger L; Burke, Jeanmarie R

2012-09-30

The purpose of this research was to characterize unique neurophysiologic events following a high velocity, low amplitude (HVLA) spinal manipulation (SM) procedure. Descriptive time series analysis techniques of time plots, outlier detection and autocorrelation functions were applied to time series of tibial nerve H-reflexes that were evoked at 10-s intervals from 100 s before the event until 100 s after three distinct events L5-S1 HVLA SM, or a L5-S1 joint pre-loading procedure, or the control condition. Sixty-six subjects were randomly assigned to three procedures, i.e., 22 time series per group. If the detection of outliers and correlograms revealed a pattern of non-randomness that was only time-locked to a single, specific event in the normalized time series, then an experimental effect would be inferred beyond the inherent variability of H-reflex responses. Tibial nerve F-wave responses were included to determine if any new information about central nervous function following a HVLA SM procedure could be ascertained. Time series analyses of H(max)/M(max) ratios, pre-post L5-S1 HVLA SM, substantiated the hypothesis that the specific aspects of the manipulative thrust lead to a greater attenuation of the H(max)/M(max) ratio as compared to the non-specific aspects related to the postural perturbation and joint pre-loading. The attenuation of the H(max)/M(max) ratio following the HVLA SM procedure was reliable and may hold promise as a translational tool to measure the consistency and accuracy of protocol implementation involving SM in clinical trials research. F-wave responses were not sensitive to mechanical perturbations of the lumbar spine. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A clinical study to evaluate the efficacy of ELA-Max (4% liposomal lidocaine) as compared with eutectic mixture of local anesthetics cream for pain reduction of venipuncture in children.

PubMed

Eichenfield, Lawrence F; Funk, Ann; Fallon-Friedlander, Sheila; Cunningham, Bari B

2002-06-01

A double-randomized, blinded crossover trial was performed to assess the efficacy of ELA-Max (4% liposomal lidocaine) as compared with eutectic mixture of local anesthetics (EMLA) for pain relief during pediatric venipuncture procedures. Safety was assessed by evaluation for topical or systemic effects and measurement of serum lidocaine concentrations. A total of 120 children who were scheduled for repeat venipuncture for non-study-related reasons at 2 sites participated in the study. Patients were doubly randomized to treatment regimen (study medication application time of either 30 or 60 minutes) and to the order of application of the topical anesthetics for each venipuncture. The primary outcome measures were the child's rating of pain immediately after the venipuncture procedures using a 100-mm visual analog scale (VAS) tool and the parent's and blinded research observer's Observed Behavioral Distress scores. Both ELA-Max and EMLA seemed to alleviate venipuncture pain. There was no clinically or statistically significant difference in the patient VAS scores within the 30-minute or 60-minute treatment groups, and there was no clinical or statistical difference in VAS scores between the 30-minute ELA-Max treatment without occlusion and the 60-minute EMLA treatment with occlusion. There were no clinically or statistically significant differences between treatment with ELA-Max and EMLA in parental or blinded researcher Observed Behavioral Distress scores, the most frequent response at any observation time being "no distress." This study demonstrates that a 30-minute application of ELA-Max without occlusion is as safe and as effective for ameliorating pain associated with venipuncture as a 60-minute application of the prescription product EMLA requiring occlusion.

A Pharmacokinetic Bioequivalence Study Comparing Pirfenidone Tablet and Capsule Dosage Forms in Healthy Adult Volunteers.

PubMed

Pan, Lin; Belloni, Paula; Ding, Han Ting; Wang, Jianshuang; Rubino, Christopher M; Putnam, Wendy S

2017-09-01

Pirfenidone film-coated tablets were developed to offer an alternative to the marketed capsule formulation. This study assessed the bioequivalence of the tablet and capsule formulations under fed and fasted states. A Phase I, open-label, randomized, four-treatment-period, four-sequence, crossover pharmacokinetics study (NCT02525484) was conducted. Each subject received an 801-mg single dose of pirfenidone as three 267-mg capsules or one 801-mg tablet under fasted and fed conditions. Pirfenidone plasma C max , AUC 0-t and AUC 0-∞ were used to assess bioequivalence. Forty-four subjects were randomized to treatment. The 801-mg tablet in the fasted state met bioequivalence criteria [90% confidence intervals (CI) 80.00-125.00%] for the GLSM ratios of natural log-transformed C max , AUC 0-t and AUC 0-∞ . Under fed conditions, the 801-mg tablet met the bioequivalence criteria for AUC 0-t and AUC 0-∞ , but slightly exceeded the bioequivalence criteria for the C max (90% CI of 108.26-125.60%). The tablet C max was approximately 17% higher than that of the capsules. In the fed state, the tablet C max , and both AUC 0-t and AUC 0-∞ were reduced by 39% and 17%, respectively, relative to the fasted state. The tablet and capsules had acceptable tolerability profiles. The pirfenidone 801-mg tablet met bioequivalence criteria when compared with three 267-mg capsules in the fasted state. The tablet C max was slightly higher relative to capsules in the fed state, but this is not expected to have a clinically meaningful impact on the benefit-risk profile of pirfenidone. This work was supported by F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.

Effects of quercetin supplementation on endurance performance and maximal oxygen consumption: a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Pelletier, Denis M; Lacerte, Guillaume; Goulet, Eric D B

2013-02-01

Lately, the effect of quercetin supplementation (QS) on endurance performance (EP) and maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) has been receiving much scientific and media attention. Therefore, a meta-analysis was performed to determine QS's ergogenic value on these variables. Studies were located with database searches (PubMed and SPORTDiscus) and cross-referencing. Outcomes represent mean percentage changes in EP (measured via power output) and VO2max between QS and placebo. Random-effects model meta-regression, mixed-effects model analog to the ANOVA, random-effects weighted mean effect summary, and magnitude-based inferences analyses were used to delineate the effects of QS. Seven research articles (representing 288 subjects) were included, producing 4 VO2max and 10 EP effect estimates. Mean QS daily intake and duration were, respectively, 960 ± 127 mg and 26 ± 24 d for the EP outcome and 1,000 ± 0 mg and 8 ± 23 d for the VO2max outcome. EP was assessed during exercise with a mean duration of 79 ± 82 min. Overall, QS improved EP by 0.74% (95% CI: 0.10-1.39, p = .02) compared with placebo. However, only in untrained individuals (0.83% ± 0.78%, p = .02) did QS significantly improve EP (trained individuals: 0.09% ± 2.15%, p = .92). There was no relationship between QS duration and EP (p = .69). Overall, QS increased VO2max by 1.94% (95% CI: 0.30-3.59, p = .02). Magnitude-based inferences suggest that the effect of QS on EP and VO2max is likely to be trivial for both trained and untrained individuals. In conclusion, this meta-analysis indicates that QS is unlikely to prove ergogenic for aerobic-oriented exercises in trained and untrained individuals.

Dynamic graph cuts for efficient inference in Markov Random Fields.

PubMed

Kohli, Pushmeet; Torr, Philip H S

2007-12-01

Abstract-In this paper we present a fast new fully dynamic algorithm for the st-mincut/max-flow problem. We show how this algorithm can be used to efficiently compute MAP solutions for certain dynamically changing MRF models in computer vision such as image segmentation. Specifically, given the solution of the max-flow problem on a graph, the dynamic algorithm efficiently computes the maximum flow in a modified version of the graph. The time taken by it is roughly proportional to the total amount of change in the edge weights of the graph. Our experiments show that, when the number of changes in the graph is small, the dynamic algorithm is significantly faster than the best known static graph cut algorithm. We test the performance of our algorithm on one particular problem: the object-background segmentation problem for video. It should be noted that the application of our algorithm is not limited to the above problem, the algorithm is generic and can be used to yield similar improvements in many other cases that involve dynamic change.

Optical studies of photoactive states in mixed organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites stabilized in polymers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kardynal, Beata; Xi, Lifei; Salim, Teddy; Borghardt, Sven; Stoica, Toma; Lam, Yeng Ming

2015-03-01

Mixed organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites MAX-PbY2(X,Y =I, Br,Cl) have been demonstrated as very attractive materials for absorbers of solar cells and active layers of light emitting diodes and optically driven lasers. The bandgap of the perovskites can be tuned by mixing halogen atoms in different ratios. In this presentation we study mixed MAX-PbY2(X,Y =I, Br, Cl) particles synthesized directly in protective polymer matrices as light emitters. Both, time integrated and time resolved photoluminescence have been used to study the materials. So synthesized MAX-PbX2 are very stable when measured at room temperature and in air with radiative recombination of photogenerated carriers as the main decay path. In contrast, MAX-PbY2 with mixed halogen atoms display luminescence from sub-bandgap states which saturate at higher excitation levels. The density of these states depends on the used polymer matrix and increases upon illumination. We further compare the MAX-PbY2 synthesized in polymers and as films and show that these states are inherent to the material rather than its microstructure. This works has been supported by EU NWs4LIGHT grant.

Influence of genetic background, salinity, and inoculum size on growth of the ichthyotoxic golden alga (Prymnesium parvum)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rashel, Rakib H.; Patino, Reynaldo

2017-01-01

Salinity (5–30) effects on golden alga growth were determined at a standard laboratory temperature (22 °C) and one associated with natural blooms (13 °C). Inoculum-size effects were determined over a wide size range (100–100,000 cells ml−1). A strain widely distributed in the USA, UTEX-2797 was the primary study subject but another of limited distribution, UTEX-995 was used to evaluate growth responses in relation to genetic background. Variables examined were exponential growth rate (r), maximum cell density (max-D) and, when inoculum size was held constant (100 cells ml−1), density at onset of exponential growth (early-D). In UTEX-2797, max-D increased as salinity increased from 5 to ∼10–15 and declined thereafter regardless of temperature but r remained generally stable and only declined at salinity of 25–30. In addition, max-D correlated positively with r and early-D, the latter also being numerically highest at salinity of 15. In UTEX-995, max-D and r responded similarly to changes in salinity − they remained stable at salinity of 5–10 and 5–15, respectively, and declined at higher salinity. Also, max-D correlated with r but not early-D. Inoculum size positively and negatively influenced max-D and r, respectively, in both strains and these effects were significant even when the absolute size difference was small (100 versus 1000 cells ml−1). When cultured under similar conditions, UTEX-2797 grew faster and to much higher density than UTEX-995. In conclusion, (1) UTEX-2797’s superior growth performance may explain its relatively wide distribution in the USA, (2) the biphasic growth response of UTEX-2797 to salinity variation, with peak abundance at salinity of 10–15, generally mirrors golden alga abundance-salinity associations in US inland waters, and (3) early cell density – whether artificially manipulated or naturally attained – can influence UTEX-2797 bloom potential.

On Certain Functionals of the Maximum of Brownian Motion and Their Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perret, Anthony; Comtet, Alain; Majumdar, Satya N.; Schehr, Grégory

2015-12-01

We consider a Brownian motion (BM) x(τ ) and its maximal value x_{max } = max _{0 ≤ τ ≤ t} x(τ ) on a fixed time interval [0, t]. We study functionals of the maximum of the BM, of the form {O}_{max }(t)=int _0^t V(x_{max } - x(τ )) {d}τ where V( x) can be any arbitrary function and develop various analytical tools to compute their statistical properties. These tools rely in particular on (i) a "counting paths" method and (ii) a path-integral approach. In particular, we focus on the case where V(x) = δ (x-r), with r a real parameter, which is relevant to study the density of near-extreme values of the BM (the so called density of states), ρ (r,t), which is the local time of the BM spent at given distance r from the maximum. We also provide a thorough analysis of the family of functionals {T}_{α }(t)=int _0^t (x_{max } - x(τ ))^α {{d}}τ corresponding to V(x) = x^α with α real. As α is varied, T_α (t) interpolates between different interesting observables. For instance, for α =1, T_{α = 1}(t) is a random variable of the "area", or "Airy", type while for α =-1/2 it corresponds to the maximum time spent by a ballistic particle through a Brownian random potential. On the other hand, for α = -1, it corresponds to the cost of the optimal algorithm to find the maximum of a discrete random walk, proposed by Odlyzko. We revisit here, using tools of theoretical physics, the statistical properties of this algorithm which had been studied before using probabilistic methods. Finally, we extend our methods to constrained BM, including in particular the Brownian bridge, i.e., the Brownian motion starting and ending at the origin.

The use of plaque score measurements to assess changes in atherosclerotic plaque burden induced by lipid-lowering therapy over time: the METEOR study.

PubMed

Peters, Sanne A E; Dogan, Soner; Meijer, Rudy; Palmer, Mike K; Grobbee, Diederick E; Crouse, John R; O'Leary, Daniel H; Evans, Gregory W; Raichlen, Joel S; Bots, Michiel L

2011-01-01

To evaluate whether plaque scoring measurements are able to track changes in atherosclerotic plaque burden over time and to study whether this is affected by lipid-lowering therapy. Data used were from METEOR (Measuring Effects on Intima-Media Thickness: an Evaluation Of Rosuvastatin), a randomized controlled trial of rosuvastatin 40 mg among 984 low-risk patients with modest carotid intima-media thickening (CIMT). In this analysis, duplicate ultrasound images from 12 carotid sites were collected at the baseline and end of the study from 495 European patients and were evaluated for plaque presence and severity. Plaques were scored from near and far walls of the 12 sites (0= none; 1= minimal; 2= moderate; 3= severe) and plaque scores (PS) were combined into two summary measures for each examination. The MeanMaxPS is the mean over the 12 carotid sites of the maximum score at each site and the MaxMaxPS reflects the most severe lesion at any site. Baseline MeanMaxPS and MaxMaxPS were 0.31 (SD: 0.20) and 1.15 (SD: 0.51), respectively. Changes in MeanMaxPS and MaxMaxPS significantly differed between rosuvastatin and placebo (mean difference: -0.03 [SE: 0.01; p =0.016] and -0.09 [SE: 0.04; p =0.027], respectively). In contrast to rosuvastatin, which demonstrated no change from the baseline, placebo showed significant progression in MeanMaxPS and MaxMaxPS (p =0.002; both). The plaque-scoring method proved capable of assessing the change in atherosclerotic plaque burden over time and proved useful to evaluate lipid-lowering in asymptomatic individuals with a low risk of cardiovascular disease and subclinical atherosclerosis.

Can hexazine (N6) be stable?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ha, Tae-Kyu; Cimiraglia, R.; Nguyen, Minh Tho

1981-10-01

Ab initio SCF and CI calculations are reported for n6 in D6h symmetry. The result confirms previous calculations that free N6 is not stable. The calculated (n → π*)1 transition energy at 391 nm is in agreement with λmax = 380 nm observed in absorption in the condensed phase. It is conjectured that N6 may be formed as a short-lived species in a matrix at low temperatures during photochemical reaction.

Spatial variation in population growth rate and community structure affects local and regional dynamics.

PubMed

Trzcinski, M Kurtis; Walde, Sandra J; Taylor, Philip D

2008-11-01

1. Theory predicting that populations with high maximum rates of increase (r(max)) will be less stable, and that metapopulations with high average r(max) will be less synchronous, was tested using a small protist, Bodo, that inhabits pitcher plant leaves (Sarracenia purpurea L.). The effects of predators and resources on these relationships were also determined. 2. Abundance data collected for a total of 60 populations of Bodo, over a period of 3 months, at six sites in three bogs in eastern Canada, were used to test these predictions. Mosquitoes were manipulated in half the leaves partway through the season to increase the range of predation rates. 3. Dynamics differed greatly among leaves and sites, but most populations exhibited one or more episodes of rapid increase followed by a population crash. Estimates of r(max) obtained using a linear mixed-effects model, ranged from 1 x 5 to 2 x 7 per day. Resource levels (captured insect) and midge abundances affected r(max). 4. Higher r(max) was associated with greater temporal variability and lower synchrony as predicted. However, in contrast to expectations, populations with higher r(max) also had lower mean abundance and were more suppressed by predators. 5. This study demonstrates that the link between r(max) and temporal variability is key to understanding the dynamics of populations that spend little time near equilibrium, and to predicting and interpreting the effects of community structure on the dynamics of such populations.

Feasibility of a Cognitive Behavioral Intervention to Manage Fatigue in Individuals With Traumatic Brain Injury: A Pilot Study.

PubMed

Raina, Ketki D; Morse, Jennifer Q; Chisholm, Denise; Leibold, Mary Lou; Shen, Jennifer; Whyte, Ellen

2016-01-01

To evaluate the feasibility of conducting a randomized clinical trial of an Internet-based manualized intervention to teach individuals with traumatic brain injury to manage their fatigue. Community dwelling. Forty-one participants randomized to Maximizing Energy (MAX) intervention group (n = 20) and Health Education group (n = 21). The experimental group (MAX intervention) received an 8-week program that combined education and Problem-Solving Therapy to teach individuals to manage fatigue-related problems. The attention control group received health education. Primary outcome measures pertained to the feasibility of conducting the trial. Secondary outcomes were fatigue impact and fatigue severity assessed at baseline and postintervention. Of the 65 participants referred, 41 were enrolled (63% recruitment rate), of which 3 withdrew (92% retention rate). Participants in the experimental and control groups completed their homework 75% and 85% of the time, respectively, and were equally engaged in the sessions. Participants in the experimental group were able to learn and implement the MAX intervention steps. Effect sizes for all measures ranged from small (-0.17) to medium (-0.58) in favor of the intervention group. Findings from the study suggest that the MAX intervention is feasible to administer to individuals with post-traumatic brain injury fatigue.

A Heavy Tailed Expectation Maximization Hidden Markov Random Field Model with Applications to Segmentation of MRI

PubMed Central

Castillo-Barnes, Diego; Peis, Ignacio; Martínez-Murcia, Francisco J.; Segovia, Fermín; Illán, Ignacio A.; Górriz, Juan M.; Ramírez, Javier; Salas-Gonzalez, Diego

2017-01-01

A wide range of segmentation approaches assumes that intensity histograms extracted from magnetic resonance images (MRI) have a distribution for each brain tissue that can be modeled by a Gaussian distribution or a mixture of them. Nevertheless, intensity histograms of White Matter and Gray Matter are not symmetric and they exhibit heavy tails. In this work, we present a hidden Markov random field model with expectation maximization (EM-HMRF) modeling the components using the α-stable distribution. The proposed model is a generalization of the widely used EM-HMRF algorithm with Gaussian distributions. We test the α-stable EM-HMRF model in synthetic data and brain MRI data. The proposed methodology presents two main advantages: Firstly, it is more robust to outliers. Secondly, we obtain similar results than using Gaussian when the Gaussian assumption holds. This approach is able to model the spatial dependence between neighboring voxels in tomographic brain MRI. PMID:29209194

Multiple variables explain the variability in the decrement in VO2max during acute hypobaric hypoxia.

PubMed

Robergs, R A; Quintana, R; Parker, D L; Frankel, C C

1998-06-01

We used multiple regression analyses to determine the relationships between the decrement in sea level (SL, 760 Torr) VO2max during hypobaric hypoxia (HH) and variables that could alter or be related to the decrement in VO2max. HH conditions consisted of 682 Torr, 632 Torr, and 566 Torr, and the measured independent variables were SL-VO2max, SL lactate threshold (SL-LT), the change in hemoglobin saturation at VO2max between 760 and 566 Torr (delta SaO2max), lean body mass (LBM), and gender. Male (N = 14) and female (N = 14) subjects of varied fitness, training status, and residential altitude (1,640-2,460 m) completed cycle ergometry tests of VO2max at each HH condition under randomized and single-blinded conditions. VO2max decreased significantly from 760 Torr after 682 Torr (approximately 915 m) (3.5 +/- 0.9 to 3.4 +/- 0.8 L.min-1, P = 0.0003). Across all HH conditions, the slope of the relative decrement in VO2max (%VO2max) during HH was -9.2%/100 mm Hg (-8.1%/1000 m) with an initial decrease from 100% estimated to occur below 705 Torr (610 m). Step-wise multiple regression revealed that SL-VO2max, SL-LT, delta SaO2max, LBM, and gender each significantly combined to account for 89.03% of the variance in the decrement in VO2max (760-566 Torr) (P < 0.001). Individuals who have a combination of a large SL-VO2max, a small SL-LT (VO2, L.min-1), greater reductions in delta SaO2max, a large LBM, and are male have the greatest decrement in VO2max during HH. The unique variance explanation afforded by SL-LT, LBM, and gender suggests that issues pertaining to oxygen diffusion within skeletal muscle may add to the explanation of between subjects variability in the decrement in VO2max during HH.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

The 2013 International Sherwood Fusion Theory Conference was held in Santa Fe, NM from April 15-17. There were 15 invited talks spanning the field of fusion theory on topics such as stellerator theory, intrinsic rotation in tokamaks, transport in the plasma edge, and plasma-wall interactions. Author-provided summaries of several of the invited talks are included on pages 5 to 10 of this document. Plenary talks were given by Per Helander (Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik, Greifswald, Germany) on “Overview of recent developments in stellerator theory”, Amit Misra (Los Alamos National Laboratory) on “Stable storage of Helium at interfaces in nanocomposites”, Sergei Krasheninnikovmore » (UC San Diego) on “On the physics of the first wall in fusion devices”, and Stuart Bale (UC Berkeley) on “Solar wind thermodynamics and turbulence: collisional – collisionless transitions”.« less

Survey of electromagnetic field exposure in bedrooms of residences in lower Austria.

PubMed

Tomitsch, Johannes; Dechant, Engelbert; Frank, Wilhelm

2010-04-01

Previous investigations of exposure to electric, magnetic, or electromagnetic fields (EMF) in households were either about electricity supply EMFs or radio frequency EMFs (RF-EMFs). We report results from spot measurements at the bedside that comprise electrostatic fields, extremely low-frequency electric fields (ELF-EFs), extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MFs), and RF-EMFs. Measurements were taken in 226 households throughout Lower Austria. In addition, effects of simple reduction measures (e.g., removal of clock radios or increasing their distance from the bed, turning off Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunication (DECT) telephone base stations) were assessed. All measurements were well below International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) guideline levels. Average night-time ELF-MFs (long-term measurement from 10 pm to 6 am, geometric mean over households) above 100 nT were obtained in 2.3%, and RF-EMFs above 1000 microW/m(2) in 7.1% of households. Highest ELF-EFs were primarily due to lamps beside the bed (max = 166 V/m), and highest ELF-MFs because of transformers of devices (max = 1030 nT) or high current of power lines (max = 380 nT). The highest values of RF-EMFs were caused by DECT telephone base stations (max = 28979 microW/m(2)) and mobile phone base stations (max = 4872 microW/m(2)). Simple reduction measures resulted in an average decrease of 23 nT for ELF-MFs, 23 V/m for ELF-EFs, and 246 microW/m(2) for RF-EMFs. A small but statistically significant correlation between ELF-MF exposure and overall RF-EMF levels of R = 0.16 (P = 0.008) was computed that was independent of type (flat, single family) and location (urban, rural) of houses. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Clinical implementation of MOSFET detectors for dosimetry in electron beams.

PubMed

Bloemen-van Gurp, Esther J; Minken, Andre W H; Mijnheer, Ben J; Dehing-Oberye, Cary J G; Lambin, Philippe

2006-09-01

To determine the factors converting the reading of a MOSFET detector placed on the patient's skin without additional build-up to the dose at the depth of dose maximum (D(max)) and investigate their feasibility for in vivo dose measurements in electron beams. Factors were determined to relate the reading of a MOSFET detector to D(max) for 4 - 15 MeV electron beams in reference conditions. The influence of variation in field size, SSD, angle and field shape on the MOSFET reading, obtained without additional build-up, was evaluated using 4, 8 and 15 MeV beams and compared to ionisation chamber data at the depth of dose maximum (z(max)). Patient entrance in vivo measurements included 40 patients, mostly treated for breast tumours. The MOSFET reading, converted to D(max), was compared to the dose prescribed at this depth. The factors to convert MOSFET reading to D(max) vary between 1.33 and 1.20 for the 4 and 15 MeV beams, respectively. The SSD correction factor is approximately 8% for a change in SSD from 95 to 100 cm, and 2% for each 5-cm increment above 100 cm SSD. A correction for fields having sides smaller than 6 cm and for irregular field shape is also recommended. For fields up to 20 x 20 cm(2) and for oblique incidence up to 45 degrees, a correction is not necessary. Patient measurements demonstrated deviations from the prescribed dose with a mean difference of -0.7% and a standard deviation of 2.9%. Performing dose measurements with MOSFET detectors placed on the patient's skin without additional build-up is a well suited technique for routine dose verification in electron beams, when applying the appropriate conversion and correction factors.

Influence of Embedded Inhomogeneities on the Spectral Ratio of the Horizontal Components of a Random Field of Rayleigh Waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsukanov, A. A.; Gorbatnikov, A. V.

2018-01-01

Study of the statistical parameters of the Earth's random microseismic field makes it possible to obtain estimates of the properties and structure of the Earth's crust and upper mantle. Different approaches are used to observe and process the microseismic records, which are divided into several groups of passive seismology methods. Among them are the well-known methods of surface-wave tomography, the spectral H/ V ratio of the components in the surface wave, and microseismic sounding, currently under development, which uses the spectral ratio V/ V 0 of the vertical components between pairs of spatially separated stations. In the course of previous experiments, it became clear that these ratios are stable statistical parameters of the random field that do not depend on the properties of microseism sources. This paper proposes to expand the mentioned approach and study the possibilities for using the ratio of the horizontal components H 1/ H 2 of the microseismic field. Numerical simulation was used to study the influence of an embedded velocity inhomogeneity on the spectral ratio of the horizontal components of the random field of fundamental Rayleigh modes, based on the concept that the Earth's microseismic field is represented by these waves in a significant part of the frequency spectrum.

A Measurement and Analysis of Buildup Region Dose for Open Field Photon Beams (Cobalt-60 through 24 MV)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McCullough, Edwin C.

2015-01-15

The central axis depth dose in the build-up region (surface to d{sub max}) of single open field photon beams (cobalt-60 through 24 MV) has been measured utilizing parallel plate and extrapolation chamber methodology. These data were used to derive, for a prescription dose of 100 cGy, values of surface dose, the maximum value of dose along the central axis (D{sub max}) and the depth (nearest the surface) at which 90% of the prescription dose occurs (d{sub 90}). For both single and parallel opposed pair (POP) open field configurations, data are presented at field sizes of 5 × 5, 15 ×more » 15 and 25 × 25 cm{sup 2} for prescription depths of 10, 15 and 20 cm (midplane for POP). For the treatment machines, field sizes, and prescription depths studied, it is possible to conclude that: for single open field irradiation, surface dose values (as a percentage of the prescription dose) can be either low (<10%) or comparable to the prescription dose itself; for POP open fields, surface dose values are relatively independent of photon energy and midplane depth, and range between 30% and 70% of prescription dose, being principally dependent on field size; the depth of the initial 90 cGy point for a prescription dose of 100 cGy, d{sub 90}, was larger for POP fields. For either single or POP open field treatments, d{sub 90} was always less than 22 mm, while for 6 MV or less, values of d{sub 90} were less than 4 mm; D{sub max} values can be very large (e.g., above 300 cGy) for certain treatment situations and are reduced significantly for POP treatments; for open field POP treatments, the percent reduction in D{sub max} with each increment in beam energy above 10 MV is reduced over that seen at 10 MV or less and, possibly, this further reduction may be clinically insignificant; for open field POP treatments, changes in surface dose, d{sub 90} and D{sub max} with beam energy above 10 MV do not suggest, with regard to these specific build-up curve parameters, any obvious advantage for treatment with beam energies greater than 10 MV for the specific machines and situations studied.« less

Influence of work-interval intensity and duration on time spent at a high percentage of VO2max during intermittent supramaximal exercise.

PubMed

Wakefield, Benjamin R; Glaister, Mark

2009-12-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of work-interval duration (WID) and intensity on the time spent at, or above, 95% VO2max (T95 VO2max) during intermittent bouts of supramaximal exercise. Over a 5-week period, 7 physically active men with a mean (+/-SD) age, height, body mass, and VO2max of 22 +/- 5 years, 181.5 +/- 5.6 cm, 86.4 +/- 11.4 kg, and 51.5 +/- 1.5 ml.kg-1.min-1, respectively, attended 7 testing sessions. After completing a submaximal incremental test on a treadmill to identify individual oxygen uptake/running velocity relationships, subjects completed a maximal incremental test to exhaustion to VO2max and subsequently (from the aforementioned relationship) the minimum velocity required to elicit VO2max (vVO2max). In a random order, subjects then carried out 3 intermittent runs to exhaustion at both 105% and 115% vVO2max. Each test used a different WID (20 s, 25 s, or 30 s) interspersed with 20-second passive recovery periods. Results revealed no significant difference in T95 vVO2max for intermittent runs at 105% versus 115% vVO2max (p = 0.142). There was, however, a significant effect (p < 0.001) of WID on T95 VO2max, with WIDs of 30 seconds enabling more time relative to WIDs of 20 seconds (p = 0.018) and 25 seconds (p = 0.009). Moreover, there was an interaction between intensity and duration such that the effect of WID was magnified at the lower exercise intensity (p = 0.046). In conclusion, despite a number of limitations, the results of this investigation suggest that exercise intensities of approximately 105% vVO2max combined with WIDs greater than 25 seconds provide the best way of optimizing T95 VO2max when using fixed 20-second stationary rest periods.

Interval training at 95% and 100% of the velocity at VO2 max: effects on aerobic physiological indexes and running performance.

PubMed

Denadai, Benedito S; Ortiz, Marcelo J; Greco, Camila C; de Mello, Marco T

2006-12-01

The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of two different high-intensity interval training (HIT) programs on selected aerobic physiological indices and 1500 and 5000 m running performance in well-trained runners. The following tests were completed (n=17): (i) incremental treadmill test to determine maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max), running velocity associated with VO2 max (vVO2 max), and the velocity corresponding to 3.5 mmol/L of blood lactate concentration (vOBLA); (ii) submaximal constant-intensity test to determine running economy (RE); and (iii) 1500 and 5000 m time trials on a 400 m track. Runners were then randomized into 95% vVO2 max or 100% vVO2 max groups, and undertook a 4 week training program consisting of 2 HIT sessions (performed at 95% or 100% vVO2 max, respectively) and 4 submaximal run sessions per week. Runners were retested on all parameters at the completion of the training program. The VO2 max values were not different after training for both groups. There was a significant increase in post-training vVO2 max, RE, and 1500 m running performance in the 100% vVO2 max group. The vOBLA and 5000 m running performance were significantly higher after the training period for both groups. We conclude that vOBLA and 5000 m running performance can be significantly improved in well-trained runners using a 4 week training program consisting of 2 HIT sessions (performed at 95% or 100% vVO2 max) and 4 submaximal run sessions per week. However, the improvement in vVO2 max, RE, and 1500 m running performance seems to be dependent on the HIT program at 100% vVO2 max.

A semi-Markov model for mitosis segmentation in time-lapse phase contrast microscopy image sequences of stem cell populations.

PubMed

Liu, An-An; Li, Kang; Kanade, Takeo

2012-02-01

We propose a semi-Markov model trained in a max-margin learning framework for mitosis event segmentation in large-scale time-lapse phase contrast microscopy image sequences of stem cell populations. Our method consists of three steps. First, we apply a constrained optimization based microscopy image segmentation method that exploits phase contrast optics to extract candidate subsequences in the input image sequence that contains mitosis events. Then, we apply a max-margin hidden conditional random field (MM-HCRF) classifier learned from human-annotated mitotic and nonmitotic sequences to classify each candidate subsequence as a mitosis or not. Finally, a max-margin semi-Markov model (MM-SMM) trained on manually-segmented mitotic sequences is utilized to reinforce the mitosis classification results, and to further segment each mitosis into four predefined temporal stages. The proposed method outperforms the event-detection CRF model recently reported by Huh as well as several other competing methods in very challenging image sequences of multipolar-shaped C3H10T1/2 mesenchymal stem cells. For mitosis detection, an overall precision of 95.8% and a recall of 88.1% were achieved. For mitosis segmentation, the mean and standard deviation for the localization errors of the start and end points of all mitosis stages were well below 1 and 2 frames, respectively. In particular, an overall temporal location error of 0.73 ± 1.29 frames was achieved for locating daughter cell birth events.

A phase I, randomized, single-dose study evaluating the pharmacokinetic equivalence of biosimilar ABP 215 and bevacizumab in healthy adult men.

PubMed

Markus, Richard; Chow, Vincent; Pan, Zhiying; Hanes, Vladimir

2017-10-01

This study compared the pharmacokinetic (PK) profiles of the proposed biosimilar ABP 215 with bevacizumab in healthy males. In this randomized, single-blind, single-dose, three-arm, parallel-group study, healthy subjects were randomized to receive ABP 215 (n = 68), bevacizumab (US) (n = 67), or bevacizumab (EU) (n = 67) 3 mg/kg intravenously. Primary endpoints were area under the serum concentration-time curve from time 0 extrapolated to infinity (AUC inf ) and the maximum observed concentration (C max ). Secondary endpoints included safety and immunogenicity. AUC inf and C max were similar across the three groups. Geometric means ratio (GMR) for C max and AUC inf , respectively, was 0.98 and 0.99 for ABP 215 versus bevacizumab (US); 1.03 and 0.96 for ABP 215 versus bevacizumab (EU); and 1.05 and 0.97 for bevacizumab (US) versus bevacizumab (EU). The 90% confidence intervals for the GMRs of AUC inf and C max were within the prespecified standard PK bioequivalence criteria of 0.80 to 1.25. The incidence of adverse events (AEs) was 47.1, 32.8, and 61.2% in the ABP 215, bevacizumab (US) and bevacizumab (EU) groups, respectively. When analyzed by investigational site, the incidence and severity of AEs were comparable in the ABP 215 and bevacizumab groups. There were no AEs leading to study discontinuation. No binding or neutralizing anti-drug anti-bodies was detected. This study demonstrated the PK similarity of ABP 215 to both bevacizumab (US) and bevacizumab (EU), and of bevacizumab (US) to bevacizumab (EU). Safety and tolerability were comparable between treatments and no subject developed binding or neutralizing anti-drug anti-bodies.

Engineering cocrystal solubility, stability, and pH(max) by micellar solubilization.

PubMed

Huang, Neal; Rodríguez-Hornedo, Naír

2011-12-01

Cocrystals offer great promise in enhancing drug aqueous solubilities, but face the challenge of conversion to a less soluble drug when in contact with solvent. This manuscript shows that differential solubilization of cocrystal components by micelles can impart thermodynamic stability to otherwise unstable cocrystals. The theoretical foundation for controlling cocrystal solubility and stability is presented by considering the contributions of micellar solubilization and ionization of cocrystal components. A surfactant critical stabilization concentration (CSC) and a solution pH (pH(max)) where cocrystal and drug are thermodynamically stable are shown to characterize cocrystal stability in micellar solutions. The solubility, CSC, and pH(max) of carbamazepine cocrystals in micellar solutions of sodium lauryl sulfate predicted by the models are in very good agreement with experimental measurements. The findings from this work demonstrate that cocrystal CSC and pH(max) can be tailored from the selection of coformer and solubilizing additives such as surfactants, thus providing an unprecedented level of control over cocrystal stability and solubility via solution phase chemistry. Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Does respiratory muscle training increase physical performance?

PubMed

Sperlich, Billy; Fricke, Hannes; de Marées, Markus; Linville, John W; Mester, Joachim

2009-09-01

Special force units and military personnel undergo demanding physical exercise and might benefit from high-intensity respiratory muscle training (RMT) by increasing their endurance performance. This study examined the effects of a 6-week high-intensity RMT on running performance and oxygen uptake (VO2max) in a group of German Special Force Squad members. 17 participants were randomly assigned to a training or control group. Baseline and post-testing included a ramp test, as well as an incremental test on a treadmill, performed to physical exhaustion. VO2, respiratory exchange ratio, and heart rate were measured breath by breath. Furthermore, maximum running speed (V(max)), 4 mmol x 1(-1) lactate threshold (V4) and perception of respiratory effort were determined. During pulmonary testing, sustained maximum inspiratory and expiratory pressure (PI(max) and PE(max)) were obtained. RMT was performed daily at approximately 90% PI(max) for 6 weeks with 2 x 30 breath cycles using an Ultrabreathe lung trainer. No statistical differences were detected between the groups for any parameter after RMT. High-intensity RMT did not show any benefits on VO2max and endurance performance and are unlikely to be of benefit to military or paramilitary training programs for an increase in endurance performance.

Theoretic derivation of directed acyclic subgraph algorithm and comparisons with message passing algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ha, Jeongmok; Jeong, Hong

2016-07-01

This study investigates the directed acyclic subgraph (DAS) algorithm, which is used to solve discrete labeling problems much more rapidly than other Markov-random-field-based inference methods but at a competitive accuracy. However, the mechanism by which the DAS algorithm simultaneously achieves competitive accuracy and fast execution speed, has not been elucidated by a theoretical derivation. We analyze the DAS algorithm by comparing it with a message passing algorithm. Graphical models, inference methods, and energy-minimization frameworks are compared between DAS and message passing algorithms. Moreover, the performances of DAS and other message passing methods [sum-product belief propagation (BP), max-product BP, and tree-reweighted message passing] are experimentally compared.

Global muscle dysfunction as a risk factor of readmission to hospital due to COPD exacerbations.

PubMed

Vilaró, Jordi; Ramirez-Sarmiento, Alba; Martínez-Llorens, Juana M A; Mendoza, Teresa; Alvarez, Miguel; Sánchez-Cayado, Natalia; Vega, Angeles; Gimeno, Elena; Coronell, Carlos; Gea, Joaquim; Roca, Josep; Orozco-Levi, Mauricio

2010-12-01

Exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are associated with several modifiable (sedentary life-style, smoking, malnutrition, hypoxemia) and non-modifiable (age, co-morbidities, severity of pulmonary function, respiratory infections) risk factors. We hypothesise that most of these risk factors may have a converging and deleterious effects on both respiratory and peripheral muscle function in COPD patients. A multicentre study was carried out in 121 COPD patients (92% males, 63 ± 11 yr, FEV(1), 49 ± 17%pred). Assessments included anthropometrics, lung function, body composition using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), and global muscle function (peripheral muscle (dominant and non-dominant hand grip strength, HGS), inspiratory (PI(max)), and expiratory (PE(max)) muscle strength). GOLD stage, clinical status (stable vs. non-stable) and both current and past hospital admissions due to COPD exacerbations were included as covariates in the analyses. Respiratory and peripheral muscle weakness were observed in all subsets of patients. Muscle weakness, was significantly associated with both current and past hospitalisations. Patients with history of multiple admissions showed increased global muscle weakness after adjusting by FEV(1) (PE(max), OR = 6.8, p < 0.01; PI(max), OR = 2.9, p < 0.05; HGSd, OR = 2.4, and HGSnd, OR = 2.6, p = 0.05). Moreover, a significant increase in both respiratory and peripheral muscle weakness, after adjusting by FEV(1), was associated with current acute exacerbations. Muscle dysfunction, adjusted by GOLD stage, is associated with an increased risk of hospital admissions due to acute episodes of exacerbation of the disease. Current exacerbations further deteriorate muscle dysfunction. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of dynamic hyperinflation on exercise capacity and quality of life in stable COPD patients.

PubMed

Zhao, Li; Peng, Liyue; Wu, Baomei; Bu, Xiaoning; Wang, Chen

2016-09-01

Dynamic hyperinflation (DH) is an important pathophysiological characteristic of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). There is increasing evidence that DH has negative effects on exercise performance and quality of life. The objective of this study was to explore effects of DH on exercise capacity and quality of life in stable COPD patients. Fifty-eight COPD patients and 20 matched healthy individuals underwent pulmonary function test, 6-min walk test and symptom-limited cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET). End-expiratory lung volume/total lung capacity ratio (EELVmax/TLC) at peak exercise of CPET was evaluated, and EELVmax/TLC ≥ 75% was defined as 'severe dynamic hyperinflation (SDH)'. Of the 58 patients studied, 29 (50.0%) presented with SDH (SDH+ group, EELVmax/TLC 79.60 ± 3.60%), having worse maximal exercise capacity reflected by lower peakload, maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max), maximal carbon dioxide output (VCO2 max) and maximal minute ventilation (VEmax) than did those without SDH (SDH- group, EELVmax/TLC 67.44 ± 6.53%). The EELVmax/TLC ratio at peak exercise had no association with variables of pulmonary function and 6-min walk distance (6MWD), but correlated inversely with peakload, VO2 max, VCO2 max and VEmax (r = -0.300~-0.351, P < 0.05). Although no significant differences were observed, patients with EELVmax/TLC ≥ 75% tended to have higher COPD assessment test score (15.07 ± 6.55 vs 13.28 ± 6.59, P = 0.303). DH develops variably during exercise and has a greater impact on maximal exercise capacity than 6MWD, even in those with the same extent of pulmonary function impairment at rest. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

[Application of three heat pulse technique-based methods to determine the stem sap flow].

PubMed

Wang, Sheng; Fan, Jun

2015-08-01

It is of critical importance to acquire tree transpiration characters through sap flow methodology to understand tree water physiology, forest ecology and ecosystem water exchange. Tri-probe heat pulse sensors, which are widely utilized in soil thermal parameters and soil evaporation measurement, were applied to implement Salix matsudana sap flow density (Vs) measurements via heat-ratio method (HRM), T-Max method (T-Max) and single-probe heat pulse probe (SHPP) method, and comparative analysis was conducted with additional Grainer's thermal diffusion probes (TDP) measured results. The results showed that, it took about five weeks to reach a stable measurement stage after TPHP installation, Vs measured with three methods in the early stage after installation was 135%-220% higher than Vs in the stable measurement stage, and Vs estimated via HRM, T-Max and SHPP methods were significantly linearly correlated with Vs estimated via TDP method, with R2 of 0.93, 0.73 and 0.91, respectively, and R2 for Vs measured by SHPP and HRM reached 0.94. HRM had relatively higher precision in measuring low rates and reverse sap flow. SHPP method seemed to be very promising to measure sap flow for configuration simplicity and high measuring accuracy, whereas it couldn' t distinguish directions of flow. T-Max method had relatively higher error in sap flow measurement, and it couldn' t measure sap flow below 5 cm3 · cm(-2) · h(-1), thus this method could not be used alone, however it could measure thermal diffusivity for calculating sap flow when other methods were imposed. It was recommended to choose a proper method or a combination of several methods to measure stem sap flow, based on specific research purpose.

Interaction of Citrus Juices with Cyclosporine: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

PubMed

Sridharan, Kannan; Sivaramakrishnan, Gowri

2016-12-01

Cyclosporine is an immunosuppressant with narrow therapeutic window, metabolized mainly by cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) and minimally by cytochrome P450 3A5 (CYP3A5). Citrus juices such as grapefruit juice (GFJ), orange, lemon, pomelo and lime were known to interact with cyclosporine in several randomized controlled trials. The present review is a systematic compilation and quantitative synthesis on the changes of cyclosporine pharmacokinetics with concomitant citrus juice administration. Electronic databases were searched for randomized controlled trials evaluating the effect of any citrus juice on the pharmacokinetics of cyclosporine comparing with water or placebo in healthy volunteers using appropriate search strategies. Percent mean difference with standard error was used to assess the magnitude of difference in the following outcome measures: area under curve from time of drug administration to 24 h (AUC 0-24 ), area under curve from time of drug administration to infinity (AUC 0-∞ ), maximum concentration (C max ), time to achieve C max (T max ), elimination half-life (T 1/2 ), clearance (CL), volume of distribution and frequency for adverse drug reactions following administration of cyclosporine. RevMan 5.3 software was used to assess heterogeneity (by I 2 statistics), use random-effects model and generate pooled results and Forest plot. A total of 57 studies were obtained with the search strategy, of which seven were found eligible to be included in the present review. The pooled percent mean difference [95 % CI] for GFJ in comparison to controls for AUC 0-24 , AUC 0-∞ , C max and T max of cyclosporine was observed to be 53 [43, 64], 53 [45, 62], 24 [12, 36] and 19 [12, 26], respectively. Similarly, pomelo juice was found to significantly increase both AUC 0-∞ and C max with the pooled percent mean difference [95 % CI] as 23 [13, 32] and 25 [1, 50], respectively but decrease T 1/2 {-8 [-15, -1]} of cyclosporine. Orange juice did not alter any of the pharmacokinetic parameter of cyclosporine significantly. Citrus juices especially GFJ and pomelo juice were found to significantly increase the plasma exposure of cyclosporine while orange juice did not exhibit any significant interaction with cyclosporine.

The interactional foundations of MaxEnt: Open questions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harré, Michael S.

2014-12-01

One of the simplest and potentially most useful techniques to be developed in the 20th century, a century noted for an ever more mathematically sophisticated formulation of the sciences, is that of maximising the entropy of a system in order to generate a descriptive, stochastic model of that system in closed form, often abbreviated to MaxEnt. The extension of MaxEnt to systems beyond the physics from which it originated is hampered by the fact that the microscopic physical interactions that are not justified or justifiable within the MaxEnt framework need to be falsifiably evaluated in each new field of application. It is not obvious that such justification exists for many systems in which the interactions are not directly based on physics. For example what is the justification for the use of MaxEnt in biology, climate modelling or economics? Is it simply a useful heuristic or is there some deeper connection with the foundations of some systems? Without further critical examination of the microscopic foundations that give rise to the success of the MaxEnt principle it is difficult to motivate the use of such techniques in other fields except through theoretically an practically unsatisfying analogical arguments. This article briefly presents the basis of MaxEnt principles as originally introduced in statistical mechanics in the Jaynes form, the Tsallis form and the Rényi form. Several different applications are introduced including that of ecological diversity where maximising the different diversity measures is equivalent to maximising different entropic functionals.

Analysis of soybean tissue culture protein dynamics using difference gel electrophoresis

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Excised hypocotyls from developing soybean (Glycine max (L.) merr. cv. Jack) were cultivated on agar-solidified medium until callus formed. The calli were then propagated in liquid medium until stable, relatively uniform, finely-divided suspension cultures were obtained. Cells were typically transfe...

Molecular mapping of two environmentally sensitive male-sterile mutants in soybean

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

In soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.], manual cross-pollination to produce large quantities of hybrid seed is difficult and time consuming. Identification of an environmentally stable male-sterility system could make hybrid seed production commercially valuable. In soybean, two environmentally sensi...

Improved Compressive Sensing of Natural Scenes Using Localized Random Sampling

PubMed Central

Barranca, Victor J.; Kovačič, Gregor; Zhou, Douglas; Cai, David

2016-01-01

Compressive sensing (CS) theory demonstrates that by using uniformly-random sampling, rather than uniformly-spaced sampling, higher quality image reconstructions are often achievable. Considering that the structure of sampling protocols has such a profound impact on the quality of image reconstructions, we formulate a new sampling scheme motivated by physiological receptive field structure, localized random sampling, which yields significantly improved CS image reconstructions. For each set of localized image measurements, our sampling method first randomly selects an image pixel and then measures its nearby pixels with probability depending on their distance from the initially selected pixel. We compare the uniformly-random and localized random sampling methods over a large space of sampling parameters, and show that, for the optimal parameter choices, higher quality image reconstructions can be consistently obtained by using localized random sampling. In addition, we argue that the localized random CS optimal parameter choice is stable with respect to diverse natural images, and scales with the number of samples used for reconstruction. We expect that the localized random sampling protocol helps to explain the evolutionarily advantageous nature of receptive field structure in visual systems and suggests several future research areas in CS theory and its application to brain imaging. PMID:27555464

Effect of pH on ionic liquid mediated synthesis of gold nanoparticle using elaiseguineensis (palm oil) kernel extract

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Irfan, Muhammad; Ahmad, Tausif; Moniruzzaman, Muhammad; Abdullah, Bawadi

2017-05-01

This study was conducted for microwave assisted synthesis of stable gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) by reduction of chloroauric acid with Elaeis Guineensis (palm oil) kernel (POK) extract which was prepared in aqueous solution of ionic liquid, [EMIM][OAc], 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate. Effect of initial pH of reaction mixture (3.5 - 8.5) was observed on SPR absorbance, maximum wavelength (λmax ) and size distribution of AuNPs. Change of pH of reaction mixture from acidic to basic region resulted in appearance of strong SPR absorption peaks and blue shifting of λmax from 533 nm to 522 nm. TEM analysis revealed the formation of predominantly spherical AuNPs with mean diameter of 8.51 nm. Presence of reducing moieties such as flavonoids, phenolic and carboxylic groups in POK extract was confirmed by FTIR analysis. Colloidal solution of AuNPs was remained stable at room temperature and insignificant difference in zeta value was recorded within experimental tenure of 4 months.

Pilot Study on Folate Bioavailability from a Camembert Cheese Reveals Contradictory Findings to Recent Results from a Human Short-term Study.

PubMed

Mönch, Sabine; Netzel, Michael; Netzel, Gabriele; Ott, Undine; Frank, Thomas; Rychlik, Michael

2016-01-01

Different dietary sources of folate have differing bioavailabilities, which may affect their nutritional "value." In order to examine if these differences also occur within the same food products, a short-term human pilot study was undertaken as a follow-up study to a previously published human trial to evaluate the relative native folate bioavailabilities from low-fat Camembert cheese compared to pteroylmonoglutamic acid as the reference dose. Two healthy human subjects received the test foods in a randomized cross-over design separated by a 14-day equilibrium phase. Folate body pools were saturated with a pteroylmonoglutamic acid supplement before the first testing and between the testings. Folates in test foods and blood plasma were analyzed by stable isotope dilution assays. The biokinetic parameters C max, t max, and area under the curve (AUC) were determined in plasma within the interval of 0-12 h. When comparing the ratio estimates of AUC and C max for the different Camembert cheeses, a higher bioavailability was found for the low-fat Camembert assessed in the present study (≥64%) compared to a different brand in our previous investigation (8.8%). It is suggested that these differences may arise from the different folate distribution in the soft dough and firm rind as well as differing individual folate vitamer proportions. The results clearly underline the importance of the food matrix, even within the same type of food product, in terms of folate bioavailability. Moreover, our findings add to the increasing number of studies questioning the general assumption of 50% bioavailability as the rationale behind the definition of folate equivalents. However, more research is needed to better understand the interactions between individual folate vitamers and other food components and the potential impact on folate bioavailability and metabolism.

Maximal heart rate in soccer players: measured versus age-predicted.

PubMed

Nikolaidis, Pantelis T

2015-01-01

Although maximal heart rate (HR max) is widely used to assess exercise intensity in sport training, and particularly in soccer, there are limited data with regards to the use of age-based prediction equations of HR max in soccer players. The aim of this study was to compare the measured-HR max with two prediction equations (Fox-HR max = 220 - age and Tanaka-HR max = 208 - 0.7 × age) in soccer players. Adolescent (n = 162, 15.8 ± 1.5 years) and adult players (n = 158, 23.4 ± 4.6 years), all members of competitive clubs, voluntarily performed a graded exercise field test (Conconi protocol) to assess HR max . The measured-HR max (197.6 ± 9.4 bpm in total, 200.2 ± 7.9 bpm in adolescent players, and 195.0 ± 10.0 bpm in adult players) was explained by the formula HR max = 212.3 - 0.75 × age (r = -0.41, standard error of the estimate = 8.6). In the total sample, Fox-HR max overestimated measured-HR max [mean difference (95% confidence intervals) = 2.8 bpm (1.6; 3.9)], while Tanaka-HR max underestimated HR max [-3.3 bpm (-4.5; -2.2)]. In adolescents, Fox-HR max overestimated measured-HR max [4.0 bpm (2.5; 5.5)] and Tanaka-HR max underestimated HR max [- 3.2 bpm (-4.7; -1.8)]. In adults, Tanaka-HR max underestimated HR max [-5.0 bpm (-5.3; -4.7)], while there was not any difference between Fox-HR max and measured-HR max [1.6 bpm (-3.4; 0.2)]. The results of this study failed to validate two widely used prediction equations in a large sample of soccer players, indicating the need for a sport-specific equation. On the other hand, the new equation that we presented should be investigated further by future studies before being adopted by coaches and fitness trainers.

Confinement of laser plasma expansion with strong external magnetic field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Hui-bo; Hu, Guang-yue; Liang, Yi-han; Tao, Tao; Wang, Yu-lin; Hu, Peng; Zhao, Bin; Zheng, Jian

2018-05-01

The evolutions of laser ablation plasma, expanding in strong (∼10 T) transverse external magnetic field, were investigated in experiments and simulations. The experimental results show that the magnetic field pressure causes the plasma decelerate and accumulate at the plasma-field interface, and then form a low-density plasma bubble. The saturation size of the plasma bubble has a scaling law on laser energy and magnetic field intensity. Magnetohydrodynamic simulation results support the observation and find that the scaling law (V max ∝ E p /B 2, where V max is the maximum volume of the plasma bubble, E p is the absorbed laser energy, and B is the magnetic field intensity) is effective in a broad laser energy range from several joules to kilo-joules, since the plasma is always in the state of magnetic field frozen while expanding. About 15% absorbed laser energy converts into magnetic field energy stored in compressed and curved magnetic field lines. The duration that the plasma bubble comes to maximum size has another scaling law t max ∝ E p 1/2/B 2. The plasma expanding dynamics in external magnetic field have a similar character with that in underdense gas, which indicates that the external magnetic field may be a feasible approach to replace the gas filled in hohlraum to suppress the wall plasma expansion and mitigate the stimulated scattering process in indirect drive ignition.

Validation of masks for determination of V̇O2 max in horses exercising at high intensity.

PubMed

Sides, R H; Kirkpatrick, R; Renner, E; Gough, K; Katz, L M; Evans, D L; Bayly, W M

2018-01-01

The need for a horse to be ridden while wearing a measurement device that allows unrestricted ventilation and gas exchange has hampered accurate measurement of its maximal oxygen consumption (V̇O 2 max) under field conditions. Design and validate a facemask with the potential to measure V̇O 2 max accurately in the field. Experiment with 6 × 6 Latin square design. Two variations of a mask and associated electronic control module (ECM) were designed to enable breath-by-breath measurement of airflows through two 7.8 cm diameter pneumotachometers located 7.5 cm in front of each narus. The ECM was comprised of an analogue-to-digital converter and a lithium-ion battery that provided power and signal filtering to the pneumotachometers and an oxygen sensing cell, and powered a pump connected to gas sampling ports between the nares and pneumotachometers. Airflow and oxygen content of inspired and expired gases were recorded through the ECM and electronically transferred to a notebook. V̇O 2 was determined from these recordings using a customised software program. Mask B encased the lower jaw. Mask R left the jaw free so the horse could wear a bit if ridden. V̇O 2 max and arterial blood gases were measured in 6 horses during multiple treadmill tests. Each mask was worn twice and results compared to those from an established open flow-through system (O) by ANOVA-RM (P<0.05). System utility was evaluated using the intraclass correlation coefficient of 4 independent raters. Blood gases and V̇O 2 max (151.9±7.0 [mean±s.d.; O], 151.5±9.6 [B], 149.5±7.5 [R] ml/[kg.min]) were not different between masks. V̇O 2 max measures were reproducible for each mask. Intraclass correlation coefficient between raters = 0.99. Some rebreathing of expired air from mask dead space. Masks capable of measuring V̇O 2 max during treadmill exercise were developed, tested and found to be accurate. Mask R has potential application to measurement of V̇O 2 max under field conditions. © 2017 EVJ Ltd.

A prescribed walking regimen plus arginine supplementation improves function and quality of life for patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension: a pilot study

PubMed Central

Brown, Mary Beth; Kempf, Attie; Collins, Catherine M.; Long, Gary M.; Owens, Matthew; Gupta, Shikha; Hellman, Yaron; Wong, Vincent; Farber, Mark; Lahm, Tim

2017-01-01

Current evidence suggests that exercise training is beneficial in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Unfortunately, the standard supervised, hospital-based programs limit patient accessibility to this important intervention. Our proof-of-concept study aimed to provide insight into the usefulness of a prescribed walking regimen along with arginine supplementation to improve outcomes for patients with PAH. Twelve PAH patients (all women) in New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class (FC) II (n = 7) or III (n = 5) and in stable condition for ≥ 3 months were enrolled. Patients performed home- and fitness-center- based walking at 65–75% heart rate (HR) reserve for 45 min, six sessions/week for 12 weeks. Concomitant L-arginine supplementation (6000 mg/day) was provided to maximize beneficial endothelial training adaptations. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing, 6-min walk testing (6MWT), echocardiography, laboratory studies, and quality of life (QoL) survey (SF-36) were performed at baseline and 12 weeks. Eleven patients completed the study (72 session adherence rate = 96 ± 3%). Objective improvement was demonstrated by the 6MWT distance (increased by 40 ± 13 m, P = 0.01), VO2max (increased by 2 ± 0.7 mL/kg/min, P = 0.02), time-to-VO2max (increased by 2.5 ± 0.6 min, P = 0.001), VO2 at anaerobic threshold (increased by 1.3 ± 0.5 mL/kg/min, P = 0.04), HR recovery (reduced by 68 ± 23% in slope, P = 0.01), and SF-36 subscales of Physical Functioning and Energy/Fatigue (increased by 70 ± 34% and 74 ± 34%, respectively, P < 0.05). No adverse events occurred, and right ventricular function and brain natriuretic peptide levels remained stable, suggesting safety of the intervention. This proof-of-concept study indicates that a simple walking regimen with arginine supplementation is a safe and efficacious intervention for clinically stable PAH patients, with gains in objective function and QoL measures. Further investigation in a randomized controlled trial is warranted. PMID:29199900

Comparison of Three Popular Exercise Modalities on V˙O2max in Overweight and Obese.

PubMed

Bækkerud, Fredrik Hjulstad; Solberg, Frederic; Leinan, Ingeborg Megård; Wisløff, Ulrik; Karlsen, Trine; Rognmo, Øivind

2016-03-01

In this prospective randomized trial, we examined the effect of three popular exercise training modalities on maximal oxygen uptake (V˙O2max) in overweight and obese individuals. In addition, we examined possible concomitant adaptations in endurance exercise performance (time to exhaustion (TTE)), citrate synthase (CS) activity, venous and arterial function, blood volume, and calculated stroke volume (SV). Thirty subjects were recruited (age, 41 ± 9 yr; weight, 91 ± 14 kg; height, 173 ± 8 cm; body mass index, 30 ± 4 kg·m(-2)) and randomized to either 6 wk of 4 × 4-min high-intensity interval training (4HIIT) at 85%-95% of HRmax, 10 × 1-min HIIT (1HIIT) at V˙O2max load, or 45-min moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) at 70% of HRmax. V˙O2max, TTE, CS activity, venous and arterial function, as well as blood volume were measured before and after the training period. O2 pulse was calculated and used to estimate SV. Analysis was conducted per protocol. Only 4HIIT increased V˙O2max (P < 0.01) and significantly more compared with 1HIIT (P = 0.04) and MICT (P = 0.03) (4HIIT, 10%; 1HIIT, 3.3%; and MICT, 3.1%). All groups increased TTE (4HIIT, 198%; 1HIIT, 116%; MICT, 52%), with a higher increase after 4HIIT compared with that after MICT (P = 0.02). Calculated SV increased only after 4HIIT (14.4%). Plasma volume and hemoglobin mass increased after 1HIIT only (5.6% and 6.5%); however, no group differences were found. All groups increased CS activity (4HIIT, 35%; 1HIIT, 35%; MICT, 56%), with no group differences. Arterial inflow (15.7%) and venous outflow (22.7%) decreased after MICT, but there were no group differences. 4HIIT was superior to 1HIIT and MICT in improving V˙O2max likely because of an increased SV.

Probes for investigating the effect of magnetic field, field orientation, temperature and strain on the critical current density of anisotropic high-temperature superconducting tapes in a split-pair 15 T horizontal magnet.

PubMed

Sunwong, P; Higgins, J S; Hampshire, D P

2014-06-01

We present the designs of probes for making critical current density (Jc) measurements on anisotropic high-temperature superconducting tapes as a function of field, field orientation, temperature and strain in our 40 mm bore, split-pair 15 T horizontal magnet. Emphasis is placed on the design of three components: the vapour-cooled current leads, the variable temperature enclosure, and the springboard-shaped bending beam sample holder. The vapour-cooled brass critical-current leads used superconducting tapes and in operation ran hot with a duty cycle (D) of ~0.2. This work provides formulae for optimising cryogenic consumption and calculating cryogenic boil-off, associated with current leads used to make J(c) measurements, made by uniformly ramping the current up to a maximum current (I(max)) and then reducing the current very quickly to zero. They include consideration of the effects of duty cycle, static helium boil-off from the magnet and Dewar (b'), and the maximum safe temperature for the critical-current leads (T(max)). Our optimized critical-current leads have a boil-off that is about 30% less than leads optimized for magnet operation at the same maximum current. Numerical calculations show that the optimum cross-sectional area (A) for each current lead can be parameterized by LI(max)/A = [1.46D(-0.18)L(0.4)(T(max) - 300)(0.25D(-0.09)) + 750(b'/I(max))D(10(-3)I(max)-2.87b') × 10⁶ A m⁻¹ where L is the current lead's length and the current lead is operated in liquid helium. An optimum A of 132 mm(2) is obtained when I(max) = 1000 A, T(max) = 400 K, D = 0.2, b' = 0.3 l h(-1) and L = 1.0 m. The optimized helium consumption was found to be 0.7 l h(-1). When the static boil-off is small, optimized leads have a boil-off that can be roughly parameterized by: b/I(max)  ≈ (1.35 × 10(-3))D(0.41) l h(‑1) A(-1). A split-current-lead design is employed to minimize the rotation of the probes during the high current measurements in our high-field horizontal magnet. The variable-temperature system is based on the use of an inverted insulating cup that operates above 4.2 K in liquid helium and above 77.4 K in liquid nitrogen, with a stability of ±80 mK to ±150 mK. Uniaxial strains of -1.4% to 1.0% can be applied to the sample, with a total uncertainty of better than ±0.02%, using a modified bending beam apparatus which includes a copper beryllium springboard-shaped sample holder.

Background fluorescence estimation and vesicle segmentation in live cell imaging with conditional random fields.

PubMed

Pécot, Thierry; Bouthemy, Patrick; Boulanger, Jérôme; Chessel, Anatole; Bardin, Sabine; Salamero, Jean; Kervrann, Charles

2015-02-01

Image analysis applied to fluorescence live cell microscopy has become a key tool in molecular biology since it enables to characterize biological processes in space and time at the subcellular level. In fluorescence microscopy imaging, the moving tagged structures of interest, such as vesicles, appear as bright spots over a static or nonstatic background. In this paper, we consider the problem of vesicle segmentation and time-varying background estimation at the cellular scale. The main idea is to formulate the joint segmentation-estimation problem in the general conditional random field framework. Furthermore, segmentation of vesicles and background estimation are alternatively performed by energy minimization using a min cut-max flow algorithm. The proposed approach relies on a detection measure computed from intensity contrasts between neighboring blocks in fluorescence microscopy images. This approach permits analysis of either 2D + time or 3D + time data. We demonstrate the performance of the so-called C-CRAFT through an experimental comparison with the state-of-the-art methods in fluorescence video-microscopy. We also use this method to characterize the spatial and temporal distribution of Rab6 transport carriers at the cell periphery for two different specific adhesion geometries.

Spatial variance and assessment of nitrogen dioxide pollution in major cities of Pakistan along N5-Highway.

PubMed

Shabbir, Yasir; Khokhar, Muhammad Fahim; Shaiganfar, Reza; Wagner, Thomas

2016-05-01

This paper discusses the findings of the first car MAX-DOAS (multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy) field campaign (300km long) along the National Highway-05 (N5-Highway) of Pakistan conducted on 13 and 14 November, 2012. The main objective of the field campaign was to assess the spatial distribution of tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2) columns and corresponding concentrations along the N5-Highway from Islamabad to Lahore. Source identification of NO2 revealed that the concentrations were higher within major cities along the highway. The highest NO2 vertical column densities (NO2 VCDs) were found around two major cities of Rawalpindi and Lahore. This study also presents a comparison of NO2 VCDs measured by the ozone monitoring instrument (OMI) and car MAX-DOAS observations. The comparison revealed similar spatial distribution of the NO2 columns with both car MAX-DOAS and satellite observations, but the car MAX-DOAS observations show much more spatial details. Maximum NO2 VCD retrieved from car MAX-DOAS observations was up to an order of magnitude larger than the OMI observations in urban areas. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Ensemble Solute Transport in 2-D Operator-Stable Random Fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Monnig, N. D.; Benson, D. A.

2006-12-01

The heterogeneous velocity field that exists at many scales in an aquifer will typically cause a dissolved solute plume to grow at a rate faster than Fick's Law predicts. Some statistical model must be adopted to account for the aquifer structure that engenders the velocity heterogeneity. A fractional Brownian motion (fBm) model has been shown to create the long-range correlation that can produce continually faster-than-Fickian plume growth. Previous fBm models have assumed isotropic scaling (defined here by a scalar Hurst coefficient). Motivated by field measurements of aquifer hydraulic conductivity, recent techniques were developed to construct random fields with anisotropic scaling with a self-similarity parameter that is defined by a matrix. The growth of ensemble plumes is analyzed for transport through 2-D "operator- stable" fBm hydraulic conductivity (K) fields. Both the longitudinal and transverse Hurst coefficients are important to both plume growth rates and the timing and duration of breakthrough. Smaller Hurst coefficients in the transverse direction lead to more "continuity" or stratification in the direction of transport. The result is continually faster-than-Fickian growth rates, highly non-Gaussian ensemble plumes, and a longer tail early in the breakthrough curve. Contrary to some analytic stochastic theories for monofractal K fields, the plume growth rate never exceeds Mercado's [1967] purely stratified aquifer growth rate of plume apparent dispersivity proportional to mean distance. Apparent super-Mercado growth must be the result of other factors, such as larger plumes corresponding to either a larger initial plume size or greater variance of the ln(K) field.

Acting Irrationally to Improve Performance in Stochastic Worlds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belavkin, Roman V.

Despite many theories and algorithms for decision-making, after estimating the utility function the choice is usually made by maximising its expected value (the max EU principle). This traditional and 'rational' conclusion of the decision-making process is compared in this paper with several 'irrational' techniques that make choice in Monte-Carlo fashion. The comparison is made by evaluating the performance of simple decision-theoretic agents in stochastic environments. It is shown that not only the random choice strategies can achieve performance comparable to the max EU method, but under certain conditions the Monte-Carlo choice methods perform almost two times better than the max EU. The paper concludes by quoting evidence from recent cognitive modelling works as well as the famous decision-making paradoxes.

The interactional foundations of MaxEnt: Open questions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Harré, Michael S., E-mail: michael.harre@sydney.edu.au

One of the simplest and potentially most useful techniques to be developed in the 20{sup th} century, a century noted for an ever more mathematically sophisticated formulation of the sciences, is that of maximising the entropy of a system in order to generate a descriptive, stochastic model of that system in closed form, often abbreviated to MaxEnt. The extension of MaxEnt to systems beyond the physics from which it originated is hampered by the fact that the microscopic physical interactions that are not justified or justifiable within the MaxEnt framework need to be falsifiably evaluated in each new field ofmore » application. It is not obvious that such justification exists for many systems in which the interactions are not directly based on physics. For example what is the justification for the use of MaxEnt in biology, climate modelling or economics? Is it simply a useful heuristic or is there some deeper connection with the foundations of some systems? Without further critical examination of the microscopic foundations that give rise to the success of the MaxEnt principle it is difficult to motivate the use of such techniques in other fields except through theoretically an practically unsatisfying analogical arguments. This article briefly presents the basis of MaxEnt principles as originally introduced in statistical mechanics in the Jaynes form, the Tsallis form and the Rényi form. Several different applications are introduced including that of ecological diversity where maximising the different diversity measures is equivalent to maximising different entropic functionals.« less

Entropy production in a fluid-solid system far from thermodynamic equilibrium.

PubMed

Chung, Bong Jae; Ortega, Blas; Vaidya, Ashwin

2017-11-24

The terminal orientation of a rigid body in a moving fluid is an example of a dissipative system, out of thermodynamic equilibrium and therefore a perfect testing ground for the validity of the maximum entropy production principle (MaxEP). Thus far, dynamical equations alone have been employed in studying the equilibrium states in fluid-solid interactions, but these are far too complex and become analytically intractable when inertial effects come into play. At that stage, our only recourse is to rely on numerical techniques which can be computationally expensive. In our past work, we have shown that the MaxEP is a reliable tool to help predict orientational equilibrium states of highly symmetric bodies such as cylinders, spheroids and toroidal bodies. The MaxEP correctly helps choose the stable equilibrium in these cases when the system is slightly out of thermodynamic equilibrium. In the current paper, we expand our analysis to examine i) bodies with fewer symmetries than previously reported, for instance, a half-ellipse and ii) when the system is far from thermodynamic equilibrium. Using two-dimensional numerical studies at Reynolds numbers ranging between 0 and 14, we examine the validity of the MaxEP. Our analysis of flow past a half-ellipse shows that overall the MaxEP is a good predictor of the equilibrium states but, in the special case of the half-ellipse with aspect ratio much greater than unity, the MaxEP is replaced by the Min-MaxEP, at higher Reynolds numbers when inertial effects come into play. Experiments in sedimentation tanks and with hinged bodies in a flow tank confirm these calculations.

Large actuation strain over 0.3% in periodically orthogonal poled BaTiO3 ceramics and multilayer actuators via reversible domain switching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Qiangzhong; Li, Faxin

2018-06-01

Lead titanate zirconate (PZT) ceramics based piezoelectric actuators always suffer from small output strains (typically 0.1%–0.15%) and have recently been criticized for the toxicity problem of the high-concentration lead. In our recent work (Li et al 2017 J. Appl. Phys. 122 074103), we realized large local actuation strain nearly 0.6% in a periodically orthogonal poled (POP) PZT ceramics via reversible domain switching. In this work, we applied the POP method to barium titanate (BT) ceramics and proposed a specially designed multilayer actuator which can output large uniform strain. The simple tetragonal structure of BT ceramics makes it easier to understand the mechanism of reversible domain switching in POP ceramics and its lead-free characteristic is more promising. Firstly, a POP BT ceramic piece was fabricated and the actuation testing results show that local large actuation strain of 0.36% can be obtained under a field of 2 kV mm‑1 at 0.1 Hz. However, the actuation strain is non-uniform along the period direction, varying from 0.22% to 0.36%. Then, to output uniform large strain, a four-layer actuator based on the POP BT ceramics was designed and fabricated in which only the in-plane poled regions of the adjacent layers were bonded. Results show that the output strain turns to be uniform in this way, which is 0.34% under 2 kV mm‑1, resulting in a very high large-signal (=S max/E max) of 1700 pm V‑1. The large actuation strain is very stable and keeps unchanged after 20k cycles of operation. It drops quickly with the increasing frequency and is stabilized at 0.18% above 1.0 Hz. Finally, bipolar field testing was conducted on the POP BT based actuator. Results show that the actuator shows electrostriction-like symmetric bipolar actuation behavior with the repeatable actuation strain of 0.3% under 2 kV mm‑1. This work may provide a feasible solution to low frequency, large-strain lead-free piezoelectric actuation.

Capsaicin-evoked cough responses in asthmatic patients: Evidence for airway neuronal dysfunction.

PubMed

Satia, Imran; Tsamandouras, Nikolaos; Holt, Kimberley; Badri, Huda; Woodhead, Mark; Ogungbenro, Kayode; Felton, Timothy W; O'Byrne, Paul M; Fowler, Stephen J; Smith, Jaclyn A

2017-03-01

Cough in asthmatic patients is a common and troublesome symptom. It is generally assumed coughing occurs as a consequence of bronchial hyperresponsiveness and inflammation, but the possibility that airway nerves are dysfunctional has not been fully explored. We sought to investigate capsaicin-evoked cough responses in a group of patients with well-characterized mild-to-moderate asthma compared with healthy volunteers and assess the influences of sex, atopy, lung physiology, inflammation, and asthma control on these responses. Capsaicin inhalational challenge was performed, and cough responses were analyzed by using nonlinear mixed-effects modeling to estimate the maximum cough response evoked by any concentration of capsaicin (E max ) and the capsaicin dose inducing half-maximal response (ED 50 ). Ninety-seven patients with stable asthma (median age, 23 years [interquartile range, 21-27 years]; 60% female) and 47 healthy volunteers (median age, 38 years [interquartile range, 29-47 years]; 64% female) were recruited. Asthmatic patients had higher E max and lower ED 50 values than healthy volunteers. E max values were 27% higher in female subjects (P = .006) and 46% higher in patients with nonatopic asthma (P = .003) compared with healthy volunteers. Also, patients with atopic asthma had a 21% lower E max value than nonatopic asthmatic patients (P = .04). The ED 50 value was 65% lower in female patients (P = .0001) and 71% lower in all asthmatic patients (P = .0008). ED 50 values were also influenced by asthma control and serum IgE levels, whereas E max values were related to 24-hour cough frequency. Age, body mass index, FEV 1 , PC 20 , fraction of exhaled nitric oxide, blood eosinophil counts, and inhaled steroid treatment did not influence cough parameters. Patients with stable asthma exhibited exaggerated capsaicin-evoked cough responses consistent with neuronal dysfunction. Nonatopic asthmatic patients had the highest cough responses, suggesting this mechanism might be most important in type 2-low asthma phenotypes. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The influence of exercise duration at VO2 max on the off-transient pulmonary oxygen uptake phase during high intensity running activity.

PubMed

Billat, V L; Hamard, L; Koralsztein, J P

2002-12-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of time run at maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max) on the off-transient pulmonary oxygen uptake phase after supra-lactate threshold runs. We hypothesised: 1) that among the velocities eliciting VO2 max there is a velocity threshold from which there is a slow component in the VO2-off transient, and 2) that at this velocity the longer the duration of this time at VO2 max (associated with an accumulated oxygen kinetics since VO2 can not overlap VO2 max), the longer is the off-transient phase of oxygen uptake kinetics. Nine long-distance runners performed five maximal tests on a synthetic track (400 m) while breathing through the COSMED K4b2 portable, telemetric metabolic analyser: i) an incremental test which determined VO2 max, the minimal velocity associated with VO2 max (vVO2 max) and the velocity at the lactate threshold (vLT), ii) and in a random order, four supra-lactate threshold runs performed until exhaustion at vLT + 25, 50, 75 and 100% of the difference between vLT and vVO2 max (vdelta25, vdelta50, vdelta75, vdelta100). At vdelta25, vdelta50 (= 91.0 +/- 0.9% vVO2 max) and vdelta75, an asymmetry was found between the VO2 on (double exponential) and off-transient (mono exponential) phases. Only at vdelta75 there was at positive relationship between the time run at VO2 max (%tlimtot) and the VO2 recovery time constant (Z = 1.8, P = 0.05). In conclusion, this study showed that among the velocities eliciting VO2 max, vdelta75 is the velocity at which the longer the duration of the time at VO2 max, the longer is the off-transient phase of oxygen uptake kinetics. It may be possible that at vdelta50 there is not an accumulated oxygen deficit during the plateau of VO2 at VO2 max and that the duration of the time at VO2 max during the exhaustive runs at vdelta100, could be too short to induce an accumulating oxygen deficit affecting the oxygen recovery.

Vacuum statistics and stability in axionic landscapes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Masoumi, Ali; Vilenkin, Alexander, E-mail: ali@cosmos.phy.tufts.edu, E-mail: vilenkin@cosmos.phy.tufts.edu

2016-03-01

We investigate vacuum statistics and stability in random axionic landscapes. For this purpose we developed an algorithm for a quick evaluation of the tunneling action, which in most cases is accurate within 10%. We find that stability of a vacuum is strongly correlated with its energy density, with lifetime rapidly growing as the energy density is decreased. On the other hand, the probability P(B) for a vacuum to have a tunneling action B greater than a given value declines as a slow power law in B. This is in sharp contrast with the studies of random quartic potentials, which foundmore » a fast exponential decline of P(B). Our results suggest that the total number of relatively stable vacua (say, with B>100) grows exponentially with the number of fields N and can get extremely large for N∼> 100. The problem with this kind of model is that the stable vacua are concentrated near the absolute minimum of the potential, so the observed value of the cosmological constant cannot be explained without fine-tuning. To address this difficulty, we consider a modification of the model, where the axions acquire a quadratic mass term, due to their mixing with 4-form fields. This results in a larger landscape with a much broader distribution of vacuum energies. The number of relatively stable vacua in such models can still be extremely large.« less

Blunted perception of neural respiratory drive and breathlessness in patients with cystic fibrosis

PubMed Central

Jolley, Caroline J.; Elston, Caroline; Moxham, John; Rafferty, Gerrard F.

2016-01-01

The electromyogram recorded from the diaphragm (EMGdi) and parasternal intercostal muscle using surface electrodes (sEMGpara) provides a measure of neural respiratory drive (NRD), the magnitude of which reflects lung disease severity in stable cystic fibrosis. The aim of this study was to explore perception of NRD and breathlessness in both healthy individuals and patients with cystic fibrosis. Given chronic respiratory loading and increased NRD in cystic fibrosis, often in the absence of breathlessness at rest, we hypothesised that patients with cystic fibrosis would be able to tolerate higher levels of NRD for a given level of breathlessness compared to healthy individuals during exercise. 15 cystic fibrosis patients (mean forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) 53.5% predicted) and 15 age-matched, healthy controls were studied. Spirometry was measured in all subjects and lung volumes measured in the cystic fibrosis patients. EMGdi and sEMGpara were recorded at rest and during incremental cycle exercise to exhaustion and expressed as a percentage of maximum (% max) obtained from maximum respiratory manoeuvres. Borg breathlessness scores were recorded at rest and during each minute of exercise. EMGdi % max and sEMGpara % max and associated Borg breathlessness scores differed significantly between healthy subjects and cystic fibrosis patients at rest and during exercise. The relationship between EMGdi % max and sEMGpara % max and Borg score was shifted to the right in the cystic fibrosis patients, such that at comparable levels of EMGdi % max and sEMGpara % max the cystic fibrosis patients reported significantly lower Borg breathlessness scores compared to the healthy individuals. At Borg score 1 (clinically significant increase in breathlessness from baseline) corresponding levels of EMGdi % max (20.2±12% versus 32.15±15%, p=0.02) and sEMGpara % max (18.9±8% versus 29.2±15%, p=0.04) were lower in the healthy individuals compared to the cystic fibrosis patients. In the cystic fibrosis patients EMGdi % max at Borg score 1 was related to the degree of airways obstruction (FEV1) (r=−0.664, p=0.007) and hyperinflation (residual volume/total lung capacity) (r=0.710, p=0.03). This relationship was not observed for sEMGpara % max. These data suggest that compared to healthy individuals, patients with cystic fibrosis can tolerate much higher levels of NRD before increases in breathlessness from baseline become clinically significant. EMGdi % max and sEMGpara % max provide physiological tools with which to elucidate factors underlying inter-individual differences in breathlessness perception. PMID:27730171

Analysis of clinical data to determine the minimum number of sensors required for adequate skin temperature monitoring of superficial hyperthermia treatments.

PubMed

Bakker, Akke; Holman, Rebecca; Rodrigues, Dario B; Dobšíček Trefná, Hana; Stauffer, Paul R; van Tienhoven, Geertjan; Rasch, Coen R N; Crezee, Hans

2018-04-27

Tumor response and treatment toxicity are related to minimum and maximum tissue temperatures during hyperthermia, respectively. Using a large set of clinical data, we analyzed the number of sensors required to adequately monitor skin temperature during superficial hyperthermia treatment of breast cancer patients. Hyperthermia treatments monitored with >60 stationary temperature sensors were selected from a database of patients with recurrent breast cancer treated with re-irradiation (23 × 2 Gy) and hyperthermia using single 434 MHz applicators (effective field size 351-396 cm 2 ). Reduced temperature monitoring schemes involved randomly selected subsets of stationary skin sensors, and another subset simulating continuous thermal mapping of the skin. Temperature differences (ΔT) between subsets and complete sets of sensors were evaluated in terms of overall minimum (T min ) and maximum (T max ) temperature, as well as T90 and T10. Eighty patients were included yielding a total of 400 hyperthermia sessions. Median ΔT was <0.01 °C for T90, its 95% confidence interval (95%CI) decreased to ≤0.5 °C when >50 sensors were used. Subsets of <10 sensors result in underestimation of T max up to -2.1 °C (ΔT 95%CI), which decreased to -0.5 °C when >50 sensors were used. Thermal profiles (8-21 probes) yielded a median ΔT < 0.01 °C for T90 and T max , with a 95%CI of -0.2 °C and 0.4 °C, respectively. The detection rate of T max  ≥43 °C is ≥85% while using >50 stationary sensors or thermal profiles. Adequate coverage of the skin temperature distribution during superficial hyperthermia treatment requires the use of >50 stationary sensors per 400 cm 2 applicator. Thermal mapping is a valid alternative.

On the maximum energy of non-thermal particles in the primary hotspot of Cygnus A

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Araudo, Anabella T.; Bell, Anthony R.; Blundell, Katherine M.; Matthews, James H.

2018-01-01

We study particle acceleration and magnetic field amplification in the primary hotspot in the north-west jet of radiogalaxy Cygnus A. By using the observed flux density at 43 GHz in a well-resolved region of this hotspot, we determine the minimum value of the jet density and constrain the magnitude of the magnetic field. We find that a jet with density greater than 5 × 10-5 cm-3 and hotspot magnetic field in the range 50-400 μG are required to explain the synchrotron emission at 43 GHz. The upper-energy cut-off in the hotspot synchrotron spectrum is at a frequency ≲5 × 1014 Hz, indicating that the maximum energy of non-thermal electrons accelerated at the jet reverse shock is Ee, max ∼ 0.8 TeV in a magnetic field of 100 μG. Based on the condition that the magnetic-turbulence scalelength has to be larger than the plasma skin depth, and that the energy density in non-thermal particles cannot violate the limit imposed by the jet kinetic luminosity, we show that Ee, max cannot be constrained by synchrotron losses as traditionally assumed. In addition to that, and assuming that the shock is quasi-perpendicular, we show that non-resonant hybrid instabilities generated by the streaming of cosmic rays with energy Ee, max can grow fast enough to amplify the jet magnetic field up to 50-400 μG and accelerate particles up to the maximum energy Ee, max observed in the Cygnus A primary hotspot.

Contribution of anthropogenic phosphorus to agricultural soil fertility and food production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ringeval, B.; Nowak, B.; Nesme, T.; Delmas, M.; Pellerin, S.

2014-07-01

Agricultural intensification over the last few decades has been accompanied by the extensive use of anthropogenic phosphorus (P) derived from mined phosphate rock. Given the increasing scarcity of P resources, accurate estimates of the reliance of agriculture on anthropogenic P are required. Here we propose a modeling approach for assessing the contribution of anthropogenic P to agricultural soil fertility and food production. We performed computations at country level, and France was chosen as a typical western European country with intensive agriculture. Four soil P pools were identified based on their bioavailability (labile versus stable) and origin (anthropogenic versus natural). Pool evolution between 1948 and 2009 was estimated by combining international databases and a simple biogeochemical model. An optimization procedure demonstrated the necessity of representing a stable P pool capable of replenishing the labile pool within 14 to 33 years in order to match country-scale observations. Mean simulated P pool sizes for 2009 (0-35 cm soil horizon) were 146, 616, 31, and 156 kgP/ha for natural stable, anthropogenic stable, natural labile, and anthropogenic labile pools, respectively. We found that, on average, 82% (min-max: 68-91%) of soil P (sum of labile and above defined stable) in that year was anthropogenic. The temporal evolution of this contribution is directly related to the integral of chemical fertilizer use over time, starting from 1948. The contribution of anthropogenic P to food production was similar at 84% (min-max: 72-91%), which is greater than budget-based estimates ( 50-60%) commonly reported in the literature. By focusing on soil fertility and food production, this study provides a quantitative estimation of human perturbations of the P cycle in agroecosystems.

Metal leaching in drinking water domestic distribution system: an Italian case study.

PubMed

Sorlini, Sabrina; Gialdini, Francesca; Collivignarelli, Carlo

2014-01-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate metal contamination of tap water in seven public buildings in Brescia (Italy). Two monitoring periods were performed using three different sampling methods (overnight stagnation, 30-min stagnation, and random daytime). The results show that the water parameters exceeding the international standards (Directive 98/83/EC) at the tap were lead (max = 363 μg/L), nickel (max = 184 μg/L), zinc (max = 4900 μg/L), and iron (max = 393 μg/L). Compared to the total number of tap water samples analyzed (122), the values higher than limits of Directive 98/83/EC were 17% for lead, 11% for nickel, 14% for zinc, and 7% for iron. Three buildings exceeded iron standard while five buildings exceeded the standard for nickel, lead, and zinc. Moreover, there is no evident correlation between the leaching of contaminants in the domestic distribution system and the age of the pipes while a significant influence is shown by the sampling methods.

Prediction of Lunar- and Martian-Based Intra- and Site-to-Site Task Performance.

PubMed

Ade, Carl J; Broxterman, Ryan M; Craig, Jesse C; Schlup, Susanna J; Wilcox, Samuel L; Warren, Steve; Kuehl, Phillip; Gude, Dana; Jia, Chen; Barstow, Thomas J

2016-04-01

This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of determining the physiological parameters associated with the ability to complete simulated exploration type tasks at metabolic rates which might be expected for lunar and Martian ambulation. Running V̇O2max and gas exchange threshold (GET) were measured in 21 volunteers. Two simulated extravehicular activity field tests were completed in 1 G in regular athletic apparel at two intensities designed to elicit metabolic rates of ∼20.0 and ∼30.0 ml · kg(-1) · min(-1), which are similar to those previously reported for ambulation in simulated lunar- and Martian-based environments, respectively. All subjects were able to complete the field test at the lunar intensity, but 28% were unable to complete the field test at the Martian intensity (non-Finishers). During the Martian field test there were no differences in V̇O2 between Finishers and non-Finishers, but the non-Finishers achieved a greater %V̇O2max compared to Finishers (78.4 ± 4.6% vs. 64.9 ± 9.6%). Logistic regression analysis revealed fitness thresholds for a predicted probability of 0.5, at which Finishing and non-Finishing are equally likely, and 0.75, at which an individual has a 75% chance of Finishing, to be a V̇O2max of 38.4 ml · kg(-1) · min(-1) and 40.0 ml · kg(-1) · min(-1) or a GET of 20.1 ml · kg(-1) · min(-1) and 25.1 ml · kg(-1) · min(-1), respectively (χ(2) = 10.2). Logistic regression analysis also revealed that the expected %V̇O2max required to complete a field test could be used to successfully predict performance (χ(2) = 19.3). The results of the present investigation highlight the potential utility of V̇O2max, particularly as it relates to the metabolic demands of a surface ambulation, in defining successful completion of planetary-based exploration field tests.

Loss of photosynthetic efficiency in the shade. An Achilles heel for the dense modern stands of our most productive C4 crops?

PubMed Central

Pignon, Charles P.; Jaiswal, Deepak; McGrath, Justin M.

2017-01-01

Abstract The wild progenitors of major C4 crops grew as individuals subjected to little shading. Today they are grown in dense stands where most leaves are shaded. Do they maintain photosynthetic efficiency in these low light conditions produced by modern cultivation? The apparent maximum quantum yield of CO2 assimilation (ΦCO2max,app), a key determinant of light-limited photosynthesis, has not been systematically studied in field stands of C4 crops. ΦCO2max,app was derived from the initial slope of the response of leaf CO2 uptake (A) to photon flux (Q). Leaf fractional light absorptance (α) was measured to determine the absolute maximum quantum yield of CO2 assimilation on an absorbed light basis (ΦCO2max,abs). Light response curves were determined on sun and shade leaves of 49 field plants of Miscanthus × giganteus and Zea mays following canopy closure. ΦCO2max,app and ΦCO2max,abs declined significantly by 15–27% (P<0.05) with canopy depth. Experimentally, leaf age was shown unlikely to cause this loss. Modeling canopy CO2 assimilation over diurnal courses suggested that the observed decline in ΦCO2max,app with canopy depth costs 10% of potential carbon gain. Overcoming this limitation could substantially increase the productivity of major C4 crops. PMID:28110277

QTL affecting fitness of hybrids between wild and cultivated soybeans in experimental fields

PubMed Central

Kuroda, Yosuke; Kaga, Akito; Tomooka, Norihiko; Yano, Hiroshi; Takada, Yoshitake; Kato, Shin; Vaughan, Duncan

2013-01-01

The objective of this study was to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting fitness of hybrids between wild soybean (Glycine soja) and cultivated soybean (Glycine max). Seed dormancy and seed number, both of which are important for fitness, were evaluated by testing artificial hybrids of G. soja × G. max in a multiple-site field trial. Generally, the fitness of the F1 hybrids and hybrid derivatives from self-pollination was lower than that of G. soja due to loss of seed dormancy, whereas the fitness of hybrid derivatives with higher proportions of G. soja genetic background was comparable with that of G. soja. These differences were genetically dissected into QTL for each population. Three QTLs for seed dormancy and one QTL for total seed number were detected in the F2 progenies of two diverse cross combinations. At those four QTLs, the G. max alleles reduced seed number and severely reduced seed survival during the winter, suggesting that major genes acquired during soybean adaptation to cultivation have a selective disadvantage in natural habitats. In progenies with a higher proportion of G. soja genetic background, the genetic effects of the G. max alleles were not expressed as phenotypes because the G. soja alleles were dominant over the G. max alleles. Considering the highly inbreeding nature of these species, most hybrid derivatives would disappear quickly in early self-pollinating generations in natural habitats because of the low fitness of plants carrying G. max alleles. PMID:23919159

Characterization of silicon carbide and diamond detectors for neutron applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hodgson, M.; Lohstroh, A.; Sellin, P.; Thomas, D.

2017-10-01

The presence of carbon atoms in silicon carbide and diamond makes these materials ideal candidates for direct fast neutron detectors. Furthermore the low atomic number, strong covalent bonds, high displacement energies, wide bandgap and low intrinsic carrier concentrations make these semiconductor detectors potentially suitable for applications where rugged, high-temperature, low-gamma-sensitivity detectors are required, such as active interrogation, electronic personal neutron dosimetry and harsh environment detectors. A thorough direct performance comparison of the detection capabilities of semi-insulating silicon carbide (SiC-SI), single crystal diamond (D-SC), polycrystalline diamond (D-PC) and a self-biased epitaxial silicon carbide (SiC-EP) detector has been conducted and benchmarked against a commercial silicon PIN (Si-PIN) diode, in a wide range of alpha (Am-241), beta (Sr/Y-90), ionizing photon (65 keV to 1332 keV) and neutron radiation fields (including 1.2 MeV to 16.5 MeV mono-energetic neutrons, as well as neutrons from AmBe and Cf-252 sources). All detectors were shown to be able to directly detect and distinguish both the different radiation types and energies by using a simple energy threshold discrimination method. The SiC devices demonstrated the best neutron energy discrimination ratio (E\\max (n=5 MeV)/E\\max (n=1 MeV)  ≈5), whereas a superior neutron/photon cross-sensitivity ratio was observed in the D-PC detector (E\\max (AmBe)/E\\max (Co-60)  ≈16). Further work also demonstrated that the cross-sensitivity ratios can be improved through use of a simple proton-recoil conversion layer. Stability issues were also observed in the D-SC, D-PC and SiC-SI detectors while under irradiation, namely a change of energy peak position and/or count rate with time (often referred to as the polarization effect). This phenomenon within the detectors was non-debilitating over the time period tested (> 5 h) and, as such, stable operation was possible. Furthermore, the D-SC, self-biased SiC-EP and semi-insulating SiC detectors were shown to operate over the temperature range -60 °C to +100 °C.

Robust synchronization of spin-torque oscillators with an LCR load.

PubMed

Pikovsky, Arkady

2013-09-01

We study dynamics of a serial array of spin-torque oscillators with a parallel inductor-capacitor-resistor (LCR) load. In a large range of parameters the fully synchronous regime, where all the oscillators have the same state and the output field is maximal, is shown to be stable. However, not always such a robust complete synchronization develops from a random initial state; in many cases nontrivial clustering is observed, with a partial synchronization resulting in a quasiperiodic or chaotic mean-field dynamics.

Overexpression of a soybean salicylic acid methlyltransferase gene confers resistance to soybean cyst nematode

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Soybean cyst nematode (Heterodera glycines Ichinohe, SCN) is the most pervasive pest of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] in the USA and worldwide. SCN reduced soybean yields worldwide by an estimated billion dollars annually. These losses remained stable with the use of resistant cultivars but over ...

The Maximum Levitation Force of High- T c Superconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Xian-Feng; Liu, Yuan

2007-11-01

In this paper we present the dependence of the maximum levitation force ( F {/z max }) of a high- T c superconductor (HTS) on the structural factors of high- T c superconducting systems based on the Bean critical state model and Ampère’s law. A transition point of the surface magnetic field ( B s ) of a permanent magnet (PM) is found at which the relation between F {/z max } and B s changes: while the surface magnetic field is less than the transition value the dependence is subject to a nonlinear function, otherwise it is a linear one. The two different relations are estimated to correspond to partial penetration of the shielding currents inside the superconductor below the transition point and complete penetration above it respectively. The influence of geometric properties of superconductors on the dependence is also investigated. In addition, the relation between F {/z max } and the critical current density ( J c ) of the HTS is discussed. The maximum levitation force saturates at high J c . An optimum function of the J c and the B s is presented in order to achieve large F {/z max }.

Objective and subjective comparison of standard 2-D and fully 3-D reconstructed data on a PET/CT system.

PubMed

Strobel, Klaus; Rüdy, Matthias; Treyer, Valerie; Veit-Haibach, Patrick; Burger, Cyrill; Hany, Thomas F

2007-07-01

The relative advantage of fully 3-D versus 2-D mode for whole-body imaging is currently the focus of considerable expert debate. The nature of 3-D PET acquisition for FDG PET/CT theoretically allows a shorter scan time and improved efficiency of FDG use than in the standard 2-D acquisition. We therefore objectively and subjectively compared standard 2-D and fully 3-D reconstructed data for FDG PET/CT on a research PET/CT system. In a total of 36 patients (mean 58.9 years, range 17.3-78.9 years; 21 male, 15 female) referred for known or suspected malignancy, FDG PET/CT was performed using a research PET/CT system with advanced detector technology with improved sensitivity and spatial resolution. After 45 min uptake, a low-dose CT (40 mAs) from head to thigh was performed followed by 2-D PET (emission 3 min per field) and 3-D PET (emission 1.5 min per field) with both seven slices overlap to cover the identical anatomical region. Acquisition time was therefore 50% less (seven fields; 21 min vs. 10.5 min). PET data was acquired in a randomized fashion, so in 50% of the cases 2-D data was acquired first. CT data was used for attenuation correction. 2-D (OSEM) and 3-D PET images were iteratively reconstructed. Subjective analysis of 2-D and 3-D images was performed by two readers in a blinded, randomized fashion evaluating the following criteria: sharpness of organs (liver, chest wall/lung), overall image quality and detectability and dignity of each identified lesion. Objective analysis of PET data was investigated measuring maximum standard uptake value with lean body mass (SUV(max,LBM)) of identified lesions. On average, per patient, the SUV(max) was 7.86 (SD 7.79) for 2-D and 6.96 (SD 5.19) for 3-D. On a lesion basis, the average SUV(max) was 7.65 (SD 7.79) for 2-D and 6.75 (SD 5.89) for 3-D. The absolute difference on a paired t-test of SUV 3-D-2-D based on each measured lesion was significant with an average of -0.956 (P=0.002) and an average of -0.884 on a patient base (P<0.05). With 3-D the SUV(max) decreased by an average of 5.2% for each lesion, and an average of 6.0% for each patient. Subjective analysis showed fair inter-observer agreement regarding detectability (kappa=0.24 for 3-D; 0.36 for 3-D) and dignity (kappa=0.44 for 3-D and 0.4 for 2-D) of the lesions. There was no significant diagnostic difference between 3-D and 2-D. Only in one patient, a satellite liver metastasis of a colon cancer was missed in 3-D and detected only in 2-D. On average, the overall image quality for 3-D images was equal (in 24%) or inferior (in 76%) compared to 2-D. A possible major advantage of 3-D data acquisition is the faster patient throughput with a 50% reduction in scan time. The fully 3-D reconstruction technique has overcome the technical drawbacks of current 3-D imaging technique. In our limited number of patients there was no significant diagnostic difference between 2-D and fully 3-D.

OmoMYC blunts promoter invasion by oncogenic MYC to inhibit gene expression characteristic of MYC-dependent tumors.

PubMed

Jung, L A; Gebhardt, A; Koelmel, W; Ade, C P; Walz, S; Kuper, J; von Eyss, B; Letschert, S; Redel, C; d'Artista, L; Biankin, A; Zender, L; Sauer, M; Wolf, E; Evan, G; Kisker, C; Eilers, M

2017-04-06

MYC genes have both essential roles during normal development and exert oncogenic functions during tumorigenesis. Expression of a dominant-negative allele of MYC, termed OmoMYC, can induce rapid tumor regression in mouse models with little toxicity for normal tissues. How OmoMYC discriminates between physiological and oncogenic functions of MYC is unclear. We have solved the crystal structure of OmoMYC and show that it forms a stable homodimer and as such recognizes DNA in the same manner as the MYC/MAX heterodimer. OmoMYC attenuates both MYC-dependent activation and repression by competing with MYC/MAX for binding to chromatin, effectively lowering MYC/MAX occupancy at its cognate binding sites. OmoMYC causes the largest decreases in promoter occupancy and changes in expression on genes that are invaded by oncogenic MYC levels. A signature of OmoMYC-regulated genes defines subgroups with high MYC levels in multiple tumor entities and identifies novel targets for the eradication of MYC-driven tumors.

HairMax LaserComb laser phototherapy device in the treatment of male androgenetic alopecia: A randomized, double-blind, sham device-controlled, multicentre trial.

PubMed

Leavitt, Matt; Charles, Glenn; Heyman, Eugene; Michaels, David

2009-01-01

The use of low levels of visible or near infrared light for reducing pain, inflammation and oedema, promoting healing of wounds, deeper tissue and nerves, and preventing tissue damage has been known for almost 40 years since the invention of lasers. The HairMax LaserComb is a hand-held Class 3R lower level laser therapy device that contains a single laser module that emulates 9 beams at a wavelength of 655 nm (+/-5%). The device uses a technique of parting the user's hair by combs that are attached to the device. This improves delivery of distributed laser light to the scalp. The combs are designed so that each of the teeth on the combs aligns with a laser beam. By aligning the teeth with the laser beams, the hair can be parted and the laser energy delivered to the scalp of the user without obstruction by the individual hairs on the scalp. The primary aim of the study was to assess the safety and effectiveness of the HairMax LaserComb laser phototherapy device in the promotion of hair growth and in the cessation of hair loss in males diagnosed with androgenetic alopecia (AGA). This double-blind, sham device-controlled, multicentre, 26-week trial randomized male patients with Norwood-Hamilton classes IIa-V AGA to treatment with the HairMax LaserComb or the sham device (2 : 1). The sham device used in the study was identical to the active device except that the laser light was replaced by a non-active incandescent light source. Of the 110 patients who completed the study, subjects in the HairMax LaserComb treatment group exhibited a significantly greater increase in mean terminal hair density than subjects in the sham device group (p < 0.0001). Consistent with this evidence for primary effectiveness, significant improvements in overall hair regrowth were demonstrated in terms of patients' subjective assessment (p < 0.015) at 26 weeks over baseline. The HairMax LaserComb was well tolerated with no serious adverse events reported and no statistical difference in adverse effects between the study groups. The results of this study suggest that the HairMax LaserComb is an effective, well tolerated and safe laser phototherapy device for the treatment of AGA in males.

Yellow fever and Max Theiler: the only Nobel Prize for a virus vaccine

PubMed Central

Norrby, Erling

2007-01-01

In 1951, Max Theiler of the Rockefeller Foundation received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of an effective vaccine against yellow fever—a discovery first reported in the JEM 70 years ago. This was the first, and so far the only, Nobel Prize given for the development of a virus vaccine. Recently released Nobel archives now reveal how the advances in the yellow fever vaccine field were evaluated more than 50 years ago, and how this led to a prize for Max Theiler. PMID:18039952

Effects of clothianidin on aquatic communities: Evaluating the impacts of lethal and sublethal exposure to neonicotinoids

PubMed Central

Miles, Jesse C.; Hua, Jessica; Sepulveda, Maria S.; Krupke, Christian H.

2017-01-01

The widespread usage of neonicotinoid insecticides has sparked concern over their effects on non-target organisms. While research has largely focused on terrestrial systems, the low soil binding and high water solubility of neonicotinoids, paired with their extensive use on the landscape, puts aquatic environments at high risk for contamination via runoff events. We assessed the potential threat of these compounds to wetland communities using a combination of field surveys and experimental exposures including concentrations that are representative of what invertebrates experience in the field. In laboratory toxicity experiments, LC50 values ranged from 0.002 ppm to 1.2 ppm for aquatic invertebrates exposed to clothianidin. However, freshwater snails and amphibian larvae showed high tolerance to the chemical with no mortality observed at the highest dissolvable concentration of the insecticide. We also observed behavioral effects of clothianidin. Water bugs, Belostoma flumineum, displayed a dose-dependent reduction in feeding rate following exposure to clothianidin. Similarly, crayfish, Orconectes propinquus, exhibited reduced responsiveness to stimulus with increasing clothianidin concentration. Using a semi-natural mesocosm experiment, we manipulated clothianidin concentration (0.6, 5, and 352 ppb) and the presence of predatory invertebrates to explore community-level effects. We observed high invertebrate predator mortality with increases in clothianidin concentration. With increased predator mortality, prey survival increased by 50% at the highest clothianidin concentration. Thus, clothianidin contamination can result in a top-down trophic cascade in a community dominated by invertebrate predators. In our Indiana field study, we detected clothianidin (max = 176 ppb), imidacloprid (max = 141 ppb), and acetamiprid (max = 7 ppb) in soil samples. In water samples, we detected clothianidin (max = 0.67 ppb), imidacloprid (max = 0.18 ppb), and thiamethoxam (max = 2,568 ppb). Neonicotinoids were detected in >56% of soil samples and >90% of the water samples, which reflects a growing understanding that neonicotinoids are ubiquitous environmental contaminants. Collectively, our results underscore the need for additional research into the effects of neonicotinoids on aquatic communities and ecosystems. PMID:28334022

The effect of Iron Supplying on VO2 MAX and Haematology Parameter on Menstrual Woman

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nailuvar Sinaga, Rika; Sari Harahap, Novita; Mediyana Sari, Rima

2018-03-01

One of the supporting factors to have good aerobic endurance requires high VO2 max levels supported by good quality and quantity level of Haematology parameter especially such as erythrocytes, hematocrit and hemoglobin. One of the components in hemoglobin is iron which functions as theoxygen transport to parts of all body required in the process of metabolism. The objective of this research was to find out the difference between VO2 Max and Haematology parameter between iron supplying and no iron supplyingonmenstrual woman. The type of this research is quasi experimental research with non-randomized control group Pretest-Postest Design. The subjectsarethe studentsat faculty of Sports Sciences, Medan State University with the criteria of female gender, monthly regular menstrual cycle, having the level of health and the level of training, willing to be a sample by filling out informed consent. The total number of research subjectsis twenty students, divided into two groups namely the treatment group and the control group. The hematology parameter was measuredby Haemotology analyzer and VO2 Max was measured by multi-stage run. The result showed that there was a significant effect of iron supplyingon the increase of erythrocyte level on menstrual women, hemotocrit, haemoglobin and an increase in VO2 Max. Iron supplying on menstrual woman has the effect on the increase of erythrocyte, hematocrit, hemoglobin level and VO2 Max

Estimation of maximal cortisol secretion rate in healthy humans.

PubMed

Dorin, Richard I; Qiao, Zhi; Qualls, Clifford R; Urban, Frank K

2012-04-01

Cortisol secretion is related to ACTH concentration by a sigmoidal dose-response curve, in which high ACTH concentrations drive maximal cortisol secretion rates (CSR(max)). We sought to estimate CSR(max) and free cortisol half-life in healthy humans (n = 21) using numerical methods applied to data acquired during cosyntropin (250 μg) stimulation. We also evaluated the effect of overnight dexamethasone (DEX; 1 mg) vs. placebo on estimates of CSR(max) and free cortisol half-life. This study was a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized order of overnight DEX vs. placebo, cosyntropin (250 μg) stimulation with frequent serum cortisol sampling and computer-assisted numerical analysis. The study was conducted at a single academic medical center. Twenty-one healthy adult subjects (15 females and six males), mean aged 46 yr, participated in the study. Intervention in the study included DEX vs. placebo pretreatment, cosyntropin (250 μg) iv with frequent cortisol sampling. CSR(max) and free cortisol half-life estimates, R² for goodness of fit, were measured. Mean ± sd CSR(max) was 0.44 ± 0.13 nm/second, with free cortisol half-life of 2.2 ± 1.1 min. DEX did not significantly affect estimates of CSR(max) or free cortisol half-life. Our model accounts for most of the variability of measured cortisol concentrations (overall R² = 90.9 ±11.0%) and was more accurate (P = 0.004) during DEX suppression (R² = 94.6 ± 4.6%) compared with placebo (R² = 87.2 ± 8.7%). Application of a mass-action model under conditions of cosyntropin stimulation provides a relatively simple method for estimation CSR(max) that accurately predicts measured cortisol concentrations. DEX administration did not significantly affect estimates of CSR(max) or free cortisol half-life.

Characterization of Cortisol Secretion Rate in Secondary Adrenal Insufficiency.

PubMed

Dorin, Richard I; Qiao, Zhi George; Bouchonville, Matthew; Qualls, Clifford R; Schrader, Ronald M; Urban, Frank K

2017-07-01

In secondary adrenal insufficiency (SAI), chronic deficiency of adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) is believed to result in secondary changes in adrenocortical function, causing an altered dose-response relationship between ACTH concentration and cortisol secretion rate (CSR). We sought to characterize maximal cortisol secretion rate (CSR max ) and free cortisol half-life in patients with SAI, compare results with those of age-matched healthy controls, and examine the influence of predictor variables on ACTH-stimulated cortisol concentrations. CSR max was estimated from ACTH 1-24 (250 μg) - stimulated cortisol time-concentration data. Estimates for CSR max and free cortisol half-life were obtained for both dexamethasone (DEX) and placebo pretreatment conditions for all subjects. Single academic medical center. Patients with SAI (n = 10) compared with age-matched healthy controls (n = 21). The order of DEX vs placebo pretreatment was randomized and double-blind. Cortisol concentrations were obtained at baseline and at intervals for 120 minutes after ACTH 1-24 . CSR max and free cortisol half-life were obtained by numerical modeling analysis. Predictors of stimulated cortisol concentrations were evaluated using a multivariate model. CSR max was significantly ( P < 0.001) reduced in patients with SAI compared with controls for both placebo (0.17 ± 0.09 vs 0.46 ± 0.14 nM/s) and DEX (0.18 ± 0.13 vs 0.43 ± 0.13 nM/s) conditions. Significant predictors of ACTH 1-24- stimulated total cortisol concentrations included CSR max , free cortisol half-life, and baseline total cortisol, corticosteroid-binding globulin, and albumin concentrations (all P < 0.05). Our finding of significantly decreased CSR max confirms that SAI is associated with alterations in the CSR-ACTH dose-response curve. Decreased CSR max contributes importantly to the laboratory diagnosis of SAI.

Effects of a dietary complex of humic and fulvic acids (FeedMAX 15) on the health and production of feedlot cattle destined for the Australian domestic market.

PubMed

Cusack, P M V

2008-01-01

To examine the effects of a dietary humic and fulvic acid complex, FeedMAX 15, on the health, growth rate, feed conversion ratio, and carcase characteristics of feedlot cattle. Cattle, in eight pens of 125 animals each, were fed either a diet containing a humic and fulvic acid complex (FeedMAX 15, FeedMAX Industries, Toowoomba, Queensland) or the same diet without the additive. Control or FeedMAX 15 diets were allocated to each pen at random. Individual cattle were allocated alternately to control or treatment pens based on order of presentation. Comparisons of disease incidence, mortality, feed intake, growth rate, feed conversion ratio, fat depth, dressing percentage, meat colour, fat colour and marbling were made at the conclusion of the feeding period. No differences were found between cattle fed FeedMAX 15 and cattle not fed the additive in entry body weight (P = 0.99), exit body weight (P = 0.91), dressing percentage (P = 0.66), P8 fat depth (P = 0.57), meat colour (P = 0.67), marbling (P = 0.70), all diseases (P = 0.64), bovine respiratory disease (P = 0.91), or mortalities (P = 1.0). Cattle fed FeedMAX 15 reached the market specifications for body weight and fat depth in fewer mean days (P = 0.0001), had a greater average daily gain (P = 0.05), a lower feed conversion ratio (P = 0.05) and whiter fat (P < 0.0001). Feeding the humic and fulvic acid complex, FeedMAX 15, at 0.055 g per kg body weight per day, can increase growth rate and feed conversion efficiency in feedlot cattle.

Postural Effects on Pharyngeal Protective Reflex Mechanisms

PubMed Central

Malhotra, Atul; Trinder, John; Fogel, Robert; Stanchina, Michael; Patel, Sanjay R.; Schory, Karen; Kleverlaan, Darci; White, David P.

2012-01-01

Study Objectives Pharyngeal muscle dilators are important in obstructive sleep apnea pathogenesis because the failure of protective reflexes involving these muscles yields pharyngeal collapse. Conflicting results exist in the literature regarding the responsiveness of these muscles during stable non-rapid eye movement sleep. However, variations in posture in previous studies may have influenced these findings. We hypothesized that tongue protruder muscles are maximally responsive to negative pressure pulses during supine sleep, when posterior tongue displacement yields pharyngeal occlusion. Design We studied all subjects in the supine and lateral postures during wakefulness and stable non-rapid eye movement sleep by measuring genioglossus and tensor palatini electromyograms during basal breathing and following negative pressure pulses. Setting Upper-airway physiology laboratory of Sleep Medicine Division, Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Subjects/Participants 17 normal subjects. Measurements and Results We observed an increase in genioglossal responsiveness to negative pressure pulses in sleep as compared to wakefulness in supine subjects (3.9 percentage of maximum [%max] ± 1.1 vs 4.4 %max ± 1.0) but a decrease in the lateral decubitus position (4.1 %max ± 1.0 vs 1.5 %max ± 0.4), the interaction effect being significant. Despite this augmented reflex, collapsibility, as measured during negative pressure pulses, increased more while subjects were in the supine position as compared with the lateral decubitus position. While the interaction between wake-sleep state and position was also significant for the tensor palatini, the effect was weaker than for genioglossus, although, for tensor palatini, baseline activity was markedly reduced during non-rapid eye movement sleep as compared with wakefulness. Conclusions We conclude that body posture does have an important impact on genioglossal responsiveness to negative pressure pulses during non-rapid eye movement sleep. We speculate that this mechanism works to prevent pharyngeal occlusion when the upper airway is most vulnerable to collapse eg, during supine sleep. PMID:15532204

Further examination of the temporal stability of alcohol demand.

PubMed

Acuff, Samuel F; Murphy, James G

2017-08-01

Demand, or the amount of a substance consumed as a function of price, is a central dependent measure in behavioral economic research and represents the relative valuation of a substance. Although demand is often utilized as an index of substance use severity and is assumed to be relatively stable, recent experimental and clinical research has identified conditions in which demand can be manipulated, such as through craving and stress inductions, and treatment. Our study examines the 1-month reliability of the alcohol purchase task in a sample of heavy drinking college students. We also analyzed reliability in subgroup of individuals whose consumption decreased, increased, or stayed the same over the 1-month period, and in individuals with moderate/severe Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) vs. those with no/mild AUD. Reliability was moderate in the full sample, high in the group with stable consumption, and did not differ appreciably between AUD groups. Observed indices and indices derived from an exponentiated equation (Koffarnus et al., 2015) were generally comparable, although P max observed had very low reliability. Area under the curve, O max derived, and essential value showed the greatest reliability in the full sample (rs=0.75-0.77). These results provide evidence for the relative stability over time of demand and across AUD groups, particularly in those whose consumption remains stable. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Formulation and Evaluation of Guggul Lipid Nanovesicles for Transdermal Delivery of Aceclofenac

PubMed Central

Gaur, Praveen Kumar; Mishra, Shikha; Aeri, Vidhu

2014-01-01

Context. Most new drugs have low water solubility and liposome is an important formulation to administer such drugs; however, it is quite unstable and has negligible systemic absorption. Objective. Aceclofenac nanovesicles were made using guggul lipid for formulating stable transdermal formulation. Materials and Methods. Guggul lipid was formulated into vesicles along with cholesterol and dicetyl phosphate using film hydration method. The formulations were analyzed for physicochemical properties and stability. Then its skin permeation and anti-inflammatory activity were determined. Results. Both categories of vesicles (PC and GL) showed optimum physicochemical properties; however, accelerated stability study showed considerable differences. GL-1 was appreciably stable for over 6 months at 4°C. Corresponding gels (PCG-1 and GLG-1) showed C max values at 4.98 and 7.32 μg/mL along with the T max values at 4 and 8 hours, respectively. GLG-1 inhibited edema production by 90.81% in 6 hours. Discussion. PC liposomes are unstable at higher temperature and upon longer storage. The formulation with higher lipid content (GL-1) showed good drug retention after 24 hours and appreciable stability both at higher temperature and for longer duration. Guggul lipid being a planar molecule might be stacked in vesicle wall with cholesterol. Conclusion. The composition of the nanovesicle played an important role in stability and drug permeation. Guggul lipid is suitable for producing stable vesicles. PMID:24672328

Study on magnetic properties of (Nd0.8Ce0.2)2-xFe12Co2B (x = 0-0.6) alloys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, G. S.; Xu, H.; Yu, L. Y.; Tan, X. H.; Zhang, Q.; Gu, Y.; Hou, X. L.

2017-09-01

In the present work, (Nd0.8Ce0.2)2-xFe12Co2B (x = 0-0.6) permanent alloys are prepared by melt-spinning method. The hard magnetic properties of (Nd0.8Ce0.2)2-xFe12Co2B (x = 0-0.6) alloys annealed at optimum temperatures have been investigated systematically. Depending on the Nd, Ce concentration, the maximum energy product ((BH)max) and remanence (Br) increase gradually with x in the range of 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.4, whereas decrease gradually in the alloys with 0.4 < x ≤ 0.6. It is found that the optimum magnetic properties are obtained at x = 0.4: Hci = 4.9 kOe, Br = 10.1 kG, (BH)max = 13.7 MGOe. Specifically, magnetic field heat treatment below the Curie temperature is applied for (Nd0.8Ce0.2)1.6Fe12Co2B (x = 0.4) annealed ribbons. The magnetic properties Br, (BH)max and squareness are all enhanced after the magnetic field heat treatment. The (BH)max shows a substantial increase from 13.7 MGOe to 16.0 MGOe after the heat treatment at 623 K with a magnetic field of 1 T, which gets 17% improvement compared with that of the sample without a magnetic field heat treatment. We demonstrate that the magnetic field heat treatment plays a certain role in the magnetization reversal behavior and can improve the microstructure of (Nd0.8Ce0.2)1.6Fe12Co2B alloy.

Behavior of yeast cells in aqueous suspension affected by pulsed electric field.

PubMed

El Zakhem, H; Lanoisellé, J-L; Lebovka, N I; Nonus, M; Vorobiev, E

2006-08-15

This work discusses pulsed electric fields (PEF) induced effects in treatment of aqueous suspensions of concentrated yeast cells (S. cerevisiae). The PEF treatment was done using pulses of near-rectangular shape, electric field strength was within E=2-5 kV/cm and the total time of treatment was t(PEF)=10(-4)-0.1 s. The concentration of aqueous yeast suspensions was in the interval of C(Y)=0-22 (wt%), where 1% concentration corresponds to the cellular density of 2x10(8) cells/mL. Triton X-100 was used for studying non-ionic surfactant additive effects. The electric current peak value I was measured during each pulse application, and from these data the electrical conductivity sigma was estimated. The PEF-induced damage results in increase of sigma with t(PEF) increasing and attains its saturation level sigma approximately sigma(max) at long time of PEF treatment. The value of sigma(max) reflects the efficiency of damage. The reduced efficiency of damage at suspension volume concentration higher than phi(Y) approximately 32 vol% is explained by the percolation phenomenon in the randomly packed suspension of near-spherical cells. The higher cytoplasmic ions leakage was observed in presence of surfactant. Experiments were carried out in the static and continuous flow treatment chambers in order to reveal the effects of mixing in PEF-treatment efficiency. A noticeable aggregation of the yeast cells was observed in the static flow chamber during the PEF treatment, while aggregation was not so pronounced in the continuous flow chamber. The nature of the enhanced aggregation under the PEF treatment was revealed by the zeta-potential measurements: these data demonstrate different zeta-potential signs for alive and dead cells. The effect of the electric field strength on the PEF-induced extraction of the intracellular components of S. cerevisiae is discussed.

ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION: JOINT (NSF-EPA) VERIFICATION STATEMENT AND REPORT: BROME AGRI SALES, LTD., MAXIMIZER SEPARATOR, MODEL MAX 1016 - 03/01/WQPC-SWP

EPA Science Inventory

Verification testing of the Brome Agri Sales Ltd. Maximizer Separator, Model MAX 1016 (Maximizer) was conducted at the Lake Wheeler Road Field Laboratory Swine Educational Unit in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Maximizer is an inclined screen solids separator that can be used to s...

Rotational reflectance properties of Arkoma Basin dispersed vitrinite: insights for understanding reflectance populations in high thermal maturity regions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Houseknecht, D.W.; Bensley, D.F.; Hathon, L.A.; Kastens, P.H.

1993-01-01

Analysis and interpretation of dispersed vitrinite reflectance data in regions of high thermal maturity (> 2% vitrinite reflectance) have been equivocal partly because of an increase in width and complexity of reflectance histograms with increasing mean reflectance. Such complexity is illustrated by random reflectance (Rran) data from the Arkoma Basin that display a linear increase in standard deviation of Rran with an increase in mean Rran from 1 to 5%. Evaluating how much of the dispersion in these data is the result of vitrinite anisotropy and how much is the result of mixing of kerogen populations by sedimentary processes and/or sampling procedures has been problematic. Automated collection of reflectance data during polarizer rotation provides preliminary data for solution of this problem. Rotational reflectance data collected from a subset of Arkoma Basin samples reveal positive, linear relationships among maximum (R???max), random (Rran), rotational (Rrot), and minimum (R???min) reflectance, as well as a systematic increase in bireflectance (R???max-R???min) with increasing reflectance. R???max and Rrot display lower standard deviations and narrower, more nearly unimodal histograms than Rran and R???min, suggesting that R???max and Rrot are superior (less ambiguous) indices of thermal maturity. These data patterns are inferred to be mostly an indication of increasing vitrinite anisotropy with increasing thermal maturity, suggesting that the linear covariance observed between mean Rran and standard deviation in dispersed organic data sets from regions of high thermal maturity may be explained mostly as the result of increasing vitrinite anisotropy with increasing thermal maturity. ?? 1993.

Combinatorial approximation algorithms for MAXCUT using random walks.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Seshadhri, Comandur; Kale, Satyen

We give the first combinatorial approximation algorithm for MaxCut that beats the trivial 0.5 factor by a constant. The main partitioning procedure is very intuitive, natural, and easily described. It essentially performs a number of random walks and aggregates the information to provide the partition. We can control the running time to get an approximation factor-running time tradeoff. We show that for any constant b > 1.5, there is an {tilde O}(n{sup b}) algorithm that outputs a (0.5 + {delta})-approximation for MaxCut, where {delta} = {delta}(b) is some positive constant. One of the components of our algorithm is a weakmore » local graph partitioning procedure that may be of independent interest. Given a starting vertex i and a conductance parameter {phi}, unless a random walk of length {ell} = O(log n) starting from i mixes rapidly (in terms of {phi} and {ell}), we can find a cut of conductance at most {phi} close to the vertex. The work done per vertex found in the cut is sublinear in n.« less

Validity of VO(2 max) in predicting blood volume: implications for the effect of fitness on aging

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Convertino, V. A.; Ludwig, D. A.

2000-01-01

A multiple regression model was constructed to investigate the premise that blood volume (BV) could be predicted using several anthropometric variables, age, and maximal oxygen uptake (VO(2 max)). To test this hypothesis, age, calculated body surface area (height/weight composite), percent body fat (hydrostatic weight), and VO(2 max) were regressed on to BV using data obtained from 66 normal healthy men. Results from the evaluation of the full model indicated that the most parsimonious result was obtained when age and VO(2 max) were regressed on BV expressed per kilogram body weight. The full model accounted for 52% of the total variance in BV per kilogram body weight. Both age and VO(2 max) were related to BV in the positive direction. Percent body fat contributed <1% to the explained variance in BV when expressed in absolute BV (ml) or as BV per kilogram body weight. When the model was cross validated on 41 new subjects and BV per kilogram body weight was reexpressed as raw BV, the results indicated that the statistical model would be stable under cross validation (e.g., predictive applications) with an accuracy of +/- 1,200 ml at 95% confidence. Our results support the hypothesis that BV is an increasing function of aerobic fitness and to a lesser extent the age of the subject. The results may have implication as to a mechanism by which aerobic fitness and activity may be protective against reduced BV associated with aging.

HIIT enhances endurance performance and aerobic characteristics more than high-volume training in trained rowers.

PubMed

Ní Chéilleachair, Niamh J; Harrison, Andrew J; Warrington, Giles D

2017-06-01

This study compared the effects of long slow distance training (LSD) with high-intensity interval training (HIIT) in rowers. Nineteen well-trained rowers performed three tests before and after an 8-week training intervention: (1) 2000 m time trial; (2) seven-stage incremental step test to determine maximum oxygen uptake ([Formula: see text]O 2max ), power output at [Formula: see text]O 2max (W[Formula: see text]O 2max ), peak power output (PPO), rowing economy and blood lactate indices and (3) seven-stroke power-output test to determine maximal power output (W max ) and force (F max ). After baseline testing, participants were randomly assigned either to a HIIT or LSD group. The LSD comprised 10 weekly aerobic sessions. The HIIT also comprised 10 weekly sessions: 8 aerobic and 2 HIIT. The HIIT sessions comprised 6-8 × 2.5 min intervals at 100% PPO with recovery time based on heart rate (HR) returning to 70% HR max . Results demonstrated that the HIIT produced greater improvement in 2000 m time trial performance than the LSD (effect size (ES) = 0.25). Moreover, the HIIT produced greater improvements in [Formula: see text]O 2max (ES = 0.95, P = 0.035) and power output at lactate threshold (W LT ) (ES = 1.15, P = 0.008). Eight weeks of HIIT performed at 100% PPO is more effective than LSD in improving performance and aerobic characteristics in well-trained rowers.

Blunted perception of neural respiratory drive and breathlessness in patients with cystic fibrosis.

PubMed

Reilly, Charles C; Jolley, Caroline J; Elston, Caroline; Moxham, John; Rafferty, Gerrard F

2016-01-01

The electromyogram recorded from the diaphragm (EMG di ) and parasternal intercostal muscle using surface electrodes (sEMG para ) provides a measure of neural respiratory drive (NRD), the magnitude of which reflects lung disease severity in stable cystic fibrosis. The aim of this study was to explore perception of NRD and breathlessness in both healthy individuals and patients with cystic fibrosis. Given chronic respiratory loading and increased NRD in cystic fibrosis, often in the absence of breathlessness at rest, we hypothesised that patients with cystic fibrosis would be able to tolerate higher levels of NRD for a given level of breathlessness compared to healthy individuals during exercise. 15 cystic fibrosis patients (mean forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV 1 ) 53.5% predicted) and 15 age-matched, healthy controls were studied. Spirometry was measured in all subjects and lung volumes measured in the cystic fibrosis patients. EMG di and sEMG para were recorded at rest and during incremental cycle exercise to exhaustion and expressed as a percentage of maximum (% max) obtained from maximum respiratory manoeuvres. Borg breathlessness scores were recorded at rest and during each minute of exercise. EMG di % max and sEMG para % max and associated Borg breathlessness scores differed significantly between healthy subjects and cystic fibrosis patients at rest and during exercise. The relationship between EMG di % max and sEMG para % max and Borg score was shifted to the right in the cystic fibrosis patients, such that at comparable levels of EMG di % max and sEMG para % max the cystic fibrosis patients reported significantly lower Borg breathlessness scores compared to the healthy individuals. At Borg score 1 (clinically significant increase in breathlessness from baseline) corresponding levels of EMG di % max (20.2±12% versus 32.15±15%, p=0.02) and sEMG para % max (18.9±8% versus 29.2±15%, p=0.04) were lower in the healthy individuals compared to the cystic fibrosis patients. In the cystic fibrosis patients EMG di % max at Borg score 1 was related to the degree of airways obstruction (FEV 1 ) (r=-0.664, p=0.007) and hyperinflation (residual volume/total lung capacity) (r=0.710, p=0.03). This relationship was not observed for sEMG para % max. These data suggest that compared to healthy individuals, patients with cystic fibrosis can tolerate much higher levels of NRD before increases in breathlessness from baseline become clinically significant. EMG di % max and sEMG para % max provide physiological tools with which to elucidate factors underlying inter-individual differences in breathlessness perception.

Carbon Nanotubes Reinforced Maleic Anhydride-Modified Xylan-g-Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Hydrogel with Multifunctional Properties

PubMed Central

Liu, Xinxin; Song, Tao; Chang, Minmin; Meng, Ling; Wang, Xiaohui; Sun, Runcang; Ren, Junli

2018-01-01

Introducing multifunctional groups and inorganic material imparts xylan-based hydrogels with excellent properties, such as responsiveness to pH, temperature, light, and external magnetic field. In this work, a composite hydrogel was synthesized by introducing acid treated carbon nanotubes (AT-CNTs) into the maleic anhydride modified xylan grafted with poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (MAX-g-PNIPAM) hydrogels network. It was found that the addition of AT-CNTs affected the MAX-g-PNIPAM hydrogel structure, the swelling ratio and mechanical properties, and imparted the hydrogel with new properties of electrical conductivity and near infrared region (NIR) photothermal conversion. AT-CNTs could reinforce the mechanical properties of MAX-g-PNIPAM hydrogels, being up to 83 kPa for the compressive strength when the amount was 11 wt %, which was eight times than that of PNIPAM hydrogel and four times than that of MAX-g-PNIPAM hydrogel. The electroconductibility was enhanced by the increase of AT-CNTs amounts. Meanwhile, the composite hydrogel also exhibited multiple shape memory and NIR photothermal conversion properties, and water temperature was increased from 26 °C to 56 °C within 8 min under the NIR irradiation. Thus, the AT-CNTs reinforced MAX-g-PNIPAM hydrogel possessed promising multifunctional properties, which offered many potential applications in the fields of biosensors, thermal-arrest technology, and drug-controlled release. PMID:29495611

Carbon Nanotubes Reinforced Maleic Anhydride-Modified Xylan-g-Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Hydrogel with Multifunctional Properties.

PubMed

Liu, Xinxin; Song, Tao; Chang, Minmin; Meng, Ling; Wang, Xiaohui; Sun, Runcang; Ren, Junli

2018-02-28

Introducing multifunctional groups and inorganic material imparts xylan-based hydrogels with excellent properties, such as responsiveness to pH, temperature, light, and external magnetic field. In this work, a composite hydrogel was synthesized by introducing acid treated carbon nanotubes (AT-CNTs) into the maleic anhydride modified xylan grafted with poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (MAX-g-PNIPAM) hydrogels network. It was found that the addition of AT-CNTs affected the MAX-g-PNIPAM hydrogel structure, the swelling ratio and mechanical properties, and imparted the hydrogel with new properties of electrical conductivity and near infrared region (NIR) photothermal conversion. AT-CNTs could reinforce the mechanical properties of MAX-g-PNIPAM hydrogels, being up to 83 kPa for the compressive strength when the amount was 11 wt %, which was eight times than that of PNIPAM hydrogel and four times than that of MAX-g-PNIPAM hydrogel. The electroconductibility was enhanced by the increase of AT-CNTs amounts. Meanwhile, the composite hydrogel also exhibited multiple shape memory and NIR photothermal conversion properties, and water temperature was increased from 26 °C to 56 °C within 8 min under the NIR irradiation. Thus, the AT-CNTs reinforced MAX-g-PNIPAM hydrogel possessed promising multifunctional properties, which offered many potential applications in the fields of biosensors, thermal-arrest technology, and drug-controlled release.

Monitoring i-motif transitions through the exciplex emission of a fluorescent probe incorporating two (Py)A units.

PubMed

Lee, Il Joon; Kim, Byeang Hyean

2012-02-18

Pairs of pyrene-modified deoxyadenosine ((Py)A) units induce a stable interstrand i-motif structure, which can be characterized by a change in the fluorescence λ(max), with an exciplex emission that is not observable in its single-strand structure. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012

Effect of tillage system on yield and weed populations of soybean ( Glycin Max L.).

PubMed

Hosseini, Seyed Z; Firouzi, Saeed; Aminpanah, Hashem; Sadeghnejhad, Hamid R

2016-03-01

Field experiment was conducted at Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center of Golestan Province, Iran, to determine the effects of tillage system and weed management regime on yield and weed populations in soybean ( Glycin max L.). The experimental design was a split plot where the whole plot portion was a randomized complete block with three replicates. Main plots were tillage system: 1- No-till row crop seeding, 2- No-till seed drilling, 3- Tillage with disc harrow and drill planting, 4- Tillage with chisel packer and drill planting. The subplots were weed management regimes: 1-Weed control with herbicide application, 2- Hand weeding, 3- Herbicide application plus hand weeding, and 4- Non-weeding. Results indicated that the main effects of tillage system and weed management regime were significant for seed yield, pod number per plant, seed number per pod, weed density and biomass, while their interaction were significant only for weed density, weed biomass, and seed number per pod. The highest grain yields (3838 kg ha-1) were recorded for No-till row crop seeding. The highest seed yield (3877 kg ha-1) also was recorded for weed control with herbicide and hand weeding treatment, followed by hand weeding (3379 kg ha-1).

Sampling strategies to improve passive optical remote sensing of river bathymetry

USGS Publications Warehouse

Legleiter, Carl; Overstreet, Brandon; Kinzel, Paul J.

2018-01-01

Passive optical remote sensing of river bathymetry involves establishing a relation between depth and reflectance that can be applied throughout an image to produce a depth map. Building upon the Optimal Band Ratio Analysis (OBRA) framework, we introduce sampling strategies for constructing calibration data sets that lead to strong relationships between an image-derived quantity and depth across a range of depths. Progressively excluding observations that exceed a series of cutoff depths from the calibration process improved the accuracy of depth estimates and allowed the maximum detectable depth ($d_{max}$) to be inferred directly from an image. Depth retrieval in two distinct rivers also was enhanced by a stratified version of OBRA that partitions field measurements into a series of depth bins to avoid biases associated with under-representation of shallow areas in typical field data sets. In the shallower, clearer of the two rivers, including the deepest field observations in the calibration data set did not compromise depth retrieval accuracy, suggesting that $d_{max}$ was not exceeded and the reach could be mapped without gaps. Conversely, in the deeper and more turbid stream, progressive truncation of input depths yielded a plausible estimate of $d_{max}$ consistent with theoretical calculations based on field measurements of light attenuation by the water column. This result implied that the entire channel, including pools, could not be mapped remotely. However, truncation improved the accuracy of depth estimates in areas shallower than $d_{max}$, which comprise the majority of the channel and are of primary interest for many habitat-oriented applications.

Spatial limitations of fast temporal segmentation are best modeled by V1 receptive fields.

PubMed

Goodbourn, Patrick T; Forte, Jason D

2013-11-22

The fine temporal structure of events influences the spatial grouping and segmentation of visual-scene elements. Although adjacent regions flickering asynchronously at high temporal frequencies appear identical, the visual system signals a boundary between them. These "phantom contours" disappear when the gap between regions exceeds a critical value (g(max)). We used g(max) as an index of neuronal receptive-field size to compare with known receptive-field data from along the visual pathway and thus infer the location of the mechanism responsible for fast temporal segmentation. Observers viewed a circular stimulus reversing in luminance contrast at 20 Hz for 500 ms. A gap of constant retinal eccentricity segmented each stimulus quadrant; on each trial, participants identified a target quadrant containing counterphasing inner and outer segments. Through varying the gap width, g(max) was determined at a range of retinal eccentricities. We found that g(max) increased from 0.3° to 0.8° for eccentricities from 2° to 12°. These values correspond to receptive-field diameters of neurons in primary visual cortex that have been reported in single-cell and fMRI studies and are consistent with the spatial limitations of motion detection. In a further experiment, we found that modulation sensitivity depended critically on the length of the contour and could be predicted by a simple model of spatial summation in early cortical neurons. The results suggest that temporal segmentation is achieved by neurons at the earliest cortical stages of visual processing, most likely in primary visual cortex.

Retesting The Validity Of A Specific Field Test For Judo Training

PubMed Central

Santos, Luis; González, Vicente; Iscar, Marta; Brime, Juan I.; Fernández-Río, Javier; Rodríguez, Blanca; Montoliu, Mª Ángeles

2011-01-01

The main goal of this research project was to retest the validity of a specifically designed judo field test (Santos Test) in a different group of judokas. Eight (n=8) national-level male judokas underwent laboratory and field testing. The mean data (mean +/− SD) obtained in the laboratory tests was: HRmax: 200 ± 4.0 beats × min−1, VO2 max: 52.8 ± 7.9 ± ml × kg−1 × min−1, lactate max: 12 ± 2.5 mmol × l−1, HR at the anaerobic threshold: 174.2 ± 9.4 beats × min−1, percentage of maximum heart rate at which the anaerobic threshold appears: 87 ± 3.6 %, lactate threshold: 4.0 ± 0.2 mmol × l−1, and RPE: 17.2 ± 1.0. The mean data obtained in the field test (Santos) was: HRmax: 201.3 ± 4.1 beats × min−1, VO2 max: 55.6 ± 5.8 ml × kg−1 × min−1, lactate max: 15.6 ± 2.8 mmol × l−1, HR at the anaerobic threshold: 173.2 ± 4.3 beats × min−1, percentage of maximum heart rate at which the anaerobic threshold appears: 86 ± 2.5 %, lactate threshold: 4.0 ± 0.2 mmol × l−1, and RPE: 16.7 ± 1.0. There were no significant differences between the data obtained on both tests in any of the parameters, except for maximum lactate concentration. Therefore, the Santos test can be considered a valid tool specific for judo training. PMID:23486994

The optimized V-V interval determined by interventricular conduction times versus invasive measurement by LVdP/dtMAX.

PubMed

van Gelder, Berry M; Meijer, Albert; Bracke, Frank A

2008-09-01

We compared the calculated optimal V-V interval derived from intracardiac electrograms (IEGM) with the optimized V-V interval determined by invasive measurement of LVdP/dt(MAX). Thirty-two patients with heart failure (six females, ages 68 +/- 7.8 years) had a CRT device implanted. After implantation of the atrial, right and a left ventricular lead, the optimal V-V interval was calculated using the QuickOpt formula (St. Jude Medical, Sylmar, CA, USA) applied to the respective IEGM recordings (V-V(IEGM)), and also determined by invasive measurement of LVdP/dt(MAX) (V-V(dP/dt)). The optimal V-V(IEGM) and V-V(dP/dt) intervals were 52.7 +/- 18 ms and 24.0 +/- 33 ms, respectively (P = 0.017), without correlation between the two. The baseline LVdP/dt(MAX) was 748 +/- 191 mmHg/s. The mean value of LVdP/dt(MAX) at invasive optimization was 947 +/- 198 mmHg/s, and at the calculated optimal V-V(IEGM) interval 920 +/- 191 mmHg/s (P < 0.0001). In spite of this significant difference, there was a good correlation between both methods (R = 0.991, P < 0.0001). However, a similarly good correlation existed between the maximum value of LVdP/dt(MAX) and LVdP/dt(MAX) at a fixed V-V interval of 0 ms (R = 0.993, P < 0.0001), or LVdP/dt(MAX) at a randomly selected V-V interval between 0 and +80 ms (R = 0.991, P < 0.0001). Optimizing the V-V interval with the IEGM method does not yield better hemodynamic results than simultaneous BiV pacing. Although a good correlation between LVdP/dt(MAX) determined with V-V(IEGM) and V-V(dP/dt) can be constructed, there is no correlation with the optimal settings of V-V interval in the individual patient.

The Dangers of Estimating V˙O2max Using Linear, Nonexercise Prediction Models.

PubMed

Nevill, Alan M; Cooke, Carlton B

2017-05-01

This study aimed to compare the accuracy and goodness of fit of two competing models (linear vs allometric) when estimating V˙O2max (mL·kg·min) using nonexercise prediction models. The two competing models were fitted to the V˙O2max (mL·kg·min) data taken from two previously published studies. Study 1 (the Allied Dunbar National Fitness Survey) recruited 1732 randomly selected healthy participants, 16 yr and older, from 30 English parliamentary constituencies. Estimates of V˙O2max were obtained using a progressive incremental test on a motorized treadmill. In study 2, maximal oxygen uptake was measured directly during a fatigue limited treadmill test in older men (n = 152) and women (n = 146) 55 to 86 yr old. In both studies, the quality of fit associated with estimating V˙O2max (mL·kg·min) was superior using allometric rather than linear (additive) models based on all criteria (R, maximum log-likelihood, and Akaike information criteria). Results suggest that linear models will systematically overestimate V˙O2max for participants in their 20s and underestimate V˙O2max for participants in their 60s and older. The residuals saved from the linear models were neither normally distributed nor independent of the predicted values nor age. This will probably explain the absence of a key quadratic age term in the linear models, crucially identified using allometric models. Not only does the curvilinear age decline within an exponential function follow a more realistic age decline (the right-hand side of a bell-shaped curve), but the allometric models identified either a stature-to-body mass ratio (study 1) or a fat-free mass-to-body mass ratio (study 2), both associated with leanness when estimating V˙O2max. Adopting allometric models will provide more accurate predictions of V˙O2max (mL·kg·min) using plausible, biologically sound, and interpretable models.

Theory and observations of upward field-aligned currents at the magnetopause boundary layer.

PubMed

Wing, Simon; Johnson, Jay R

2015-11-16

The dependence of the upward field-aligned current density ( J ‖ ) at the dayside magnetopause boundary layer is well described by a simple analytic model based on a velocity shear generator. A previous observational survey confirmed that the scaling properties predicted by the analytical model are applicable between 11 and 17 MLT. We utilize the analytic model to predict field-aligned currents using solar wind and ionospheric parameters and compare with direct observations. The calculated and observed parallel currents are in excellent agreement, suggesting that the model may be useful to infer boundary layer structures. However, near noon, where velocity shear is small, the kinetic pressure gradients and thermal currents, which are not included in the model, could make a small but significant contribution to J ‖ . Excluding data from noon, our least squares fit returns log( J ‖,max_cal ) = (0.96 ± 0.04) log( J ‖_obs ) + (0.03 ± 0.01) where J ‖,max_cal = calculated J ‖,max and J ‖_obs = observed J ‖ .

Seasonal patterns of carbon allocation to respiratory pools in 60-yr-old deciduous (Fagus sylvatica) and evergreen (Picea abies) trees assessed via whole-tree stable carbon isotope labeling.

PubMed

Kuptz, Daniel; Fleischmann, Frank; Matyssek, Rainer; Grams, Thorsten E E

2011-07-01

• The CO(2) efflux of adult trees is supplied by recent photosynthates and carbon (C) stores. The extent to which these C pools contribute to growth and maintenance respiration (R(G) and R(M), respectively) remains obscure. • Recent photosynthates of adult beech (Fagus sylvatica) and spruce (Picea abies) trees were labeled by exposing whole-tree canopies to (13) C-depleted CO(2). Label was applied three times during the year (in spring, early summer and late summer) and changes in the stable C isotope composition (δ(13) C) of trunk and coarse-root CO(2) efflux were quantified. • Seasonal patterns in C translocation rate (CTR) and fractional contribution of label to CO(2) efflux (F(Label-Max)) were found. CTR was fastest during early summer. In beech, F(Label-Max) was lowest in spring and peaked in trunks during late summer (0.6 ± 0.1, mean ± SE), whereas no trend was observed in coarse roots. No seasonal dynamics in F(Label-Max) were found in spruce. • During spring, the R(G) of beech trunks was largely supplied by C stores. Recent photosynthates supplied growth in early summer and refilled C stores in late summer. In spruce, CO(2) efflux was constantly supplied by a mixture of stored (c. 75%) and recent (c. 25%) C. The hypothesis that R(G) is exclusively supplied by recent photosynthates was rejected for both species. © 2011 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2011 New Phytologist Trust.

Clinical and neurobiological effects of aerobic exercise in dental phobia: A randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Lindenberger, Brigitt L; Plag, Jens; Schumacher, Sarah; Gaudlitz, Katharina; Bischoff, Sophie; Bobbert, Thomas; Dimeo, Fernando; Petzold, Moritz B; Kirschbaum, Clemens; Dudás, Zsuzsa; Ströhle, Andreas

2017-11-01

Physical activity has shown to be effective in anxiety disorders. For specific phobia, no studies are available that systematically examined the effects of an aerobic exercise intervention on phobic fear within a randomized-controlled design. Therefore, we investigated the acute effect of a standardized aerobic training on clinical symptoms of dental phobia as well as on stress-related neurobiological markers. Within a crossover design, 30 patients with dental phobia (mean age: 34.1 years; mean score of the Dental Anxiety Scale: 18.8) underwent two minor dental interventions separated by 7 days. Dental treatment was performed after 30 min of physical activity at either 20% VO 2 max (control) or 70% VO 2 max (intervention), respectively. To control for habituation, patients were randomly assigned to one of the two conditions prior to the first intervention. Moreover, saliva samples were collected at five times in order to determine changes in salivary cortisol (sC) and alpha-amylase (sAA) due to treatment. In comparison to baseline, aerobic exercise within 70% VO 2 max significantly reduced clinical anxiety and sC concentrations before, during, and after the dental treatment. In contrast, the control condition led to decreased sAA levels at different time points of measurement. Habituation occurred at the second study day, independent of the order. Our study provides evidence for an effect of moderate-intense exercise on clinical symptoms and sC in patients with dental phobia. Therefore, acute aerobic exercise might be a simple and low-cost intervention to reduce disorder-specific phobic fear. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Towards dropout training for convolutional neural networks.

PubMed

Wu, Haibing; Gu, Xiaodong

2015-11-01

Recently, dropout has seen increasing use in deep learning. For deep convolutional neural networks, dropout is known to work well in fully-connected layers. However, its effect in convolutional and pooling layers is still not clear. This paper demonstrates that max-pooling dropout is equivalent to randomly picking activation based on a multinomial distribution at training time. In light of this insight, we advocate employing our proposed probabilistic weighted pooling, instead of commonly used max-pooling, to act as model averaging at test time. Empirical evidence validates the superiority of probabilistic weighted pooling. We also empirically show that the effect of convolutional dropout is not trivial, despite the dramatically reduced possibility of over-fitting due to the convolutional architecture. Elaborately designing dropout training simultaneously in max-pooling and fully-connected layers, we achieve state-of-the-art performance on MNIST, and very competitive results on CIFAR-10 and CIFAR-100, relative to other approaches without data augmentation. Finally, we compare max-pooling dropout and stochastic pooling, both of which introduce stochasticity based on multinomial distributions at pooling stage. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Physiological, Perceptual, and Affective Responses to Six High-Intensity Interval Training Protocols.

PubMed

Follador, Lucio; Alves, Ragami C; Ferreira, Sandro Dos S; Buzzachera, Cosme F; Andrade, Vinicius F Dos S; Garcia, Erick D S de A; Osiecki, Raul; Barbosa, Sara C; de Oliveira, Letícia M; da Silva, Sergio G

2018-04-01

This study examined the extent to which different high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and sprint interval training (SIT) protocols could influence psychophysiological responses in moderately active young men. Fourteen participants completed, in a randomized order, three cycling protocols (SIT: 4 × 30-second all-out sprints; Tabata: 7 × 20 seconds at 170% ⋮O 2max ; and HIIT: 10 × 60 seconds at 90% HR max ) and three running HIIT protocols (4 × 4 minutes at 90%-95% HR max , 5 × at v⋮O 2max , and 4 × 1,000 meters at a rating of perceived exertion (RPE) of 8, from the OMNI-Walk/Run scale). Oxygen uptake (⋮O 2 ), heart rate, and RPE were recorded during each interval. Affective responses were assessed before and after each trial. The Tabata protocol elicited the highest ⋮O 2 and RPE responses, and the least pleasant session-affect among the cycling trials. The v⋮O 2max elicited the highest ⋮O 2 and RPE responses and the lowest mean session-affect among the running trials. Findings highlight the limited application of SIT and some HIIT protocols to individuals with low fitness levels.

Effects of exercise program on physiological functions in postmenopausal women with metabolic syndrome.

PubMed

Heli, Valkeinen; Ihab, Hajjar; Kun, Hu; Brad, Manor; Jessica, Wisocky; Vera, Novak

2013-12-01

The purpose of this study was to examine effects of mixed interval aerobic and strength training (MAST) program on physiological functions in older women with metabolic syndrome. 12 subjects were randomly assigned to the exercise group (16-week MAST program) or the control group. Outcomes included oxygen uptake (VO 2max ), cerebral blood flow velocity (BFV) and cognitive functions. The exercise group demonstrated increased VO 2max and certain improvements in cognitive functions. No changes were observed in BFV for both groups. These results can be used as a preliminary data for planning larger studies.

Inoculation with an enhanced N2-fixing Bradyrhizobium japonicum strain (USDA110) does not alter soybean (Glycine max Merr.) response to elevated [CO2

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This study tested the hypothesis that inoculation of soybean (Glycine max Merr.) with a selected Bradyrhizobium japonicum strain (USDA110) with greater N2 fixation rates would enhance soybean photosynthetic, growth and yield response to elevated [CO2]. In field experiments at the Soybean Free Air CO...

"New People" and "Old Structures": Max Adler and Siegfried Bernfeld on Society, Education and Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sunker, Heinz

2005-01-01

This article deals with central issues in the field of theory of education and history of education. The examples of Max Adler and Siegfried Bernfeld show that contemporary debates on education and society, social reproduction of social inequality, and education and social change have been subjects of strong controversies in the first third of the…

Community Music during the New Deal: The Contributions of Willem Van de Wall and Max Kaplan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krikun, Andrew

2010-01-01

Willem Van de Wall (1887-1953) and Max Kaplan (1911-98) built careers spanning music performance, music education, adult education, sociology, social work, music therapy and community music. Willem Van de Wall was a seminal influence on the development of the fields of music therapy and adult education--researching the role of music in…

MAX UnMix: Introducing a new web application for unmixing magnetic coercivity distributions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feinberg, J. M.; Maxbauer, D.; Fox, D. L.

2016-12-01

Magnetic minerals are present in a wide variety of natural systems and are often indicative of the natural or anthropogenic processes that led to their deposition, formation, or transformation. Unmixing the contribution of magnetic components to bulk field-dependent magnetization curves has become increasingly common in environmental and rock magnetic studies and has enhanced our ability to fingerprint the magnetic signatures of magnetic minerals with distinct compositions, grain sizes, and origins. A variety of programs have been developed over the past two decades to allow researchers to deconvolve field-dependent magnetization curves for these purposes, however many of these programs are either outdated or have obstacles that inhibit the programs usability. MAX UnMix is a new web application (available online at http://www.irm.umn.edu/maxunmix) built using the `shiny' package for R-studio that can be used to process coercivity distributions derived from magnetization curves (acquisition, demagnetization, or backfield data) via an online user-interface. Here, we use example datasets from lake sediments and paleosols to present details of the MAX UnMix model and the programs functionality. MAX UnMix is designed to be accessible, user friendly, and should serve as a useful resource for future research.

Specific heat of FeSe: Two gaps with different anisotropy in superconducting state

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muratov, A. V.; Sadakov, A. V.; Gavrilkin, S. Yu.; Prishchepa, A. R.; Epifanova, G. S.; Chareev, D. A.; Pudalov, V. M.

2018-05-01

We present detailed study of specific heat of FeSe single crystals with critical temperature Tc = 8.45 K at 0.4 - 200 K in magnetic fields 0 - 9 T. Analysis of the electronic specific heat at low temperatures shows the coexistence of isotropic s-wave gap and strongly anisotropic extended s-wave gap without nodes. It was found two possibilities of superconducting gap parameters which give equally description of experimental data: (i) two gaps with approximately equal amplitudes and weight contribution to specific heat: isotropic Δ1 = 1.7 meV (2Δ1 /kBTc =4.7) and anisotropic gap with the amplitude Δ2max = 1.8 meV (2 Δ2max /kBTc =4.9 and anisotropy parameter m = 0.85); (ii) two gaps with substantially different values: isotropic large gap Δ1 = 1.65 meV (2Δ1 /kBTc = 4.52) and anisotropic small gap Δ2max = 0.75 meV (2Δ2max /kBTc = 2) with anisotropy parameter m = 0.71 . These results are confirmed by the field behavior of the residual electronic specific heat γr.

The effects of sternal intraosseous and intravenous administration of amiodarone in a hypovolemic swine cardiac arrest model.

PubMed

Smith, Samuel; Borgkvist, Bradley; Kist, Teara; Annelin, Jason; Johnson, Don; Long, Robert

2016-01-01

This study compared the effects of amiodarone via sternal intraosseous (SIO) and intravenous (IV) routes on return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), time to ROSC, concentration maximum (C max ), time to maximum concentration (T max ), and mean concentrations over time in a hypovolemic cardiac arrest model. Prospective, between subjects, randomized experimental design. TriService Research Facility. Yorkshire-cross swine (n = 28). Swine were anesthetized and placed into cardiac arrest. After 2 minutes, cardiopulmonary resuscitation was initiated. After an additional 2 minutes, amiodarone 300 mg was administered via the tibial intraosseous TIO or the IV route. Blood samples were collected over 5 minutes. The plasma concentrations were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. ROSC, time to ROSC, C max , T max , and mean concentrations over time. A multivariate analyses of variance indicated that there were no significant differences in the SIO and IV groups in ROSC (p = 0.191), time to ROSC (p > 0.05), T max mean 88.1 ± 24.8 seconds versus 49.5 ± 21.8 seconds (p = 0.317), or C max mean 92,700 ± 161,112 ng/mL versus 64,159.8 ± 14,174.8 ng/mL (p = 0.260). A repeated analyses of variance indicated that there were no significant differences between the groups relative to concentrations over time (p > 0.05). The SIO provides rapid and reliable access to administer life-saving medications during cardiac arrest.

Waveform control of orientation-dependent ionization of DCl in few-cycle laser fields.

PubMed

Znakovskaya, I; von den Hoff, P; Schirmel, N; Urbasch, G; Zherebtsov, S; Bergues, B; de Vivie-Riedle, R; Weitzel, K-M; Kling, M F

2011-05-21

Strong few-cycle light fields with stable electric field waveforms allow controlling electrons on time scales down to the attosecond domain. We have studied the dissociative ionization of randomly oriented DCl in 5 fs light fields at 720 nm in the tunneling regime. Momentum distributions of D(+) and Cl(+) fragments were recorded via velocity-map imaging. A waveform-dependent anti-correlated directional emission of D(+) and Cl(+) fragments is observed. Comparison of our results with calculations indicates that tailoring of the light field via the carrier envelope phase permits the control over the orientation of DCl(+) and in turn the directional emission of charged fragments upon the breakup of the molecular ion. © The Owner Societies 2011

Nondairy creamer, but not milk, delays the appearance of coffee phenolic acid equivalents in human plasma.

PubMed

Renouf, Mathieu; Marmet, Cynthia; Guy, Philippe; Fraering, Anne-Lise; Longet, Karin; Moulin, Julie; Enslen, Marc; Barron, Denis; Cavin, Christophe; Dionisi, Fabiola; Rezzi, Serge; Kochhar, Sunil; Steiling, Heike; Williamson, Gary

2010-02-01

Chlorogenic acids (CGA) are antioxidants found in coffee. They are becoming of interest for their health-promoting effects, but bioavailability in humans is not well understood. We hypothesized that adding whole milk or sugar and nondairy creamer to instant coffee might modulate the bioavailability of coffee phenolics. Nine healthy participants were asked to randomly drink, in a crossover design, instant coffee (Coffee); instant coffee and 10% whole milk (Milk); or instant coffee, sugar, and nondairy creamer already premixed (Sugar/NDC). All 3 treatments provided the same amount of total CGA (332 mg). Blood was collected for 12 h after ingestion and plasma samples treated using a liquid-liquid extraction method that included a full enzymatic cleavage to hydrolyze all CGA and conjugates into phenolic acid equivalents. Hence, we focused our liquid chromatography-Electrospray ionization-tandem MS detection and quantification on caffeic acid (CA), ferulic acid (FA), and isoferulic acid (iFA) equivalents. Compared with a regular black instant coffee, the addition of milk did not significantly alter the area under the curve (AUC), maximum plasma concentration (C(max)), or the time needed to reach C(max) (T(max)). The C(max) of CA and iFA were significantly lower and the T(max) of FA and iFA significantly longer for the Sugar/NDC group than for the Coffee group. However, the AUC did not significantly differ. As a conclusion, adding whole milk did not alter the overall bioavailability of coffee phenolic acids, whereas sugar and nondairy creamer affected the T(max) and C(max) but not the appearance of coffee phenolics in plasma.

Drug formulations intended for the global market should be tested for stability under tropical climatic conditions.

PubMed

Risha, P G; Vervaet, C; Vergote, G; Bortel, L Van; Remon, J P

2003-06-01

The quality of drugs imported into developing countries having a tropical climate may be adversely affected if their formulations have not been optimized for stability under these conditions. The present study investigated the influence of tropical climate conditions (class IV: 40 degrees C, 75% relative humidity) on the drug content, in vitro dissolution and oral bioavailability of different formulations of two essential drugs marketed in Tanzania: diclofenac sodium and ciprofloxacin tablets. Before and after 3 and 6 months storage under class IV conditions the drug content and in vitro dissolution were evaluated using United States Pharmacopoeia (USP) 24 methods. Following a randomized four-period cross-over study, the pharmacokinetic parameters of drug formulations stored for 3 months under class IV conditions were compared with those stored at ambient conditions. Drug content and drug release from all tested ciprofloxacin formulations were within USP-24 requirements and remained stable during storage at simulated tropical conditions. Oral bioavailability was also not influenced by tropical conditions. The dissolution rate of two diclofenac formulations (Diclo 50 manufactured by Camden and Dicloflame 50 manufactured by Intas) reduced significantly during storage under class IV conditions. After oral administration Camden tablets stored for 3 months under class IV conditions showed a reduction in C(max) (90% CI of C(max) ratio: 0.59 - 0.76). This reduction was smaller than expected based on the in vitro tests. Some drug formulations imported into Tanzania are not optimized for stability in a tropical climate. Manufacturers and regulatory authorities should pay more attention to the WHO recommendations for testing the stability of drugs under tropical climate conditions. Efforts should be made to improve the in vitro tests to better predict the bioavailability.

Race differences: modeling the pharmacodynamics of rosuvastatin in Western and Asian hypercholesterolemia patients.

PubMed

Yang, Juan; Li, Lu-jin; Wang, Kun; He, Ying-chun; Sheng, Yu-cheng; Xu, Ling; Huang, Xiao-hui; Guo, Feng; Zheng, Qing-shan

2011-01-01

To evaluate race differences in the pharmacodynamics of rosuvastatin in Western and Asian hypercholesterolemia patients using a population pharmacodynamic (PPD) model generated and validated using published clinical efficacy trials. Published studies randomized trials with rosuvastatin treatment for at least 4 weeks in hypercholesterolemia patients were used for model building and validation. Population pharmacodynamic analyses were performed to describe the dose-response relationship with the mean values of LDL-C reduction (%) from dose-ranging trials using NONMEM software. Baseline LDL-C and race were analyzed as the potential covariates. Model robustness was evaluated using the bootstrap method and the data-splitting method, and Monte Carlo simulation was performed to assess the predictive performance of the PPD model with the mean effects from the one-dose trials. Of the 36 eligible trials, 14 dose-ranging trials were used in model development and 22 one-dose trials were used for model prediction. The dose-response of rosuvastatin was successfully described by a simple E(max) model with a fixed E(0), which provided a common E(max) and an approximate twofold difference in ED(50) for Westerners and Asians. The PPD model was demonstrated to be stable and predictive. The race differences in the pharmacodynamics of rosuvastatin are consistent with those observed in the pharmacokinetics of the drug, confirming that there is no significant difference in the exposure-response relationship for LDL-C reduction between Westerners and Asians. The study suggests that for a new compound with a mechanism of action similar to that of rosuvastatin, its efficacy in Western populations plus its pharmacokinetics in bridging studies in Asian populations may be used to support a registration of the new compound in Asian countries.

Healthy Aging 5 Years After a Period of Daily Supplementation With Antioxidant Nutrients: A Post Hoc Analysis of the French Randomized Trial SU.VI.MAX.

PubMed

Assmann, Karen E; Andreeva, Valentina A; Jeandel, Claude; Hercberg, Serge; Galan, Pilar; Kesse-Guyot, Emmanuelle

2015-10-15

This study's objective was to investigate healthy aging in older French adults 5 years after a period of daily nutritional-dose supplementation with antioxidant nutrients. The study was based on the double-blind, randomized trial, Supplementation with Antioxidant Vitamins and Minerals (SU.VI.MAX) Study (1994-2002) and the SU.VI.MAX 2 Follow-up Study (2007-2009). During 1994-2002, participants received a daily combination of vitamin C (120 mg), β-carotene (6 mg), vitamin E (30 mg), selenium (100 µg), and zinc (20 mg) or placebo. Healthy aging was assessed in 2007-2009 by using multiple criteria, including the absence of major chronic disease and good physical and cognitive functioning. Data from a subsample of the SU.VI.MAX 2 cohort, initially free of major chronic disease, with a mean age of 65.3 years in 2007-2009 (n = 3,966), were used to calculate relative risks. Supplementation was associated with a greater healthy aging probability among men (relative risk = 1.16, 95% confidence interval: 1.04, 1.29) but not among women (relative risk = 0.98, 95% confidence interval: 0.86, 1.11) or all participants (relative risk = 1.07, 95% confidence interval: 0.99, 1.16). Moreover, exploratory subgroup analyses indicated effect modification by initial serum concentrations of zinc and vitamin C. In conclusion, an adequate supply of antioxidant nutrients (equivalent to quantities provided by a balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables) may have a beneficial role for healthy aging. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

No effect of the farming system (organic/conventional) on the bioavailability of apple (Malus domestica Bork., cultivar Golden Delicious) polyphenols in healthy men: a comparative study.

PubMed

Stracke, Berenike A; Rüfer, Corinna E; Bub, Achim; Seifert, Stephanie; Weibel, Franco P; Kunz, Clemens; Watzl, Bernhard

2010-08-01

The organic food sales have been increasing during the recent years. It has been hypothesised that organically grown fruits are healthier based on their higher content of phytochemicals. However, data on the bioavailability of phytochemicals from organically or conventionally produced plant foods are scarce. Two human intervention studies were performed to compare the bioavailability of polyphenols in healthy men after ingestion of apples from different farming systems. The administered apples were grown organically and conventionally under defined conditions and characterised regarding their polyphenol content and antioxidant capacity. No significant differences in the polyphenol content and the antioxidant capacity from the organic and conventional farming system were observed. In the short-term intervention study, six men consumed either organically or conventionally produced apples in a randomized cross-over study. After intake of 1 kg apples, phloretin (C (max) 13 + or - 5 nmol/l, t (max) 1.7 + or - 1.2 h) and coumaric acid (C (max )35 + or - 12 nmol/l, t (max) 3.0 + or - 0.8 h) plasma concentrations increased significantly (P < 0.0001) in both intervention groups, without differences between the two farming systems. In the long-term intervention study, 43 healthy volunteers consumed organically or conventionally produced apples (500 g/day; 4 weeks) or no apples in a double-blind, randomized intervention study. In this study, 24 h after the last dosing regime, the apple intake did not result in increasing polyphenol concentrations in plasma and urine compared to the control group suggesting no accumulation of apple polyphenols or degradation products in humans. Our study suggests that the two farming systems (organic/conventional) do not result in differences in the bioavailability of apple polyphenols.

Limitations of the planning organ at risk volume (PRV) concept.

PubMed

Stroom, Joep C; Heijmen, Ben J M

2006-09-01

Previously, we determined a planning target volume (PTV) margin recipe for geometrical errors in radiotherapy equal to M(T) = 2 Sigma + 0.7 sigma, with Sigma and sigma standard deviations describing systematic and random errors, respectively. In this paper, we investigated margins for organs at risk (OAR), yielding the so-called planning organ at risk volume (PRV). For critical organs with a maximum dose (D(max)) constraint, we calculated margins such that D(max) in the PRV is equal to the motion averaged D(max) in the (moving) clinical target volume (CTV). We studied margins for the spinal cord in 10 head-and-neck cases and 10 lung cases, each with two different clinical plans. For critical organs with a dose-volume constraint, we also investigated whether a margin recipe was feasible. For the 20 spinal cords considered, the average margin recipe found was: M(R) = 1.6 Sigma + 0.2 sigma with variations for systematic and random errors of 1.2 Sigma to 1.8 Sigma and -0.2 sigma to 0.6 sigma, respectively. The variations were due to differences in shape and position of the dose distributions with respect to the cords. The recipe also depended significantly on the volume definition of D(max). For critical organs with a dose-volume constraint, the PRV concept appears even less useful because a margin around, e.g., the rectum changes the volume in such a manner that dose-volume constraints stop making sense. The concept of PRV for planning of radiotherapy is of limited use. Therefore, alternative ways should be developed to include geometric uncertainties of OARs in radiotherapy planning.

Intranasal abuse potential of an abuse-deterrent oxycodone formulation compared to oxycodone immediate release and placebo in nondependent, recreational opioid users.

PubMed

Setnik, Beatrice; Schoedel, Kerri; Bartlett, Cindy; Dick, Chris; Hakim, Nasrat; Geoffroy, Pierre

To assess the intranasal (IN) human abuse potential of ELI-200, a novel immediate-release (IR) oxycodone formulation containing sequestered naltrexone. Randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, active and placebo-controlled, five-way crossover study. Pharmacodynamics, safety, and pharmacokinetics (PKs) were evaluated for up to 36 hours postdose. Single site in Canada (INC Research Toronto). Healthy male and female nondependent recreational opioid users underwent a naloxone challenge and drug discrimination qualification test. Single IN dose of ground ELI-200 (30-mg oxycodone hydrochloride [HCl]/3-mg naltrexone HCl), crushed 30-mg oxycodone HCl IR (Roxicodone®), placebo, fixed placebo, and single oral dose of intact ELI-200 (30mg/3mg). Peak effect (E max ) for bipolar Drug Liking (0-100 point visual analog scale). Of the 44 randomized subjects, 37 completed all five treatment periods. All active treatments showed significantly higher (p<0.001) median Drug Liking E max relative to placebo. Significant reductions (p<0.001) in median Drug Liking [E max ] were observed for IN ELI-200 [56.0] compared to IN oxycodone IR [100.0]. Secondary positive or objective measures (High, Good Drug Effects, Overall Drug Liking, Take Drug Again, and maximum pupil constriction) showed significantly lower E max for IN ELI-200 (p<0.001) compared to IN oxycodone IR. IN administration of ELI-200 demonstrated significantly decreased effects on subjective and physiologic measures, and greater nasal irritation, compared to IN oxycodone IR. These findings, along with the PK profile of naltrexone, demonstrated that when ELI-200 capsules were ground and administered intranasally, the naltrexone component was rapidly released and conferred meaningful abuse-deterrent properties.

Effects of Aerobic Exercise Training on Psychosocial Status and Serum Uric Acid in Men with Essential Hypertension: A Randomized Controlled Trial

PubMed Central

Lamina, S; Okoye, GC

2012-01-01

Background: Chronic psychosocial stress and serum uric acid (SUA) level have been implicated in the etiology and cardiovascular events risk factors in hypertension. Studies have reported significant benefit of exercise in the overall management of hypertension. However, studies on the effect of exercise on psychosocial stress and SUA in the management of hypertension seem scanty. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of continuous training program on SUA and psychosocial status of black African (Nigerian) population with hypertension. Subjects and Methods: Age-matched randomized controlled trial was used; subjects with diagnosis of hypertension attending the hypertensive clinic of Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital (MMSH), Kano, Nigeria form the population for the study. Two hundred and seventeen subjects with mild to moderate (systolic blood pressure (SBP) between 140 and180 and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) between 90 and 109 mmHg) essential hypertension were grouped into continuous (112) and control groups (105). The continuous group involved in an 8 weeks continuous training (60%-79% HR max) of between 45 and 60 min, 3 times per week, while the controls group remain sedentary. SBP, DBP, SUA, VO2 max and psychosocial status were assessed. Student t-test and Pearson correlation test were used in data analysis. Results: The study revealed significant beneficial effect of continuous training programs on VO2 max, SBP, DBP, SUA, and psychosocial status (P < 0.05). Psychosocial status and SUA was significantly and positively and negatively correlated respectively with VO2 max at P < 0.01. Conclusions: This study concludes and supports the recommendations of moderate intensity (continuous) training program in blood pressure reduction, SUA and psychosocial stress management in hypertension. PMID:23439606

Comparison of HeNe laser and sinusoidal non-uniform magnetic field seed pre-sowing treatment effect on Glycine max (Var 90-I) germination, growth and yield.

PubMed

Asghar, Tehseen; Iqbal, Munawar; Jamil, Yasir; Zia-Ul-Haq; Nisar, Jan; Shahid, Muhammad

2017-01-01

Recently, laser and magnetic field pre-sowing seed treatments attracted the attention of the scientific community in response to their positive effect on plant characteristics and the present study was exemplified for Glycine max Var 90-I. Seeds were exposed to laser (HeNe-wave length 632nm and density power of 1mW/cm 2 ) and magnetic field (sinusoidal non-uniform-50, 75 and 100mT for 3, 5min with exposure) and seed germination, seedling growth and yield attributes were compared. The germination (mean germination, germination percentage, emergence index, germination speed, relative germination coefficient, emergence coefficient of uniformity) growth (root dry weight, root length, shoot fresh weight and shoot dry weight, leaf dry & fresh weight, root fresh weight, leaf area, shoot length, plant total dry weight at different stages, stem diameter, number of leaves, vigor index I & II), biochemical (essential oil) and yield attributes (seed weight, count) were enhanced significantly in response to both laser and magnetic field treatments. However, magnetic field treatment furnished slightly higher response versus laser except relative water contents, whole plant weight and shoot length. Results revealed that both laser and magnetic field pre-sowing seed treatments affect the germination, seedling growth, and yield characteristics positively and could possibly be used to enhance Glycine max productivity. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparison between the four-field box and field-in-field techniques for conformal radiotherapy of the esophagus using dose-volume histograms and normal tissue complication probabilities.

PubMed

Allaveisi, Farzaneh; Moghadam, Amir Nami

2017-06-01

We evaluated and compared the performance of the field-in-field (FIF) to that of the four-field box (4FB) technique regarding dosimetric and radiobiological parameters for radiotherapy of esophageal carcinoma. Twenty patients with esophageal cancer were selected. For each patient, two treatment plans were created: 4FB and FIF. The parameters compared included the conformity index (CI), homogeneity index (HI), D mean , D max , tumor control probability (TCP), V 20Gy and V 30Gy of the heart and lungs, normal tissue complication probability (NTCP), and monitor units per fraction (MU/fr). A paired t-test analysis did not show any significant differences (p > 0.05) between the two techniques in terms of the CI and TCP. However, the HI significantly improved when the FIF was applied. D max of the PTV, lung, and spinal cord were also significantly better with the FIF. Moreover, the lung V 20Gy as well as the NTCPs of the lung and spinal cord significantly reduced when the FIF was used, and the MU/fr was significantly decreased. The FIF showed evident advantages over 4FB: a more homogeneous dose distribution, lower D max values, and fewer required MUs, while it also retained PTV dose conformality. FIF should be considered as a simple technique to use clinically in cases with esophageal malignancies, especially in clinics with no IMRT.

Fluorodeoxyglucose Uptake on Positron Emission Tomography Is a Useful Predictor of Long-Term Pain Control After Palliative Radiation Therapy in Patients With Painful Bone Metastases: Results of a Single-Institute Prospective Study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tahara, Takatoshi, E-mail: taka.t-may7@med.Tottori-u.ac.jp; Fujii, Shinya; Ogawa, Toshihide

Purpose: To determine whether fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) before and after palliative radiation therapy (RT) can predict long-term pain control in patients with painful bone metastases. Methods and Materials: Thirty-one patients with bone metastases who received RT were prospectively included. Forty painful metastatic treatment fields were evaluated. All patients had undergone pre-RT and post-RT PET/CT scanning. We evaluated the relationships between the pre-RT, post-RT, and changes in maximum standardized uptake value (SUV{sub max}) and the pain response, and between SUV{sub max} and pain relapse of the bone metastases in the treatment field. In addition, we compared the SUV{sub max}more » according to the length of time from the completion of RT to pain relapse of the bone metastases. Results: Regarding the pain response at 4 weeks after the completion of RT, there were 36 lesions of 27 patients in the responder group and 4 lesions of 4 patients in the nonresponder group. Changes in the SUV{sub max} differed significantly between the responder and nonresponder groups in both the early and delayed phases (P=.0292 and P=.0139, respectively), but no relationship was observed between the pre-RT and post-RT SUV{sub max} relative to the pain response. The responder group was evaluated for the rate of relapse. Thirty-five lesions of 26 patients in the responder group were evaluated, because 1 patient died of acute renal failure at 2 months after RT. Twelve lesions (34%) showed pain relapse, and 23 lesions (66%) did not. There were significant differences between the relapse and nonrelapse patients in terms of the pre-RT (early/delayed phases: P<.0001/P<.0001), post-RT (P=.0199/P=.0261), and changes in SUV{sub max} (P=.0004/P=.004). Conclusions: FDG-PET may help predict the outcome of pain control in the treatment field after palliative RT for painful bone metastases.« less

Effect of nicorandil on QT dispersion in patients with stable angina pectoris undergoing elective angioplasty: A triple-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study

PubMed Central

Suleimani, Homa Fal; Eshraghi, Ali; Daloee, Mehdi Hasanzadeh; Hoseini, Sara; Nakhaee, Nima

2017-01-01

Background Nicorandil leads to the relaxation of fine vascular smooth muscle, and thus causes vasodilatation of major epicardial. Also, it has anti-arrhythmic and cardio-protective effects by improving reperfusion, and ultimately leads to a reduction in microvascular damage caused by percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Objective The aim of this study was to determine the effect of nicorandil on QT interval dispersion (QTd) in patients with stable angina pectoris during elective angioplasty. Methods This triple-blind and randomized clinical trial was performed on patients with stable angina pectoris, candidates for elective angiography referred to Imam Reza and Ghaem hospitals in Mashhad, Iran, between January and October 2016. The patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups receiving nicorandil (60 mg as 20 mg before and 40 mg after PCI) and placebo. All the patients underwent electrocardiography 12 hours before and 12 hours after PCI. The values of maximal corrected QT interval (QTc max) and QTd in these intervals, and the levels of changes in the QTd (QTd difference before angiography and after PCI) were compared between the two groups. Data were analyzed statistically using SPSS version 18 software via Chi-square and Independent-samples t-test. Results This study was performed on 90 patients (55 males and 35 females) with a mean age of 58.6±10.8 years, on two groups of 45 people. The two groups were matched for age, body mass index, cardiovascular risk factors and baseline testing. The QTd before angiography had no statistically significant difference between the patients of both groups (control: 77.7±17.1 vs. nicorandil: 80.7±14.2 ms; p=0.371). The QTd after PCI in the nicorandil group was lower than the control group (48.1±14.2 vs. 59.2±15.6 ms; p=0.000). The decrease rate in QTd had a statistically significant difference between the two groups (control: 18.9±11.0 vs. nicorandil: 33.5±9.5 ms; p=0.000). Conclusions The results of this study showed that oral administration of nicorandil around the PCI could further reduce QTd following PCI, compared to the control group. Trial registration The trial was registered at the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (http://www.irct.ir) with the Irct ID: IRCT2016120631159N1 Funding The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. PMID:28979725

Coexistence of WiFi and WiMAX systems based on PS-request protocols.

PubMed

Kim, Jongwoo; Park, Suwon; Rhee, Seung Hyong; Choi, Yong-Hoon; Chung, Young-uk; Hwang, Ho Young

2011-01-01

We introduce both the coexistence zone within the WiMAX frame structure and a PS-Request protocol for the coexistence of WiFi and WiMAX systems sharing a frequency band. Because we know that the PS-Request protocol has drawbacks, we propose a revised PS-Request protocol to improve the performance. Two PS-Request protocols are based on the time division operation (TDO) of WiFi system and WiMAX system to avoid the mutual interference, and use the vestigial power management (PwrMgt) bit within the Frame Control field of the frames transmitted by a WiFi AP. The performance of the revised PS-Request protocol is evaluated by computer simulation, and compared to those of the cases without a coexistence protocol and to the original PS-Request protocol.

Toughening Mechanisms in Nanolayered MAX Phase Ceramics—A Review

PubMed Central

Chen, Xinhua; Bei, Guoping

2017-01-01

Advanced engineering and functional ceramics are sensitive to damage cracks, which delay the wide applications of these materials in various fields. Ceramic composites with enhanced fracture toughness may trigger a paradigm for design and application of the brittle components. This paper reviews the toughening mechanisms for the nanolayered MAX phase ceramics. The main toughening mechanisms for these ternary compounds were controlled by particle toughening, phase-transformation toughening and fiber-reinforced toughening, as well as texture toughening. Based on the various toughening mechanisms in MAX phase, models of SiC particles and fibers toughening Ti3SiC2 are established to predict and explain the toughening mechanisms. The modeling work provides insights and guidance to fabricate MAX phase-related composites with optimized microstructures in order to achieve the desired mechanical properties required for harsh application environments. PMID:28772723

Coexistence of WiFi and WiMAX Systems Based on PS-Request Protocols†

PubMed Central

Kim, Jongwoo; Park, Suwon; Rhee, Seung Hyong; Choi, Yong-Hoon; Chung, Young-uk; Hwang, Ho Young

2011-01-01

We introduce both the coexistence zone within the WiMAX frame structure and a PS-Request protocol for the coexistence of WiFi and WiMAX systems sharing a frequency band. Because we know that the PS-Request protocol has drawbacks, we propose a revised PS-Request protocol to improve the performance. Two PS-Request protocols are based on the time division operation (TDO) of WiFi system and WiMAX system to avoid the mutual interference, and use the vestigial power management (PwrMgt) bit within the Frame Control field of the frames transmitted by a WiFi AP. The performance of the revised PS-Request protocol is evaluated by computer simulation, and compared to those of the cases without a coexistence protocol and to the original PS-Request protocol. PMID:22163721

Comparison of structured and unstructured physical activity training on predicted VO2max and heart rate variability in adolescents - a randomized control trial.

PubMed

Sharma, Vivek Kumar; Subramanian, Senthil Kumar; Radhakrishnan, Krishnakumar; Rajendran, Rajathi; Ravindran, Balasubramanian Sulur; Arunachalam, Vinayathan

2017-05-01

Physical inactivity contributes to many health issues. The WHO-recommended physical activity for adolescents encompasses aerobic, resistance, and bone strengthening exercises aimed at achieving health-related physical fitness. Heart rate variability (HRV) and maximal aerobic capacity (VO2max) are considered as noninvasive measures of cardiovascular health. The objective of this study is to compare the effect of structured and unstructured physical training on maximal aerobic capacity and HRV among adolescents. We designed a single blinded, parallel, randomized active-controlled trial (Registration No. CTRI/2013/08/003897) to compare the physiological effects of 6 months of globally recommended structured physical activity (SPA), with that of unstructured physical activity (USPA) in healthy school-going adolescents. We recruited 439 healthy student volunteers (boys: 250, girls: 189) in the age group of 12-17 years. Randomization across the groups was done using age and gender stratified randomization method, and the participants were divided into two groups: SPA (n=219, boys: 117, girls: 102) and USPA (n=220, boys: 119, girls: 101). Depending on their training status and gender the participants in both SPA and USPA groups were further subdivided into the following four sub-groups: SPA athlete boys (n=22) and girls (n=17), SPA nonathlete boys (n=95) and girls (n=85), USPA athlete boys (n=23) and girls (n=17), and USPA nonathlete boys (n=96) and girls (n=84). We recorded HRV, body fat%, and VO2 max using Rockport Walk Fitness test before and after the intervention. Maximum aerobic capacity and heart rate variability increased significantly while heart rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and body fat percentage decreased significantly after both SPA and USPA intervention. However, the improvement was more in SPA as compared to USPA. SPA is more beneficial for improving cardiorespiratory fitness, HRV, and reducing body fat percentage in terms of magnitude than USPA in adolescent individuals irrespective of their gender and sports activities.

Role of the Frank-Starling mechanism in maintaining cardiac output during increasing levels of treadmill exercise in beta-blocked normal men.

PubMed

Bevilacqua, M; Savonitto, S; Bosisio, E; Chebat, E; Bertora, P L; Sardina, M; Norbiato, G

1989-04-01

To determine the effects of beta blockade on hemodynamics during increasing levels of treadmill exercise, 10 healthy volunteers were studied after 1 week of placebo, and then after 1 week of treatment with oral propranolol, 80 mg twice daily, or dilevalol, 400 mg once daily. The study was randomized and double-blind, with a crossover sequence. Hemodynamics were measured by CO2 rebreathing at rest and at 25, 50, 75 and 100% of VO2 max. After placebo, cardiac output increased from 5.8 +/- 2.1 (rest), to 19.4 +/- 6.4 liters/min (100% VO2 max), mainly due to an increase in heart rate from 84 +/- 6 to 169 +/- 15 beats/min. Stroke volume increased from 70 +/- 27 (rest), to 137 +/- 65 ml (25% VO2 max), and then leveled off to 116 +/- 41 at 100% VO2 max. After both beta blockers, exercise cardiac output was maintained at 100% VO2 max: 20.1 +/- 9.3 liters/min with propranolol and 19.1 +/- 8.6 with dilevalol. However, a significant reduction versus placebo values was observed for cardiac output at 25% VO2 max, from 13.7 +/- 5.9 during placebo, to 9.4 +/- 2.5 during propranolol, and to 9.6 +/- 2.3 during dilevalol (both p less than 0.01 vs placebo). Maintenance of cardiac output with both beta blockers at higher levels of exercise came from an increased stroke volume (p less than 0.05 vs placebo), while heart rate (in beats/min) was greatly reduced (propranolol 61.6 +/- 9.4 rest, 90.1 +/- 10.7 at 100% VO2 max; dilevalol 70.8 +/- 6.4 rest, 99.2 +/- 11.8 at 100% VO2 max, p less than 0.01 vs placebo for each).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

A reference equation for maximal aerobic power for treadmill and cycle ergometer exercise testing: Analysis from the FRIEND registry.

PubMed

de Souza E Silva, Christina G; Kaminsky, Leonard A; Arena, Ross; Christle, Jeffrey W; Araújo, Claudio Gil S; Lima, Ricardo M; Ashley, Euan A; Myers, Jonathan

2018-05-01

Background Maximal oxygen uptake (VO 2 max) is a powerful predictor of health outcomes. Valid and portable reference values are integral to interpreting measured VO 2 max; however, available reference standards lack validation and are specific to exercise mode. This study was undertaken to develop and validate a single equation for normal standards for VO 2 max for the treadmill or cycle ergometer in men and women. Methods Healthy individuals ( N = 10,881; 67.8% men, 20-85 years) who performed a maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test on either a treadmill or a cycle ergometer were studied. Of these, 7617 and 3264 individuals were randomly selected for development and validation of the equation, respectively. A Brazilian sample (1619 individuals) constituted a second validation cohort. The prediction equation was determined using multiple regression analysis, and comparisons were made with the widely-used Wasserman and European equations. Results Age, sex, weight, height and exercise mode were significant predictors of VO 2 max. The regression equation was: VO 2 max (ml kg -1  min -1 ) = 45.2 - 0.35*Age - 10.9*Sex (male = 1; female = 2) - 0.15*Weight (pounds) + 0.68*Height (inches) - 0.46*Exercise Mode (treadmill = 1; bike = 2) ( R = 0.79, R 2  = 0.62, standard error of the estimate = 6.6 ml kg -1  min -1 ). Percentage predicted VO 2 max for the US and Brazilian validation cohorts were 102.8% and 95.8%, respectively. The new equation performed better than traditional equations, particularly among women and individuals ≥60 years old. Conclusion A combined equation was developed for normal standards for VO 2 max for different exercise modes derived from a US national registry. The equation provided a lower average error between measured and predicted VO 2 max than traditional equations even when applied to an independent cohort. Additional studies are needed to determine its portability.

Study of the relationship between the aerobic capacity (VO2 max) and the rating of perceived exertion based on the measurement of heart beat in the metal industries Esfahan

PubMed Central

Habibi, Ehsanollah; Dehghan, Habibollah; Moghiseh, Mohammad; Hasanzadeh, Akbar

2014-01-01

Background and Objective: To establish a balance between work (physical exercise) and human beings, the aerobic capacity (VO2 max) could be used as a measure. Additionally, the subjective and physiological assessment could be applied as one of the methods for assessing physical exercise. The most commonly used tools for the assessment of fatigue during physical exercise include the Borg scale Rating of perceived Exertion (RPE) in relation to subjective symptoms and heart rate (HR) in relation to physiological symptoms. The study is aimed to investigate the relationship between the aerobic capacity and the RPE based on the measurement of heat rate (HR) of workers from the Metal Industries of Isfahan. Materials and Methods: The subjects were 200 male workers from metal components manufacturers in Isfahan selected by using random sampling based on statistic method. The subjects were examined by using ergometer in accordance with A strand 6 minutes cycle test protocol. Furthermore, the subjects were asked to rate their status based on the Borg rating scale at the end of each minute. Additionally, their heat rates were monitored and recorded automatically at the end of each minutes. Results: Statistical analysis showed that there was a significant relationship between the RPE and the aerobic capacity (VO2 max) (r = –0.904, P < 0.05). The results illustrated that there was a stronger correlation between HR and VO2 max (r = 0.991, P < 0.001). The regression analysis of the quadratic equation also indicated that there was also a significant relationship between the VO2 max and HR. Conclusions: The results indicated that there was a strong relationship between the RPE and VO2 max, as well as a greater correlation between HR and VO2 max. Therefore, the HR could be used as a Prediction measure to estimate VO2 max. PMID:25077148

Design of high precision temperature control system for TO packaged LD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, Enji; Luo, Baoke; Zhuang, Bin; He, Zhengquan

2017-10-01

Temperature is an important factor affecting the performance of TO package LD. In order to ensure the safe and stable operation of LD, a temperature control circuit for LD based on PID technology is designed. The MAX1978 and an external PID circuit are used to form a control circuit that drives the thermoelectric cooler (TEC) to achieve control of temperature and the external load can be changed. The system circuit has low power consumption, high integration and high precision,and the circuit can achieve precise control of the LD temperature. Experiment results show that the circuit can achieve effective and stable control of the laser temperature.

Predictors of exercise capacity following exercise-based rehabilitation in patients with coronary heart disease and heart failure: A meta-regression analysis.

PubMed

Uddin, Jamal; Zwisler, Ann-Dorthe; Lewinter, Christian; Moniruzzaman, Mohammad; Lund, Ken; Tang, Lars H; Taylor, Rod S

2016-05-01

The aim of this study was to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the patient, intervention and trial-level factors that may predict exercise capacity following exercise-based rehabilitation in patients with coronary heart disease and heart failure. Meta-analysis and meta-regression analysis. Randomized controlled trials of exercise-based rehabilitation were identified from three published systematic reviews. Exercise capacity was pooled across trials using random effects meta-analysis, and meta-regression used to examine the association between exercise capacity and a range of patient (e.g. age), intervention (e.g. exercise frequency) and trial (e.g. risk of bias) factors. 55 trials (61 exercise-control comparisons, 7553 patients) were included. Following exercise-based rehabilitation compared to control, overall exercise capacity was on average 0.95 (95% CI: 0.76-1.41) standard deviation units higher, and in trials reporting maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max) was 3.3 ml/kg.min(-1) (95% CI: 2.6-4.0) higher. There was evidence of a high level of statistical heterogeneity across trials (I(2) statistic > 50%). In multivariable meta-regression analysis, only exercise intervention intensity was found to be significantly associated with VO2max (P = 0.04); those trials with the highest average exercise intensity had the largest mean post-rehabilitation VO2max compared to control. We found considerable heterogeneity across randomized controlled trials in the magnitude of improvement in exercise capacity following exercise-based rehabilitation compared to control among patients with coronary heart disease or heart failure. Whilst higher exercise intensities were associated with a greater level of post-rehabilitation exercise capacity, there was no strong evidence to support other intervention, patient or trial factors to be predictive. © The European Society of Cardiology 2015.

Pharmacokinetics of lacosamide and omeprazole coadministration in healthy volunteers: results from a phase I, randomized, crossover trial.

PubMed

Cawello, Willi; Mueller-Voessing, Christa; Fichtner, Andreas

2014-05-01

The antiepileptic drug lacosamide has a low potential for drug-drug interactions, but is a substrate and moderate inhibitor of the cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzyme CYP2C19. This phase I, randomized, open-label, two-way crossover trial evaluated the pharmacokinetic effects of lacosamide and omeprazole coadministration. Healthy, White, male volunteers (n = 36) who were not poor metabolizers of CYP2C19 were randomized to treatment A (single-dose 40 mg omeprazole on days 1 and 8 together with 6 days of multiple-dose lacosamide [200-600 mg/day] on days 3-8) and treatment B (single doses of 300 mg lacosamide on days 1 and 8 with 7 days of 40 mg/day omeprazole on days 3-9) in pseudorandom order, separated by a ≥ 7-day washout period. Area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) and peak concentration (C(max)) were the primary pharmacokinetic parameters measured for lacosamide or omeprazole administered alone (reference) or in combination (test). Bioequivalence was determined if the 90 % confidence interval (CI) of the ratio (test/reference) fell within the acceptance range of 0.8-1.25. The point estimates (90 % CI) of the ratio of omeprazole + lacosamide coadministered versus omeprazole alone for AUC (1.098 [0.996-1.209]) and C(max) (1.105 [0.979-1.247]) fell within the acceptance range for bioequivalence. The point estimates (90 % CI) of the ratio of lacosamide + omeprazole coadministration versus lacosamide alone also fell within the acceptance range for bioequivalence (AUC 1.133 [1.102-1.165]); C(max) 0.996 (0.947-1.047). Steady-state lacosamide did not influence omeprazole single-dose pharmacokinetics, and multiple-dose omeprazole did not influence lacosamide single-dose pharmacokinetics.

Proteomics Quality Control: Quality Control Software for MaxQuant Results.

PubMed

Bielow, Chris; Mastrobuoni, Guido; Kempa, Stefan

2016-03-04

Mass spectrometry-based proteomics coupled to liquid chromatography has matured into an automatized, high-throughput technology, producing data on the scale of multiple gigabytes per instrument per day. Consequently, an automated quality control (QC) and quality analysis (QA) capable of detecting measurement bias, verifying consistency, and avoiding propagation of error is paramount for instrument operators and scientists in charge of downstream analysis. We have developed an R-based QC pipeline called Proteomics Quality Control (PTXQC) for bottom-up LC-MS data generated by the MaxQuant software pipeline. PTXQC creates a QC report containing a comprehensive and powerful set of QC metrics, augmented with automated scoring functions. The automated scores are collated to create an overview heatmap at the beginning of the report, giving valuable guidance also to nonspecialists. Our software supports a wide range of experimental designs, including stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC), tandem mass tags (TMT), and label-free data. Furthermore, we introduce new metrics to score MaxQuant's Match-between-runs (MBR) functionality by which peptide identifications can be transferred across Raw files based on accurate retention time and m/z. Last but not least, PTXQC is easy to install and use and represents the first QC software capable of processing MaxQuant result tables. PTXQC is freely available at https://github.com/cbielow/PTXQC .

Resonance energy transfer process in nanogap-based dual-color random lasing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Xiaoyu; Tong, Junhua; Liu, Dahe; Wang, Zhaona

2017-04-01

The resonance energy transfer (RET) process between Rhodamine 6G and oxazine in the nanogap-based random systems is systematically studied by revealing the variations and fluctuations of RET coefficients with pump power density. Three working regions stable fluorescence, dynamic laser, and stable laser are thus demonstrated in the dual-color random systems. The stable RET coefficients in fluorescence and lasing regions are generally different and greatly dependent on the donor concentration and the donor-acceptor ratio. These results may provide a way to reveal the energy distribution regulars in the random system and to design the tunable multi-color coherent random lasers for colorful imaging.

Effects of lightweight outdoor clothing on the prevention of hypothermia during low-intensity exercise in the cold.

PubMed

Burtscher, Martin; Kofler, Philipp; Gatterer, Hannes; Faulhaber, Martin; Philippe, Marc; Fischer, Kathrin; Walther, Rebekka; Herten, Anne

2012-11-01

To study protective effects of windbreaker jacket and pants during exercise in the cold. Randomized pilot study. Climate chamber. Nine well-trained (V[Combining Dot Above]O2max 61.7 ± 6.6 mL/min/kg) sport students (6 male and 3 female participants). Subjects started walking for 1 hour in a climate chamber (0°C ambient temperature and wind speed of 10 km/h) at 70% V[Combining Dot Above]O2max wearing gloves, a T-shirt, and shorts. Then, the walking speed was reduced to 30% V[Combining Dot Above]O2max for an additional 60 minutes or until core temperature dropped below 35.5°C. Subsequently, 3 groups of 3 participants continued walking without change of clothing or obtaining additionally a cap and a windbreaker jacket or windbreaker jacket and pants. Core and skin temperature, thermal comfort. The main findings of this study were that exercising at 70% V[Combining Dot Above]O2max in the cold was sufficient to prevent hypothermia and that during low-intensity exercise (30% V[Combining Dot Above]O2max), the combined use of a polyester cap, lightweight windbreaker jacket, and pants was necessary to increase a prehypothermic core temperature. We strongly recommend taking a cap, windbreaker jacket, and pants for the prevention of hypothermia during exhaustive walking or running in cold weather conditions.

Intrinsic motivation in two exercise interventions: Associations with fitness and body composition.

PubMed

Thøgersen-Ntoumani, Cecilie; Shepherd, Sam O; Ntoumanis, Nikos; Wagenmakers, Anton J M; Shaw, Christopher S

2016-02-01

To examine the motivational process through which increases in aerobic capacity and decreases in total body fat are achieved during high-intensity intermittent training (HIT) and moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) interventions. Eighty-seven physically inactive adults (65% women, age = 42 ± 12, BMI = 27.67 ± 4.99 kg/m²) took part in a 10-week randomized intervention testing group-based HIT, operationalized as repeated sprints of 15-60 s interspersed with periods of recovery cycling ≤ 25 min/session, 3 sessions/wk⁻¹, or MICT, operationalized as cycling at constant workload of ∼65% maximum aerobic capacity (VO2max, 30-45 min/session⁻¹, 5 sessions/wk⁻¹. Assessments of VO2max and total body fat were made pre- and postintervention. Motivation variables were assessed midintervention and class attendance was monitored throughout. Path analysis was employed, controlling for treatment arm and baseline values of VO2max and total body fat. The 2 groups differed in adherence only, favoring HIT. Baseline VO2max predicted intrinsic motivation midintervention. Intrinsic motivation predicted program adherence, which in turn predicted increases in VO2max and decreases in total body fat by the end of the study. Intrinsic motivation in HIT and MICT is positively linked to adherence to these programs, which can facilitate improvements in fitness and body composition. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Effect of aquatic versus land based exercise programs on physical performance in severely burned patients: a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Zoheiry, Ibrahim M; Ashem, Haidy N; Ahmed, Hamada Ahmed Hamada; Abbas, Rami

2017-12-01

[Purpose] To compare the effect of an aquatic-based versus a land-based exercise regimen on the physical performance of severely burned patients. [Subjects and Methods] Forty patients suffering from severe burn (total body surface area more than 30%) were recruited from several outpatient clinics in Greater Cairo. Their ages ranged between 20 to 40 years and were randomly assigned into two equal groups: group (A), which received an aquatic based exercise program, and group (B), which received a land-based exercise program. The exercise program, which took place in 12 consecutive weeks, consisted of flexibility, endurance, and lower and upper body training. Physical performance was assessed using 30 seconds chair stand test, stair climb test, 30 meter fast paced walk test, time up and go test, 6-minute walk test and a VO2max evaluation. [Results] Significantly increase in the 30 second chair stand, 6-minute walk, 30 meter fast paced walk, stair climb, and VO2 max tests and significantly decrease in the time up and go test in group A (aquatic based exercise) compared with group B (a land-based exercise) at the post treatment. [Conclusion] Twelve-week program of an aquatic program yields improvement in both physical performance and VO2 max in patients with severe burns.

Effect of aquatic versus land based exercise programs on physical performance in severely burned patients: a randomized controlled trial

PubMed Central

Zoheiry, Ibrahim M.; Ashem, Haidy N.; Ahmed, Hamada Ahmed Hamada; Abbas, Rami

2017-01-01

[Purpose] To compare the effect of an aquatic-based versus a land-based exercise regimen on the physical performance of severely burned patients. [Subjects and Methods] Forty patients suffering from severe burn (total body surface area more than 30%) were recruited from several outpatient clinics in Greater Cairo. Their ages ranged between 20 to 40 years and were randomly assigned into two equal groups: group (A), which received an aquatic based exercise program, and group (B), which received a land-based exercise program. The exercise program, which took place in 12 consecutive weeks, consisted of flexibility, endurance, and lower and upper body training. Physical performance was assessed using 30 seconds chair stand test, stair climb test, 30 meter fast paced walk test, time up and go test, 6-minute walk test and a VO2max evaluation. [Results] Significantly increase in the 30 second chair stand, 6-minute walk, 30 meter fast paced walk, stair climb, and VO2 max tests and significantly decrease in the time up and go test in group A (aquatic based exercise) compared with group B (a land-based exercise) at the post treatment. [Conclusion] Twelve-week program of an aquatic program yields improvement in both physical performance and VO2 max in patients with severe burns. PMID:29643605

Joint min-max distribution and Edwards-Anderson's order parameter of the circular 1/f-noise model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Xiangyu; Le Doussal, Pierre

2016-05-01

We calculate the joint min-max distribution and the Edwards-Anderson's order parameter for the circular model of 1/f-noise. Both quantities, as well as generalisations, are obtained exactly by combining the freezing-duality conjecture and Jack-polynomial techniques. Numerical checks come with significantly improved control of finite-size effects in the glassy phase, and the results convincingly validate the freezing-duality conjecture. Application to diffusive dynamics is discussed. We also provide a formula for the pre-factor ratio of the joint/marginal Carpentier-Le Doussal tail for minimum/maximum which applies to any logarithmic random energy model.

A novel method for the quantitation of gingerol glucuronides in human plasma or urine based on stable isotope dilution assays.

PubMed

Schoenknecht, Carola; Andersen, Gaby; Schieberle, Peter

2016-11-15

The bio-active compounds of ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe), the gingerols, are gaining considerable attention due to their numerous beneficial health effects. In order to elucidate the physiological relevance of the ascribed effects their bioavailability has to be determined taking their metabolization into account. To quantitate in vivo generated [6]-, [8]- and [10]-gingerol glucuronides in human plasma and urine after ginger tea consumption, a simultaneous and direct liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method based on stable isotope dilution assays was established and validated. The respective references as well as the isotopically labeled substances were synthesized and characterized by mass spectrometry and NMR. Selective isolation of gingerol glucuronides from human plasma and urine by a mixed-phase anion-exchange SPE method led to recovery rates between 80.8 and 98.2%. LC-MS/MS analyses in selected reaction monitoring modus enabled a highly sensitive quantitation of gingerol glucuronides with LoQs between 3.9-9.8nmol/L in plasma and 39.3-161.1nmol/L in urine. The method precision in plasma and urine varied in the range±15%, whereas the intra-day accuracy in plasma and urine showed values between 78 and 122%. The developed method was then applied to a pilot study in which two volunteers consumed one liter ginger tea. Pharmacokinetic parameters like the maximum concentration (c max ), the time to reach c max (t max ), area under the curve (AUC), elimination rate constant (k el ) and elimination half-life (t 1/2 ) were calculated from the concentration-time curve of each gingerol glucuronide. The obtained results will enable more detailed investigation of gingerol glucuronides as bioactives in their physiologically relevant concentrations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of platykurtic and leptokurtic distributions in the random-field Ising model: mean-field approach.

PubMed

Duarte Queirós, Sílvio M; Crokidakis, Nuno; Soares-Pinto, Diogo O

2009-07-01

The influence of the tail features of the local magnetic field probability density function (PDF) on the ferromagnetic Ising model is studied in the limit of infinite range interactions. Specifically, we assign a quenched random field whose value is in accordance with a generic distribution that bears platykurtic and leptokurtic distributions depending on a single parameter tau<3 to each site. For tau<5/3, such distributions, which are basically Student-t and r distribution extended for all plausible real degrees of freedom, present a finite standard deviation, if not the distribution has got the same asymptotic power-law behavior as a alpha-stable Lévy distribution with alpha=(3-tau)/(tau-1). For every value of tau, at specific temperature and width of the distribution, the system undergoes a continuous phase transition. Strikingly, we impart the emergence of an inflexion point in the temperature-PDF width phase diagrams for distributions broader than the Cauchy-Lorentz (tau=2) which is accompanied with a divergent free energy per spin (at zero temperature).

Computer simulation of position and maximum of linear polarization of asteroids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petrov, Dmitry; Kiselev, Nikolai

2018-01-01

The ground-based observations of near-Earth asteroids at large phase angles have shown some feature: the linear polarization maximum position of the high-albedo E-type asteroids shifted markedly towards smaller phase angles (αmax ≈ 70°) with respect to that for the moderate-albedo S-type asteroids (αmax ≈ 110°), weakly depending on the wavelength. To study this phenomenon, the theoretical approach and the modified T-matrix method (the so-called Sh-matrices method) were used. Theoretical approach was devoted to finding the values of αmax, corresponding to maximal values of positive polarization Pmax. Computer simulations were performed for an ensemble of random Gaussian particles, whose scattering properties were averaged over with different particle orientations and size parameters in the range X = 2.0 ... 21.0, with the power law distribution X - k, where k = 3.6. The real parts of the refractive index mr were 1.5, 1.6 and 1.7. Imaginary part of refractive index varied from mi = 0.0 to mi = 0.5. Both theoretical approach and computer simulation showed that the value of αmax strongly depends on the refractive index. The increase of mi leads to increased αmax and Pmax. In addition, computer simulation shows that the increase of the real part of the refractive index reduces Pmax. Whereas E-type high-albedo asteroids have smaller values of mi, than S -type asteroids, we can conclude, that value of αmax of E-type asteroids should be smaller than for S -type ones. This is in qualitative agreement with the observed effect in asteroids.

A continuously variable beam-diameter, high-fluence, Q-switched Nd:YAG laser for tattoo removal: comparison of the maximum beam diameter to a standard 4-mm-diameter treatment beam.

PubMed

Bernstein, Eric F; Civiok, Jennifer M

2013-12-01

Laser beam diameter affects the depth of laser penetration. Q-switched lasers tend to have smaller maximum spot sizes than other dermatologic lasers, making beam diameter a potentially more significant factor in treatment outcomes. To compare the clinical effect of using the maximum-size treatment beam available for each delivered fluence during laser tattoo removal to a standard 4-mm-diameter treatment beam. Thirteen tattoos were treated in 12 subjects using a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser equipped with a treatment beam diameter that was adjustable in 1 mm increments and a setting that would enable the maximally achievable diameter ("MAX-ON" setting) with any fluence. Tattoos were randomly bisected and treated on one side with the MAX-ON setting and on the contralateral side with a standard 4-mm-diameter spot ("MAX-OFF" setting). Photographs were taken 8 weeks following each treatment and each half-tattoo was evaluated for clearance on a 10-point scale by physicians blinded to the treatment conditions. Tattoo clearance was greater on the side treated with the MAX-ON setting in a statistically significant manner following the 1st through 4th treatments, with the MAX-OFF treatment site approaching the clearance of the MAX-ON treatment site after the 5th and 6th treatments. This high-energy, Q-switched Nd:YAG laser with a continuously variable spot-size safely and effectively removes tattoos, with greater removal when using a larger spot-size. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Two Universality Classes for the Many-Body Localization Transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khemani, Vedika; Sheng, D. N.; Huse, David A.

2017-08-01

We provide a systematic comparison of the many-body localization (MBL) transition in spin chains with nonrandom quasiperiodic versus random fields. We find evidence suggesting that these belong to two separate universality classes: the first dominated by "intrinsic" intrasample randomness, and the second dominated by external intersample quenched randomness. We show that the effects of intersample quenched randomness are strongly growing, but not yet dominant, at the system sizes probed by exact-diagonalization studies on random models. Thus, the observed finite-size critical scaling collapses in such studies appear to be in a preasymptotic regime near the nonrandom universality class, but showing signs of the initial crossover towards the external-randomness-dominated universality class. Our results provide an explanation for why exact-diagonalization studies on random models see an apparent scaling near the transition while also obtaining finite-size scaling exponents that strongly violate Harris-Chayes bounds that apply to disorder-driven transitions. We also show that the MBL phase is more stable for the quasiperiodic model as compared to the random one, and the transition in the quasiperiodic model suffers less from certain finite-size effects.

Thermal ecology of the Australian agamid Pogona barbata.

PubMed

Schäuble, Chloe S; Grigg, Gordon C

1998-05-01

This study compares the thermal ecology of male bearded dragon lizards (Pogona barbata) from south-east Queensland across two seasons: summer (1994-1995) and autumn (1995). Seasonal patterns of body temperature (T b ) were explored in terms of changes in the physical properties of the thermal environment and thermoregulatory effort. To quantify thermoregulatory effort, we compared behavioral and physiological variables recorded for observed lizards with those estimated for a thermoconforming lizard. The study lizards' field T b s varied seasonally (summer: grand daily mean (GDM) 34.6 ± 0.6°C, autumn: GDM 27.5 ± 0.3°C) as did maximum and minimum available operative temperatures (summer: GDM T max 42.1 ± 1.7°C, T min 32.2 ± 1.0°C, autumn: GDM T max 31.7 ± 1.2°C, T min 26.4 ± 0.5°C). Interestingly, the range of temperatures that lizards selected in a gradient (selected range) did not change seasonally. However, P. barbata thermoregulated more extensively and more accurately in summer than in autumn; lizards generally displayed behaviors affecting heat load nonrandomly in summer and randomly in autumn, leading to the GDM of the mean deviations of lizards' field T b s from their selected ranges being only 2.1 ± 0.5°C in summer, compared to 4.4 ± 0.5°C in autumn. This seasonal difference was not a consequence of different heat availability in the two seasons, because the seasonally available ranges of operative temperatures rarely precluded lizards from attaining field T b s within their selected range, should that have been the goal. Rather, thermal microhabitat distribution and social behavior appear to have had an important influence on seasonal levels of thermoregulatory effort.

Lumping of degree-based mean-field and pair-approximation equations for multistate contact processes.

PubMed

Kyriakopoulos, Charalampos; Grossmann, Gerrit; Wolf, Verena; Bortolussi, Luca

2018-01-01

Contact processes form a large and highly interesting class of dynamic processes on networks, including epidemic and information-spreading networks. While devising stochastic models of such processes is relatively easy, analyzing them is very challenging from a computational point of view, particularly for large networks appearing in real applications. One strategy to reduce the complexity of their analysis is to rely on approximations, often in terms of a set of differential equations capturing the evolution of a random node, distinguishing nodes with different topological contexts (i.e., different degrees of different neighborhoods), such as degree-based mean-field (DBMF), approximate-master-equation (AME), or pair-approximation (PA) approaches. The number of differential equations so obtained is typically proportional to the maximum degree k_{max} of the network, which is much smaller than the size of the master equation of the underlying stochastic model, yet numerically solving these equations can still be problematic for large k_{max}. In this paper, we consider AME and PA, extended to cope with multiple local states, and we provide an aggregation procedure that clusters together nodes having similar degrees, treating those in the same cluster as indistinguishable, thus reducing the number of equations while preserving an accurate description of global observables of interest. We also provide an automatic way to build such equations and to identify a small number of degree clusters that give accurate results. The method is tested on several case studies, where it shows a high level of compression and a reduction of computational time of several orders of magnitude for large networks, with minimal loss in accuracy.

Correlation between chronotropic incompetence and metabolic equivalents in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and concomitant metabolic syndrome.

PubMed

Gao, M; Chen, W; Gong, Z K; Han, L; Zhang, L

2015-09-01

The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between chronotropic incompetence and motor ability in patient with type 2 diabetes mellitus and concomitant metabolic syndrome (MS) in order to facilitate exercise prescriptions for these patients. A total of 120 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were randomly enrolled and divided into study groups with (N.=64) or without MS (N.=56). All patients completed the electrocardiographic exercise testing, after which ratio of heart rate (rHR) and heart rate reserve (HRR) were calculating to assess chronotropic incompetence. In addition, maximum metabolic equivalents (maxMETs) were calculated to assess the motor ability. The MS group had significantly higher indicators of chronotropic incompetence (rHR and HRR) as well as maxMETs than patients without MS (all P<0.05). Further, maxMETs significantly correlated with rHR (r=0.81, P=0.003) and HRR (r=0.78, P<0.001). Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and concomitant MS have higher chronotropic incompetence and maxMETs compared with those without MS. METs or perceived level of exertion can be used in patients in whom heart rate is not available during the exercise.

The Effect of Endophytic Fungi on Nematode Populations in Summer-dormant and Summer-active Tall Fescue.

PubMed

Rogers, James K; Walker, Nathan R; Young, Carolyn A

2016-06-01

Summer-active (continental) and summer-dormant (Mediterranean) tall fescue morphotypes are each adapted to different environmental conditions. Endophyte presence provides plant parasitic nematode resistance, but not with all endophyte strains and cultivar combinations. This study sought to compare effects of four nematode genera on continental and Mediterranean cultivars infected with common toxic or novel endophyte strains. A 6-mon greenhouse study was conducted with continental cultivars, Kentucky 31 (common toxic) and Texoma MaxQ II (novel endophyte) and the Mediterranean cultivar Flecha MaxQ (novel endophyte). Endophyte-free plants of each cultivar were controls. Each cultivar × endophyte combination was randomly assigned to a control, low or high inoculation rate of a mixed nematode culture containing stunt nematodes (Tylenchorhynchus spp.), ring nematodes (Criconemella spp.), spiral nematodes (Helicotylenchus spp.), and lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus spp.). Endophyte infection had no effect on nematode population densities. The cultivar × endophyte interaction was significant. Population densities of stunt nematode, spiral nematode, and ring nematodes were higher for Flecha MaxQ than other cultivar × endophyte combinations. Novel endophyte infection enhances suitability of Flecha MaxQ as a nematode host.

Pharmacokinetics and bioequivalence study of two brands of loxoprofen tablets in healthy volunteers.

PubMed

Jhee, Ok Hwa; Lee, Min Ho; Shaw, Leslie M; Lee, Seo Eun; Park, Jin Hee; Kang, Ju Seop

2007-01-01

The aims of this study were to assess the pharmacokinetics and bioequivalence of two brands of loxoprofen (CAS 80832-23-6) 60 mg tablets in healthy male volunteers. The several pharmacokinetic parameters were evaluated after an oral administration after an overnight fast according to a single dose, two-sequence, and cross-over randomized design with a 1-week washout interval. Serial blood samples were collected throughout 10 h after administration of the reference and test drug. Plasma was analyzed by validated HPLC with UV detection. Several pharmacokinetic parameters, including AUC(infnity), AUC(t), C(max), T(max), T1/2, and Ke were determined from blood concentrations of both formulations. AUC(t), AUC(infinity) and C(max) were evaluated for bioequivalence after log-transformation of data using ANOVA with 90% confidence interval level. The parametric 90% confidence intervals of AUC(t), AUC(infinity), and C(max) were 90.13-106.34%, 91.43-106.94%, and 91.17-108.53%, respectively. All of the tested parameters were within the acceptable range of 80-125%. Based on these statistical considerations, it was concluded that the test drug was bioequivalent to the reference drug.

SU-E-T-757: TMRs Calculated From PDDs Versus the Direct Measurements for Small Field SRS Cones

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, H; Zhong, H; Song, K

2015-06-15

Purpose: To investigate the variation of TMR for SRS cones obtained by TMR scanning, calculation from PDDs, and point measurements. The obtained TMRs were also compared to the representative data from the vendor. Methods: TMRs for conical cones of 4, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, 15, and 17.5 mm diameter (jaws set to 5×5 cm) were obtained for 6X FFF and 10X FFF energies on a Varian Edge linac. TMR scanning was performed with a Sun Nuclear 3D scanner and Edge detector at 100 cm SDD. TMR point measurements were measured with a Wellhofer tank and Edge detector, at multiple depthsmore » from 0.5 to 20 cm and 100 cm SDD. PDDs for converting to TMR were scanned with a Wellhofer system and SFD detector. The formalism of converting PDD to TMR, given in Khan’s book (4th Edition, p.161) was applied. Sp values at dmax were obtained by measuring Scp and Sc of the cones (jaws set to 5×5 cm) using the Edge detector, and normalized to the 10×10 cm field. Results: Along the central axis beyond dmax, the RMS and maximum percent difference of TMRs obtained with different methods were as follows: (a) 1.3% (max=3.5%) for the calculated TMRs from PDDs versus direct scanning; (b) 1.2% (max=3.3%) for direct scanning versus point measurement; (c) 1.8% (max=5.1%) for the calculated versus point measurements; (d) 1.0% (max=3.6%) for direct scanning versus vendor data; (e) 1.6% (max=7.2%) for the calculated versus vendor data. Conclusion: The overall accuracy of TMRs calculated from PDDs was comparable with that of direct scanning. However, the uncertainty at depths greater than 20 cm, increased up to 5% when compared to point measurements. This issue must be considered when developing a beam model for small field SRS planning using cones.« less

MAX UnMix: A web application for unmixing magnetic coercivity distributions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maxbauer, Daniel P.; Feinberg, Joshua M.; Fox, David L.

2016-10-01

It is common in the fields of rock and environmental magnetism to unmix magnetic mineral components using statistical methods that decompose various types of magnetization curves (e.g., acquisition, demagnetization, or backfield). A number of programs have been developed over the past decade that are frequently used by the rock magnetic community, however many of these programs are either outdated or have obstacles inhibiting their usability. MAX UnMix is a web application (available online at http://www.irm.umn.edu/maxunmix), built using the shiny package for R studio, that can be used for unmixing coercivity distributions derived from magnetization curves. Here, we describe in detail the statistical model underpinning the MAX UnMix web application and discuss the programs functionality. MAX UnMix is an improvement over previous unmixing programs in that it is designed to be user friendly, runs as an independent website, and is platform independent.

Anomalous diffusion on a random comblike structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Havlin, Shlomo; Kiefer, James E.; Weiss, George H.

1987-08-01

We have recently studied a random walk on a comblike structure as an analog of diffusion on a fractal structure. In our earlier work, the comb was assumed to have a deterministic structure, the comb having teeth of infinite length. In the present paper we study diffusion on a one-dimensional random comb, the length of whose teeth are random variables with an asymptotic stable law distribution φ(L)~L-(1+γ) where 0<γ<=1. Two mean-field methods are used for the analysis, one based on the continuous-time random walk, and the second a self-consistent scaling theory. Both lead to the same conclusions. We find that the diffusion exponent characterizing the mean-square displacement along the backbone of the comb is dw=4/(1+γ) for γ<1 and dw=2 for γ>=1. The probability of being at the origin at time t is P0(t)~t-ds/2 for large t with ds=(3-γ)/2 for γ<1 and ds=1 for γ>1. When a field is applied along the backbone of the comb the diffusion exponent is dw=2/(1+γ) for γ<1 and dw=1 for γ>=1. The theoretical results are confirmed using the exact enumeration method.

Improved belief propagation algorithm finds many Bethe states in the random-field Ising model on random graphs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perugini, G.; Ricci-Tersenghi, F.

2018-01-01

We first present an empirical study of the Belief Propagation (BP) algorithm, when run on the random field Ising model defined on random regular graphs in the zero temperature limit. We introduce the notion of extremal solutions for the BP equations, and we use them to fix a fraction of spins in their ground state configuration. At the phase transition point the fraction of unconstrained spins percolates and their number diverges with the system size. This in turn makes the associated optimization problem highly non trivial in the critical region. Using the bounds on the BP messages provided by the extremal solutions we design a new and very easy to implement BP scheme which is able to output a large number of stable fixed points. On one hand this new algorithm is able to provide the minimum energy configuration with high probability in a competitive time. On the other hand we found that the number of fixed points of the BP algorithm grows with the system size in the critical region. This unexpected feature poses new relevant questions about the physics of this class of models.

A Hybrid Shared-Memory Parallel Max-Tree Algorithm for Extreme Dynamic-Range Images.

PubMed

Moschini, Ugo; Meijster, Arnold; Wilkinson, Michael H F

2018-03-01

Max-trees, or component trees, are graph structures that represent the connected components of an image in a hierarchical way. Nowadays, many application fields rely on images with high-dynamic range or floating point values. Efficient sequential algorithms exist to build trees and compute attributes for images of any bit depth. However, we show that the current parallel algorithms perform poorly already with integers at bit depths higher than 16 bits per pixel. We propose a parallel method combining the two worlds of flooding and merging max-tree algorithms. First, a pilot max-tree of a quantized version of the image is built in parallel using a flooding method. Later, this structure is used in a parallel leaf-to-root approach to compute efficiently the final max-tree and to drive the merging of the sub-trees computed by the threads. We present an analysis of the performance both on simulated and actual 2D images and 3D volumes. Execution times are about better than the fastest sequential algorithm and speed-up goes up to on 64 threads.

A study of dose-proportionality in the pharmacokinetics of the oral direct renin inhibitor aliskiren in healthy subjects.

PubMed

Limoges, D; Dieterich, H A; Yeh, C-M; Vaidyanathan, S; Howard, D; Dole, W P

2008-05-01

To evaluate the dose-proportionality of the pharmacokinetics of aliskiren, the first in a new class of orally active direct renin inhibitors approved for the treatment of hypertension. This was an open-label, single-center, single-dose, randomized, 4-period crossover study. Following a 21-day screening period, 32 healthy male or female subjects (ages 18 - 45 years) were randomized to 1 of 4 aliskiren dosing sequence groups (8 subjects per group): 75, 150, 300 and 600 mg. Blood samples were obtained for determination of plasma aliskiren concentrations (HPLC/MS/MS) for 96 h post dose. Log-transformed pharmacokinetic parameters AUC and C(max) were analyzed to determine dose-proportionality using the power model, parameter = A*(Dose)(beta), where A = intercept and beta = dose-proportionality coefficient. The predefined dose-proportionality criteria over the dose range 75 â 600 mg were 90% confidence intervals (CI) for beta contained within the range 0.89 - 1.11. AUC and Cmax values increased with increasing doses of aliskiren. Both AUC and C(max) were associated with high variability (coefficient of variation 55 - 64% for AUC and 59 - 117% for C(max)). The estimated proportionality coefficients (beta) for AUC(0-infiniti), AUC(0-t) and C(max) were 1.18 (90% CI 1.10, 1.25), 1.29 (90% CI 1.22, 1.36) and 1.42 (90% CI 1.31, 1.52), respectively. Dose-proportionality was, therefore, not demonstrated across the entire 8-fold dose range. For the clinical dose range of 150 â 300 mg, increases of 2.3- and 2.6-fold were observed for AUC and C(max), respectively. All doses of aliskiren were well tolerated. Exposure to aliskiren was greater than proportional over the dose range of 75 - 600 mg. Over the therapeutic dose range of 150 â 300 mg approved for the treatment of hypertension, AUC and Cmax increased by 2.3- and 2.6-fold, respectively. The pharmacokinetics of aliskiren show relatively high intersubject variability.

Evaluating the efficiency of a combination of Pygeum africanum and stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) extracts in treating benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH): double-blind, randomized, placebo controlled trial.

PubMed

Melo, Ezer A; Bertero, Eduardo B; Rios, Luiz A S; Mattos, Demerval

2002-01-01

In spite of its historical use, published data about phytotherapic products is characterized by the absence of well conducted studies, leading to conflictive and indefinite results about efficiency and safety of theses drugs. In that sense, we have analyzed the results of a combination of Pygeum africanum and stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) extracts in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), based in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled protocol. We have selected, according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, only patients with >or=50 years, presenting urinary symptoms assessed by the International Prostatic Symptoms Score (IPSS), with minimum score of 12, and Quality of Life (QoL) index of at least 3 points, rectal examination consistent with BPH, and maximum urinary flow rate (Q(max)) between 5 and 15 mL/s. Phytotherapic and placebo groups were formed by 27 and 22 patients, respectively. The major variables analyzed during the study were IPSS variation, Q(max), and side effects. Reduction of >or=30% and >or=50% in IPSS were the parameters used to define a clinically significant response (CSR). We have also analyzed >or=30% and >or=50% Q(max) increases. After six months of treatment we did not observe significant differences in clinical improvement potential between the phytotherapic combination and placebo groups. Percent IPSS drop of 21.6% in the phytotherapic group was similar to 19.7% obtained in the placebo group (p=0.928). Neither we observed any difference (p=0.530) for QoL improvement between phytotherapic (9.26%) and placebo (5.98%) groups. The alterations of Q(max) followed the trend line observed in clinical data, with no significant difference (p=0.463) in Q(max) increasing percent between phytotherapic (17.2%) and placebo (13.3%) groups. The CSR evaluation of clinical and urodynamic data was also similar between the groups. The combination of 25mg Pygeum africanum and 300mg stinging nettle extracts produced clinical and urodynamic effects similar to placebo in a group of HBP patients.

Self-reproduction in k-inflation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Helmer, Ferdinand; Winitzki, Sergei

2006-09-15

We study cosmological self-reproduction in models of inflation driven by a scalar field {phi} with a noncanonical kinetic term (k-inflation). We develop a general criterion for the existence of attractors and establish conditions selecting a class of k-inflation models that admit a unique attractor solution. We then consider quantum fluctuations on the attractor background. We show that the correlation length of the fluctuations is of order c{sub s}H{sup -1}, where c{sub s} is the speed of sound. By computing the magnitude of field fluctuations, we determine the coefficients of Fokker-Planck equations describing the probability distribution of the spatially averaged fieldmore » {phi}. The field fluctuations are generally large in the inflationary attractor regime; hence, eternal self-reproduction is a generic feature of k-inflation. This is established more formally by demonstrating the existence of stationary solutions of the relevant Fokker-Planck equations. We also show that there exists a (model-dependent) range {phi}{sub R}<{phi}<{phi}{sub max} within which large fluctuations are likely to drive the field towards the upper boundary {phi}={phi}{sub max}, where the semiclassical consideration breaks down. An exit from inflation into reheating without reaching {phi}{sub max} will occur almost surely (with probability 1) only if the initial value of {phi} is below {phi}{sub R}. In this way, strong self-reproduction effects constrain models of k-inflation.« less

Computer programs and documentation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Speed, F. M.; Broadwater, S. L.

1971-01-01

Various statistical tests that were used to check out random number generators are described. A total of twelve different tests were considered, and from these, six were chosen to be used. The frequency test, max t test, run test, lag product test, gap test, and the matrix test are included.

A Gridded Daily Min/Max Temperature Dataset With 0.1° Resolution for the Yangtze River Valley and its Error Estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiong, Qiufen; Hu, Jianglin

2013-05-01

The minimum/maximum (Min/Max) temperature in the Yangtze River valley is decomposed into the climatic mean and anomaly component. A spatial interpolation is developed which combines the 3D thin-plate spline scheme for climatological mean and the 2D Barnes scheme for the anomaly component to create a daily Min/Max temperature dataset. The climatic mean field is obtained by the 3D thin-plate spline scheme because the relationship between the decreases in Min/Max temperature with elevation is robust and reliable on a long time-scale. The characteristics of the anomaly field tend to be related to elevation variation weakly, and the anomaly component is adequately analyzed by the 2D Barnes procedure, which is computationally efficient and readily tunable. With this hybridized interpolation method, a daily Min/Max temperature dataset that covers the domain from 99°E to 123°E and from 24°N to 36°N with 0.1° longitudinal and latitudinal resolution is obtained by utilizing daily Min/Max temperature data from three kinds of station observations, which are national reference climatological stations, the basic meteorological observing stations and the ordinary meteorological observing stations in 15 provinces and municipalities in the Yangtze River valley from 1971 to 2005. The error estimation of the gridded dataset is assessed by examining cross-validation statistics. The results show that the statistics of daily Min/Max temperature interpolation not only have high correlation coefficient (0.99) and interpolation efficiency (0.98), but also the mean bias error is 0.00 °C. For the maximum temperature, the root mean square error is 1.1 °C and the mean absolute error is 0.85 °C. For the minimum temperature, the root mean square error is 0.89 °C and the mean absolute error is 0.67 °C. Thus, the new dataset provides the distribution of Min/Max temperature over the Yangtze River valley with realistic, successive gridded data with 0.1° × 0.1° spatial resolution and daily temporal scale. The primary factors influencing the dataset precision are elevation and terrain complexity. In general, the gridded dataset has a relatively high precision in plains and flatlands and a relatively low precision in mountainous areas.

Effects of aerobic exercise intensity on 24-h ambulatory blood pressure in individuals with type 2 diabetes and prehypertension

PubMed Central

Karoline de Morais, Pâmella; Sales, Marcelo Magalhães; Alves de Almeida, Jeeser; Motta-Santos, Daisy; Victor de Sousa, Caio; Simões, Herbert Gustavo

2015-01-01

[Purpose] To verify the effects of different intensities of aerobic exercise on 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure (BP) responses in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) and prehypertension. [Subjects and Methods] Ten individuals with T2D and prehypertension (55.8 ± 7.7 years old; blood glucose 133.0 ± 36.7 mg·dL−1 and awake BP 130.6 ± 1.6/ 80.5 ± 1.8 mmHg) completed three randomly assigned experiments: non-exercise control (CON) and exercise at moderate (MOD) and maximal (MAX) intensities. Heart rate (HR), BP, blood lactate concentrations ([Lac]), oxygen uptake (VO2), and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) were measured at rest, during the experimental sessions, and during the 60 min recovery period. After this period, ambulatory blood pressure was monitored for 24 h. [Results] The results indicate that [Lac] (MAX: 6.7±2.0 vs. MOD: 3.8±1.2 mM), RPE (MAX: 19±1.3 vs. MOD: 11±2.3) and VO2peak (MAX: 20.2±4.1 vs. MOD: 14.0±3.0 mL·kg−1·min−1) were highest following the MAX session. Compared with CON, only MAX elicited post-exercise BP reduction that lasted for 8 h after exercise and during sleep. [Conclusion] A single session of aerobic exercise resulted in 24 h BP reductions in individuals with T2D, especially while sleeping, and this reduction seems to be dependent on the intensity of the exercise performed. PMID:25642036

A comparison of VO2max and metabolic variables between treadmill running and treadmill skating.

PubMed

Koepp, Kriston K; Janot, Jeffrey M

2008-03-01

The purpose of this study was to determine differences in VO2max and metabolic variables between treadmill running and treadmill skating. This study also examined VO2max responses during a continuous skating treadmill protocol and a discontinuous skating treadmill protocol. Sixteen male high school hockey players, who had a mean age of 16 +/- 1 years and were of an above-average fitness level, participated in this study. All subjects completed 4 exercise trials: a 1-hour skating treadmill familiarization trial, a treadmill running trial, and 2 randomized skating treadmill trials. Minute ventilation (VE), oxygen consumption VO2), carbon dioxide production VCO2), respiratory exchange ratio (RER), and heart rate were averaged every 15 seconds up to VO2max for each exercise test. The results showed that there was a significant difference (P < 0.05) for VO2max (mL.kg.min) and maximal VCO2 (L.min) between the running treadmill protocol and discontinuous skating treadmill protocol. There was also a significant difference for maximal RER between the discontinuous and continuous skating treadmill protocol and between the discontinuous skating treadmill protocol and running treadmill protocol. In conclusion, the running treadmill elicited a greater VO2max (mL.kg.min) than the skating treadmill did, but when it comes to specificity of ice skating, the skating treadmill may be ideal. Also, there was no significant difference between the discontinuous and continuous skating treadmill protocols. Therefore, a continuous protocol is possible on the skating treadmill without compromising correct skating position and physiologic responses. However, the continuous skating treadmill protocol should undergo validation before other scientists, coaches, and strength and conditioning professionals can apply it correctly.

Bioequivalence and food effect assessment for vildagliptin/metformin fixed-dose combination tablets relative to free combination of vildagliptin and metformin in Japanese healthy subjects.

PubMed

Mita, Sachiko; Chitnis, Shripad D; Kulmatycki, Kenneth; Salunke, Atish; He, Yan-Ling; Zhou, Wei; Suzuki, Hikoe

2016-04-01

To assess the bioequivalence of vildagliptin/metformin fixeddose combination (FDC) tablets (50/250 mg and 50/500 mg) to free combinations of vildagliptin and metformin and the effect of food on the pharmacokinetics (PK) of vildagliptin and metformin following administration of 50/500 mg FDC tablets. Two openlabel, randomized, single-center, singledose, 2-period crossover studies were conducted in Japanese healthy male volunteers. Participants were administered vildagliptin/ metformin FDC tablets (study I: 50/250 mg, study II: 50/500 mg) or their free combinations under fasted condition. Food effect (standard Japanese breakfast: fat, 20 - 30% with ~ 600 kcal in total) was assessed during an additional period in study II (50/500 mg). PK parameters (AUC, C(max), t(max), t(1/2)) were calculated for vildagliptin and metformin. In both studies, vildagliptin/metformin FDC tablets were bioequivalent to their respective free combinations. Administration of FDC tablets after meals had no effect on vildagliptin PK parameters. The rate of absorption of metformin decreased when administered under fed condition, as reflected by a prolonged t(max) (3 hours in fasted state vs. 4 hours in fed state) and decrease in C(max) by 26%, however, the extent of absorption (AUC(last)) was similar to that in the fasted state. Vildagliptin/metformin FDC tablets were bioequivalent to their free combinations. Food decreased the C(max) of metformin by 26%, while AUC(last) was unchanged, consistent with previous reports. No food effect was observed on the C(max) or AUC(last) of vildagliptin. Thus, food had no clinically relevant effects on the PK of metformin or vildagliptin.

The effects of strength and power training on single-step balance recovery in older adults: a preliminary study.

PubMed

Pamukoff, Derek N; Haakonssen, Eric C; Zaccaria, Joseph A; Madigan, Michael L; Miller, Michael E; Marsh, Anthony P

2014-01-01

Improving muscle strength and power may mitigate the effects of sarcopenia, but it is unknown if this improves an older adult's ability to recover from a large postural perturbation. Forward tripping is prevalent in older adults and lateral falls are important due to risk of hip fracture. We used a forward and a lateral single-step balance recovery task to examine the effects of strength training (ST) or power (PT) training on single-step balance recovery in older adults. Twenty older adults (70.8±4.4 years, eleven male) were randomly assigned to either a 6-week (three times/week) lower extremity ST or PT intervention. Maximum forward (FLean(max)) and lateral (LLean(max)) lean angle and strength and power in knee extension and leg press were assessed at baseline and follow-up. Fifteen participants completed the study (ST =7, PT =8). Least squares means (95% CI) for ΔFLean(max) (ST: +4.1° [0.7, 7.5]; PT: +0.6° [-2.5, 3.8]) and ΔLLean(max) (ST: +2.2° [0.4, 4.1]; PT: +2.6° [0.9, 4.4]) indicated no differences between groups following training. In exploratory post hoc analyses collapsed by group, ΔFLean(max) was +2.4° (0.1, 4.7) and ΔLLean(max) was +2.4° (1.2, 3.6). These improvements on the balance recovery tasks ranged from ~15%-30%. The results of this preliminary study suggest that resistance training may improve balance recovery performance, and that, in this small sample, PT did not lead to larger improvements in single-step balance recovery compared to ST.

Color Doppler quantitative measures to predict outcome of biopsies in prostate cancer

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Strigari, Lidia; Marsella, Annelisa; Canitano, Stefano

2008-11-15

Purpose: The aim was to correlate the color Doppler flow activity pre- and postradiotherapy, using transrectal color Doppler ultrasonography (CDUS) and the 2 year positive biopsy rate after radiotherapy in patients with prostate cancer. Methods and materials: Analysis was carried out in 69 out of 160 patients who had undergone treatment with 3D-conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) to prostate and seminal vesicles. Patients were randomized to receive 80 Gy in 40 fractions in 8 weeks (arm A) and 62 Gy in 20 fractions in 5 weeks, 4 fractions per week (arm B). Color Doppler flow activity (CDFA) was evaluated calculating the vascularizationmore » index (VI), defined as the ratio between the colored and total pixels in the whole and peripheral prostate, delineated by a radiation oncologist on CDUS images, using EcoVasc a home-made software. The difference between the 2 year post- and pre-3D-CRT maximum VI (VI{sub max}), named {Delta}VI{sub max}, was calculated in the whole and peripheral prostate for each patient. Then, {Delta}VI{sub max} and the detected 2 year biopsy outcome were analyzed using the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) technique. Results: The VI{sub max} increased or decreased in patients with positive or negative biopsies, respectively, compared to the value before RT in both arms. The area under the ROC curve for {Delta}VI{sub max} in the whole and peripheral prostate is equal to 0.790 and 0.884, respectively. Conclusion: The {Delta}VI{sub max} index, comparing CDFA at 2 years compared to that before RT, allows the 2 year postradiotherapy positive biopsy rate to be predicted.« less

New Generalized Equation for Predicting Maximal Oxygen Uptake (from the Fitness Registry and the Importance of Exercise National Database).

PubMed

Kokkinos, Peter; Kaminsky, Leonard A; Arena, Ross; Zhang, Jiajia; Myers, Jonathan

2017-08-15

Impaired cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is closely linked to chronic illness and associated with adverse events. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) regression equations (ACSM equations) developed to estimate oxygen uptake have known limitations leading to well-documented overestimation of CRF, especially at higher work rates. Thus, there is a need to explore alternative equations to more accurately predict CRF. We assessed maximal oxygen uptake (VO 2 max) obtained directly by open-circuit spirometry in 7,983 apparently healthy subjects who participated in the Fitness Registry and the Importance of Exercise National Database (FRIEND). We randomly sampled 70% of the participants from each of the following age categories: <40, 40 to 50, 50 to 70, and ≥70 and used the remaining 30% for validation. Multivariable linear regression analysis was applied to identify the most relevant variables and construct the best prediction model for VO 2 max. Treadmill speed and treadmill speed × grade were considered in the final model as predictors of measured VO 2 max and the following equation was generated: VO 2 max in ml O 2 /kg/min = speed (m/min) × (0.17 + fractional grade × 0.79) + 3.5. The FRIEND equation predicted VO 2 max with an overall error >4 times lower than the error associated with the traditional ACSM equations (5.1 ± 18.3% vs 21.4 ± 24.9%, respectively). Overestimation associated with the ACSM equation was accentuated when different protocols were considered separately. In conclusion, The FRIEND equation predicts VO 2 max more precisely than the traditional ACSM equations with an overall error >4 times lower than that associated with the ACSM equations. Published by Elsevier Inc.

The Decremental Protocol as an Alternative Protocol to Measure Maximal Oxygen Consumption in Athletes.

PubMed

Taylor, Katrina; Seegmiller, Jeffrey; Vella, Chantal A

2016-11-01

To determine whether a decremental protocol could elicit a higher maximal oxygen consumption (VO 2 max) than an incremental protocol in trained participants. A secondary aim was to examine whether cardiac-output (Q) and stroke-volume (SV) responses differed between decremental and incremental protocols in this sample. Nineteen runners/triathletes were randomized to either the decremental or incremental group. All participants completed an initial incremental VO 2 max test on a treadmill, followed by a verification phase. The incremental group completed 2 further incremental tests. The decremental group completed a second VO 2 max test using the decremental protocol, based on their verification phase. The decremental group then completed a final incremental test. During each test, VO 2 , ventilation, and heart rate were measured, and cardiac variables were estimated with thoracic bioimpedance. Repeated-measures analysis of variance was conducted with an alpha level set at .05. There were no significant main effects for group (P = .37) or interaction (P = .10) over time (P = .45). VO 2 max was similar between the incremental (57.29 ± 8.94 mL · kg -1 · min -1 ) and decremental (60.82 ± 8.49 mL · kg -1 · min -1 ) groups over time. Furthermore, Q and SV were similar between the incremental (Q 22.72 ± 5.85 L/min, SV 119.64 ± 33.02 mL/beat) and decremental groups (Q 20.36 ± 4.59 L/min, SV 109.03 ± 24.27 mL/beat) across all 3 trials. The findings suggest that the decremental protocol does not elicit higher VO 2 max than an incremental protocol but may be used as an alternative protocol to measure VO 2 max in runners and triathletes.

Bergamottin contribution to the grapefruit juice-felodipine interaction and disposition in humans.

PubMed

Goosen, Theunis C; Cillié, Doré; Bailey, David G; Yu, Chongwoo; He, Kan; Hollenberg, Paul F; Woster, Patrick M; Cohen, Lucinda; Williams, J Andrew; Rheeders, Malie; Dijkstra, H Paul

2004-12-01

Our objectives were to evaluate the contribution of bergamottin to the grapefruit juice-felodipine interaction and to characterize bergamottin disposition. In this study 250 mL grapefruit juice; 2-, 6-, or 12-mg capsules of bergamottin plus water; or water was administered with 5 mg extended-release felodipine to 11 volunteers in a partially randomized, 5-way crossover study. Plasma concentrations of felodipine, its primary metabolite (dehydrofelodipine), bergamottin, and 6',7'-dihydroxybergamottin were determined. Grapefruit juice (containing 1.7 mg bergamottin) increased peak plasma concentration (C max ) and area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) of felodipine by 89% (P < .025) and 54% (P < .025), respectively, compared with water. With 2 mg bergamottin, felodipine C max increased by 33% (P < .05). The increase by bergamottin was markedly variable among individuals (range, -33% to 125%). With 6 mg bergamottin, felodipine C max was enhanced by 35% (P < .025), and with 12 mg bergamottin, felodipine C max increased by 40% (P < .05) and AUC increased by 37% (P < .05) compared with water. Bergamottin measured in plasma after administration of 6 and 12 mg produced C max values of 2.1 and 5.9 ng/mL, respectively, and times to reach C max of 0.8 and 1.1 hours, respectively. The bergamottin metabolite 6',7'-dihydroxybergamottin was detected in plasma of some subjects after bergamottin administration. Bergamottin enhanced the oral bioavailability of felodipine and may cause a clinically relevant drug interaction in susceptible individuals. Grapefruit juice-drug interactions likely also involve other furanocoumarins, possibly acting in combination by additive or synergistic mechanisms. Bergamottin has systemic availability and is metabolized in vivo to 6',7'-dihydroxybergamottin.

Validity of the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1 for direct measurement or indirect estimation of maximal oxygen uptake in female soccer players.

PubMed

Martínez-Lagunas, Vanessa; Hartmann, Ulrich

2014-09-01

To evaluate the validity of the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1 (YYIR1) for the direct assessment and the indirect estimation of maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) in female soccer players compared with a maximal laboratory treadmill test (LTT). Eighteen female soccer players (21.5 ± 3.4 y, 165.6 ± 7.5 cm, 63.3 ± 7.4 kg; mean ± SD) completed an LTT and a YYIR1 in random order (1 wk apart). Their VO2max was directly measured via portable spirometry during both tests and indirectly estimated from a published non-gender-specific formula (YYIR1-F1). The measured VO2max values in LTT and YYIR1 were 55.0 ± 5.3 and 49.9 ± 4.9 mL · kg-1 · min-1, respectively, while the estimated VO2max values from YYIR1-F1 corresponded to 45.2 ± 3.4 mL · kg-1 · min-1. Large positive correlations between the VO2max values from YYIR1 and LTT (r = .83, P < .001, 90% confidence interval = .64-.92) and YYIR1-F1 and LTT (r = .67, P = .002, .37-.84) were found. However, the YYIR1 significantly underestimated players' VO2max by 9.4% compared with LTT (P < .001) with Bland-Altman 95% limits of agreement ranging from -20.0% to 1.4%. A significant underestimation from the YYIR1-F1 (P < .001) was also identified (17.8% with Bland-Altman 95% limits of agreement ranging from -31.8% to -3.8%). The YYIR1 and YYIR1-F1 are not accurate methods for the direct assessment or indirect estimation of VO2max in female soccer players. The YYIR1-F1 lacks gender specificity, which might have been the reason for its larger error.

Inverse relationship between changes of maximal aerobic capacity and changes in walking economy after weight loss.

PubMed

Borges, Juliano H; Carter, Stephen J; Singh, Harshvardhan; Hunter, Gary R

2018-05-16

The aims of this study were to: (1) determine the relationships between maximum oxygen uptake ([Formula: see text]O 2max ) and walking economy during non-graded and graded walking among overweight women and (2) examine potential differences in [Formula: see text]O 2max and walking economy before and after weight loss. One-hundred and twenty-four premenopausal women with a body mass index (BMI) between 27 and 30 kg/m 2 were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (a) diet only; (b) diet and aerobic exercise training; and (c) diet and resistance exercise training. All were furnished with standard, very-low calorie diet to reduce BMI to < 25 kg/m 2 . [Formula: see text]O 2max was measured using a modified-Bruce protocol while walking economy (1-net [Formula: see text]O 2 ) was obtained during fixed-speed (4.8 k·h -1 ), steady-state treadmill walking at 0% grade and 2.5% grade. Assessments were conducted before and after achieving target BMI. Prior to weight loss, [Formula: see text]O 2max was inversely related (P < 0.05) with non-graded and graded walking economy (r = - 0.28 to - 0.35). Similar results were also observed following weight loss (r = - 0.22 to - 0.28). Additionally, we also detected a significant inverse relationship (P < 0.05) between the changes (∆, after weight loss) in ∆[Formula: see text]O 2max , adjusted for fat-free mass, with non-graded and graded ∆walking economy (r = - 0.37 to - 0.41). Our results demonstrate [Formula: see text]O 2max and walking economy are inversely related (cross-sectional) before and after weight loss. Importantly though, ∆[Formula: see text]O 2max and ∆walking economy were also found to be inversely related, suggesting a strong synchrony between maximal aerobic capacity and metabolic cost of exercise.

A Comparative Pharmacokinetics Study of the Anti-Parkinsonian Drug Pramipexole.

PubMed

Putri, Ratih S I; Setiawati, Effi; Aziswan, Syifa A; Ong, Fenny; Tjandrawinata, Raymond R; Susanto, Liana W

2016-11-18

The present study aimed to compare pharmacokinetic parameters of two pramipexole 0.25 mg formulations in order to show bioequivalence. The study was conducted in a randomized, open-label, two-period, two-sequence, and crossover design, involving 23 healthy volunteers. One of the 0.25 mg formulations of pramipexole evaluated in the study was manufactured by PT Dexa Medica, Palembang, Indonesia, the other, used as the reference, by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany. All eligible subjects were required to fast before each drug administration period, which was separated by a one-week washout period. Pramipexole concentrations in plasma were assayed using a validated ultra performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) detector. The evaluated pharmacokinetic parameters included the area under the plasma concentration curve from time zero to the last observed measurable concentration (AUC 0-t ), the area under the plasma concentration curve extrapolated to infinite time (AUC 0-∞ ), the maximum plasma concentration (C max ), the time to reach C max (t max ), and the plasma concentration half-life (t 1/2 ). To evaluate the bioequivalence of those two pramipexole formulations, 90% confidence intervals (CIs) for geometric mean ratios of both formulations were calculated for AUC and C max parameters, while t max and t 1/2 differences were analyzed on the non-transformed data using Wilcoxon matched-pairs and a Student's paired t -test, respectively. The 90% CIs for the geometric mean ratios of the two pramipexole formulations were 95.89% (90.73%-101.34%), 95.53% (89.75%-101.68%), and 92.11% (84.35%-100.58%) for AUC 0-t , AUC 0-∞ , and C max , respectively. There were no statistically significant differences for t max and t 1/2 between the two pramipexole formulations. It is concluded that two pramipexole formulations in this study were bioequivalent.

Field Incidence of Mycotoxins in Commercial Popcorn and Potential Environmental Influences

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Insect ear damage and mycotoxin levels were monitored in several commercial popcorn fields in Central Illinois over a four-year period. Aflatoxin was rare, but fumonisin and deoxynivalenol (DON) were commonly encountered each year and occurred at mean levels in fields up to 1.7 ppm (sample max 2.77...

Evolutionarily stable and convergent stable strategies in reaction-diffusion models for conditional dispersal.

PubMed

Lam, King-Yeung; Lou, Yuan

2014-02-01

We consider a mathematical model of two competing species for the evolution of conditional dispersal in a spatially varying, but temporally constant environment. Two species are different only in their dispersal strategies, which are a combination of random dispersal and biased movement upward along the resource gradient. In the absence of biased movement or advection, Hastings showed that the mutant can invade when rare if and only if it has smaller random dispersal rate than the resident. When there is a small amount of biased movement or advection, we show that there is a positive random dispersal rate that is both locally evolutionarily stable and convergent stable. Our analysis of the model suggests that a balanced combination of random and biased movement might be a better habitat selection strategy for populations.

Children and adults exposed to electromagnetic fields at the ICNIRP reference levels: theoretical assessment of the induced peak temperature increase.

PubMed

Bakker, J F; Paulides, M M; Neufeld, E; Christ, A; Kuster, N; van Rhoon, G C

2011-08-07

To avoid potentially adverse health effects of electromagnetic fields (EMF), the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) has defined EMF reference levels. Restrictions on induced whole-body-averaged specific absorption rate (SAR(wb)) are provided to keep the whole-body temperature increase (T(body, incr)) under 1 °C during 30 min. Additional restrictions on the peak 10 g spatial-averaged SAR (SAR(10g)) are provided to prevent excessive localized tissue heating. The objective of this study is to assess the localized peak temperature increase (T(incr, max)) in children upon exposure at the reference levels. Finite-difference time-domain modeling was used to calculate T(incr, max) in six children and two adults exposed to orthogonal plane-wave configurations. We performed a sensitivity study and Monte Carlo analysis to assess the uncertainty of the results. Considering the uncertainties in the model parameters, we found that a peak temperature increase as high as 1 °C can occur for worst-case scenarios at the ICNIRP reference levels. Since the guidelines are deduced from temperature increase, we used T(incr, max) as being a better metric to prevent excessive localized tissue heating instead of localized peak SAR. However, we note that the exposure time should also be considered in future guidelines. Hence, we advise defining limits on T(incr, max) for specified durations of exposure.

Convective instability in a porous enclosure with a horizontal conducting baffle

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, F.; Wang, C.Y.

1993-08-01

The study of heat transfer in a fluid-saturated porous medium is essential in a variety of practical situations, including thermal insulation design and geothermal energy utilization. The present paper studies the convective instability in a two-dimensional porous enclosure with a horizontal baffle protruding from one of the side walls. The vertical side walls are insulated, while the top and bottom surfaces are maintained at lower and higher constant temperatures, respectively. The present work considers a baffle of high conductivity. We assume the baffle temperature can be considered constant throughout. We ask, for a given enclosure aspect ratio, is the additionmore » of another physical constraint (such as lengthening a baffle) always stabilizing Is there an optimum baffle location and length such that the critical Rayleigh number is maximized In summary, several concluding remarks can be drawn in the following: (1) Other dimensions being same, a centered baffle always results in a more stable state than an off-centered baffle. (2) A full-length baffle, i.e., [beta]/[sigma] = 1, does not necessarily lead to greater stability. Instead, the value of ([beta]/[sigma])[sub max] is usually less than unity. For a centered baffle, the maximum R[sup c] occurs for [beta]/[sigma] [ge] ([beta]/[sigma])[sub max]; while for an off-centered baffle, the maximum R[sup c] occurs at ([beta]/[sigma])[sub max]. (3) The value of ([beta]/[sigma])[sub max] increases with [sigma]. 6 refs., 4 figs., 1 tab.« less

Collective iteration behavior for online social networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Jian-Guo; Li, Ren-De; Guo, Qiang; Zhang, Yi-Cheng

2018-06-01

Understanding the patterns of collective behavior in online social network (OSNs) is critical to expanding the knowledge of human behavior and tie relationship. In this paper, we investigate a specific pattern called social signature in Facebook and Wiki users' online communication behaviors, capturing the distribution of frequency of interactions between different alters over time in the ego network. The empirical results show that there are robust social signatures of interactions no matter how friends change over time, which indicates that a stable commutation pattern exists in online communication. By comparing a random null model, we find the that commutation pattern is heterogeneous between ego and alters. Furthermore, in order to regenerate the pattern of the social signature, we present a preferential interaction model, which assumes that new users intend to look for the old users with strong ties while old users have tendency to interact with new friends. The experimental results show that the presented model can reproduce the heterogeneity of social signature by adjusting 2 parameters, the number of communicating targets m and the max number of interactions n, for Facebook users, m = n = 5, for Wiki users, m = 2 and n = 8. This work helps in deeply understanding the regularity of social signature.

Conditional probability of rainfall extremes across multiple durations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Le, Phuong Dong; Leonard, Michael; Westra, Seth

2017-04-01

The conditional probability that extreme rainfall will occur at one location given that it is occurring at another location is critical in engineering design and management circumstances including planning of evacuation routes and the sitting of emergency infrastructure. A challenge with this conditional simulation is that in many situations the interest is not so much the conditional distributions of rainfall of the same duration at two locations, but rather the conditional distribution of flooding in two neighbouring catchments, which may be influenced by rainfall of different critical durations. To deal with this challenge, a model that can consider both spatial and duration dependence of extremes is required. The aim of this research is to develop a model that can take account both spatial dependence and duration dependence into the dependence structure of extreme rainfalls. To achieve this aim, this study is a first attempt at combining extreme rainfall for multiple durations within a spatial extreme model framework based on max-stable process theory. Max-stable processes provide a general framework for modelling multivariate extremes with spatial dependence for just a single duration extreme rainfall. To achieve dependence across multiple timescales, this study proposes a new approach that includes addition elements representing duration dependence of extremes to the covariance matrix of max-stable model. To improve the efficiency of calculation, a re-parameterization proposed by Koutsoyiannis et al. (1998) is used to reduce the number of parameters necessary to be estimated. This re-parameterization enables the GEV parameters to be represented as a function of timescale. A stepwise framework has been adopted to achieve the overall aims of this research. Firstly, the re-parameterization is used to define a new set of common parameters for marginal distribution across multiple durations. Secondly, spatial interpolation of the new parameter set is used to estimate marginal parameters across the full spatial domain. Finally, spatial interpolation result is used as initial condition to estimate dependence parameters via a likelihood function of max-stable model for multiple durations. The Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment near Sydney in Australia was selected as case study for this research. This catchment has 25 sub-daily rain gauges with the minimum record length of 24 years over a region of 300 km × 300 km area. The re-parameterization was applied for each station for durations from 1 hour to 24 hours and then is evaluated by comparing with the at-site fitted GEV. The evaluation showed that the average R2 for all station is around 0.80 with the range from 0.26 to 1.0. The output of re-parameterization then was used to construct the spatial surface based on covariates including longitude, latitude, and elevation. The dependence model showed good agreements between empirical extremal coefficient and theoretical extremal coefficient for multiple durations. For the overall model, a leave-one-out cross-validation for all stations showed it works well for 20 out of 25 stations. The potential application of this model framework was illustrated through a conditional map of return period and return level across multiple durations, both of which are important for engineering design and management.

Comparison of the Pharmacokinetics of Droxidopa After Dosing in the Fed Versus Fasted State and with 3-Times-Daily Dosing in Healthy Elderly Subjects.

PubMed

Chen, Jack J; Hewitt, L Arthur

2018-03-01

Droxidopa is an oral prodrug of norepinephrine approved for the treatment of symptomatic neurogenic orthostatic hypotension. This two-part, randomized, crossover study evaluated the 24-h pharmacokinetic profile of droxidopa in 24 healthy elderly subjects. Noncompartmental analysis was used to calculate the area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC), maximum plasma concentration (C max ), time of C max (t max ), and elimination half-life (t ½e ) of droxidopa and metabolites. Droxidopa was administered in the fed (high-fat/high-calorie meal) or fasted state either as a single 300-mg dose (three 100-mg capsules) or 3 times/day (TID) (three 100-mg capsules) at 4-h intervals. Administration of a single droxidopa dose in the fed versus fasted state decreased mean C max (2057 vs 3160 ng/mL) and mean AUC (10,927 vs 13,857 h × ng/mL) and increased median t max twofold (4.00 vs 2.00 h). Differences between the fed and fasted state for mean t ½e (2.58 vs 2.68 h) were not observed. Fed versus fasted geometric mean ratios for C max and AUC were 66% [90% confidence interval (CI) 60.7-71.7] and 80% (90% CI 72.6-88.1), respectively. With TID dosing, similar values for C max were observed after each dose (range 2789-3389 ng/mL) with no return to baseline between doses. Norepinephrine C max was 895 pg/mL following dose 1, with no further increases upon subsequent doses; norepinephrine levels remained above baseline for 12-16 h after dose 1. Absorption of a single dose of droxidopa is slowed after a high-fat/high-calorie meal; for consistent effect, administer droxidopa in the same manner (with or without food). Pharmacokinetic parameters of droxidopa are similar after single and TID dosing. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01149629.

Red wine-cisapride interaction: comparison with grapefruit juice.

PubMed

Offman, E M; Freeman, D J; Dresser, G K; Munoz, C; Bend, J R; Bailey, D G

2001-07-01

Our objective was to compare the interactions of red wine and grapefruit juice with cisapride. The oral pharmacokinetics of cisapride, its norcisapride metabolite, and electrocardiographic QTc interval were determined over a 24-hour period after administration of cisapride 10 mg with 250 mL grapefruit juice, red wine (cabernet sauvignon), or water in a randomized 3-way crossover study in 12 healthy men. The cisapride area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) and the maximum plasma drug concentration after single-dose administration (C(max)) with grapefruit juice were 151% (P <.01) and 168% (P <.001), respectively, of those with water. The increase in cisapride AUC and C(max) was variable among individuals; however, cisapride AUC and C(max) were enhanced by the same proportion. The time to reach maximum concentration after drug administration (t(max)) and the apparent elimination half-life (t((1/2)) for cisapride and the pharmacokinetics of norcisapride were not altered. Norcisapride/cisapride ratios were reduced. Cisapride AUC and C(max) with red wine were 115% (difference not statistically significant) and 107% (difference not statistically significant), respectively, of those with water. The cisapride t(max) was slightly longer. Cisapride t((1/2)) and norcisapride pharmacokinetics were not different. The norcisapride/cisapride ratio at cisapride C(max) was lower. One subject had a doubling in cisapride AUC and C(max) and a decrease in norcisapride/cisapride ratios with red wine and also had the largest interaction with grapefruit juice. QTc interval was unchanged in all treatment groups and individuals. A single glass of grapefruit juice produced an individual-dependent variable increase in the systemic availability of cisapride by inhibition of intestinal cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) activity. The identical volume of red wine caused only minor changes in cisapride pharmacokinetics despite some inhibition of CYP3A4 in most individuals. However, even this amount of red wine may cause a marked interaction similar to that for grapefruit juice in individuals with a preexisting high intestinal CYP3A4 content.

[Secondary Full Title: Effects of high intensity interval training in plain and uphill regarding physical performance].

PubMed

Marterer, Natalie; Menz, Verena; Burtscher, Martin

2018-06-01

 As the number of HIITs is increasing in competitive and non-competitive sports, the risk of injuries and overload is increasing. There are no scientific data to support specific recommendations in regard to intensity, duration, number of intervals and gradient for HIIT that result in improved muscular parameters in athletes. Therefore the aim of this study was to compare HIIT in plain and uphill exercise, with respect to exercise tolerance and improvements in performance (VO 2max and 800 m running time in the plain and uphill).  17 well-trained sport students (10 females, 7 males; Ø VO 2max : 53.7 ml/min/kg) were randomly assigned to the plain group (plain; GE) (n = 8) or the uphill group (hill, GB) (n = 9). In the four weeks of training, all subjects completed 14 HIIT sessions. Each session consisted of 8 × 2 min running at 90 - 95 % of the maximal heart rate (HR max ), separated by 2 min recovery periods (work/rest ratio: 1:1). Before the intervention phase, subjects performed treadmill spirometry, a 800 m field test in the plain, as well as an 800 m uphill field test to determine baseline performance. One week after the intervention period, all subjects completed a retest of all measurements and tests. After the intervention, all subjects completed a questionnaire by giving their level of perceived exertion during training, using the BORG scale.  In GE, three subjects dropped out of the study because of overtraining. In GB, two subjects did not complete the study because of time constraints. The evaluation of the perceived exertion of the training in flat terrain showed a trend (p = 0.08; t = - 1.96) towards being perceived as more exhausting then in hilly terrain. A four week HIIT showed significant improvements in VO 2max by 5.2 % (p = 0.02; t = - 2.76), and a reduction in the running time in the plain by 4.6 % (p = 0.01; t = 3.48) and uphill by 6.3 % (p = 0.02; t = 2.77). No significant group effect was detected.  In this study, the application of HIIT leads to significant improvements in the performance of well-trained athletes. There is no evidence that the mode of training influenced the running improvements. However, uphill training tends to be better tolerated by the athletes. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Magnetic properties and structural characterization of layered (Cr0.5Mn0.5)2AuC synthesized by thermally induced substitutional reaction in (Cr0.5Mn0.5)2GaC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lai, Chung-Chuan; Tao, Quanzheng; Fashandi, Hossein; Wiedwald, Ulf; Salikhov, Ruslan; Farle, Michael; Petruhins, Andrejs; Lu, Jun; Hultman, Lars; Eklund, Per; Rosen, Johanna

2018-02-01

The magnetic properties of the new phase (Cr0.5Mn0.5)2AuC are compared to the known MAX-phase (Cr0.5Mn0.5)2GaC, where the former was synthesized by thermally induced substitution reaction of Au for Ga in (Cr0.5Mn0.5)2GaC. The reaction introduced a lattice expansion of ˜3% along the c-axis, an enhancement of the coercive field from 30 mT to 140 mT, and a reduction of the Curie temperature and the saturation magnetization. Still, (Cr0.5Mn0.5)2AuC displays similar features in the magnetic field- and temperature-dependent magnetization curves as previously reported magnetic MAX phases, e.g., (Cr0.5Mn0.5)2GaC and (Mo0.5Mn0.5)2GaC. The work suggests a pathway for tuning the magnetic properties of MAX phases.

Aerobic power and field test results of amateur 15-a-side rugby union players.

PubMed

Sant'anna, Ricardo T; de Souza Castro, Flávio A

2017-12-01

The aim of the present study was to verify whether it is possible to predict aerobic power in amateur 15-a-side rugby union players through the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1 (Yo-Yo IRT1) and the 5-meter Multiple Shuttle Test (5-m MST). Forty-two amateur players - 22 forwards and 20 backs - were evaluated in three phases: 1) maximum treadmill test in the laboratory; 2) field test set by a drawing in the first phase; and 3) second field test. Descriptive, comparison, correlation, regression and level of agreement analyses were performed. Backs, when compared to forwards, showed a higher VO2max (61.7±15 mL/kg/min and 51.6±10.1 mL/kg/min, respectively), Yo-Yo IRT1 final level (16.4±0.8 and 14.9±0.9, respectively) and Yo-Yo IRT1 total distance (1283.3±312.5 m and 792±277.6 m, respectively), and a higher final distance in the 5-m MST (686.8±36.6 and 642.9±46.5, respectively). Significant correlations were found between the result and the total distance on the Yo-Yo IRT1 and the VO2max (r=0.425 and r=0.459, respectively). Using the total distance covered in the Yo-Yo IRT1, the VO2max of amateur 15-a-side rugby union players can be estimated through the equation VO2max = 0.016 × (DIST Yo‑Yo) + 40.578. Yo-Yo IRT1 is most useful when the objective is to evaluate the aerobic power of amateur RU players in comparison with the 5-m MST.

Cortical Activation Patterns Evoked by Temporally Asymmetric Sounds and Their Modulation by Learning

PubMed Central

Horikawa, Junsei

2017-01-01

When complex sounds are reversed in time, the original and reversed versions are perceived differently in spectral and temporal dimensions despite their identical duration and long-term spectrum-power profiles. Spatiotemporal activation patterns evoked by temporally asymmetric sound pairs demonstrate how the temporal envelope determines the readout of the spectrum. We examined the patterns of activation evoked by a temporally asymmetric sound pair in the primary auditory field (AI) of anesthetized guinea pigs and determined how discrimination training modified these patterns. Optical imaging using a voltage-sensitive dye revealed that a forward ramped-down natural sound (F) consistently evoked much stronger responses than its time-reversed, ramped-up counterpart (revF). The spatiotemporal maximum peak (maxP) of F-evoked activation was always greater than that of revF-evoked activation, and these maxPs were significantly separated within the AI. Although discrimination training did not affect the absolute magnitude of these maxPs, the revF-to-F ratio of the activation peaks calculated at the location where hemispheres were maximally activated (i.e., F-evoked maxP) was significantly smaller in the trained group. The F-evoked activation propagated across the AI along the temporal axis to the ventroanterior belt field (VA), with the local activation peak within the VA being significantly larger in the trained than in the naïve group. These results suggest that the innate network is more responsive to natural sounds of ramped-down envelopes than their time-reversed, unnatural sounds. The VA belt field activation might play an important role in emotional learning of sounds through its connections with amygdala. PMID:28451640

A comparison of buffered lidocaine versus ELA-Max before peripheral intravenous catheter insertions in children.

PubMed

Luhmann, Janet; Hurt, Sarah; Shootman, Mario; Kennedy, Robert

2004-03-01

Peripheral intravenous catheter (PIV) insertion is a common, painful experience for many children in the pediatric emergency department. Although local anesthetics such as injected buffered lidocaine have been shown to be effective at reducing pain and anxiety associated with PIV insertion, they are not routinely used. ELA-Max, a topical local anesthetic, has the advantage of needle-free administration but has not been compared with buffered lidocaine for PIV insertion. To compare the reduction of pain and anxiety during PIV insertion provided by subcutaneous buffered 1% lidocaine or topical ELA-Max in children. A randomized trial in children 4 to 17 years old undergoing PIV insertion with 22-gauge catheters was conducted. Children received either buffered lidocaine or ELA-Max. Buffered lidocaine was administered by using 30-gauge needles to inject 0.1 to 0.2 mL subcutaneously just before PIV insertion. ELA-Max was applied to the skin and occluded with Tegaderm 30 minutes before PIV insertion. Self-reported Visual Analog Scale (VAS) questionnaires (rating on a scale of 1-10; 1 = no pain, anxiety) were completed by patients and their parents before PIV insertion to assess baseline perceptions about pain and anxiety associated with PIV insertion and immediately after PIV insertion to assess pain and anxiety associated with the experience. After PIV insertion, the nurse who inserted the PIV also completed a VAS questionnaire assessing technical difficulty and satisfaction with the local anesthesia. A blinded observer also completed a VAS questionnaire to assess pain and anxiety associated with the PIV insertion. Data were analyzed by using chi2 and t tests. Sixty-nine subjects were enrolled, and questionnaires were competed by all (mean age: 12.1 +/- 4.5 years; 61% female). There were no differences for buffered lidocaine and ELA-Max groups in age, gender, race, prior IV experience, or baseline pain and anxiety. There were no significant differences between buffered lidocaine and ELA-Max in mean pain and anxiety after PIV insertion by patient, parent, and blinded observer ratings. Nurse ratings of technical difficulty, number of PIV-insertion attempts, and satisfaction with local anesthesia also were not significantly different for buffered lidocaine and ELA-Max groups. ELA-Max provided similar pain and anxiety reduction during PIV insertion in children compared with injected buffered lidocaine. Technical difficulty and satisfaction by nurses inserting the PIV also were similar.

[Pharmacokinetics and relative bioavailability of THC and THC-solid dispersion orally to mice at single dose].

PubMed

Liao, Li; Hua, Hua; Zhao, Jun-Ning; Luo, Heng; Yang, An-Dong

2014-03-01

To establish a fast sensitive, reproducible LC-MS/MS method to study pharmacokinetic properties of THC, and compare relative bioavailability of THC and its solid dispersion in mice. 200 mice were divided randomly into two groups, and administered orally with THC and THC-solid dispersion after fasting (calculate on THC:400 mg x kg(-1)), used HPLC-MS/MS method to determine the THC concentration of each period at the following times: baseline ( predose ), 15, 30, 45 min, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 6, 24 h after dosing. Calculating the pharmacokinetic parameters according to the C-t curv, and then use the Phoenix WinNonlin software for data analysis. The calibration curves were linear over the range 9.06-972 microg x L(-1) for THC (R2 = 0.999). The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.7 microg x L(-1), respectively. The average extraction recoveries for THC was above 75%, The methodology recoveries were between 79% and 108%. The intra-day and inter-day RSD were less than 13%, the stability test showed that the plasma samples was stable under different conditions (RSD < 15%). The precision, accuracy, recovery and applicability were found to be adequate for pharmacokinetic studies. Pharmacokinetic parameters of THC and THC-solid dispersion orally to mice shows as fllows: T(max), were 60 and 15 min, AUC(0-t) were 44 500.43 and 57 497.81 mg x L(-1) x min, AUC(0-infinity) were 51 226.00 and 68 031.48 mg x L(-1) x min, MRT(0-infinity) were 596.915 6, 661.747 7 min, CL(z)/F were 0.007 809 and 0.005 88 L x min(-1) x kg(-1). Compared with THC, the MRT and t1/2 of the THC-solid dispersion were all slightly extended, the t(max) was significantly reduced, AUC(0-24 h), AUC(0-infinity) and C(max) were all significantly higher, the relative bioavailability of THC-solid dispersion is 1.34 times of THC. The results of the experiment shows that the precision, accuracy, recovery and applicability were found to be adequate for the pharmacokinetic studies. After oral administration to mice, the relative bioavailability of THC-solid dispersion show significant improvement compared to THC.

Open-label, randomized, single-dose, crossover study to evaluate the pharmacokinetics and safety differences between two docetaxel products, CKD-810 and Taxotere injection, in patients with advanced solid cancer.

PubMed

Cho, Eun Kyung; Park, Ji-Young; Lee, Kyung Hee; Song, Hong Suk; Min, Young Joo; Kim, Yeul Hong; Kang, Jin-Hyoung

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to compare CKD-810 (test docetaxel) with Taxotere(®) (reference docetaxel) in terms of pharmacokinetics and safety for patients with advanced or metastatic carcinoma. A randomized, open-label, two-way crossover study was conducted in eligible patients. Patients received with reference or test drugs of 75 mg/m(2) docetaxel by intravenous infusion for 60 min in the first period and the alternative drug in the second period with a washout of 3 weeks. Plasma concentrations of docetaxel were determined by validated high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry detection. Pharmacokinetic parameters, including the maximum plasma concentration (C(max)) and the area under the concentration-time curve (AUC), were determined by non-compartmental analysis. A total of 44 patients were included in the study, 21 patients received test drug and 23 received reference drug for the first cycle. The C(max) of docetaxel was 2,658.77 ng/mL for test drug and 2,827.60 ng/mL for reference drug, and two drugs showed no difference with a statistical significance. Time to reach C(max) (T(max)) of CKD-810 (0.94 h) versus reference docetaxel (0.97 h) was also not significantly different. Other pharmacokinetic parameters including the plasma AUC, elimination half-life, and total body clearance exhibited similar values without a significant difference. The most common grade 3 or 4 toxicity was neutropenia (CKD-810 19.5 or 29.3 %; reference docetaxel 14.6 or 41.5 %). Febrile neutropenia was experienced by only one patient in each group. Two patients died of progression of disease during the study. Docetaxel anhydrous CKD-810 use with patients suffering advanced or metastatic solid malignancies was equivalent to reference docetaxel in terms of pharmacokinetic parameters and safety profile. Additionally, the test and reference drug met the regulatory criteria for pharmacokinetic equivalence.

Pharmacokinetic comparison using two tablets of an evogliptin/metformin XR 2.5/500 mg fixed dose combination vs. 1 tablet each of evogliptin 5 mg and metformin XR 1,000 mg
.

PubMed

Yoon, Sumin; Rhee, Su-Jin; Park, Sang-In; Yoon, Seo Hyun; Cho, Joo-Youn; Jang, In-Jin; Lee, SeungHwan; Yu, Kyung-Sang

2017-06-01

The aim of this study was to compare the pharmacokinetic (PK) characteristics of evogliptin and metformin following the administration of 2 evogliptin/metformin extended-release (XR) 2.5/500 mg FDC tablets with the coadministration of separate evogliptin 5-mg and metformin XR 1,000-mg tablets (separate formulations). A randomized, two-period, two-sequence crossover study was conducted. Subjects were randomly assigned to receive 2 FDC tablets or the individual tablets, followed by a 14-day washout period and the administration of the alternate treatment. Blood samples were collected predose and up to 72 hours postdose for each period. PK parameters including C_max and AUC_last were calculated. The geometric mean ratios (GMRs) and the 90% confidence intervals (CIs) between FDC and the separate formulations were calculated for the C_max and AUC_last of evogliptin and metformin. 33 subjects completed the study. The GMR (90% CI) values of C_max and AUC_last for evogliptin were 1.011 (0.959 - 1.066) and 1.010 (0.977 - 1.043), respectively. The GMR (90% CI) values of C_max and AUC_last for metformin were 0.892 (0.827 - 0.963) and 0.893 (0.841 - 0.947), respectively. There was no significant difference between the FDC and separate formulations regarding the occurrence of adverse events. All drug-related adverse events were considered to be mild and resolved without any treatment. Two FDC tablets of evogliptin/metformin XR 2.5/500 mg showed a similar PK profile to the separate formulations of evogliptin 5 mg and metformin XR 1,000 mg. All of the 90% CIs of GMR satisfied the regulatory bioequivalence criteria of 0.800 - 1.250.
.

Effects of Strength Training on Postpubertal Adolescent Distance Runners.

PubMed

Blagrove, Richard C; Howe, Louis P; Cushion, Emily J; Spence, Adam; Howatson, Glyn; Pedlar, Charles R; Hayes, Philip R

2018-06-01

Strength training activities have consistently been shown to improve running economy (RE) and neuromuscular characteristics, such as force-producing ability and maximal speed, in adult distance runners. However, the effects on adolescent (<18 yr) runners remains elusive. This randomized control trial aimed to examine the effect of strength training on several important physiological and neuromuscular qualities associated with distance running performance. Participants (n = 25, 13 female, 17.2 ± 1.2 yr) were paired according to their sex and RE and randomly assigned to a 10-wk strength training group (STG) or a control group who continued their regular training. The STG performed twice weekly sessions of plyometric, sprint, and resistance training in addition to their normal running. Outcome measures included body mass, maximal oxygen uptake (V˙O2max), speed at V˙O2max, RE (quantified as energy cost), speed at fixed blood lactate concentrations, 20-m sprint, and maximal voluntary contraction during an isometric quarter-squat. Eighteen participants (STG: n = 9, 16.1 ± 1.1 yr; control group: n = 9, 17.6 ± 1.2 yr) completed the study. The STG displayed small improvements (3.2%-3.7%; effect size (ES), 0.31-0.51) in RE that were inferred as "possibly beneficial" for an average of three submaximal speeds. Trivial or small changes were observed for body composition variables, V˙O2max and speed at V˙O2max; however, the training period provided likely benefits to speed at fixed blood lactate concentrations in both groups. Strength training elicited a very likely benefit and a possible benefit to sprint time (ES, 0.32) and maximal voluntary contraction (ES, 0.86), respectively. Ten weeks of strength training added to the program of a postpubertal distance runner was highly likely to improve maximal speed and enhances RE by a small extent, without deleterious effects on body composition or other aerobic parameters.

Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characteristics of a new pediatric formulation of artemether-lumefantrine in African children with uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria.

PubMed

Djimdé, Abdoulaye A; Tekete, Mamadou; Abdulla, Salim; Lyimo, John; Bassat, Quique; Mandomando, Inacio; Lefèvre, Gilbert; Borrmann, Steffen

2011-09-01

The pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of a new pediatric formulation of artemether-lumefantrine, dispersible tablet, were determined within the context of a multicenter, randomized, parallel-group study. In an exploratory approach, we compared a new pediatric formulation with the tablet formulation administered crushed in the treatment of African children with uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Patients were randomized to 3 different dosing groups (weights of 5 to <15 kg, 15 and <25 kg, and 25 to <35 kg). Treatment was administered twice daily over 3 days. Plasma concentrations of artemether and its active metabolite, dihydroartemisinin (DHA), were determined at 1 and 2 h after the first dose of dispersible (n = 91) and crushed (n = 93) tablets. A full pharmacokinetic profile of lumefantrine was reconstituted on the basis of 310 (dispersible tablet) and 315 (crushed tablet) plasma samples, collected at 6 different time points (1 sample per patient). Dispersible and crushed tablets showed similar artemether and DHA maximum concentrations in plasma (C(max)) for the different body weight groups, with overall means of 175 ± 168 and 190 ± 168 ng/ml, respectively, for artemether and 64.7 ± 58.1 and 63.7 ± 65.0 ng/ml, respectively, for DHA. For lumefantrine, the population C(max) were 6.3 μg/ml (dispersible tablet) and 7.7 μg/ml (crushed tablet), whereas the areas under the concentration-time curves from time zero to the time of the last quantifiable plasma concentration measured were 574 and 636 μg · h/ml, respectively. For both formulations, descriptive quintile analyses showed no apparent association between artemether/DHA C(max) and parasite clearance time or between the lumefantrine C(max) and the occurrence of adverse events or corrected QT interval changes. The results suggest that the dispersible tablet provides adequate systemic exposure to artemether, DHA, and lumefantrine in African children with uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria.

Hurlburt Field, Florida. Revised Uniform Summary of Surface Weather Observations (RUSSWO). Parts A-F.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-09-20

SURFACE WEATHER OBSERVATIONS 2 2 SEP W ISJRLSURT FLD FL MSC #747770 E 30 26 w o86 41 FLU ELEV 38 FT FRT PARTS A-F POR FROM HOURLY OBS: JAN 67 - DEC 70...amounts and extreme valuesl; C) Surface winds; (D) Ceiling versus Visibility; Sky Cover; ( E )-Psychrometric Summaries (daily maximum and minimum...for this station: PART A WEATHER CONDITIONS PART E DAILY MAX, MIN, & MEAN TEMP ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA EXTREME MAX & MIN TEMP PART I PRECIPITATION

Vortex-Core Reversal Dynamics: Towards Vortex Random Access Memory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Sang-Koog

2011-03-01

An energy-efficient, ultrahigh-density, ultrafast, and nonvolatile solid-state universal memory is a long-held dream in the field of information-storage technology. The magnetic random access memory (MRAM) along with a spin-transfer-torque switching mechanism is a strong candidate-means of realizing that dream, given its nonvolatility, infinite endurance, and fast random access. Magnetic vortices in patterned soft magnetic dots promise ground-breaking applications in information-storage devices, owing to the very stable twofold ground states of either their upward or downward core magnetization orientation and plausible core switching by in-plane alternating magnetic fields or spin-polarized currents. However, two technologically most important but very challenging issues --- low-power recording and reliable selection of each memory cell with already existing cross-point architectures --- have not yet been resolved for the basic operations in information storage, that is, writing (recording) and readout. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a magnetic vortex random access memory (VRAM) in the basic cross-point architecture. This unique VRAM offers reliable cell selection and low-power-consumption control of switching of out-of-plane core magnetizations using specially designed rotating magnetic fields generated by two orthogonal and unipolar Gaussian-pulse currents along with optimized pulse width and time delay. Our achievement of a new device based on a new material, that is, a medium composed of patterned vortex-state disks, together with the new physics on ultrafast vortex-core switching dynamics, can stimulate further fruitful research on MRAMs that are based on vortex-state dot arrays.

Highly polarized light from stable ordered magnetic fields in GRB 120308A.

PubMed

Mundell, C G; Kopač, D; Arnold, D M; Steele, I A; Gomboc, A; Kobayashi, S; Harrison, R M; Smith, R J; Guidorzi, C; Virgili, F J; Melandri, A; Japelj, J

2013-12-05

After the initial burst of γ-rays that defines a γ-ray burst (GRB), expanding ejecta collide with the circumburst medium and begin to decelerate at the onset of the afterglow, during which a forward shock travels outwards and a reverse shock propagates backwards into the oncoming collimated flow, or 'jet'. Light from the reverse shock should be highly polarized if the jet's magnetic field is globally ordered and advected from the central engine, with a position angle that is predicted to remain stable in magnetized baryonic jet models or vary randomly with time if the field is produced locally by plasma or magnetohydrodynamic instabilities. Degrees of linear polarization of P ≈ 10 per cent in the optical band have previously been detected in the early afterglow, but the lack of temporal measurements prevented definitive tests of competing jet models. Hours to days after the γ-ray burst, polarization levels are low (P < 4 per cent), when emission from the shocked ambient medium dominates. Here we report the detection of P =28(+4)(-4) per cent in the immediate afterglow of Swift γ-ray burst GRB 120308A, four minutes after its discovery in the γ-ray band, decreasing to P = 16(+5)(-4) per cent over the subsequent ten minutes. The polarization position angle remains stable, changing by no more than 15 degrees over this time, with a possible trend suggesting gradual rotation and ruling out plasma or magnetohydrodynamic instabilities. Instead, the polarization properties show that GRBs contain magnetized baryonic jets with large-scale uniform fields that can survive long after the initial explosion.

Characteristics of solar-like oscillations in red giants observed in the CoRoT exoplanet field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hekker, S.; Kallinger, T.; Baudin, F.; De Ridder, J.; Barban, C.; Carrier, F.; Hatzes, A. P.; Weiss, W. W.; Baglin, A.

2009-10-01

Context: Observations during the first long run (~150 days) in the exo-planet field of CoRoT increase the number of G-K giant stars for which solar-like oscillations are observed by a factor of 100. This opens the possibility to study the characteristics of their oscillations in a statistical sense. Aims: We aim to understand the statistical distribution of the frequencies of maximum oscillation power (ν_max) in red giants and to search for a possible correlation between ν_max and the large separation (Δ ν). Methods: Red giants with detectable solar-like oscillations are identified using both semi-automatic and manual procedures. For these stars, we determine ν_max as the centre of a Gaussian fit to the oscillation power excess. For the determination of Δ ν, we use the autocorrelation of the Fourier spectra, the comb response function and the power spectrum of the power spectrum. Results: The resulting ν_max distribution shows a pronounced peak between 20-40 μHz. For about half of the stars we obtain Δ ν with at least two methods. The correlation between ν_max and Δ ν follows the same scaling relation as inferred for solar-like stars. Conclusions: The shape of the ν_max distribution can partly be explained by granulation at low frequencies and by white noise at high frequencies, but the population density of the observed stars turns out to be also an important factor. From the fact that the correlation between Δ ν and ν_max for red giants follows the same scaling relation as obtained for sun-like stars, we conclude that the sound travel time over the pressure scale height of the atmosphere scales with the sound travel time through the whole star irrespective of evolution. The fraction of stars for which we determine Δ ν does not correlate with ν_max in the investigated frequency range, which confirms theoretical predictions. The CoRoT space mission which was developed and is operated by the French space agency CNES, with participation of ESA's RSSD and Science Programmes, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, and Spain. Light curves can be retrieved from the CoRoT archive: http://idoc-corot.ias.u-psud.fr Table 1 is only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/506/465

Comparative bioavailability and tolerability of a single 20-mg dose of two fluoxetine hydrochloride dispersible tablet formulations in fasting, healthy Chinese male volunteers: an open-label, randomized-sequence, two-period crossover study.

PubMed

Shi, Shaojun; Liu, Yani; Wu, Jianhong; Li, Zhongfang; Zhao, Yan; Zhong, Dafang; Zeng, Fandian

2010-10-01

The proprietary formulation of fluoxetine hydrochloride is an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor class. Pharmacokinetic studies investigating the bioequivalence of generic and branded formulations are needed to market generic fluoxetine in China. The aim of this study was to compare the bioavailability and tolerability of the proposed generic formulation with the established reference formulation of fluoxetine hydrochloride 20 mg in a fasting, healthy Chinese male population. This 10-week, open-label, randomized-sequence, single-dose, 2-period crossover study was conducted in healthy native Han Chinese male volunteers. Eligible subjects were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive a single 20-mg dose of the test or reference formulation, followed by a 35-day washout period and administration of the alternate formulation. Doses were administered after a 12-hour overnight fast. For analysis of pharmacokinetic properties (including C(max), T(max), AUC(0-t), AUC(0-∞), and t(½)), blood samples were obtained over a 672-hour period after dosing. Plasma concentrations of fluoxetine and its active metabolite, norfluoxetine, were analyzed using a validated LC-MS/MS method. The formulations were to be considered bioequivalent if the ln-transformed ratios (test/ reference) of C(max) and AUC were within the predetermined bioequivalence range of 80% to 125%, as established by the US Food and Drug Administration, and if the P values were <0.05 for the 90% CIs. Signs and symptoms of adverse effects of fluoxetine hydrochloride such as nausea, vomiting, insomnia, somnolence, anxiety, and nervousness, as well as any untoward effects, were collected using a daily written questionnaire and recorded by the study physicians. Tolerability was assessed using monitoring of vital signs, physical ex- amination, ECG, and routine blood and urine tests, along with blood biochemical tests, at the start as well as at the end of the study. Twenty-four subjects were enrolled and completed the study (mean [SD] age, 24.4 [2.3] years [range, 20-30 years]; weight, 63.6 [8.5] kg [range, 51.2-86.8 kg]; height, 1.72 [0.07] m [range, 1.57-1.91 m]). The AUC values for fluoxetine were not consistent with a normal distribution, reflecting the existence of 2 different populations (poor and extensive metabolizers). Data from the one poor metabolizer were excluded from the pharmacokinetics data summarized. In extensive metabolizers, the mean (SD) C(max) for fluoxetine with the test formulation was 11.786 (3.459) ng/mL and T(max) was 5.48 (2.06) hours. With the reference formulation, the corresponding values were 11.754 (3.292) ng/mL and 6.26 (5.77) hours, respectively. The t(½) values with the test and reference formulations were 30.86 (7.61) and 30.96 (6.91) hours, respectively. For norfluoxetine, mean C(max) with the test formulation was 14.177 (4.957) ng/mL and T(max) was 58.48 (31.67) hours; the corresponding values for the reference formulation were 13.828 (4.838) ng/mL and 57.91 (25.75) hours. The t(½) values with the test and reference formulations were 130.91 (42.04) and 128.79 (52.72) hours, respectively. For fluoxetine, the 90% CIs (in extensive metabolizers only) for the In-transformed C(max), AUC(0-168), and AUC(0-∞) were 92.0% to 108.4%, 95.7% to 110.3%, and 97.4% to 111.3%, respectively (all, P < 0.001). For norfluoxetine, the 90% CIs for the ln-transformed C(max), AUC(0-672), and AUC(0-∞) were 93.7% to 110.7%, 98.9% to 111.4%, and 98.8% to 110.9% (all, P < 0.001). No period or sequence effects were observed for any pharmacokinetic variable in the extensive metabolizers. No adverse events were reported by the volunteers or found with results of clinical laboratory testing. This single-dose study found that the test and reference formulations of fluoxetine hydro- chloride met the regulatory criteria for bioequivalence in these fasting, healthy Chinese male volunteers. Both formulations appeared to be well tolerated. Copyright © 2010 Excerpta Medica Inc. All rights reserved.

Use of the HR index to predict maximal oxygen uptake during different exercise protocols.

PubMed

Haller, Jeannie M; Fehling, Patricia C; Barr, David A; Storer, Thomas W; Cooper, Christopher B; Smith, Denise L

2013-10-01

This study examined the ability of the HRindex model to accurately predict maximal oxygen uptake ([Formula: see text]O2max) across a variety of incremental exercise protocols. Ten men completed five incremental protocols to volitional exhaustion. Protocols included three treadmill (Bruce, UCLA running, Wellness Fitness Initiative [WFI]), one cycle, and one field (shuttle) test. The HRindex prediction equation (METs = 6 × HRindex - 5, where HRindex = HRmax/HRrest) was used to generate estimates of energy expenditure, which were converted to body mass-specific estimates of [Formula: see text]O2max. Estimated [Formula: see text]O2max was compared with measured [Formula: see text]O2max. Across all protocols, the HRindex model significantly underestimated [Formula: see text]O2max by 5.1 mL·kg(-1)·min(-1) (95% CI: -7.4, -2.7) and the standard error of the estimate (SEE) was 6.7 mL·kg(-1)·min(-1). Accuracy of the model was protocol-dependent, with [Formula: see text]O2max significantly underestimated for the Bruce and WFI protocols but not the UCLA, Cycle, or Shuttle protocols. Although no significant differences in [Formula: see text]O2max estimates were identified for these three protocols, predictive accuracy among them was not high, with root mean squared errors and SEEs ranging from 7.6 to 10.3 mL·kg(-1)·min(-1) and from 4.5 to 8.0 mL·kg(-1)·min(-1), respectively. Correlations between measured and predicted [Formula: see text]O2max were between 0.27 and 0.53. Individual prediction errors indicated that prediction accuracy varied considerably within protocols and among participants. In conclusion, across various protocols the HRindex model significantly underestimated [Formula: see text]O2max in a group of aerobically fit young men. Estimates generated using the model did not differ from measured [Formula: see text]O2max for three of the five protocols studied; nevertheless, some individual prediction errors were large. The lack of precision among estimates may limit the utility of the HRindex model; however, further investigation to establish the model's predictive accuracy is warranted.

Updating the Skating Multistage Aerobic Test and Correction for V[Combining Dot Above]O2max Prediction Using a New Skating Economy Index in Elite Youth Ice Hockey Players.

PubMed

Allisse, Maxime; Bui, Hung Tien; Léger, Luc; Comtois, Alain-Steve; Leone, Mario

2018-05-07

Allisse, M, Bui, HT, Léger, L, Comtois, A-S, and Leone, M. Updating the skating multistage aerobic test and correction for V[Combining Dot Above]O2max prediction using a new skating economy index in elite youth ice hockey players. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2018-A number of field tests, including the skating multistage aerobic test (SMAT), have been developed to predict V[Combining Dot Above]O2max in ice hockey players. The SMAT, like most field tests, assumes that participants who reach a given stage have the same oxygen uptake, which is not usually true. Thus, the objectives of this research are to update the V[Combining Dot Above]O2 values during the SMAT using a portable breath-by-breath metabolic analyzer and to propose a simple index of skating economy to improve the prediction of oxygen uptake. Twenty-six elite hockey players (age 15.8 ± 1.3 years) participated in this study. The oxygen uptake was assessed using a portable metabolic analyzer (K4b) during an on-ice maximal shuttle skate test. To develop an index of skating economy called the skating stride index (SSI), the number of skating strides was compiled for each stage of the test. The SMAT enabled the prediction of the V[Combining Dot Above]O2max (ml·kg·min) from the maximal velocity (m·s) and the SSI (skating strides·kg) using the following regression equation: V[Combining Dot Above]O2max = (14.94 × maximal velocity) + (3.68 × SSI) - 24.98 (r = 0.95, SEE = 1.92). This research allowed for the update of the oxygen uptake values of the SMAT and proposed a simple measure of skating efficiency for a more accurate evaluation of V[Combining Dot Above]O2max in elite youth hockey players. By comparing the highest and lowest observed SSI scores in our sample, it was noted that the V[Combining Dot Above]O2 values can vary by up to 5 ml·kg·min. Our results suggest that skating economy should be included in the prediction of V[Combining Dot Above]O2max to improve prediction accuracy.

The Efficacy of Xylitol, Xylitol-Probiotic and Fluoride Dentifrices in Plaque Reduction and Gingival Inflammation in Children: A Randomised Controlled Clinical Trial.

PubMed

Arat Maden, Eda; Altun, Ceyhan; Açikel, Cengizhan

The present prospective, randomised, placebo-controlled, clinical trial was designed to evaluate the clinical effects of a commercially available dentifrice containing fluoride, xylitol or xylitol-probiotic on the decrease of plaque and gingival inflammation in children between 13 and 15 years of age. Forty-eight adolescents were randomly grouped into three groups of n = 16 each: study group A received xylitol (Xyliwhite) toothpaste; study group B received xylitol-probiotic (Periobiotic) toothpaste; and the control group C received fluoride (Colgate Max Fresh) toothpaste. The subjects were instructed to use the dentifrice determined and a modified Bass brushing technique twice a day for two minutes over a 6-week perioed. Clinical evaluation was performed using a gingival index and a plaque index at baseline and at the end of the 6-week period. From day 0 to 42, reductions in the plaque index were statistically significant in all groups, Colgate Max Fresh, PerioBiotic and Xyliwhite (p-values 0.001, 0.001 and 0.035, respectively), but reductions in the gingival index were statistically significant only in the Colgate Max Fresh and PerioBiotic groups (both with p = 0.001), not in the Xyliwhite group (p = 0.116). PerioBiotic toothpaste was found to be better than Xyliwhite and Colgate Max Fresh toothpastes at reducing plaque and gingival scores. However, statistically significant differences with PerioBiotic and Colgate Max Fresh toothpaste were not observed. It was concluded that PerioBiotic was an all-round dentifrice that produced a significant reduction in both gingivitis and plaque.

A Prospective Randomized, Double-Blind, Two-Period Crossover Pharmacokinetic Trial Comparing Green Coffee Bean Extract-A Botanically Sourced Caffeine-With a Synthetic USP Control.

PubMed

Morton, Kayce; Knight, Katelin; Kalman, Douglas; Hewlings, Susan

2018-04-16

Coffee is a primary dietary source of the chlorogenic acids (CGAs) of phenolic compounds. Coffee contains caffeine and other phytonutrients, including CGAs. Caffeine on its own has been well characterized and descried pharmacokinetically in the literature, less so for CGAs. The purpose of this double-blind crossover study was to determine the comparative pharmacokinetics of CGAs with caffeine (natural extract) with synthetic caffeine (US Pharmacopeia [USP] standard). Sixteen healthy male subjects were randomly assigned to take 1 dose of product 1, 60 mg of botanically sourced caffeine from 480 mg of green coffee bean extract, or product 2, 60 mg of synthetic USP caffeine, with 5 days between. Blood analysis was done to determine the levels of CGA compounds, more specifically 3-, 4-, and 5-caffeoylquinic acid (CQA), and serum caffeine. The natural caffeine extract exhibited mean peak concentrations (C max ) of 3-CQA (11.4 ng/mL), 4-CQA (6.84 ng/mL), and 5-CQA (7.20 ng/mL). The mean systemic 4-hour exposure (AUC 0-4 h ) was 3-CQA (27.3 ng·h/mL), 4-CQA (16.1 ng·h/mL), and 5-CQA (15.7 ng·h/mL). The median t max was 3-CQA (1.00 hour), 4-CQA (1.00 hour), and 5-CQA (1.50 hours). The t max of caffeine was 0.75 hours (natural extract) and 0.63 hours (synthetic caffeine). C max and AUC 0-4 h of serum caffeine were statistically equivalent between products. The geometric least-squares mean ratios (GMRs) of C max and AUC 0-4 h of caffeine were 97.77% (natural extract) and 98.33% (synthetic caffeine). It would appear that CGA compounds from the natural caffeine extract are bioavailable, and 3-CGA may be the compound most absorbed. In addition, caffeine sourced from natural extract versus synthetic were statistically similar for pharmacokinetic parameters. There were no adverse events or safety concerns. © 2018 The Authors. Clinical Pharmacology in Drug Development Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The American College of Clinical Pharmacology.

Permanganate ion oxidations. IX. Manganese intermediates (complexes) in the oxidation of 2,4(1H,3H)-pyrimidinediones.

PubMed

Freeman, F; Karchefski, E M

1976-10-04

Uniquely stable manganese intermediates (complexes) are formed from the permanganate ion oxidation of the 5,6-carbon-carbon double bond in several 2,4(1H,3H)-pyrimidinediones [uracil, (compound 7), 5-methyluracil (thymine, compound 5), and 6-methyluracil (compound 8)]. These manganese complexes, which represent some of the most stable intermediate manganese species observed thus far in the oxidation of carbon-carbon double bonds, show absorption maxima in the 285-296 nm region (epsilon max approximately 4500). The relative reactivities of 6-methyluracil: uracil: thymine are 1: 23 : 194 and the bimolecular oxidation process is characterized by relatively small deltaH++ values and large negative deltaS++ values.

A Simple Numerical Body Surface Mapping Parameter Signifies Successful Percutaneous Coronary Artery Intervention.

PubMed

Simonyi, Gábor; Kirschner, Róbert; Szűcs, Endre; Préda, István; Duray, Gábor; Medvegy, Nóra; Horvath, Bálint; Medvegy, Mihály

2016-03-01

In coronary artery disease (CAD), body surface potential mapping (BSPM) may reveal minor electrical potential changes appearing in the depolarization phase even if pathological changes are absent on the conventional 12-lead ECG. We hypothesized that a simple BSPM parameter, Max/Min signifies successful percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Ninety-two adult Caucasian patients with stable CAD and positive exercise test underwent coronary angiography. Seventy patients (age, 59 ± 8; 46 males) were revascularized by PCI (left anterior descending [LAD] in 38, right [RCA] in 17 and left circumflex [LCX] coronary artery in 15). Control groups contained 22 patients (age, 60 ± 8; 14 males) without intervention and 35 healthy subjects (age, 58 ± 2; 15 males). Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF, transthoracic echocardiography) and Max/Min BSPM parameter (63-lead Montreal system) were evaluated before and 4-40 days following coronary angiography. Max/Min was defined by the ratio of the highest maximum to the deepest minimum potential of all leads recorded by BSPM. Before PCI, Max/Min value of patients with LAD lesion (0.83 [0.74; 0.93]) was significantly lower while that with RCA lesion (1.63 [1.35; 1.99]) was significantly higher than that of healthy group (1.01 [0.970; 1.13]) (P < 0.05) and LVEF was significantly lower in LAD lesion (46.50% [43.00; 51.00]) than in the healthy group (55.00% [50.00; 58.75]) (P < 0.01). Max/Min value significantly increased from 0.83 [0.74; 0.93] to 0.92 [0.82; 0.99] (P < 0.01) following LAD PCI while significantly decreased from 1.63 [1.35; 1.98] to 1.35 [1.21; 1.43] (P < 0.01) post-RCA PCI. It did not vary significantly, however, either following LCX PCI or without intervention. LVEF significantly increased (from 46.50% [43.00; 51.00] to 49.00% [46.00; 51.00]) only after LAD PCI. Max/Min parameter is suitable to follow patients after LAD and RCA PCI. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Physiological and transcriptomic responses in the seed coat of field-grown soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) to abiotic stress

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Understanding how intensification of abiotic stress due to global climate change affects crop yields is important for continued agricultural productivity. Coupling genomic technologies with physiological crop responses in a dynamic field environment is an effective approach to dissect the mechanisms...

High colloidal stability of gold nanorods coated with a peptide-ethylene glycol: Analysis by cyanide-mediated etching and nanoparticle tracking analysis.

PubMed

Free, Paul; Conger, Gao; Siji, Wu; Zhang, Jing Bo; Fernig, David G

2016-10-01

The stability of gold nanorods was assessed following coating with various charged or uncharged ligands, mostly peptides. Highly stable monodispersed gold nanorods were obtained by coating CTAB-stabilized gold nanorods with a pentapeptide with C-terminal ethylene glycol units (peptide-EG). UV-vis spectroscopy of these nanorods suspended in saline solutions indicated no signs of aggregation, and they were easily purified using size-exclusion chromatography. A more stringent measure of nanorod stability involved observing changes in the UV-vis absorbance of gold nanorods subjected to etching with cyanide. The λmax absorbance of peptide-EG coated nanorods red-shifted in etchant solution. The hypothesis that changes in the nanorod aspect ratio led to this red-shift was confirmed by TEM analysis, which showed pit formation along the transverse axis. The etching process was followed in solution using nanoparticle tracking analysis. The red-shift was shown to occur while the particles remained mono-dispersed, and so was not due to aggregation. Adding both etchant solution and peptide-EG to the nanorods was further shown to allow modulation of the Δλmax red-shift and increase the etchant resistance of peptide-EG nanorods. Thus, very stable gold nanorods can be produced using the peptide-EG coating approach and their optical properties modulated with etchant. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Determination of trace alkaline phosphatase by solid-substrate room-temperature phosphorimetry based on Triticum vulgare lectin labeled with fullerenol.

PubMed

Liu, Jia-Ming; Gao, Fei; Huang, Hong-Hua; Zeng, Li-Qing; Huang, Xiao-Mei; Zhu, Guo-Hui; Li, Zhi-Ming

2008-04-01

Fullerenol (F) shows a strong and stable room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) signal on the surface of nitrocellulose membrane (NCM) at lambda ex max/ lambda em max =542.0/709.4 nm. When modified by dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid sodium salt (DBS), fullerenol emits a stronger signal. It was also found that quantitative specific affinity-adsorption reaction can be carried out between Triticum vulgare lectin (WGA) labeled with DBS-F and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) on the surface of NCM, and the product obtained (WGA-ALP-WGA-F-DBS) emits a strong and stable RTP signal. Furthermore, the content of ALP was proportional to the DeltaI(p) value. Based on the facts above, a new method for the determination of trace amounts of ALP by affinity-adsorption solid-substrate room-temperature phosphorimetry (AA-SS-RTP) was established, using fullerenol modified with DBS to label WGA. The detection limit was 0.011 fg spot(-1) (corresponding concentration: 2.8x10(-14) g ml(-1), namely 2.8x10(-16) mol l(-1)). This method with high sensitivity, accuracy, and precision has been successfully applied to the determination of the content of ALP in human serum survey and forecast human disease, and the results are tallied with those using alkaline phosphatase kits. The mechanism for the determination of ALP using AA-SS-RTP was also discussed.

Lethal effect of electric fields on isolated ventricular myocytes.

PubMed

de Oliveira, Pedro Xavier; Bassani, Rosana Almada; Bassani, José Wilson Magalhães

2008-11-01

Defibrillator-type shocks may cause electric and contractile dysfunction. In this study, we determined the relationship between probability of lethal injury and electric field intensity (E in isolated rat ventricular myocytes, with emphasis on field orientation and stimulus waveform. This relationship was sigmoidal with irreversible injury for E > 50 V/cm . During both threshold and lethal stimulation, cells were twofold more sensitive to the field when it was applied longitudinally (versus transversally) to the cell major axis. For a given E, the estimated maximum variation of transmembrane potential (Delta V(max)) was greater for longitudinal stimuli, which might account for the greater sensitivity to the field. Cell death, however, occurred at lower maximum Delta V(max) values for transversal shocks. This might be explained by a less steep spatial decay of transmembrane potential predicted for transversal stimulation, which would possibly result in occurrence of electroporation in a larger membrane area. For the same stimulus duration, cells were less sensitive to field-induced injury when shocks were biphasic (versus monophasic). Ours results indicate that, although significant myocyte death may occur in the E range expected during clinical defibrillation, biphasic shocks are less likely to produce irreversible cell injury.

Comparisons of molecular karyotype and RAPD patterns of anuran trypanosome isolates during long-term in vitro cultivation.

PubMed

Lun, Z R; Desser, S S

1996-01-01

The patterns of random amplified fragments and molecular karyotypes of 12 isolates of anuran trypanosomes continuously cultured in vitro were compared by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis and pulsed field gradient gel electrophoresis (PFGE). The time interval between preparation of two series of samples was one year. Changes were not observed in the number and size of sharp, amplified fragments of DNA samples from both series examined with the ten primers used. Likewise, changes in the molecular karyotypes were not detected between the two samples of these isolates. These results suggest that the molecular karyotype and the RAPD patterns of the anuran trypanosomes remain stable after being cultured continuously in vitro for one year.

Investigation of Kodak extended dose range (EDR) film for megavoltage photon beam dosimetry.

PubMed

Chetty, Indrin J; Charland, Paule M

2002-10-21

We have investigated the dependence of the measured optical density on the incident beam energy, field size and depth for a new type of film, Kodak extended dose range (Kodak EDR). Film measurements have been conducted over a range of field sizes (3 x 3 cm2 to 25 x 25 cm2) and depths (d(max) to 15 cm), for 6 MV and 15 MV photons within a solid water phantom, and the variation in sensitometric response (net optical density versus dose) has been reported. Kodak EDR film is found to have a linear response with dose, from 0 to 350 cGy, which is much higher than that typically seen for Kodak XV film (0-50 cGy). The variation in sensitometric response for Kodak EDR film as a function of field size and depth is observed to be similar to that of Kodak XV film; the optical density varied in the order of 2-3% for field sizes of 3 x 3 cm2 and 10 x 10 cm2 at depths of d(max), 5 cm and 15 cm in the phantom. Measurements for a 25 x 25 cm2 field size showed consistently higher optical densities at depths of d(max), 5 cm and 15 cm, relative to a 10 x 10 cm2 field size at 5 cm depth, with 4-5% differences noted at a depth of 15 cm. Fractional depth dose and profiles conducted with Kodak EDR film showed good agreement (2%/2 mm) with ion chamber measurements for all field sizes except for the 25 x 25 cm2 at depths greater than 15 cm, where differences in the order of 3-5% were observed. In addition, Kodak EDR film measurements were found to be consistent with those of Kodak XV film for all fractional depth doses and profiles. The results of this study indicate that Kodak EDR film may be a useful tool for relative dosimetry at higher dose ranges.

Neointimal Hyperplasia after Silverhawk Atherectomy versus Percutaneous Transluminal Angioplasty (PTA) in Femoropopliteal Stent Reobstructions: A Controlled, Randomized Pilot Trial

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brodmann, Marianne, E-mail: marianne.brodmann@medunigraz.at; Rief, Peter; Froehlich, Harald

2013-02-15

Due to intimal hyperplasia instent reobstruction in the femoropopliteal arterial segment is still an unsolved problem. Different techniques have been discussed in case of reintervention to guarantee longlasting patency rate. We conducted a randomized, controlled, pilot trial comparing Silverhawk atherectomy with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) in patients with a first instent reobstruction in the femoropopliteal arterial segment, to evaluate intima media thickness (IMT) within the treated segment, as a parameter of recurrence of intimal hyperplasia. In a total 19 patients were included: 9 patients in the atherectomy device and 10 patients in the PTA arm. IMT within the treated segmentmore » was statistically significantly elevated in all patients treated with the Silverhawk device versus the patients treated with PTA. The obvious differentiation in elevation of IMT in nonfavor for patients treated with the Silverhawk device started at month 2 (max IMT SH 0.178 mm vs. IMT PTA 0.1 mm, p = 0.001) with a spike at month 5 (max IMT SH 0.206 mm vs. IMT PTA 0.145 mm, p = 0.003) and a decline once again at month 6 (max IMT SH 0.177 mm vs. IMT PTA 0.121 mm, p = 0.02). The values for mean IMT performed the same way. Although Silverhawk atherectomy provides good results at first sight, in the midterm follow-up of treatment of first instent restenosis it did not perform better than PTA as it showed elevated reoccurrence of intimal media hyperplasia.« less

Effects of a high-intensity interval training program versus a moderate-intensity continuous training program on maximal oxygen uptake and blood pressure in healthy adults: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Arboleda Serna, Víctor Hugo; Arango Vélez, Elkin Fernando; Gómez Arias, Rubén Darío; Feito, Yuri

2016-08-18

Participation in aerobic exercise generates increased cardiorespiratory fitness, which results in a protective factor for cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality. High-intensity interval training might cause higher increases in cardiorespiratory fitness in comparison with moderate-intensity continuous training; nevertheless, current evidence is not conclusive. To our knowledge, this is the first study to test the effect of high-intensity interval training with total load duration of 7.5 min per session. A randomized controlled trial will be performed on two groups of healthy, sedentary male volunteers (n = 44). The study protocol will include 24 exercise sessions, three times a week, including aerobic training on a treadmill and strength training exercises. The intervention group will perform 15 bouts of 30 s, each at an intensity between 90 % and 95 % of maximal heart rate. The control group will complete 40 min of continuous exercise, ranging between 65 % and 75 % of maximal heart rate. The primary outcome measure to be evaluated will be maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max), and systolic and diastolic blood pressure will be evaluated as secondary outcome measures. Waist circumference, body mass index, and body composition will also be evaluated. Epidemiological evidence shows the link between VO2max and its association with chronic conditions that trigger CVD. Therefore, finding ways to improve VO2max and reduce blood pressure it is of vital importance to public health. NCT02288403 . Registered on 4 November 2014.

Beneficial effects of dark chocolate on exercise capacity in sedentary subjects: underlying mechanisms. A double blind, randomized, placebo controlled trial.

PubMed

Taub, Pam R; Ramirez-Sanchez, Israel; Patel, Minal; Higginbotham, Erin; Moreno-Ulloa, Aldo; Román-Pintos, Luis Miguel; Phillips, Paul; Perkins, Guy; Ceballos, Guillermo; Villarreal, Francisco

2016-09-14

In heart failure patients the consumption of (-)-epicatechin ((-)-Epi)-rich cocoa can restore skeletal muscle (SkM) mitochondrial structure and decrease biomarkers of oxidative stress. However, nothing is known about its effects on exercise capacity and underlying mechanisms in normal, sedentary subjects. Twenty normal, sedentary subjects (∼50 years old) were randomized to placebo or dark chocolate (DC) groups and consumed 20 g of the products for 3 months. Subjects underwent before and after treatment, bicycle ergometry to assess VO2 max and work, SkM biopsy to assess changes in mitochondrial density, function and oxidative stress and blood sampling to assess metabolic endpoints. Seventeen subjects completed the trial. In the DC group (n = 9), VO2 max increased (17% increase, p = 0.056) as well as maximum work (watts) achieved (p = 0.026) with no changes with placebo (n = 8). The DC group evidenced increases in HDL levels (p = 0.005) and decreased triglycerides (p = 0.07). With DC, SkM evidenced significant increases in protein levels for LKB1, AMPK and PGC1α and in their active forms (phosphorylated AMPK and LKB1) as well as in citrate synthase activity while no changes were observed in mitochondrial density. With DC, significant increases in SkM reduced glutathione levels and decreases in protein carbonylation were observed. Improvements in maximum work achieved and VO2 max may be due to DC activation of upstream control systems and enhancement of SkM mitochondria efficiency. Larger clinical studies are warranted to confirm these observations.

Neointimal hyperplasia after silverhawk atherectomy versus percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) in femoropopliteal stent reobstructions: a controlled, randomized pilot trial.

PubMed

Brodmann, Marianne; Rief, Peter; Froehlich, Harald; Dorr, Andreas; Gary, Thomas; Eller, Philipp; Hafner, Franz; Deutschmann, Hannes; Seinost, Gerald; Pilger, Ernst

2013-02-01

Due to intimal hyperplasia instent reobstruction in the femoropopliteal arterial segment is still an unsolved problem. Different techniques have been discussed in case of reintervention to guarantee longlasting patency rate. We conducted a randomized, controlled, pilot trial comparing Silverhawk atherectomy with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) in patients with a first instent reobstruction in the femoropopliteal arterial segment, to evaluate intima media thickness (IMT) within the treated segment, as a parameter of recurrence of intimal hyperplasia. In a total 19 patients were included: 9 patients in the atherectomy device and 10 patients in the PTA arm. IMT within the treated segment was statistically significantly elevated in all patients treated with the Silverhawk device versus the patients treated with PTA. The obvious differentiation in elevation of IMT in nonfavor for patients treated with the Silverhawk device started at month 2 (max IMT SH 0.178 mm vs. IMT PTA 0.1 mm, p = 0.001) with a spike at month 5 (max IMT SH 0.206 mm vs. IMT PTA 0.145 mm, p = 0.003) and a decline once again at month 6 (max IMT SH 0.177 mm vs. IMT PTA 0.121 mm, p = 0.02). The values for mean IMT performed the same way. Although Silverhawk atherectomy provides good results at first sight, in the midterm follow-up of treatment of first instent restenosis it did not perform better than PTA as it showed elevated reoccurrence of intimal media hyperplasia.

Supervised physical exercise improves VO2max, quality of life, and health in early stage breast cancer patients: a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Casla, Soraya; López-Tarruella, Sara; Jerez, Yolanda; Marquez-Rodas, Iván; Galvão, Daniel A; Newton, Robert U; Cubedo, Ricardo; Calvo, Isabel; Sampedro, Javier; Barakat, Rubén; Martín, Miguel

2015-09-01

Breast cancer patients suffer impairment in cardiorespiratory fitness after treatment for primary disease, affecting patients' health and survival. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of a pragmatic exercise intervention to improve cardiorespiratory fitness of breast cancer patients after primary treatment. Between February 2013 and December 2014, 94 women with early stage (I-III) breast cancer, 1-36 months post-chemotherapy, and radiotherapy were randomly assigned to an intervention program (EX) combining supervised aerobic and resistance exercise (n = 44) or usual care (CON) (n = 45) for 12 weeks. Primary study endpoint was VO2max. Secondary endpoints were muscle strength, shoulder range of motion, body composition, and quality of life (QoL). Assessments were undertaken at baseline, 12-week, and 6-month follow-ups. Eighty-nine patients aged 29-69 years were assessed at baseline and 12 weeks. The EX group showed significant improvements in VO2max, muscle strength, percent fat, and lean mass (p ≤ 0.001 in all cases) and QoL compared with usual care (CON). Apart from body composition, improvements were maintained for the EX at 6-month follow-up. There were no adverse events during the testing or exercise intervention program. A combined exercise intervention produced considerable improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness, physical function, and quality of life in breast cancer patients previously treated with chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Importantly, most of these benefits were maintained 6 months after ceasing the supervised exercise intervention.

Pharmacokinetics and tolerability of oral dosage forms of huperzine a in healthy Chinese male volunteers: a randomized, single dose, three-period, six-sequence crossover study.

PubMed

Wu, San-Lan; Gan, Jun; Rao, Jing; He, Si-Jie; Zhu, Wen-Wen; Zhao, Ying; Lv, Yong-Ning; Huang, Jian-Geng; Liu, Ya-Ni

2017-10-01

Huperzine A is a potent, reversible, and blood-brain barrier permeable acetylcholinesterase inhibitor. The aim of this study was to compare the pharmacokinetics, tolerability, and bioavailability of two formulations with the established reference formulation of huperzine A in a fasting, healthy Chinese male population. This was a randomized, single-dose, 3-period, 6-sequence crossover study. The plasma concentrations of huperzine A were determined by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Tolerability was assessed based on subject interview, vital sign monitoring, physical examination, and routine blood and urine tests. The mean (SD) pharmacokinetic parameters of the reference drug were C max , 1.550 (0.528) ng/mL; t 1/2 , 12.092 (1.898) h; AUC 0-72h , 17.550 (3.794) ng·h/mL. Those of the test formulation A and test formulation B were C max , 1.412 (0.467), 1.521 (0.608) ng/mL; t 1/2 , 12.073 (2.068), 12.271 (1.678) h; AUC 0-72h , 15.286 (3.434) ng·h/mL, 15.673 (3.586) ng·h/mL. The 90% confidence intervals for the AUC 0-72h and C max were between 0.80 and 1.25. No adverse events were reported by the subjects or found with results of clinical laboratory test. The test and reference products met the regulatory criteria for bioequivalence in these fasting, healthy Chinese male volunteers. All three formulations appeared to be well tolerated.

Three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship studies on UGT1A9-mediated 3-O-glucuronidation of natural flavonols using a pharmacophore-based comparative molecular field analysis model.

PubMed

Wu, Baojian; Morrow, John Kenneth; Singh, Rashim; Zhang, Shuxing; Hu, Ming

2011-02-01

Glucuronidation is often recognized as one of the rate-determining factors that limit the bioavailability of flavonols. Hence, design and synthesis of more bioavailable flavonols would benefit from the establishment of predictive models of glucuronidation using kinetic parameters [e.g., K(m), V(max), intrinsic clearance (CL(int)) = V(max)/K(m)] derived for flavonols. This article aims to construct position (3-OH)-specific comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) models to describe UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) 1A9-mediated glucuronidation of flavonols, which can be used to design poor UGT1A9 substrates. The kinetics of recombinant UGT1A9-mediated 3-O-glucuronidation of 30 flavonols was characterized, and kinetic parameters (K(m), V(max), CL(int)) were obtained. The observed K(m), V(max), and CL(int) values of 3-O-glucuronidation ranged from 0.04 to 0.68 μM, 0.04 to 12.95 nmol/mg/min, and 0.06 to 109.60 ml/mg/min, respectively. To model UGT1A9-mediated glucuronidation, 30 flavonols were split into the training (23 compounds) and test (7 compounds) sets. These flavonols were then aligned by mapping the flavonols to specific common feature pharmacophores, which were used to construct CoMFA models of V(max) and CL(int), respectively. The derived CoMFA models possessed good internal and external consistency and showed statistical significance and substantive predictive abilities (V(max) model: q(2) = 0.738, r(2) = 0.976, r(pred)(2) = 0.735; CL(int) model: q(2) = 0.561, r(2) = 0.938, r(pred)(2) = 0.630). The contour maps derived from CoMFA modeling clearly indicate structural characteristics associated with rapid or slow 3-O-glucuronidation. In conclusion, the approach of coupling CoMFA analysis with a pharmacophore-based structural alignment is viable for constructing a predictive model for regiospecific glucuronidation rates of flavonols by UGT1A9.

Measurement of J-integral in CAD/CAM dental ceramics and composite resin by digital image correlation.

PubMed

Jiang, Yanxia; Akkus, Anna; Roperto, Renato; Akkus, Ozan; Li, Bo; Lang, Lisa; Teich, Sorin

2016-09-01

Ceramic and composite resin blocks for CAD/CAM machining of dental restorations are becoming more common. The sample sizes affordable by these blocks are smaller than ideal for stress intensity factor (SIF) based tests. The J-integral measurement calls for full field strain measurement, making it challenging to conduct. Accordingly, the J-integral values of dental restoration materials used in CAD/CAM restorations have not been reported to date. Digital image correlation (DIC) provides full field strain maps, making it possible to calculate the J-integral value. The aim of this study was to measure the J-integral value for CAD/CAM restorative materials. Four types of materials (sintered IPS E-MAX CAD, non-sintered IPS E-MAX CAD, Vita Mark II and Paradigm MZ100) were used to prepare beam samples for three-point bending tests. J-integrals were calculated for different integral path size and locations with respect to the crack tip. J-integral at path 1 for each material was 1.26±0.31×10(-4)MPam for MZ 100, 0.59±0.28×10(-4)MPam for sintered E-MAX, 0.19±0.07×10(-4)MPam for VM II, and 0.21±0.05×10(-4)MPam for non-sintered E-MAX. There were no significant differences between different integral path size, except for the non-sintered E-MAX group. J-integral paths of non-sintered E-MAX located within 42% of the height of the sample provided consistent values whereas outside this range resulted in lower J-integral values. Moreover, no significant difference was found among different integral path locations. The critical SIF was calculated from J-integral (KJ) along with geometry derived SIF values (KI). KI values were comparable with KJ and geometry based SIF values obtained from literature. Therefore, DIC derived J-integral is a reliable way to assess the fracture toughness of small sized specimens for dental CAD/CAM restorative materials; however, with caution applied to the selection of J-integral path. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

High-Power Piezoelectric Vibration Characteristics of Textured SrBi2Nb2O9 Ceramics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kawada, Shinichiro; Ogawa, Hirozumi; Kimura, Masahiko; Shiratsuyu, Kosuke; Niimi, Hideaki

2006-09-01

The high-power piezoelectric vibration characteristics of textured SrBi2Nb2O9 (SBN) ceramics, that is bismuth-layer-structured ferroelectrics, were studied in the longitudinal mode (33-mode) by constant current driving method and compared with those of ordinary randomly oriented SBN and widely used Pb(Ti,Zr)O3 (PZT) ceramics. In the case of textured SBN ceramics, resonant properties are stable up to a vibration velocity of 2.6 m/s. Vibration velocity at resonant frequency increases proportionally with the applied electric field, and resonant frequency is almost constant in high-vibration-velocity driving. On the other hand, in the case of randomly oriented SBN and PZT ceramics, the increase in vibration velocity is not proportional to the applied high electric field, and resonant frequency decreases with increasing vibration velocity. The resonant sharpness Q of textured SBN ceramics is about 2000, even at a vibration velocity of 2.6 m/s. Therefore, textured SBN ceramics are good candidates for high-power piezoelectric applications.

Effect of Oral Coadministration of Ascorbic Acid with Ling Zhi Preparation on Pharmacokinetics of Ganoderic Acid A in Healthy Male Subjects: A Randomized Crossover Study

PubMed Central

Tawasri, Patcharanee; Ampasavate, Chadarat; Tharatha, Somsak

2016-01-01

The objective of this randomized, open-label, single-dose, two-phase crossover study was to determine the effect of ascorbic acid on pharmacokinetics of ganoderic acid A, an important biologically active triterpenoid compound with anticancer activities, following oral administration of water extract of fruiting bodies of Ling Zhi in 12 healthy male subjects. Each subject was randomized to receive either one of the two regimens: (1) a single dose of 3,000 mg of the Ling Zhi preparation or (2) a single dose of 3,000 mg of the Ling Zhi preparation in combination with 2,500 mg of ascorbic acid. After a washout period of at least two weeks, subjects were switched to receive the alternate regimen. Blood samples were collected in each phase immediately before dosing and at specific time points for 8 hours after dosing. Plasma ganoderic acid A concentrations were quantified using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). The pharmacokinetic parameters analyzed were maximal plasma concentration (C max), time to reach peak concentration (T max), area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC), and half-life (t 1/2). An oral coadministration of ascorbic acid with Ling Zhi preparation did not significantly alter the pharmacokinetic parameters of ganoderic acid A in healthy male subjects. PMID:27747224

Mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) profile of a rice-field cyanobacterium Anabaena doliolum as influenced by PAR and UVR.

PubMed

Singh, Shailendra P; Sinha, Rajeshwar P; Klisch, Manfred; Häder, Donat-P

2008-12-01

The mycosporine-like amino acid (MAA) profile of a rice-field cyanobacterium, Anabaena doliolum, was studied under PAR and PAR + UVR conditions. The high-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of water-soluble compounds reveals the biosynthesis of three MAAs, mycosporine-glycine (lambda (max) = 310 nm), porphyra-334 (lambda (max) = 334 nm) and shinorine (lambda (max) = 334 nm), with retention times of 4.1, 3.5 and 2.3 min, respectively. This is the first report for the occurrence of mycosporine-glycine and porphyra-334 in addition to shinorine in Anabaena strains studied so far. The results indicate that mycosporine-glycine (monosubstituted) acts as a precursor for the biosynthesis of the bisubstituted MAAs shinorine and porphyra-334. Mycosporine-glycine was under constitutive control while porphyra-334 and shinorine were induced by UV-B radiation, indicating the involvement of UV-regulated enzymes in the biotransformation of MAAs. It seems that A. doliolum is able to protect its cell machinery from UVR by synthesizing a complex set of MAAs and thus is able to survive successfully during the summer in its natural brightly lit habitats.

[Benefits of Decumanum Phlebodium intake on the muscle damage in the response to intense physical exercise in sedentary subjects].

PubMed

Vargas Corzo, M C; Aguilar Cordero, M J; de Teresa Galván, C; Segura Millán, D; Miranda Leon, M T; Castillo Rueda, G; Guisado Barrilao, R

2014-06-01

Intense physical exercise provoke muscle damage, that in sedentary people can increase cardiovascular risk. Phlebodium decumanum (PD) has shown to have immunomodulator effects in models of moderate intense physical activities in well conditioned groups. To evaluate the PD effects during eccentric exercise, as a model of muscle inflammation protocol, on a sedentary population with cardiovascular risk. This is an experimental, double-blind, multigroup randomized study. Experimental Group 1 (n = 17)received PD, 9 doses of 400 mg (total amount 3.6 g) every 8 hours during 3 days, and Control Group 2 (n = 16)received a placebo. All the subjects performed two treadmill ergoespirometry tests: first, a modified Bruce protocol to discard ischemic responses during exercise and to evaluate VO2max before the experimental phase;and second, with an eccentric protocol (14% descending ramp test) during 10 minutes in stable state at 70-80%VO2max, as experimental inflammatory protocol.We compared intra and inter groups to evaluate differences in the pre and post-test differences results on blood muscle damage variables. The study shown statistically significant differences in all pre-post intra-groups results in muscle damage variables (CK, LDH and Myoglobin, but not in Cardiac Troponin), and in functional lower-limb test (SJand CMJ). The comparison of inter-group results shown less muscle damage and less functional lower-limb deterioration in Group 1 compared with Control group, with statistical significance in both cases. Differences in handgrip dynamometry were no statistically significant. The eccentric exercise protocol in that study has proven to be a good model to induce muscle and functional damage in sedentary people. Short PD treatment has shown to reduce muscle and functional acute damages compared with placebo control group in this specific population. Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.

[Biomechanical research of antegrade intramedullary fixation for the metacarpal fractures].

PubMed

Zhang, Li-shan; Pan, Yong-wei; Tian, Guang-lei; Li, Wen-jun; Xia, Shao-hua; Tao, Jian-feng

2010-04-15

To study the biomechanical characteristics of antegrade intramedullary fixation for metacarpal fractures. From March to May 2008, both the 4th and 5th metacarpals from 25 formalin embalmed cadaver hands had three-point bending test after transverse osteotomy followed by randomly fixation with one of the following three methods: plate and screw, antegrade intramedullary K-wire, crossed K-wire. While, both the 2nd and 3rd metacarpals had torsional loading test after the same management as the 4th and 5th metacarpal had undergone. In the three-point bending test, both the maximum bending moment (M(max)) and bending rigidity (EI) of the antegrade intramedullary K-wire were comparable with those of the plate and screw, and were significantly larger than those of the crossed K-wire. In the torsional loading test, the antegrade intramedullary K-wire had a statistically smaller maximum torque (T(max)) than the plate and screw, and had a comparable T(max) with the crossed K-wire; while, the torsional rigidity (GJ) of the intramedullary K-wire was statistically weaker than that of both the plate and screw and the crossed wire. One single antegrade intramedullary K-wire can provide a satisfactory M(max) and EI for metacarpal fixation and shows relatively weak in the torsional loading test. The injured finger should be well protected to avoid torsional deformity in clinical practice.

Effect of gastric emptying and entero-hepatic circulation on bioequivalence assessment of ranitidine.

PubMed

Chrenova, J; Durisova, M; Mircioiu, C; Dedik, L

2010-01-01

The aim of study was to compare the bioavailability of ranitidine obtained from either Ranitidine (300 mg tablet; LPH® S.C. LaborMed Pharma S.A. Romania: the test formulation) and Zantac® (300 mg tablet; GlaxoSmithKline, Austria: the reference formulation). Twelve, Romanian, healthy volunteers were enrolled in the study. An open-label, two-period, crossover, randomized design was used. Plasma levels of ranitidine were determined using the validated, high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. The physiologically motivated time-delayed model was used for the data evaluation and a paired Student's t-test and Schuirmann's two one-sided tests were carried out to compare parameters. Nonmodeling parameters (AUC(t), AUC, C(max), T(max)) were tested by the paired Student's t-test and the 90 confidence intervals of the geometric mean ratios were determined by Schuirmann's tests. Paired Student's t-test showed no significant differences between nonmodeling and modeling parameters. The results of the Schuirmann's tests however indicated significant statistical differences with reference to AUC(t), AUC, C(max), T(max) and other modeling parameters, especially MT(c) and τ(c). Schuirmann's tests revealed significant bioequivalence between ranitidine formulations using the modeling parameters MRT and n. The presented model can be useful as an additional tool to assess drug bioequivalence, by screening for disruptive parameters. Copyright 2010 Prous Science, S.A.U. or its licensors. All rights reserved.

Ginseng improves pulmonary functions and exercise capacity in patients with COPD.

PubMed

Gross, D; Shenkman, Z; Bleiberg, B; Dayan, M; Gittelson, M; Efrat, R

2002-01-01

Ginseng is a root that has been used to treat patients with various illnesses for the last 2000 years. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of Ginseng extract (G115) on Pulmonary Function Tests (PFTs), Maximum Voluntary Ventilation (MVV), Maximum Inspiratory Pressure (MIP) and Maximal Oxygen Consumption (VO2max) in patients with moderately-severe Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Ninety-two adults were randomly divided into the experimental (n = 49, G115 100 mg bid for three months) and placebo-control (n = 43) groups. PFTs, MVV and MIP were studied before treatment and every two weeks for the 3-month-study period. Exercise test and VO2max measurements were performed before the beginning and after six weeks and three months. P lower than 0.05 was considered significant. Baseline demographics and pulmonary parameters were similar between the groups. In the experimental, but not in the control group, all parameters significantly increased above baseline and compared with the placebo group. Maximum increase, compared with baseline was FVC-32.5%, FEV1.0-27.0%, PEF-27.5%, FEF50-45.4%, FEF75-56.9%, MVV-40.4%, MIP-47.0% and VO2max-37.5%. No side effects were observed. G115 100 mg bid for three months, but not placebo, improved PFTs, MVV, MIP and VO2 max in patients with moderately-severe COPD with no side effects.

Impairment of Performance Variables After In-Season Strength-Training Cessation in Elite Cyclists.

PubMed

Rønnestad, Bent R; Hansen, Joar; Hollan, Ivana; Spencer, Matt; Ellefsen, Stian

2016-09-01

The current study investigated the effects of 8 wk of strength-training cessation after 25 wk of strength training on strength- and cycling-performance characteristics. Elite cyclists were randomly assigned to either 25 wk of endurance training combined with heavy strength training (EXP, n = 7, maximal oxygen uptake [V̇O 2max ] 77 ± 6 mL . kg -1 . min -1 ; 3 × 4-10 RM, 1 to 2 d/wk) or to endurance training only (CON, n = 7, V̇O 2max 73 ± 5 mL . kg -1 . min -1 ). Thereafter, both groups performed endurance training only for 8 wk, coinciding with the initial part of the competition season. Data were assessed for practical significance using magnitude-based inferences. During the 25-wk preparatory period, EXP had a larger positive impact on maximal isometric half-squat force, squat jump (SJ), maximal aerobic power (W max ), power output at 4 mmol/L [La], and mean power in 30-s Wingate test than did CON (ES = 0.46-0.74). Conversely, during the 8-wk competition period EXP had a reduction in SJ, W max , and mean power in the 30-s Wingate test compared with CON (ES = 0.49-0.84). The present findings suggest rapid decline of adaptations on termination of strength training during the first 8 wk of the competition period in elite cyclists.

[Improving myocardial mechanics parameters of severe burn rabbits with oral fluid resuscitation].

PubMed

Ruan, Jing; Zhang, Bing-qian; Wang, Guang; Luo, Zhong-hua; Zheng, Qing-yi; Zheng, Jian-sheng; Huang, Yue-sheng; Xiao, Rong

2008-08-01

To investigate the protective effect of oral fluid resuscitation on cardiac function in severe burn rabbits. One hundred and fifty rabbits were randomly divided into normal control group (NC group, n = 6, without treatment), burn group (B group, n = 42, without fluid therapy), immediate oral fluid resuscitation group (C group, n = 42), delayed oral fluid resuscitation group (D group, n = 30) and delayed and rapid oral fluid resuscitation group (E group, n = 30). The rabbits in B, C, D, E groups were subjected to 40% TBSA full-thickness burn, then were treated with fluid therapy immediately after burn (C group), at 6 hour after burn (D, E groups). The myocardial mechanics parameters including mean arterial pressure (MAP), left ventricular systolic pressure (LVSP), left ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVEDP), LV +/- dp/dt max were observed at 2, 6, 8, 12, 24, 36 and 48 post burn hour (PBH). Urine output was also examined. The level of LVSP, LV +/- dp/dt max in B roup were significantly lower than those in NC group. The level of LVSP, LV +/- dp/dt max in the C and E group were singnificantly increased during 24 hour after burn. The level of LV + dp/dt max and LV-dp/dt max in C group peaked at 8 PBH (892 +/- 116 kPa/s) and at 6PBH (724 +/- 149 kPa/s) respectively. The levels of LV +/- dp/dt max, LVSP in D group at each time point were similar to B group (P > 0.05). Both the levels of LV +/- dp/dt max in E group peaked at 8 PBH. The level of LVEDP was no obvious difference between B and other groups at each time point (P > 0.05). The changes of MAP and urine output on 24 PBH in each group were similar to above indices. Effective oral fluid therapy in severe burn rabbits during 24 hours after burn can ameliorate myocardial mechanics parameters. The amount of fluid resuscitation can be estimated according to relevant formula for delayed fluid resuscitation in burn rabbits.

Pharmacokinetic comparison and bioequivalence evaluation of two 10-mg baclofen formulations in healthy male subjects
.

PubMed

Yoon, Sumin; Lee, SeungHwan; Yu, Kyung-Sang; Yim, Sung-Vin; Kim, Bo-Hyung

2017-02-01

Baclofen is used as a skeletal muscle relaxant for multiple sclerosis patients. It depresses the transmission of monosynaptic and polysynaptic reflex by stimulating GABA_β (gamma-aminobutyric acid) receptors. The aim of this study was to compare the pharmacokinetic characteristics of two 10-mg baclofen formulations and to assess bioequivalence. A randomized, single-dose, two-period, two-sequence crossover study was conducted in healthy male subjects. Each subject received the test or reference formulations. After washout period, all subjects received the alternative formulation. Blood samples were collected for up to 24 hours after the dose in each period. Pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters, including t_max, C_max, and AUC_last were calculated by noncompartmental methods. The geometric mean ratio (GMR) of the test to the reference formulation and its 90% confidence interval (CI) for C_max and AUC_last were calculated for assessment of bioequivalence. A total of 22 subjects completed the study. The median t_max of the test and the reference formulation were 1.50 and 1.25 hours, respectively. The mean (± SD) C_max of the test and the reference formulation were 141.401 ± 29.447 ng/mL and 138.837 ± 31.392 ng/mL, respectively. The mean (± SD) AUC_last of the two formulations were 702.404 ± 82.149 ng×h/mL and 726.803 ± 90.638 ng×h/mL, respectively. The GMR (90% CI) of the test to the reference formulation for the C_max and AUC_last were 1.0306 (0.9564 - 1.1106) and 0.9674 (0.9437 - 0.9916), respectively. The two different baclofen 10-mg formulations had similar PK profiles and were bioequivalent based on C_max and AUC_last.
.

High-Intensity Interval Training Increases Cardiac Output and V˙O2max.

PubMed

Astorino, Todd A; Edmunds, Ross M; Clark, Amy; King, Leesa; Gallant, Rachael A; Namm, Samantha; Fischer, Anthony; Wood, Kimi M

2017-02-01

Increases in maximal oxygen uptake (V˙O2max) frequently occur with high-intensity interval training (HIIT), yet the specific adaptation explaining this result remains elusive. This study examined changes in V˙O2max and cardiac output (CO) in response to periodized HIIT. Thirty-nine active men and women (mean age and V˙O2max = 22.9 ± 5.4 yr and 39.6 ± 5.6 mL·kg·min) performed HIIT and 32 men and women (age and V˙O2max = 25.7 ± 4.5 yr and 40.7 ± 5.2 mL·kg·min) were nonexercising controls (CON). The first 10 sessions of HIIT required eight to ten 60 s bouts of cycling at 90%-110% percent peak power output interspersed with 75 s recovery, followed by randomization to one of three regimes (sprint interval training (SIT), high-volume interval training (HIITHI), or periodized interval training (PER) for the subsequent 10 sessions. Before, midway, and at the end of training, progressive cycling to exhaustion was completed during which V˙O2max and maximal CO were estimated. Compared with CON, significant (P < 0.001) increases in V˙O2max in HIIT + SIT (39.8 ± 7.3 mL·kg·min to 43.6 ± 6.1 mL·kg·min), HIIT + HIITHI (41.1 ± 4.9 mL·kg·min to 44.6 ± 7.0 mL·kg·min), and HIIT + PER (39.5 ± 5.6 mL·kg·min to 44.1 ± 5.4 mL·kg·min) occurred which were mediated by significant increases in maximal CO (20.0 ± 3.1 L·min to 21.7 ± 3.2 L·min, P = 0.04). Maximal stroke volume was increased with HIIT (P = 0.04), although there was no change in maximal HR (P = 0.88) or arteriovenous O2 difference (P = 0.36). These CO data are accurate and represent the mean changes from pre- to post-HIIT across all three training groups. Increases in V˙O2max exhibited in response to different HIIT regimes are due to improvements in oxygen delivery.

Decreased maximal aerobic capacity with use of a triphasic oral contraceptive in highly active women: a randomised controlled trial

PubMed Central

Lebrun, C; Petit, M; McKenzie, D; Taunton, J; Prior, J

2003-01-01

Background: Oral contraceptives are commonly used by women athletes. However, their effect on athletic performance is unclear. Objectives: To examine the effects of a moderate dose, triphasic oral contraceptive on measures of athletic performance in highly trained women athletes. Methods: This is a double blind, placebo controlled trial in 14 women with ovulatory menstrual cycles and maximal aerobic capacity (VO2MAX) ≥50 ml/kg/min. Four measures of athletic performance were tested: VO2MAX, anaerobic capacity (anaerobic speed test), aerobic endurance (time to fatigue at 90% of VO2MAX), and isokinetic strength (Cybex II dynamometer). Height, weight, and six skinfold measurements were also recorded. All these observational tests were completed during both the follicular and mid-luteal phases of an ovulatory menstrual cycle. Cycle phases were confirmed by assaying plasma oestradiol and progesterone. Participants were subsequently randomly assigned to either a tricyclic oral contraceptive or placebo and retested in identical fashion (oral contraceptive phase). Results: Absolute and relative changes in VO2MAX from follicular to oral contraceptive phase decreased in the oral contraceptive group by 4.7%, whereas the placebo group showed a slight increase (+1.5%) over the same time period. Two of the women taking oral contraceptive had decreases of 4 and 9 ml/kg/min. In contrast, most women in the placebo group improved or maintained VO2MAX. There was also a significant increase in the sum of skinfolds in women taking oral contraceptive compared with those taking placebo (p<0.01). There were no significant changes in other physiological variables (maximum ventilation, heart rate, respiratory exchange ratio, packed cell volume) or measures of performance (anaerobic speed test, aerobic endurance, isokinetic strength) as a function of oral contraceptive treatment. Conclusions: The decrease in VO2MAX that occurs when oral contraceptive is taken may influence elite sporting performance in some women. Further studies are required to determine the mechanisms of this change. PMID:12893716

Effect of 24 sessions of high-intensity aerobic interval training carried out at either high or moderate frequency, a randomized trial.

PubMed

Hatle, Håvard; Støbakk, Per Kristian; Mølmen, Harald Edvard; Brønstad, Eivind; Tjønna, Arnt Erik; Steinshamn, Sigurd; Skogvoll, Eirik; Wisløff, Ulrik; Ingul, Charlotte Björk; Rognmo, Øivind

2014-01-01

The training response of an intensified period of high-intensity exercise is not clear. Therefore, we compared the cardiovascular adaptations of completing 24 high-intensity aerobic interval training sessions carried out for either three or eight weeks, respectively. Twenty-one healthy subjects (23.0±2.1 years, 10 females) completed 24 high-intensity training sessions throughout a time-period of either eight weeks (moderate frequency, MF) or three weeks (high frequency, HF) followed by a detraining period of nine weeks without any training. In both groups, maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) was evaluated before training, at the 9(th) and 17(th) session and four days after the final 24(th) training session. In the detraining phase VO2max was evaluated after 12 days and thereafter every second week for eight weeks. Left ventricular echocardiography, carbon monoxide lung diffusion transfer factor, brachial artery flow mediated dilatation and vastus lateralis citrate maximal synthase activity was tested before and after training. The cardiovascular adaptation after HF training was delayed compared to training with MF. Four days after ending training the HF group showed no improvement (+3.0%, p = 0.126), whereas the MF group reached their highest VO2max with a 10.7% improvement (p<0.001: group difference p = 0.035). The HF group reached their highest VO2max (6.1% increase, p = 0.026) twelve days into the detraining period, compared to a concomitant reduction to 7.9% of VO2max (p<0.001) above baseline in the MF group (group difference p = 0.609). Both HF and MF training of high-intensity aerobic exercise improves VO2max. The cardiovascular adaptation following a HF programme of high-intensity exercise is however delayed compared to MF training. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00733941.

Facilitation of Hoffmann reflexes of ankle muscles in prone but not standing positions by focal ankle-joint cooling.

PubMed

Kim, Kyung-Min; Ingersoll, Christopher D; Hertel, Jay

2015-05-01

Focal ankle-joint cooling (FAJC) has been shown to increase Hoffmann (H) reflex amplitudes of select leg muscles while subjects lie prone, but it is unknown whether the neurophysiological cooling effects persist in standing. To assess the effects of FAJC on H-reflexes of the soleus and fibularis longus during 3 body positions (prone, bipedal, and unipedal stances) in individuals with and without chronic ankle instability (CAI). Crossover. Laboratory. 15 young adults with CAI (9 male, 6 female) and 15 healthy controls. All subjects received both FAJC and sham treatments on separate days in a randomized order. FAJC was accomplished by applying a 1.5-L plastic bag filled with crushed ice to the ankle for 20 min. Sham treatment involved room-temperature candy corn. Maximum amplitudes of H-reflexes and motor (M) waves were recorded while subjects lay prone and then stood in quiet bipedal and unipedal stances before and immediately after each treatment. Primary outcome measures were H(max):M(max) ratios for the soleus and fibularis longus. Three-factor (group × treatment condition × time) repeated-measures ANOVAs and Fisher LSD tests were performed for statistical analyses. Significant interactions of treatment condition by time for prone H(max):M(max) ratios were found in the soleus (P = .001) and fibularis longus (P = .003). In both muscles, prone H(max):M(max) ratios moderately increased after FAJC but not after sham treatment. The CAI and healthy groups responded similarly to FAJC. In contrast, there were no significant interactions or main effects in the bipedal and unipedal stances in either muscle (P > .05). FAJC moderately increased H-reflex amplitudes of the soleus and fibularis longus while subjects were prone but not during bipedal or unipedal standing. These results were not different between groups with and without CAI.

Resource Efficient Hardware Architecture for Fast Computation of Running Max/Min Filters

PubMed Central

Torres-Huitzil, Cesar

2013-01-01

Running max/min filters on rectangular kernels are widely used in many digital signal and image processing applications. Filtering with a k × k kernel requires of k 2 − 1 comparisons per sample for a direct implementation; thus, performance scales expensively with the kernel size k. Faster computations can be achieved by kernel decomposition and using constant time one-dimensional algorithms on custom hardware. This paper presents a hardware architecture for real-time computation of running max/min filters based on the van Herk/Gil-Werman (HGW) algorithm. The proposed architecture design uses less computation and memory resources than previously reported architectures when targeted to Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) devices. Implementation results show that the architecture is able to compute max/min filters, on 1024 × 1024 images with up to 255 × 255 kernels, in around 8.4 milliseconds, 120 frames per second, at a clock frequency of 250 MHz. The implementation is highly scalable for the kernel size with good performance/area tradeoff suitable for embedded applications. The applicability of the architecture is shown for local adaptive image thresholding. PMID:24288456

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN {nu}{sub max} AND AGE t FROM ZAMS TO RGB-TIP FOR LOW-MASS STARS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tang, Y. K.; Gai, N., E-mail: tyk450@163.com, E-mail: ning.gai@hotmail.com

2013-07-10

Stellar age is an important quantity in astrophysics, which is useful for many fields both in the universe and galaxies. It cannot be determined by direct measurements, but can only be estimated or inferred. We attempt to find a useful indicator of stellar age, which is accurate from the zero-age main sequence to the tip of red giant branch for low-mass stars. Using the Yale Rotation and Evolution Code (YREC), a grid of stellar models has been constructed. Meanwhile, the frequency of maximum oscillations' power {nu}{sub max} and the large frequency separation {Delta}{nu} are calculated using the scaling relations. Formore » the stars, the masses of which are from 0.8 M{sub Sun} to 2.8 M{sub Sun }, we can obtain the {nu}{sub max} and stellar age by combing the scaling relations with the four sets of grid models (YREC, Dotter et al., Marigo et al., and YY isochrones). We find that {nu}{sub max} is tightly correlated and decreases monotonically with the age of the star from the main sequence to the red giant evolutionary stages. Moreover, we find that the line shapes of the curves in the Age versus {nu}{sub max} diagram, which is plotted by the four sets of grid models, are consistent for red giants with masses from 1.1 M{sub Sun} to 2.8 M{sub Sun }. For red giants, the differences of correlation coefficients between Age and {nu}{sub max} for different grid models are minor and can be ignored. Interestingly, we find two peaks that correspond to the subgiants and bump of red giants in the Age versus {nu}{sub max} diagram. By general linear least-squares, we make the polynomial fitting and deduce the relationship between log(Age) and log({nu}{sub max}) in red giants' evolutionary state.« less

Assessment of the bioequivalence of two formulations of clarithromycin extended-release 500-mg tablets under fasting and fed conditions: a single-dose, randomized, open-label, two-period, two-way crossover study in healthy Jordanian male volunteers.

PubMed

Alkhalidi, Bashar A; Tamimi, Jaafar J; Salem, Isam I; Ibrahim, Husain; Sallam, Alsayed Alarabi I

2008-10-01

Clarithromycin extended-release tablets are indicated for the treatment of adults with acute maxillary sinusitis caused by Haemophilus influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis, or Streptococcus pneumoniae; acute bacterial exacerbation of chronic bronchitis due to H influenzae, Haemophilus parainfluenzae, M catarrhalis, or S pneumoniae; or community acquired pneumonia due to H influenzae, H parainfluenzae, M catarrhalis, S pneumoniae, Chlamydia pneumoniae, or Mycoplasma pneumoniae. This study was conducted to assess the bioequivalence of test and reference formulations of clarithromycin extended-release 500-mg tablets under fasting and fed conditions. This was a single-dose, randomized, open-label, 2-period, 2-way crossover study with a 1-week washout period between doses. Separate bioequivalence studies (fasting and fed) were performed in 2 groups of healthy male Jordanian volunteers. Eighteen blood samples were obtained from each volunteer over 38 hours after drug administration. Clarithromycin concentrations were determined in plasma using a validated high-performance liquid chromatography method with electrochemical detection. Pharmacokinetic parameters of clarithromycin (C(max), T(max), AUC(0-t), AUC(0-infinity), lambda(z) [first-order elimination rate constant], and t((1/2))) were calculated and analyzed statistically. Tolerability was assessed based on changes in vital signs and laboratory tests, and by questioning subjects about adverse events. Thirty-eight volunteers each participated in the fasting and fed studies. The mean ages of participants in the fasting and fed studies were 26.7 and 27.6 years, respectively; their mean weight was 71.2 and 70.9 kg and mean height was 171.3 and 179.0 cm. Under fasting conditions, the arithmetic mean (SD) C(max) was 569.4 (189.3) ng/mL for the test formulation and 641.2 (202.0) ng/mL for the reference formulation, with a geometric mean ratio of 0.88. The arithmetic mean AUC(0-t) was 8602.9 (4105.1) and 8245.3 (4122.4) ng . h/mL in the respective formulations, with a geometric mean ratio of 1.06. The arithmetic mean T(max) was 8.0 (5.6) and 6.1 (3.8) hours. In the fed study, the C(max) and AUC of both formulations were significantly increased relative to the fasting study (P < 0.05). The arithmetic mean C(max) of the 2 formulations was 1183.0 (637.5) and 1199.6 (496.3) ng/mL, with a geometric mean ratio of 0.93. The arithmetic mean AUC(0-t) was 12,981.2 (7849.0) and 11,822.9 (5790.2) ng . h/mL, with a geometric mean ratio of 1.06. The arithmetic mean T(max) was 5.7 (2.8) and 6.7 (2.5) hours. The 90% CI for the ratio (test:reference) of log-transformed C(max) and AUC values was within the acceptance range of 0.80 to 1.25. The 2 formulations were both well tolerated, and no adverse events were reported during the study. In these fasting and fed studies in healthy male Jordanian volunteers, the 2 formulations of clarithromycin extended-release 500-mg tablets were found to be bioequivalent according to the US Food and Drug Administration regulatory definition. Administration with food significantly increased the rate and extent of absorption of both products, with no significant effect on their bioequivalence.

Relative bioavailability of generic and branded acetylcysteine effervescent tablets: A single-dose, open-label, randomized-sequence, two-period crossover study in fasting healthy Chinese male volunteers.

PubMed

Liu, Yan-Mei; Liu, Yun; Lu, Chuan; Jia, Jing-Ying; Liu, Gang-Yi; Weng, Li-Ping; Wang, Jia-Yan; Li, Guo-Xiu; Wang, Wei; Li, Shui-Jun; Yu, Chen

2010-11-01

Acetylcysteine may be used as a muco- lytic agent for the treatment of chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and other pulmonary diseases complicated by the production of viscous mucus. However, little is known of its pharmacokinetic properties when given orally in healthy volunteers, particularly in a Chinese Han population. This study was conducted to provide support for the marketing of a generic product in China. The purpose of this study was to compare the pharmacokinetics and relative bioavailability of a generic test formulation and a branded reference formulation of acetylcysteine in fasting healthy Chinese male volunteers. A single-dose, open-label, randomized-sequence, 2-period crossover design with a 7-day washout period between doses was used in this study. Healthy Chinese male nonsmokers aged 18 to 40 years with a body mass index (BMI) of 19 to 25 kg/m(2) were selected. Eligible volunteers were randomly assigned to receive acetylcysteine 600 mg PO as either the test formulation (3 tablets of 200 mg each) or reference formulation (1 tablet of 600 mg) under fasting conditions. A total of 15 serial blood samples were collected over a 24-hour interval, and total plasma acetylcysteine concentrations were analyzed by a validated liquid chromatography-isotopic dilution mass spectrometry method. Pharmacokinetic parameters (C(max), T(max), t(½) AUC(0-t), and AUC(0-∞) were calculated and analyzed statistically. The 2 formulations were considered bioequivalent if the 90% CIs of the log-transformed ratios (test/reference) of C(max) and AUC were within the predetermined bioequivalence ranges (70%-143% for C(max); 80%-125% for AUC), as established by the State Food and Drug Administration of China. Tolerability was determined by vital signs, clinical laboratory tests, 12-lead ECGs, physical examinations, and interviews with the subjects about adverse events (AEs). A total of 24 healthy Chinese Han male volunteers were enrolled in and completed the study (mean [SD] age, 25.0 [2.4] years; height, 173.0 [5.6] cm; weight, 65.9 [6.4] kg; BMI, 22.0 [1.7] kg/m(2)). No formulation, period, or sequence effects were observed. The 90% CIs for the log-transformed C(max), AUC(0-t), and AUC(0-∞) were 89.7% to 103.8%, 86.7% to 101.7%, and 87.7% to 102.4%, respectively, which met the predetermined criteria for assuming bioequivalence. Two subjects (8.3%) experienced 2 mild AEs (increase in total bile acid and prolongation of the QT interval), which were not considered to be related to study drug administration. This single-dose study of acetylcysteine 600 mg PO found that the 3 tablets of the generic test formulation and 1 tablet of the branded reference formulation met the regulatory criteria for assuming bioequivalence in these fasting healthy Chinese male volunteers. Both formulations were generally well tolerated.

Religious Studies: The Shaping of a Field and a Guide to Reference Resources.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lippy, Charles H.

1992-01-01

Discusses the development of religious studies as an academic discipline. Examines the work of leading thinkers in the field, including anthropologists Sir James Fraser and Edward Burnett Taylor, sociologist Max Weber, and psychologist Erik Erikson. Identifies some of the many reference works that deal with religious studies. (SG)

Dynamics of arbitrary shaped propellers driven by a rotating magnetic field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morozov, Konstantin I.; Mirzae, Yoni; Kenneth, Oded; Leshansky, Alexander M.

2017-04-01

Motion in fluids at the micro(nano)metric scale is dominated by viscosity. One efficient propulsion method relies on a weak uniform rotating magnetic field that drives a chiral object. From bacterial flagella to artificial magnetic micro- or nanohelices, rotation of a corkscrew is considered as a universally efficient propulsion gait in viscous environments. However, recent experimental studies have demonstrated that geometrically achiral microscale objects or random-shaped magnetic aggregates can propel similarly to helical micromotors. Although approximate theories concerning dynamics of helical magnetic propellers are available, propulsion of achiral particles or objects with complex shapes is not understood. Here we present a general theory of rotation and propulsion of magnetized object of arbitrary shape driven by a rotating magnetic field. Intrinsic symmetries of the viscous mobility tensors yield compact classification of stable rotational states depending on the orientation of the magnetic moment with respect to principal rotation axes of the object. Propulsion velocity can be written in terms of geometry-dependent chirality matrix Ch , where both the diagonal elements (owing to orientation-dependent handedness) and off-diagonal entries (that do not necessitate handedness) contribute in a similar way. In general, the theory anticipates multiplicity of stable rotational states corresponding to two (complimentary to π ) angles the magnetization forms with the field rotation axis. Thus, two identical magnetic objects may propel with different speeds or even in opposite directions. However, for a class of simple achiral objects, there is a particular magnetization whereas the pair of symmetric rotational states gives rise to a unique chiral-like propulsion gait, closely resembling that of an ideal helical propeller. In other words, a geometrically achiral object can acquire apparent chirality due to its interaction with the external magnetic field. The developed theory is further applied to study the dynamics of achiral, chiral, and random-shaped magnetic propellers, rationalizing previously unexplained experimental observations. The genetic search algorithm based on the proposed theory reveals that an arc-shaped segment is the optimal (fastest) achiral propeller, while the optimal skew-symmetric shape deviates considerably from a helix. Remarkably, an optimized arc-shaped propeller warrants propulsion speeds comparable to those of the optimally magnetized helix. Although random shaped magnetic aggregates appear to be poor swimmers at low actuation frequency, at higher frequency, whereas the helical propeller ceases to rotate in-sync with the field, the propulsion speed of the aggregates could be comparable, or even higher, than that of a helix.

Dapoxetine has no pharmacokinetic or cognitive interactions with ethanol in healthy male volunteers.

PubMed

Modi, Nishit B; Dresser, Mark; Desai, Dhaval; Edgar, Christopher; Wesnes, Keith

2007-03-01

Dapoxetine is being investigated for the treatment of premature ejaculation. This study evaluated the potential pharmacokinetic and cognitive interactions of dapoxetine 60 mg with ethanol 0.5 g/kg in a single-center, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled crossover study in healthy adult male participants (n = 24). Dapoxetine was rapidly absorbed and eliminated; peak concentrations were noted 1.47 hours after administration and decreased with an alpha half-life of 1.33 hours and a terminal half-life of 15.6 hours. Pharmacokinetic parameters (C(max), AUC(infinity), t((1/2)), and t(max)) of dapoxetine were not altered with concurrent ethanol consumption. Furthermore, coadministration of dapoxetine did not affect the pharmacokinetics of ethanol or potentiate the cognitive and subjective effects of ethanol.

Coherent random lasing controlled by Brownian motion of the active scatterer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, Shuofeng; Yin, Leicheng; Zhang, ZhenZhen; Xia, Jiangying; Xie, Kang; Zou, Gang; Hu, Zhijia; Zhang, Qijin

2018-05-01

The stability of the scattering loop is fundamental for coherent random lasing in a dynamic scattering system. In this work, fluorescence of DPP (N, N-di [3-(isobutyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes) propyl] perylene diimide) is scattered to produce RL and we realize the transition from incoherent RL to coherent RL by controlling the Brownian motion of the scatterers (dimer aggregates of DPP) and the stability of scattering loop. To produce coherent random lasers, the loop needs to maintain a stable state within the loop-stable time, which can be determined through controlled Brownian motion of scatterers in the scattering system. The result shows that the loop-stable time is within 5.83 × 10‑5 s to 1.61 × 10‑4 s based on the transition from coherent to incoherent random lasing. The time range could be tuned by finely controlling the viscosity of the solution. This work not only develops a method to predict the loop-stable time, but also develops the study between Brownian motion and random lasers, which opens the road to a variety of novel interdisciplinary investigations involving modern statistical mechanics and disordered photonics.

Increased calcium absorption from synthetic stable amorphous calcium carbonate: Double-blind randomized crossover clinical trial in post-menopausal women

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Calcium supplementation is a widely recognized strategy for achieving adequate calcium intake. We designed this blinded, randomized, crossover interventional trial to compare the bioavailability of a new stable synthetic amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) with that of crystalline calcium carbonate (C...

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Grzetic, S; Weldon, M; Noa, K

Purpose: This study compares the newly released MaxFOV Revision 1 EFOV reconstruction algorithm for GE RT590 to the older WideView EFOV algorithm. Two radiotherapy overlays from Q-fix and Diacor, are included in our analysis. Hounsfield Units (HU) generated with the WideView algorithm varied in the extended field (beyond 50cm) and the scanned object’s border varied from slice to slice. A validation of HU consistency between the two reconstruction algorithms is performed. Methods: A CatPhan 504 and CIRS062 Electron Density Phantom were scanned on a GE RT590 CT-Simulator. The phantoms were positioned in multiple locations within the scan field of viewmore » so some of the density plugs were outside the 50cm reconstruction circle. Images were reconstructed using both the WideView and MaxFOV algorithms. The HU for each scan were characterized both in average over a volume and in profile. Results: HU values are consistent between the two algorithms. Low-density material will have a slight increase in HU value and high-density material will have a slight decrease in HU value as the distance from the sweet spot increases. Border inconsistencies and shading artifacts are still present with the MaxFOV reconstruction on the Q-fix overlay but not the Diacor overlay (It should be noted that the Q-fix overlay is not currently GE-certified). HU values for water outside the 50cm FOV are within 40HU of reconstructions at the sweet spot of the scanner. CatPhan HU profiles show improvement with the MaxFOV algorithm as it approaches the scanner edge. Conclusion: The new MaxFOV algorithm improves the contour border for objects outside of the standard FOV when using a GE-approved tabletop. Air cavities outside of the standard FOV create inconsistent object borders. HU consistency is within GE specifications and the accuracy of the phantom edge improves. Further adjustments to the algorithm are being investigated by GE.« less

Nodulation, Nitrogen Fixation, and Hydrogen Oxidation by Pigeon Pea Bradyrhizobium spp. in Symbiotic Association with Pigeon Pea, Cowpea, and Soybean †

PubMed Central

Nautiyal, C. S.; Hegde, S. V.; van Berkum, P.

1988-01-01

The pigeon pea strains of Bradyrhizobium CC-1, CC-8, UASGR(S), and F4 were evaluated for nodulation, effectiveness for N2 fixation, and H2 oxidation with homologous and nonhomologous host plants. Strain CC-1 nodulated Macroptilium atropurpureum, Vigna unguiculata, Glycine max, and G. soja but did not nodulate Pisum sativum, Phaseolus vulgaris, Trigonella foenum-graecum, and Trifolium repens. Strain F4 nodulated G. max cv. Peking and PI 434937 (Malayan), but the symbioses formed were poor. Similarly, G. max cv. Peking, cv. Bragg, PI 434937, PR 13-28-2-8-7, and HM-1 were nodulated by strain CC-1, and symbioses were also poor. G. max cv. Williams and cv. Clark were not nodulated. H2 uptake activity was expressed with pigeon pea and cowpea, but not with soybean. G. max cv. Bragg grown in Bangalore, India, in local soil not previously exposed to Bradyrhizobium japonicum formed nodules with indigenous Bradyrhizobium spp. Six randomly chosen isolates, each originating from a different nodule, formed effective symbioses with pigeon pea host ICPL-407, nodulated PR 13-28-2-8-7 soybean forming moderately effective symbioses, and did not nodulate Williams soybean. These results indicate the six isolates to be pigeon pea strains although they originated from soybean nodules. Host-determined nodulation of soybean by pigeon pea Bradyrhizobium spp. may depend upon the ancestral backgrounds of the cultivars. The poor symbioses formed by the pigeon pea strains with soybean indicate that this crop should be inoculated with B. japonicum for its cultivation in soils containing only pigeon pea Bradyrhizobium spp. PMID:16347542

Lymphocyte Apoptosis in Smokers and Non-Smokers Following Different Intensity of Exercises and Relation with Lactate

PubMed Central

PARK, KYUNG-SHIN; LEE, YANG

2011-01-01

Purposes of this study were 1) to examine the exercise intensity where lymphocyte apoptosis index (AI) is significantly increased in smokers and non-smokers, 2) to find out whether AI is associated with level of lactate (L). Fourteen healthy untrained smokers (≤ 1 pack year, n=7) and non-smokers (n=7) aged 18 to 26 were recruited. Each subject conducted three treadmill runs at different intensities randomly. Running distance for all three runs was equivalent to 30 minute run at 70% VO2max. AI and L were analyzed at rest (Pre), immediately after (Post), and 1 h following (1 h post) each run. Data was analyzed using two way repeated measures ANOVA. Smokers showed higher AI than non-smokers at Post in 60% (12.5±0.62% vs. 9.97±0.51, p<.008) and 70% VO2max running trials (17.53±0.57% vs. 15.6±0.41, p<.018). All L values at post showed significantly higher than Pre and 1 h post, but there was no significant difference between smokers and non-smokers. The strong positive relationship between AI and L was detected (r=.739, smokers vs. r=.793, non-smokers). Smokers tend to have higher AI than non-smokers following runs at 60% and 70% VO2max, but not following a run at 80% VO2max. An increase in AI following a run at 60% VO2max indicates that lymphocyte apoptosis can be increased following moderate intensity exercise. Since L and AI at post were increased in dose-dependent manner to exercise intensity, it is suggested that an increase in lactate production during exercise might contribute to the increase in lymphocyte apoptosis. PMID:27182363

Lymphocyte Apoptosis in Smokers and Non-Smokers Following Different Intensity of Exercises and Relation with Lactate.

PubMed

Park, Kyung-Shin; Lee, Yang

Purposes of this study were 1) to examine the exercise intensity where lymphocyte apoptosis index (AI) is significantly increased in smokers and non-smokers, 2) to find out whether AI is associated with level of lactate (L). Fourteen healthy untrained smokers (≤ 1 pack year, n =7) and non-smokers ( n =7) aged 18 to 26 were recruited. Each subject conducted three treadmill runs at different intensities randomly. Running distance for all three runs was equivalent to 30 minute run at 70% VO 2max . AI and L were analyzed at rest (Pre), immediately after (Post), and 1 h following (1 h post) each run. Data was analyzed using two way repeated measures ANOVA. Smokers showed higher AI than non-smokers at Post in 60% (12.5±0.62% vs. 9.97±0.51, p <.008) and 70% VO 2max running trials (17.53±0.57% vs. 15.6±0.41, p <.018). All L values at post showed significantly higher than Pre and 1 h post, but there was no significant difference between smokers and non-smokers. The strong positive relationship between AI and L was detected ( r =.739, smokers vs. r =.793, non-smokers). Smokers tend to have higher AI than non-smokers following runs at 60% and 70% VO 2max, but not following a run at 80% VO 2max . An increase in AI following a run at 60% VO 2max indicates that lymphocyte apoptosis can be increased following moderate intensity exercise. Since L and AI at post were increased in dose-dependent manner to exercise intensity, it is suggested that an increase in lactate production during exercise might contribute to the increase in lymphocyte apoptosis.

Peak Velocity as an Alternative Method for Training Prescription in Mice

PubMed Central

Picoli, Caroline de Carvalho; Romero, Paulo Vitor da Silva; Gilio, Gustavo R.; Guariglia, Débora A.; Tófolo, Laize P.; de Moraes, Solange M. F.; Machado, Fabiana A.; Peres, Sidney B.

2018-01-01

Purpose: To compare the efficiency of an aerobic physical training program prescribed according to either velocity associated with maximum oxygen uptake (vVO2max) or peak running speed obtained during an incremental treadmill test (Vpeak_K) in mice. Methods: Twenty male Swiss mice, 60 days old, were randomly divided into two groups with 10 animals each: 1. group trained by vVO2max (GVO2), 2. group trained by Vpeak_K (GVP). After the adaptation training period, an incremental test was performed at the beginning of each week to adjust training load and to determine the amount of VO2 and VCO2 fluxes consumed, energy expenditure (EE) and run distance during the incremental test. Mice were submitted to 4 weeks of aerobic exercise training of moderate intensity (velocity referring to 70% of vVO2max and Vpeak_K) in a programmable treadmill. The sessions lasted from 30 to 40 min in the first week, to reach 60 min in the fourth week, in order to provide the mice with a moderate intensity exercise, totaling 20 training sessions. Results: Mice demonstrated increases in VO2max (ml·kg−1·min−1) (GVO2 = 49.1% and GVP = 56.2%), Vpeak_K (cm·s−1) (GVO2 = 50.9% and GVP = 22.3%), EE (ml·kg−0,75·min−1) (GVO2 = 39.9% and GVP = 51.5%), and run distance (cm) (GVO2 = 43.5% and GVP = 33.4%), after 4 weeks of aerobic training (time effect, P < 0.05); there were no differences between the groups. Conclusions: Vpeak_K, as well as vVO2max, can be adopted as an alternative test to determine the performance and correct prescription of systemized aerobic protocol training to mice. PMID:29467664

Systemic oxidative-nitrosative-inflammatory stress during acute exercise in hypoxia; implications for microvascular oxygenation and aerobic capacity.

PubMed

Woodside, John D S; Gutowski, Mariusz; Fall, Lewis; James, Philip E; McEneny, Jane; Young, Ian S; Ogoh, Shigehiko; Bailey, Damian M

2014-12-01

Exercise performance in hypoxia may be limited by a critical reduction in cerebral and skeletal tissue oxygenation, although the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We examined whether increased systemic free radical accumulation during hypoxia would be associated with elevated microvascular deoxygenation and reduced maximal aerobic capacity (V̇O2 max ). Eleven healthy men were randomly assigned single-blind to an incremental semi-recumbent cycling test to determine V̇O2 max in both normoxia (21% O2) and hypoxia (12% O2) separated by a week. Continuous-wave near-infrared spectroscopy was employed to monitor concentration changes in oxy- and deoxyhaemoglobin in the left vastus lateralis muscle and frontal cerebral cortex. Antecubital venous blood samples were obtained at rest and at V̇O2 max to determine oxidative (ascorbate radical by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy), nitrosative (nitric oxide metabolites by ozone-based chemiluminescence and 3-nitrotyrosine by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) and inflammatory stress biomarkers (soluble intercellular/vascular cell adhesion 1 molecules by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). Hypoxia was associated with increased cerebral and muscle tissue deoxygenation and lower V̇O2 max (P < 0.05 versus normoxia). Despite an exercise-induced increase in oxidative-nitrosative-inflammatory stress, hypoxia per se did not have an additive effect (P > 0.05 versus normoxia). Consequently, we failed to observe correlations between any metabolic, haemodynamic and cardiorespiratory parameters (P > 0.05). Collectively, these findings suggest that altered free radical metabolism cannot explain the elevated microvascular deoxygenation and corresponding lower V̇O2 max in hypoxia. Further research is required to determine whether free radicals when present in excess do indeed contribute to the premature termination of exercise in hypoxia. © 2014 The Authors. Experimental Physiology © 2014 The Physiological Society.

Plasma bupivacaine concentrations following orbital injections in cats.

PubMed

Shilo-Benjamini, Yael; Pypendop, Bruno H; Newbold, Georgina; Pascoe, Peter J

2017-01-01

To determine plasma bupivacaine concentrations after retrobulbar or peribulbar injection of bupivacaine in cats. Randomized, crossover, experimental trial with a 2 week washout period. Six adult healthy cats, aged 1-2 years, weighing 4.6 ± 0.7 kg. Cats were sedated by intramuscular injection of dexmedetomidine (36-56 μg kg -1 ) and were administered a retrobulbar injection of bupivacaine (0.75 mL, 0.5%; 3.75 mg) and iopamidol (0.25 mL), or a peribulbar injection of bupivacaine (1.5 mL, 0.5%; 7.5 mg), iopamidol (0.5 mL) and 0.9% saline (1 mL) via a dorsomedial approach. Blood (2 mL) was collected before and at 5, 10, 15, 22, 30, 45, 60, 120, 240 and 480 minutes after bupivacaine injection. Atipamezole was administered approximately 30 minutes after bupivacaine injection. Plasma bupivacaine and 3-hydroxybupivacaine concentrations were determined using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Bupivacaine maximum plasma concentration (C max ) and time to C max (T max ) were determined from the data. The bupivacaine median (range) C max and T max were 1.4 (0.9-2.5) μg mL -1 and 17 (4-60) minutes, and 1.7 (1.0-2.4) μg mL -1 , and 28 (8-49) minutes, for retrobulbar and peribulbar injections, respectively. In both treatments the 3-hydroxybupivacaine peak concentration was 0.05-0.21 μg mL -1 . In healthy cats, at doses up to 2 mg kg -1 , bupivacaine peak plasma concentrations were approximately half that reported to cause arrhythmias or convulsive electroencephalogram (EEG) activity in cats, and about one-sixth of that required to produce hypotension. Copyright © 2016 Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists and American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of Omega-3 PUFAs Supplementation with Lifestyle Modification on Anthropometric Indices and Vo2 max in Overweight Women.

PubMed

Haghravan, Simin; Keshavarz, Seyed Ali; Mazaheri, Reza; Alizadeh, Zahra; Mansournia, Mohammad Ali

2016-05-01

Despite the fact that the recommendations of counteracting obesity advocate for changing lifestyle and physical activity habits, the prevalence of obesity continues to rise. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of omega-3 PUFAs supplementation with lifestyle modification on anthropometric indices and Vo2max in overweight women. Fifty overweight women aged between 20 to 45 years were recruited in this interventional study. Women randomly were divided into two experimental groups (n = 25). Group 1 received omega-3 supplement, aerobic exercise program, and a healthy diet education. Group 2 was similar to group 1, except in that patients received placebo instead of omega-3 capsules. Experimental and placebo group subjects were asked to take one supplementary capsule every day, for 8 weeks. Anthropometric indices were measured in the fourth and eighth weeks of the trial. The maximum aerobic capacity (Vo2max) was determined using a gas analysis device. The level of significance for comparing the results before and after the trial was considered at P < 0.05. According to the data, body weight, body fat percentage, waist circumference, and abdominal skinfold thickness significantly reduced in the omega-3 treated group compared to the control group during 8 weeks after the initiation of the study (P < 0.05). In addition, supplementation of omega-3, significantly improved the VO2max outcome compared to that of the control group (P = 0.03). According to the results, it seems that omega-3 PUFAS supplementation with lifestyle modification has positive effects on anthropometric indices and Vo2max in overweight women.

Conventional testing methods produce submaximal values of maximum oxygen consumption.

PubMed

Beltrami, Fernando G; Froyd, Christian; Mauger, Alexis R; Metcalfe, Alan J; Marino, Frank; Noakes, Timothy D

2012-01-01

This study used a novel protocol to test the hypothesis that a plateau in oxygen consumption (VO(2 max)) during incremental exercise testing to exhaustion represents the maximal capacity of the cardiovascular system to transport oxygen. Twenty-six subjects were randomly divided into two groups matched by their initial VO(2 max). On separate days, the reverse group performed (i) an incremental uphill running test on a treadmill (INC(1)) plus verification test (VER) at a constant workload 1 km h(-1) higher than the last completed stage in INC(1); (ii) a decremental test (DEC) in which speed started as same as the VER but was reduced progressively and (iii) a final incremental test (INC(F)). The control group performed only INC on the same days that the reverse group was tested. VO(2 max) remained within 0.6 ml kg(-1) min(-1) across the three trials for the control group (p=0.93) but was 4.4% higher during DEC compared with INC(1) (63.9 ± 3.8 vs 61.2 ± 4.8 ml kg(-1) min(-1), respectively, p=0.004) in the reverse group, even though speed at VO(2 max) was lower (14.3 ± 1.1 vs 16.2 ± 0.7 km h(-1) for DEC and INC(1), respectively, p=0.0001). VO(2 max) remained significantly higher during INC(F) (63.6 ± 3.68 ml kg(-1) min(-1), p=0.01), despite an unchanged exercise time between INC(1) and INC(F). These findings go against the concept that a plateau in oxygen consumption measured during the classically described INC and VER represents a systemic limitation to oxygen use. The reasons for a higher VO(2) during INC(F) following the DEC test are unclear.

Quench degradation limit of multifilamentary AgBi 2Sr 2CaCu 2O x round wires

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ye, Liyang; Li, Pei; Shen, Tengming

Understanding safe operating limits of composite superconducting wires is important for the design of superconducting magnets. Here we report measurements of quench-induced critical current density Jc degradation in commercial Ag/Bi 2Sr 2CaCu 2O x (Bi-2212) round wires using heater-induced quenches at 4.2 K in self magnetic field that reveal a general degradation behavior. J c degradation strongly depends on the local hot spot temperature T max, and is nearly independent of operating current, the temperature gradient along the conductor dT max/dx, and the temperature rising rate dT max/dt. Both J c and n value (where n is an index ofmore » the sharpness of the superconductor-to-normal transition) exhibit small but irreversible degradation when T max exceeds 400-450 K, and large degradation occurs when Tmax exceeds 550 K. This behavior was consistently found for a series of Bi-2212 wires with widely variable wire architectures and porosity levels in the Bi-2212 filaments, including a wire processed using a standard partial melt processing and in which Bi-2212 filaments are porous, an overpressure processed wire in which Bi-2212 filaments are nearly porosity-free and that has a J c(4.2 K, self field) exceeding 8000 A/mm 2, and a wire that has nearly no filament to filament bridges after reaction. Microstructural observations of degraded wires reveal cracks in the Bi-2212 filaments perpendicular to the wire axis, indicating that the quench-induced I c degradation is primarily driven by strain. These results further suggest that the quench degradation temperature limit depends on the strain state of Bi-2212 filaments and this dependence shall be carefully considered when engineering a high-field Bi-2212 magnet.« less

Cardiorespiratory responses induced by various military field tasks.

PubMed

Pihlainen, Kai; Santtila, Matti; Häkkinen, Keijo; Lindholm, Harri; Kyröläinen, Heikki

2014-02-01

Typical military tasks include load carriage, digging, and lifting loads. To avoid accumulation of fatigue, it is important to know the energy expenditure of soldiers during such tasks. The purpose of this study was to measure cardiorespiratory responses during military tasks in field conditions. Unloaded (M1) and loaded (M2) marching, artillery field preparation (AFP), and digging of defensive positions (D) were monitored. 15 conscripts carried additional weight of military outfit (5.4 kg) during M1, AFP, and D and during M2 full combat gear (24.4 kg). Absolute and relative oxygen uptake (VO2) and heart rate (HR) of M1 (n = 8) were 1.5 ± 0.1 L min(-1), 19.9 ± 2.7 mL kg(-1) min(-1) (42 ± 7% VO2max), and 107 ± 8 beats min(-1) (55 ± 3% HRmax), respectively. VO2 of M2 (n = 8) was 1.7 ± 0.2 L min(-1), 22.7 ± 3.4 mL kg(-1) min(-1) (47 ± 6% VO2max) and HR 123 ± 9 beats min(-1) (64 ± 4% HRmax). VO2 of AFP (n = 5) and D (n = 6) were 1.3 ± 0.3 L min(-1), 18.0 ± 3.0 (37 ± 6% VO2max), and 1.8 ± 0.4 L min(-1), 24.3 ± 5.1 mL kg(-1) min(-1) (51 ± 9% VO2max), respectively. Corresponding HR values were 99 ± 8 beats min(-1) (50 ± 3% HRmax) and 132 ± 10 beats min(-1) (68 ± 4% HRmax), respectively. The mean work intensity of soldiers was close to 50% of their maximal aerobic capacity, which has been suggested to be maximal limit of intensity for sustained work. Reprint & Copyright © 2014 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.

Quench degradation limit of multifilamentary AgBi 2Sr 2CaCu 2O x round wires

DOE PAGES

Ye, Liyang; Li, Pei; Shen, Tengming; ...

2016-02-02

Understanding safe operating limits of composite superconducting wires is important for the design of superconducting magnets. Here we report measurements of quench-induced critical current density Jc degradation in commercial Ag/Bi 2Sr 2CaCu 2O x (Bi-2212) round wires using heater-induced quenches at 4.2 K in self magnetic field that reveal a general degradation behavior. J c degradation strongly depends on the local hot spot temperature T max, and is nearly independent of operating current, the temperature gradient along the conductor dT max/dx, and the temperature rising rate dT max/dt. Both J c and n value (where n is an index ofmore » the sharpness of the superconductor-to-normal transition) exhibit small but irreversible degradation when T max exceeds 400-450 K, and large degradation occurs when Tmax exceeds 550 K. This behavior was consistently found for a series of Bi-2212 wires with widely variable wire architectures and porosity levels in the Bi-2212 filaments, including a wire processed using a standard partial melt processing and in which Bi-2212 filaments are porous, an overpressure processed wire in which Bi-2212 filaments are nearly porosity-free and that has a J c(4.2 K, self field) exceeding 8000 A/mm 2, and a wire that has nearly no filament to filament bridges after reaction. Microstructural observations of degraded wires reveal cracks in the Bi-2212 filaments perpendicular to the wire axis, indicating that the quench-induced I c degradation is primarily driven by strain. These results further suggest that the quench degradation temperature limit depends on the strain state of Bi-2212 filaments and this dependence shall be carefully considered when engineering a high-field Bi-2212 magnet.« less

Relative bioavailability of generic and branded 250-mg and 500-mg oral chlorphenesin carbamate tablets in healthy Korean volunteers: a single-dose, randomized-sequence, open-label, two-period crossover trial.

PubMed

Yu, Ji-young; Song, Hyun Ho; Kim, Bo Gyeom; Park, Hyeon Ju; Choi, Kwang Sik; Kwon, Young Ee

2009-11-01

Chlorphenesin carbamate is a skeletal muscle relaxant approved in Korea for use in the treatment of pain and discomfort related to skeletal muscle trauma and inflammation. The aim of this study was to assess the bioequivalence of a generic formulation of chlorphenesin carbamate at doses of 250 and 500 mg and 2 branded formulations of the same doses in healthy Korean adults. This single-dose, randomized-sequence, open-label, 2-period crossover study was conducted in healthy Korean male and female volunteers. Subjects were assigned to receive, in a randomized sequence, a single dose of the generic (test) and branded (reference) formulations of chlorphenesin carbamate at a dose of 250 or 500 mg. Blood samples were drawn at 0, 0.33, 0.67, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, and 15 hours after administration. Pharmacokinetic properties (C(max), T(max), AUC(0-t) AUC(0-infinity), t(1/2), and ke) were determined using HPLC. The formulations were to be considered bioequivalent if the 90% CIs of the treatment ratios of the geometric means of C(max) and AUC(0-t) were within a predetermined range of log 0.80 to log 1.25 based on regulatory criteria. Tolerability was assessed by monitoring for adverse events (AEs) on physical examination and/or e-mail and personal interview at the beginning and end of each study period. Twenty-eight subjects (22 men, 6 women) received chlorphenesin carbamate at the 250-mg dose, and 24 male subjects received the 500-mg dose. The mean (SD) ages of the subjects were 24.0 (2.6) and 24.0 (1.9) years in the 250- and 500-mg groups, respectively. No significant differences were found between the test and reference formulations (90% CIs: C(max), 1.0048-1.1153 with the 250-mg dose and 0.9630-1.1189 with the 500-mg dose; AUC(0-t), 0.9882-1.0546 and 0.9842-1.0578, respectively). No clinically significant AEs (upper gastric pain, abdominal bloating, pyrexia, edema, nausea, heartburn, constipation, headache, dizziness, drowsiness, or fatigue) were reported throughout the study. In this single-dose study in these healthy Korean subjects, the generic and branded formulations of chlorphenesin carbamate 250 and 500 mg met the regulatory criteria for bioequivalence. All formulations were well tolerated. Copyright 2009 Excerpta Medica Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparison of a field-based test to estimate functional threshold power and power output at lactate threshold.

PubMed

Gavin, Timothy P; Van Meter, Jessica B; Brophy, Patricia M; Dubis, Gabriel S; Potts, Katlin N; Hickner, Robert C

2012-02-01

It has been proposed that field-based tests (FT) used to estimate functional threshold power (FTP) result in power output (PO) equivalent to PO at lactate threshold (LT). However, anecdotal evidence from regional cycling teams tested for LT in our laboratory suggested that PO at LT underestimated FTP. It was hypothesized that estimated FTP is not equivalent to PO at LT. The LT and estimated FTP were measured in 7 trained male competitive cyclists (VO2max = 65.3 ± 1.6 ml O2·kg(-1)·min(-1)). The FTP was estimated from an 8-minute FT and compared with PO at LT using 2 methods; LT(Δ1), a 1 mmol·L(-1) or greater rise in blood lactate in response to an increase in workload and LT(4.0), blood lactate of 4.0 mmol·L(-1). The estimated FTP was equivalent to PO at LT(4.0) and greater than PO at LT(Δ1). VO2max explained 93% of the variance in individual PO during the 8-minute FT. When the 8-minute FT PO was expressed relative to maximal PO from the VO2max test (individual exercise performance), VO2max explained 64% of the variance in individual exercise performance. The PO at LT was not related to 8-minute FT PO. In conclusion, FTP estimated from an 8-minute FT is equivalent to PO at LT if LT(4.0) is used but is not equivalent for all methods of LT determination including LT(Δ1).

Effect of Sustained Elevated Gastric pH Levels on Gefitinib Exposure.

PubMed

Tang, Weifeng; Tomkinson, Helen; Masson, Eric

2017-09-01

This open-label, randomized, phase 1 crossover study investigated the effect of elevated gastric pH level (>5) on the relative bioavailability and pharmacokinetic profile of the epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor gefitinib. Healthy male volunteers (n = 26) were randomized to gefitinib 250 mg (fasted), either alone on day 1 (unmodified gastric pH) or 1 hour following the second of 2 oral doses of the H 2 -receptor antagonist ranitidine 450 mg (elevated gastric pH). After a 3-week washout period, volunteers crossed to the other treatment. The geometric least-squares (GLS) mean AUC 0-∞ and C max for gefitinib were reduced by 47% and 71%, respectively, under conditions of sustained elevated gastric pH; for both parameters, the 90%CI for the ratio of the GLS means lay below the prespecified lower limit. Median t max was delayed from 5 to 6 hours. Mean t 1/2 was similar under both gastric pH conditions. No serious adverse events were reported. The bioavailability of a single oral gefitinib 250-mg dose was reduced by approximately 50% when gefitinib was administered under conditions of sustained elevated gastric pH. © 2017, The American College of Clinical Pharmacology.

Cortical bone stress distribution in mandibles with different configurations restored with prefabricated bar-prosthesis protocol: a three-dimensional finite-element analysis.

PubMed

de Almeida, Erika Oliveira; Rocha, Eduardo Passos; Assunção, Wirley Gonçalves; Júnior, Amílcar Chagas Freitas; Anchieta, Rodolfo Bruniera

2011-01-01

To evaluate stress distribution in different horizontal mandibular arch formats restored by protocol-type prostheses using three-dimensional finite element analysis (3D-FEA). A representative model (M) of a completely edentulous mandible restored with a prefabricated bar using four interforaminal implants was created using SolidWorks 2010 software (Inovart, São Paulo, Brazil) and analyzed by Ansys Workbench 10.0 (Swanson Analysis Inc., Houston, PA) to obtain the stress fields. Three mandibular arch sizes were considered for analysis, regular (M), small (MS), and large (ML). Three unilateral posterior loads (L) (150 N) were used: perpendicular to the prefabricated bar (L1); 30° oblique in a buccolingual direction (L2); 30° oblique in a lingual-buccal direction (L3). The maximum and minimum principal stresses (σ(max), σ(min)), the equivalent von Mises (σ(vM)), and the maximum principal strain (σ(max) ) were obtained for type I (M.I) and type II (M.II) cortical bones. Tensile stress was more evident than compression stress in type I and II bone; however, type II bone showed lower stress values. The L2 condition showed highest values for all parameters (σ(vM), σ(max), σ(min), ɛ(max)). The σ(vM) was highest for the large and small mandibular arches. The large arch model had a higher influence on σ(max) values than did the other formats, mainly for type I bone. Vertical and buccolingual loads showed considerable influence on both σ(max) and σ(min) stresses. © 2010 by The American College of Prosthodontists.

Protecting clean critical points by local disorder correlations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoyos, J. A.; Laflorencie, Nicolas; Vieira, André.; Vojta, Thomas

2011-03-01

We show that a broad class of quantum critical points can be stable against locally correlated disorder even if they are unstable against uncorrelated disorder. Although this result seemingly contradicts the Harris criterion, it follows naturally from the absence of a random-mass term in the associated order-parameter field theory. We illustrate the general concept with explicit calculations for quantum spin-chain models. Instead of the infinite-randomness physics induced by uncorrelated disorder, we find that weak locally correlated disorder is irrelevant. For larger disorder, we find a line of critical points with unusual properties such as an increase of the entanglement entropy with the disorder strength. We also propose experimental realizations in the context of quantum magnetism and cold-atom physics. Financial support: Fapesp, CNPq, NSF, and Research Corporation.

Ultraviolet interstellar linear polarization. 2: The wavelength dependence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clayton, Geoffrey C.; Wolff, Michael J.; Allen, R. G.; Lupie, O. L.

1995-01-01

We present new ultraviolet (UV) polarimetry of the well-studied interstellar line of sight toward HD 204827 obtained with the Faint Object Spectrograph on Hubble Space Telescope. HD 204827 is of great interest because the dust along this line of sight has extremely low values of both lambda(sub max) and R(sub V). Its far-UV extinction is very large, reflecting its small R(sub V) value. In addition, we reexamine the entire sample of 14 interstellar lines of sight for which there are now UV polarization data. We find that the previously suggested relationship between lambda(sub max) and the wavelength dependence of the polarization in the UV is strongly supported by the data for this larger sample including HD 204827. Seven stars with lambda(sub max) greater than or equal to 0.54 micron agree well with an extrapolation of the Serkowski relation into the UV while seven stars with lambda(sub max) less than or equal to 0.53 micron show polarization in excess of the Serkowski extrapolation (super-Serkowski). However, the division of the observed lines of sight into Serkowski and super-Serkowski categories is artificial. In fact, the amount of polarization in the UV is correlated with a single parameter, lambda(sub max). This may indicate that there is a mean interstellar polarization law analogous to the mean interstellar extinction law of Cardelli, Calyton, & Mathis which is based on R(sub V). The data are consistent with a linear relationship between 1/lambda(sub max) and rho(UV)/rho(sub max) but more data are needed to define the functional form. We suggest that the Serkowski and super-Serkowski designations be replaced by high and low lambda(sub max) which are more physically descriptive. At the same time, we note that all seven super-Serkowski (low lambda(sub max)) stars lie in a relatively small region of the sky between l(sup II) = 90 deg - 150 deg and b = -5 deg - 15 deg. These stars all lie in or behind a spur of the local Orion spiral arm. Similarly, most of the Serkowski (high lambda(sub max) stars lie in or near the Scorpio-Centaurus OB Association. So lines of sight covering larger areas of the sky are needed to test the universality of the lambda(sub max)/UV polarization relationship. The recent discovery of warm dust near HD 197770 suggests the possibility that a mechanism other than the traditional alignment to the Galactic magnetic field may be invoked to explain its 2175 A polarization bump.

Aerobic Interval Training and Cardiometabolic Health in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Meta-Analysis

PubMed Central

Qiu, Shanhu; Cai, Xue; Sun, Zilin; Zügel, Martina; Steinacker, Jürgen M.; Schumann, Uwe

2017-01-01

Vigorous to maximal aerobic interval training (INT) has received remarkable interest in improving cardiometabolic outcomes for type 2 diabetes patients recently, yet with inconsistent findings. This meta-analysis was aimed to quantify its effectiveness in type 2 diabetes. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were identified by searches of 3 databases to October 2017, which evaluated the effects of INT with a minimal training duration of 8 weeks vs. moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) or non-exercise training (NET) among type 2 diabetes patients on outcomes including cardiorespiratory fitness, glycemic control, body composition, blood pressure, and lipid profiles. Weighted mean differences with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated with the random-effects model. Nine datasets from 7 RCTs with 189 patients were included. Compared with MICT, INT improved maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) by 2.60 ml/kg/min (95% CI: 1.32 to 3.88 ml/kg/min, P <0.001) and decreased hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) by 0.26% (95% CI: −0.46% to −0.07%, P = 0.008). These outcomes for INT were also significant vs. energy expenditure-matched MICT, with VO2max increased by 2.18 ml/kg/min (P = 0.04) and HbA1c decreased by 0.28% (P = 0.01). Yet their magnitudes of changes were larger compared with NET, with VO2max increased by 6.38 ml/kg/min (P <0.001) and HbA1c reduced by 0.83% (P = 0.004). Systolic blood pressure could be lowered by INT compared with energy expenditure-matched MICT or NET (both P <0.05), but other cardiometabolic markers and body composition were not significantly altered in general. In conclusion, despite a limited number of studies, INT improves cardiometabolic health especially for VO2max and HbA1c among patients with type 2 diabetes, and might be considered an alternative to MICT. Yet the optimal training protocols still require to be established. PMID:29218018

Effect of Deworming on Physical Fitness of School-Aged Children in Yunnan, China: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial

PubMed Central

Yap, Peiling; Wu, Fang-Wei; Du, Zun-Wei; Hattendorf, Jan; Chen, Ran; Jiang, Jin-Yong; Kriemler, Susi; Krauth, Stefanie J.; Zhou, Xiao-Nong; Utzinger, Jürg; Steinmann, Peter

2014-01-01

Background There is considerable debate on the health impacts of soil-transmitted helminth infections. We assessed effects of deworming on physical fitness and strength of children in an area in Yunnan, People's Republic of China, where soil-transmitted helminthiasis is highly endemic. Methodology The double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial was conducted between October 2011 and May 2012. Children, aged 9–12 years, were treated with either triple-dose albendazole or placebo, and monitored for 6 months post-treatment. The Kato-Katz and Baermann techniques were used for the diagnosis of soil-transmitted helminth infections. Physical fitness was assessed with a 20-m shuttle run test, where the maximum aerobic capacity within 1 min of exhaustive exercise (VO2 max estimate) and the number of 20-m laps completed were recorded. Physical strength was determined with grip strength and standing broad jump tests. Body height and weight, the sum of skinfolds, and hemoglobin levels were recorded as secondary outcomes. Principal Findings Children receiving triple-dose albendazole scored slightly higher in the primary and secondary outcomes than placebo recipients, but the difference lacked statistical significance. Trichuris trichiura-infected children had 1.6 ml kg−1 min−1 (P = 0.02) less increase in their VO2 max estimate and completed 4.6 (P = 0.04) fewer 20-m laps than at baseline compared to non-infected peers. Similar trends were detected in the VO2 max estimate and grip strength of children infected with hookworm and Ascaris lumbricoides, respectively. In addition, the increase in the VO2 max estimate from baseline was consistently higher in children with low-intensity T. trichiura and hookworm infections than in their peers with high-intensity infections of all soil-transmitted helminths (range: 1.9–2.1 ml kg−1 min−1; all P<0.05). Conclusions/Significance We found no strong evidence for significant improvements in physical fitness and anthropometric indicators due to deworming over a 6-month follow-up period. However, the negative effect of T. trichiura infections on physical fitness warrants further investigation. PMID:25010608

Large scale simulations of the mechanical properties of layered transition metal ternary compounds for fossil energy power system applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ching, Wai-Yim

2014-12-31

Advanced materials with applications in extreme conditions such as high temperature, high pressure, and corrosive environments play a critical role in the development of new technologies to significantly improve the performance of different types of power plants. Materials that are currently employed in fossil energy conversion systems are typically the Ni-based alloys and stainless steels that have already reached their ultimate performance limits. Incremental improvements are unlikely to meet the more stringent requirements aimed at increased efficiency and reduce risks while addressing environmental concerns and keeping costs low. Computational studies can lead the way in the search for novel materialsmore » or for significant improvements in existing materials that can meet such requirements. Detailed computational studies with sufficient predictive power can provide an atomistic level understanding of the key characteristics that lead to desirable properties. This project focuses on the comprehensive study of a new class of materials called MAX phases, or Mn+1AXn (M = a transition metal, A = Al or other group III, IV, and V elements, X = C or N). The MAX phases are layered transition metal carbides or nitrides with a rare combination of metallic and ceramic properties. Due to their unique structural arrangements and special types of bonding, these thermodynamically stable alloys possess some of the most outstanding properties. We used a genomic approach in screening a large number of potential MAX phases and established a database for 665 viable MAX compounds on the structure, mechanical and electronic properties and investigated the correlations between them. This database if then used as a tool for materials informatics for further exploration of this class of intermetallic compounds.« less

Dual color microscopic imagery of cells expressing the green fluorescent protein and a red-shifted variant.

PubMed

Yang, T T; Kain, S R; Kitts, P; Kondepudi, A; Yang, M M; Youvan, D C

1996-01-01

The green fluorescent protein (GFP) from the jellyfish, Aequorea victoria, has become a versatile reporter for monitoring gene expression and protein localization in a variety of cells and organisms. GFP emits bright green light (lambda max = 510 nm) when excited with ultraviolet (UV) or blue light (lambda max = 395 nm, minor peak at 470 nm). The chromophore in GFP is intrinsic to the primary structure of the protein, and fluorescence from GFP does not require additional gene products, substrates or other factors. GFP fluorescence is stable, species-independent and can be monitored noninvasively using the techniques of fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry [Chalfie et al., Science 263 (1994) 802-805; Stearns, Curr. Biol. 5 (1995) 262-264]. The protein appears to undergo an autocatalytic reaction to create the fluorophore [Heim et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91 (1994) 12501-12504] in a process involving cyclization of a Tyr66 aa residue. Recently [Delagrave et al., Bio/Technology 13 (1995) 151-154], a combinatorial mutagenic strategy was targeted at aa 64 through 69, which spans the chromophore of A. victoria GFP, yielding a number of different mutants with red-shifted fluorescence excitation spectra. One of these, RSGFP4, retains the characteristic green emission spectra (lambda max = 505 nm), but has a single excitation peak (lambda max = 490 nm). The fluorescence properties of RSGFP4 are similar to those of another naturally occurring GFP from the sea pansy, Renilla reniformis [Ward and Cormier, Photobiochem. Photobiol. 27 (1978) 389-396]. In the present study, we demonstrate by fluorescence microscopy that selective excitation of A. victoria GFP and RSGFP4 allows for spectral separation of each fluorescent signal, and provides the means to image these signals independently in a mixed population of bacteria or mammalian cells.

Intima-media thickness remodelling in hypertensive subjects with long-term well-controlled blood pressure levels.

PubMed

Puato, Massimo; Boschetti, Giovanni; Rattazzi, Marcello; Zanon, Marta; Pesavento, Raffaele; Faggin, Elisabetta; Fania, Claudio; Benetti, Elisabetta; Palatini, Paolo; Pauletto, Paolo

2017-02-01

Aim of this study was to evaluate in a long follow-up the carotid artery remodelling in a cohort of young hypertensive subjects having good blood pressure (BP) control. We studied 20 grade I hypertensives (HT) by assessing the B-mode ultrasound of mean carotid intima-media thickness (mean-IMT) and maximum IMT (M-MAX) in each carotid artery segment (common, bulb, internal), bilaterally. We compared their ultrasound measurements with those recorded 5 and 10 years earlier. While the first 5-year follow-up was observational, in the second 5-year follow-up, lifestyle modifications and/or pharmacological therapy were started to obtain well-controlled BP levels. Office BP was measured at the time of the ultrasound studies and every 6 months during the follow-up. BP levels were: 10 years 144/91 mmHg, 5 years 143/90 mmHg and 129 ± 79 mmHg at the time of the study. In the first 5-year observational follow-up, both mean-IMT and M-MAX increased (Δ 0.116 and Δ 0.165 mm, respectively, p < 0.0005). In the 5-year intervention follow-up, characterized by well-controlled BP, mean-IMT slightly but significantly increased (Δ 0.084 mm, p = 0.004), whereas M-MAX remained stable (Δ 0.026 mm). In our HT, well-controlled BP levels were able to prevent pro-atherogenic remodelling (expressed by M-MAX). Conversely, good BP control slightly decreased but did not stop the progression in mean-IMT, which is likely to reflect some hypertrophy of the arterial media layer.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kan, Jimmy J.; Gottwald, Matthias; Fullerton, Eric E.

We describe low-temperature characterization of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) patterned by reactive ion etching for spin-transfer-torque magnetic random access memory. Magnetotransport measurements of typical MTJs show increasing tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) and larger coercive fields as temperature is decreased down to 10 K. However, MTJs selected from the high-resistance population of an MTJ array exhibit stable intermediate magnetic states when measured at low temperature and show TMR roll-off below 100 K. These non-ideal low-temperature behaviors arise from edge damage during the etch process and can have negative impacts on thermal stability of the MTJs.

Aerobic capacity in speed-power athletes aged 20-90 years vs endurance runners and untrained participants.

PubMed

Kusy, K; Zieliński, J

2014-02-01

We studied relationships between age and aerobic capacity in three groups of subjects adhering to different exercise modalities. A total of 203 men aged 20-90 years were examined: 52 speed-power track and field athletes (SP), 89 endurance runners (ER) and 62 untrained individuals (UT). Maximal exercise characteristics were obtained during a graded treadmill test until exhaustion: oxygen uptake (VO2max), heart rate (HRmax), oxygen pulse (O2 Pulsemax) and maximal distance (Distmax). Information about training history and weekly training amount was collected. A linear model of regression was adopted. VO2max in SP was lower than in ER, but significantly higher than in UT. The cross-sectional rates of decline in body mass-adjusted VO2max and Distmax were significantly smaller in SP than in ER and UT. About 80 years of age, the levels of VO2max and Distmax reached similar values in SP and ER. The decline in HRmax, but not in O2 Pulsemax was suggested as a cardiac adaptation accounting for between-group differences in VO2max loss. Weekly training volume was a significant positive predictor of age-related changes in aerobic capacity. In conclusion, not only endurance, but also speed-power exercise appears adequate to ensure an elevated aerobic capacity at old age. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Short Gamma-ray Bursts: Observations and Physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Janka, H.-Thomas

2007-04-01

The aim of the workshop, which will be held at the scenic Ringberg castle, is supposed to bring together astrophysicists, physicists, and astronomers from different fields in order to discuss recent observational and theoretical discoveries and developments on short gamma-ray bursts. In particular, we plan to address the following topics: * recent short GRB observations * environments and host galaxies of short GRBs * is there a 3rd class of GRBs? * modeling GRB engines and jet outflows * rate and redshift predictions for short GRBs * the fireball model and short GRBs * gravitational-wave signals from short GRBs * neutrino signals from short GRBs * microphysics needed for modeling short GRBs and their engines Scientific and Local organizing committee members: H.-Thomas Janka (Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Garching), Miguel Aloy (University of Valencia), Jochen Greiner (Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics), Sandra Savaglio (Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics), Shri Kulkarni (California Institute of Technology, Pasadena)

Diffusion, Thermal Properties and Chemical Compatibilities of Select MAX Phases with Materials For Advanced Nuclear Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Barsoum, Michel; Bentzel, Grady; Tallman, Darin J.

2016-04-04

The demands of Gen IV nuclear power plants for long service life under neutron irradiation at high temperature are severe. Advanced materials that would withstand high temperatures (up to 1000+ ºC) to high doses in a neutron field would be ideal for reactor internal structures and would add to the long service life and reliability of the reactors. The objective of this work is to investigate the chemical compatibility of select MAX with potential materials that are important for nuclear energy, as well as to measure the thermal transport properties as a function of neutron irradiation. The chemical counterparts chosenmore » for this work are: pyrolytic carbon, SiC, U, Pd, FLiBe, Pb-Bi and Na, the latter 3 in the molten state. The thermal conductivities and heat capacities of non-irradiated MAX phases will be measured.« less

Effects of an individual 12-week community-located "start-to-run" program on physical capacity, walking, fatigue, cognitive function, brain volumes, and structures in persons with multiple sclerosis.

PubMed

Feys, Peter; Moumdjian, Lousin; Van Halewyck, Florian; Wens, Inez; Eijnde, Bert O; Van Wijmeersch, Bart; Popescu, Veronica; Van Asch, Paul

2017-11-01

Exercise therapy studies in persons with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) primarily focused on motor outcomes in mid disease stage, while cognitive function and neural correlates were only limitedly addressed. This pragmatic randomized controlled study investigated the effects of a remotely supervised community-located "start-to-run" program on physical and cognitive function, fatigue, quality of life, brain volume, and connectivity. In all, 42 pwMS were randomized to either experimental (EXP) or waiting list control (WLC) group. The EXP group received individualized training instructions during 12 weeks (3×/week), to be performed in their community aiming to participate in a running event. Measures were physical (VO 2max , sit-to-stand test, Six-Minute Walk Test (6MWT), Multiple Sclerosis Walking Scale-12 (MSWS-12)) and cognitive function (Rao's Brief Repeatable Battery (BRB), Paced Auditory Serial Attention Test (PASAT)), fatigue (Fatigue Scale for Motor and Cognitive Function (FSMC)), quality of life (Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale-29 (MSIS-29)), and imaging. Brain volumes and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) were quantified using FSL-SIENA/FIRST and FSL-TBSS. In all, 35 pwMS completed the trial. Interaction effects in favor of the EXP group were found for VO 2max , sit-to-stand test, MSWS-12, Spatial Recall Test, FSMC, MSIS-29, and pallidum volume. VO 2max improved by 1.5 mL/kg/min, MSWS-12 by 4, FSMC by 11, and MSIS-29 by 14 points. The Spatial Recall Test improved by more than 10%. Community-located run training improved aerobic capacity, functional mobility, visuospatial memory, fatigue, and quality of life and pallidum volume in pwMS.

Effect of intermittent normobaric hypoxia on aerobic capacity and cognitive function in older people.

PubMed

Schega, Lutz; Peter, Beate; Brigadski, Tanja; Leßmann, Volkmar; Isermann, Berend; Hamacher, Dennis; Törpel, Alexander

2016-11-01

Physical exercise, especially aerobic training, improves physical performance and cognitive function of older people. Furthermore, it has been speculated that age-associated deteriorations in physical performance and cognitive function could be counteracted through exposures to passive intermittent normobaric hypoxia (IH). Thus, the present investigation aimed at investigating the effect of passive IH combined with subsequent aerobic training on hematological parameters and aerobic physical performance (V˙O 2max ) as well as peripheral levels of the neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and cognitive function. Randomized controlled trial in a repeated measure design. 34 older participants were randomly assigned to an intervention group (IG) or control group (CG). While IG was supplied with passive IH for 90min, CG breathed ambient air. Subsequently, both groups underwent 30min of aerobic training three times per week for four consecutive weeks. Aerobic physical performance and cognitive function was tested with spiroergometry and the Stroop test. Blood samples were taken to measure hematological parameters and the peripheral serum BDNF-level. We found increases in the values of hematological parameters, the time to exhaustion in the load test and an augmented and sustainable improvement in cognitive function within the IG of the older people only. However, in both groups, the V˙O 2max and serum BDNF-level did not increase. Based on these results, hypoxic training seems to be beneficial to enhance hematological parameters, physical performance and cognitive function in older people. The current hypoxic-dose was not able to enhance the serum BDNF-level or V˙O 2max . Copyright © 2016 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Faster heart rate and muscular oxygen uptake kinetics in type 2 diabetes patients following endurance training.

PubMed

Koschate, Jessica; Drescher, Uwe; Brinkmann, Christian; Baum, Klaus; Schiffer, Thorsten; Latsch, Joachim; Brixius, Klara; Hoffmann, Uwe

2016-11-01

Cardiorespiratory kinetics were analyzed in type 2 diabetes patients before and after a 12-week endurance exercise-training intervention. It was hypothesized that muscular oxygen uptake and heart rate (HR) kinetics would be faster after the training intervention and that this would be detectable using a standardized work rate protocol with pseudo-random binary sequences. The cardiorespiratory kinetics of 13 male sedentary, middle-aged, overweight type 2 diabetes patients (age, 60 ± 8 years; body mass index, 33 ± 4 kg·m -2 ) were tested before and after the 12-week exercise intervention. Subjects performed endurance training 3 times a week on nonconsecutive days. Pseudo-random binary sequences exercise protocols in combination with time series analysis were used to estimate kinetics. Greater maxima in cross-correlation functions (CCF max ) represent faster kinetics of the respective parameter. CCF max of muscular oxygen uptake (pre-training: 0.31 ± 0.03; post-training: 0.37 ± 0.1, P = 0.024) and CCF max of HR (pre-training: 0.25 ± 0.04; post-training: 0.29 ± 0.06, P = 0.007) as well as peak oxygen uptake (pre-training: 24.4 ± 4.7 mL·kg -1 ·min -1 ; post-training: 29.3 ± 6.5 mL·kg -1 ·min -1 , P = 0.004) increased significantly over the course of the exercise intervention. In conclusion, kinetic responses to changing work rates in the moderate-intensity range are similar to metabolic demands occurring in everyday habitual activities. Moderate endurance training accelerated the kinetic responses of HR and muscular oxygen uptake. Furthermore, the applicability of the used method to detect these accelerations was demonstrated.

Effect of food on the oral bioavailability of the angiotensin receptor - neprilysin inhibitor sacubitril/valsartan (LCZ696) in healthy subjects
.

PubMed

Ayalasomayajula, Surya; Langenickel, Thomas H; Chandra, Priya; Wolfson, Edward D; Albrecht, Diego; Zhou, Wei; Pal, Parasar; Rajman, Iris; Sunkara, Gangadhar

2016-12-01

Sacubitril/valsartan (LCZ696) provides a novel therapeutic approach of neurohormonal modulation in heart failure via simultaneous inhibition of neprilysin and blockade of the angiotensin II type-1 receptor. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of food on the oral bioavailability of LCZ696 analytes. This was an open-label, randomized, 3-period crossover study in healthy subjects. Eligible subjects (N = 36) were randomized to 6 treatment sequences, each comprising 3 treatment periods during which subjects received a single oral dose of 400 mg LCZ696 under fasting condition and following a low- and high-fat meal. Following administration of LCZ696 after low- and high-fat meals, the mean C_max of sacubitril and sacubitrilat (the active neprilysin inhibitor) decreased by 42 - 54% and 19 - 28%, respectively, while the t_max values increased. However, systemic exposure (AUC_inf and AUC_last) of sacubitril was slightly decreased (by 16% with low-fat meal) and that of sacubitrilat was unchanged in the presence of food. For valsartan, the C_max decreased by ~ 40% when LCZ696 was administered after low- and high-fat meals. The systemic exposure of valsartan decreased by ~ 33% with a low-fat meal; however, it was unchanged with a high-fat meal. LCZ696 was generally safe and well tolerated in healthy subjects when administered under fasting or fed condition. Overall, administration of LCZ696 with meals decreased the rate and extent of absorption of sacubitril with little impact on the systemic exposure to sacubitrilat, its active metabolite. The systemic exposure to valsartan was decreased in the presence of food.
.

A randomized, single-blind, single-dose study evaluating the pharmacokinetic equivalence of proposed biosimilar ABP 980 and trastuzumab in healthy male subjects.

PubMed

Hanes, Vladimir; Chow, Vincent; Zhang, Nan; Markus, Richard

2017-05-01

This study compared the pharmacokinetic (PK) profiles of the proposed biosimilar ABP 980 and trastuzumab in healthy males. In this single-blind study, 157 healthy males were randomized 1:1:1 to a single 6 mg/kg intravenous infusion of ABP 980, FDA-licensed trastuzumab [trastuzumab (US)], or EU-authorized trastuzumab [trastuzumab (EU)]. Primary endpoints were area under the serum concentration-time curve from time 0 to infinity (AUC inf ) and maximum observed serum concentration (C max ). To establish equivalence, the geometric mean ratio (GMR) and 90% confidence interval (CI) for C max and AUC inf had to be within the equivalence criteria of 0.80-1.25. The GMRs and 90% CIs for C max and AUC inf , respectively, were: 1.04 (0.99-1.08) and 1.06 (1.00-1.12) for ABP 980 versus trastuzumab (US); 0.99 (0.95-1.03) and 1.00 (0.95-1.06) for ABP 980 versus trastuzumab (EU); and 0.96 (0.92-1.00) and 0.95 (0.90-1.01) for trastuzumab (US) versus trastuzumab (EU). All comparisons were within the equivalence criteria of 0.80-1.25. Treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were reported in 84.0, 75.0, and 78.2 of subjects in the ABP 980, trastuzumab (US), and trastuzumab (EU) groups, respectively. There were no deaths or TEAEs leading to study discontinuation and no binding or neutralizing anti-drug anti-bodies were detected. This study demonstrated the PK similarity of ABP 980 to both trastuzumab (US) and trastuzumab (EU), and of trastuzumab (US) to trastuzumab (EU). No differences in safety and tolerability between treatments were noted; no subject tested positive for binding anti-bodies.

Top-Down Visual Saliency via Joint CRF and Dictionary Learning.

PubMed

Yang, Jimei; Yang, Ming-Hsuan

2017-03-01

Top-down visual saliency is an important module of visual attention. In this work, we propose a novel top-down saliency model that jointly learns a Conditional Random Field (CRF) and a visual dictionary. The proposed model incorporates a layered structure from top to bottom: CRF, sparse coding and image patches. With sparse coding as an intermediate layer, CRF is learned in a feature-adaptive manner; meanwhile with CRF as the output layer, the dictionary is learned under structured supervision. For efficient and effective joint learning, we develop a max-margin approach via a stochastic gradient descent algorithm. Experimental results on the Graz-02 and PASCAL VOC datasets show that our model performs favorably against state-of-the-art top-down saliency methods for target object localization. In addition, the dictionary update significantly improves the performance of our model. We demonstrate the merits of the proposed top-down saliency model by applying it to prioritizing object proposals for detection and predicting human fixations.

High-recall protein entity recognition using a dictionary

PubMed Central

Kou, Zhenzhen; Cohen, William W.; Murphy, Robert F.

2010-01-01

Protein name extraction is an important step in mining biological literature. We describe two new methods for this task: semiCRFs and dictionary HMMs. SemiCRFs are a recently-proposed extension to conditional random fields that enables more effective use of dictionary information as features. Dictionary HMMs are a technique in which a dictionary is converted to a large HMM that recognizes phrases from the dictionary, as well as variations of these phrases. Standard training methods for HMMs can be used to learn which variants should be recognized. We compared the performance of our new approaches to that of Maximum Entropy (Max-Ent) and normal CRFs on three datasets, and improvement was obtained for all four methods over the best published results for two of the datasets. CRFs and semiCRFs achieved the highest overall performance according to the widely-used F-measure, while the dictionary HMMs performed the best at finding entities that actually appear in the dictionary—the measure of most interest in our intended application. PMID:15961466

Comparing effects of low levels of herbicides on greehouse- and field-grown potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.), soybeans (Glycine max L.) and peas (Pisum sataivum L.)

EPA Science Inventory

While laboratory toxicology tests are generally easy to perform, cost effective and readily interpreted, they have been questioned for their environmental relevance. In contrast, field tests are considered realistic while producing results that are difficult to interpret and exp...

Growing season variability in carbon dioxide exchange of irrigated and rainfed soybean in the southern United States

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Measurement of carbon dynamics of soybean (Glycine max L.) ecosystems outside Corn Belt of the United States (U.S.) is lacking. This study reports carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes from a rainfed soybean field in El Reno, Oklahoma and an irrigated soybean field in Stoneville, Mississippi during the 2016 g...

A Primer-Test Centered Equating Method for Setting Cut-Off Scores

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhu, Weimo; Plowman, Sharon Ann; Park, Youngsik

2010-01-01

This study evaluated the use of a new primary field test method based on test equating to address inconsistent classification among field tests. We analyzed students' information on the Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER), mile run (MR), and VO[subscript 2]max from three data sets (college: n = 94; middle school: n = 39;…

Archaeomagnetism of a Mediaeval brass melting &working site near Dinant (Belgium) and the suitability of firebricks as geomagnetic field recorders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hus, J.; Geeraerts, R.; Plumier, J.

2003-04-01

Field directional archaeomagnetic data from several kilns, unearthed in a brass melting and working site in Bouvignes-sur-Meuse (Dinant, Namur province) in Belgium during a rescue excavation, confirm the archaeological dating as 15th century A.D. for the main site activities.The archaeomagnetic dates, obtained using reference secular variation curves for France and Great Britain, lead to better time constraints for the cessation of kiln operations. Refractory bricks (firebricks), which are used for their chemical and thermal properties, and in particular for their resistance to high temperatures and temperature changes, are not unusual in metal melting &working sites. In the examined site, circular-, square- and oval-shaped kilns, lined with firebricks, were present. The firebricks, which are very porous and coarse-grained, possess a very stable remanent magnetisation and revealed to be suitable geomagnetic field recorders. In the square-shaped kiln two stable magnetisation components could be isolated in the firebricks: a low-temperature component acquired below 420 C, yielding an age near the middle of the 15th century A.D. and a high-temperature component with non-coherent directions. Although the firebricks from the oval-shaped kiln have a very stable, single-component remanent magnetisation, very large non-random deviations in remanence direction in function of the relative azimuth from the centre of the kiln, or with the position of the bricks in the kiln wall, were found. Several hypothesis for the origin of the deviations were tested: anisotropy, refraction and the presence of a local disturbing magnetic source.

Image-Guided Radiotherapy for Left-Sided Breast Cancer Patients: Geometrical Uncertainty of the Heart

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Topolnjak, Rajko; Borst, Gerben R.; Nijkamp, Jasper

Purpose: To quantify the geometrical uncertainties for the heart during radiotherapy treatment of left-sided breast cancer patients and to determine and validate planning organ at risk volume (PRV) margins. Methods and Materials: Twenty-two patients treated in supine position in 28 fractions with regularly acquired cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans for offline setup correction were included. Retrospectively, the CBCT scans were reconstructed into 10-phase respiration correlated four-dimensional scans. The heart was registered in each breathing phase to the planning CT scan to establish the respiratory heart motion during the CBCT scan ({sigma}{sub resp}). The average of the respiratory motion was calculatedmore » as the heart displacement error for a fraction. Subsequently, the systematic ({Sigma}), random ({sigma}), and total random ({sigma}{sub tot}={radical}({sigma}{sup 2}+{sigma}{sub resp}{sup 2})) errors of the heart position were calculated. Based on the errors a PRV margin for the heart was calculated to ensure that the maximum heart dose (D{sub max}) is not underestimated in at least 90% of the cases (M{sub heart} = 1.3{Sigma}-0.5{sigma}{sub tot}). All analysis were performed in left-right (LR), craniocaudal (CC), and anteroposterior (AP) directions with respect to both online and offline bony anatomy setup corrections. The PRV margin was validated by accumulating the dose to the heart based on the heart registrations and comparing the planned PRV D{sub max} to the accumulated heart D{sub max}. Results: For online setup correction, the cardiac geometrical uncertainties and PRV margins were N-Ary-Summation = 2.2/3.2/2.1 mm, {sigma} = 2.1/2.9/1.4 mm, and M{sub heart} = 1.6/2.3/1.3 mm for LR/CC/AP, respectively. For offline setup correction these were N-Ary-Summation = 2.4/3.7/2.2 mm, {sigma} = 2.9/4.1/2.7 mm, and M{sub heart} = 1.6/2.1/1.4 mm. Cardiac motion induced by breathing was {sigma}{sub resp} = 1.4/2.9/1.4 mm for LR/CC/AP. The PRV D{sub max} underestimated the accumulated heart D{sub max} for 9.1% patients using online and 13.6% patients using offline bony anatomy setup correction, which validated that PRV margin size was adequate. Conclusion: Considerable cardiac position variability relative to the bony anatomy was observed in breast cancer patients. A PRV margin can be used during treatment planning to take these uncertainties into account.« less

N-acetylcysteine supplementation controls total antioxidant capacity, creatine kinase, lactate, and tumor necrotic factor-alpha against oxidative stress induced by graded exercise in sedentary men.

PubMed

Leelarungrayub, Donrawee; Khansuwan, Raphiphat; Pothongsunun, Prapas; Klaphajone, Jakkrit

2011-01-01

Aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of short-term (7 days) N-acetylcysteine (NAC) at 1,200 mg daily supplementation on muscle fatigue, maximal oxygen uptake (VO(2max)), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), lactate, creatine kinase (CK), and tumor necrotic factor-alpha (TNF-α). Twenty-nine sedentary men (13 controls; 16 in the supplement group) from a randomized control were included. At before and after supplementation, fatigue index (FI) was evaluated in the quadriceps muscle, and performed a graded exercise treadmill test to induce oxidative stress, and as a measure of VO(2max). Blood samples were taken before exercise and 20 minutes after it at before and after supplementation, to determine TAC, CK, lactate, and TNF-α levels. Results showed that FI and VO(2max) increased significantly in the supplement group. After exercise decreased the levels of TAC and increased lactate, CK, and TNF-α of both groups at before supplementation. After supplementation, lactate, CK, and TNF-α levels significantly increased and TAC decreased after exercise in the control group. Whereas the TAC and lactate levels did not change significantly, but CK and TNF-α increased significantly in the supplement group. Therefore, this results showed that NAC improved the muscle fatigue, VO(2max), maintained TAC, controlled lactate production, but had no influence on CK and TNF-α.

Influence of chocolate matrix composition on cocoa flavan-3-ol bioaccessibility in vitro and bioavailability in humans.

PubMed

Neilson, Andrew P; George, Judy C; Janle, Elsa M; Mattes, Richard D; Rudolph, Ralf; Matusheski, Nathan V; Ferruzzi, Mario G

2009-10-28

Conflicting data exist regarding the influence of chocolate matrices on the bioavailability of epicatechin (EC) from cocoa. The objective of this study was to assess the bioavailability of EC from matrices varying in macronutrient composition and physical form. EC bioavailability was assessed from chocolate confections [reference dark chocolate (CDK), high sucrose (CHS), high milk protein (CMP)] and cocoa beverages [sucrose milk protein (BSMP), non-nutritive sweetener milk protein (BNMP)], in humans and in vitro. Six subjects consumed each product in a randomized crossover design, with serum EC concentrations monitored over 6 h post consumption. Areas under the serum concentration-time curve (AUC) were similar among chocolate matrices. However, AUCs were significantly increased for BSMP and BNMP (132 and 143 nM h) versus CMP (101 nM h). Peak serum concentrations (C(MAX)) were also increased for BSMP and BNMP (43 and 42 nM) compared to CDK and CMP (32 and 25 nM). Mean T(MAX) values were lower, although not statistically different, for beverages (0.9-1.1 h) versus confections (1.8-2.3 h), reflecting distinct shapes of the pharmacokinetic curves for beverages and confections. In vitro bioaccessibility and Caco-2 accumulation did not differ between treatments. These data suggest that bioavailability of cocoa flavan-3-ols is likely similar from typical commercial cocoa based foods and beverages, but that the physical form and sucrose content may influence T(MAX) and C(MAX).

Toughening and healing of continuous fibre reinforced composites with bis-maleimide based pre-pregs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kostopoulos, V.; Kotrotsos, A.; Tsantzalis, S.; Tsokanas, P.; Christopoulos, A. C.; Loutas, T.

2016-08-01

Unidirectional (UD) pre-pregs containing self-healing materials based on Diels-Alder reaction bis-maleimide (BMI) polymers were successfully incorporated on the mid-plane of UD carbon fibre reinforced polymers. The fracture toughness of these composites and the introduced healing capability were measured under mode I loading. The interlaminar fracture toughness was enhanced considerably, since the maximum load (P max) of the modified composite increased approximately 1.5 times and the mode I fracture energy (G IC) displayed a significant increase of almost 3.5 times when compared to the reference composites. Furthermore the modified composites displayed a healing efficiency (HE) value of about 30% for P max and 20% for G IC after the first healing, appearing to be an almost stable behaviour after the third healing cycle. The HE displayed a decrease of 20% and 15% for P max and G IC values, respectively, after the fifth healing cycle. During the tests, the monitored acoustic emission (AE) activity of the samples showed that there is no significant difference due to the presence of BMI polymer in terms of AE hits. Moreover, optical microscopy not only showed that the epoxy matrix at the interface is partly infiltrated by the BMI polymer, but it also revealed the presence of pulled out fibres at the fractured surface, indicating ductile behaviour.

Comparison of sugammadex and conventional reversal on postoperative nausea and vomiting: a randomized, blinded trial.

PubMed

Koyuncu, Onur; Turhanoglu, Selim; Ozbakis Akkurt, Cagla; Karcıoglu, Murat; Ozkan, Mustafa; Ozer, Cahit; Sessler, Daniel I; Turan, Alparslan

2015-02-01

To determine whether the new selective binding agent sugammadex causes less postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) than the cholinesterase inhibitor neostigmine. Prospective, randomized, double-blinded study. University-affiliated hospital. One hundred American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status 1 and 2 patients scheduled for extremity surgery. Patients were randomly assigned to neostigmine (70 μg/kg) and atropine (0.4 mg per mg neostigmine) or sugammadex 2 mg/kg for neuromuscular antagonism at the end of anesthesia, when 4 twitches in response to train-of-four stimulation were visible with fade. We recorded PONV, recovery parameters, antiemetic consumption, and side effects. Nausea and vomiting scores were lower in the sugammadex patients upon arrival in the postanesthesia care unit (med: 0 [min-max, 0-3] vs med: 0 [min-max, 0-3]; P < .05), but thereafter low and comparable. Postoperative antiemetic and analgesic consumption were similar in each group. Extubation (median [interquartile range], 3 [1-3.25] vs 4 [1-3.25]; P < .001) first eye opening (4 [3-7.25] vs 7 [5-11]; P < .001), and head lift (4 [2-7.25] vs 8 [11-25]; P < .001) in minutes were shorter in patients given sugammadex. Postoperative heart rates were significantly lower in all measured times patients given neostigmine. Nondepolarizing neuromuscular blocking antagonism with sugammadex speeds recovery of neuromuscular strength but only slightly and transiently reduces PONV compared with neostigmine and atropine. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Impact of effective versus sham continuous positive airway pressure on liver injury in obstructive sleep apnoea: Data from randomized trials.

PubMed

Jullian-Desayes, Ingrid; Tamisier, Renaud; Zarski, Jean-Pierre; Aron-Wisnewsky, Judith; Launois-Rollinat, Sandrine H; Trocme, Candice; Levy, Patrick; Joyeux-Faure, Marie; Pepin, Jean-Louis

2016-02-01

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) could be an independent risk factor for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) occurrence and progression. The impact of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment on non-invasive markers of NAFLD has not been studied. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of 6-12 weeks of effective CPAP on the FibroMax test (comprising components including the SteatoTest, NashTest and FibroTest) through three randomized sham controlled studies. The FibroMax test was performed in 103 obstructive sleep apnoea patients (apnoea + hypopnoea index > 15/h) enrolled in a randomized study comparing sham versus effective CPAP. At baseline, 40.4% of patients in the sham CPAP group and 45.5% in the CPAP group exhibited liver steatosis. Furthermore, 39.6% of patients in the sham CPAP group and 58.4% in the CPAP group displayed borderline or possible non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Six to twelve weeks of effective CPAP did not demonstrate any impact on reducing steatosis, NASH or liver fibrosis even after adjustment for gender, BMI, baseline apnoea + hypopnoea index and severity of liver injury. A number of non-invasive markers of liver damage are increased in untreated obstructive sleep apnoea patients, potentially contributing to cardiometabolic risk, but they do not improve after 6-12 weeks of effective CPAP treatment. NCT01196845 (ADISAS), NCT00464659 (MneSAS) and NCT00669695 (StatinflaSAS) at ClinicalTrials.gov. © 2015 Asian Pacific Society of Respirology.

Plasma properties and magnetic field structure of the solar corona, based on coordinated Max 1991 observations from SERTS, the VLA, and magnetographs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brosius, Jeffrey W.

1995-01-01

The purposes of this investigation are to use existing, calibrated, coaligned sets of coordinated multiwaveband observations of the Sun to determine the coronal magnetic field strength and structure, and interpret the collective observations in terms of a self-consistent model of the coronal plasma and magnetic field. This information is vital to understanding processes such as coronal heating, solar wind acceleration, pre-flare energy storage, and active region evolution. Understanding these processes is the central theme of Max '91, the NASA-supported series of solar observing campaigns under which the observations acquired for this work were obtained. The observations came from NASA/GSFC's Solar EUV Rocket Telescope and Spectrograph (SERTS), the Very Large Array (VLA), and magnetographs. The technique of calculating the coronal magnetic field is to establish the contributions to the microwave emission from the two main emission mechanisms: thermal bremsstrahlung and thermal gyroemission. This is done by using the EUV emission to determine values of the coronal plasma quantities needed to calculate the thermal bremsstrahlung contribution to the microwave emission. Once the microwave emission mechanism(s) are determined, the coronal magnetic field can be calculated. A comparison of the coronal magnetic field derived from the coordinated multiwaveband observations with extrapolations from photospheric magnetograms will provide insight into the nature of the coronal magnetic field.

Max Hirsch (1875–1941): His forgotten fate and his contributions to the founding of modern rheumatology

PubMed Central

Keitel, Wolfgang; Olsson, Leif; Matteson, Eric L.

2016-01-01

Objective To elucidate the connections between balneology and rheumatology in the founding period of the discipline of rheumatology, and describe the contributions of Max Hirsch, MD in the formation of professional rheumatology societies. Material and Methods Historical documents from the medical history collection of Vogelsang–Gommern, Germany, and original personal documents of the Hirsch family and information from the medical and historical period literature were used in developing this report. Results The first efforts at organizing rheumatology as a recognized clinical and academic discipline took place in the 1920s. Many of the first proponents were balneologists who cared for patients with chronic arthritic conditions without the benefit of effective medications. Max Hirsch, MD was a major figure in the development of modern rheumatology as it emerged from the provenance of balneology and orthopedics as a recognized organized medical discipline, contributing to the founding of the German Society for Rheumatology and the International League Against Rheumatism. Conclusion Max Hirsch made significant contributions to scientific and organized rheumatology in the early days of the discipline. His contributions to the field and his fate as a Jewish physician have only recently come to light. PMID:27733939

Adenosine receptor inhibition with theophylline attenuates the skin blood flow response to local heating in humans.

PubMed

Fieger, Sarah M; Wong, Brett J

2010-09-01

Mechanisms underlying the robust cutaneous vasodilatation in response to local heating of human skin remain unresolved. Adenosine receptor activation has been shown to induce vasodilatation via nitric oxide, and a substantial portion of the plateau phase to local heating of human skin has been shown to be dependent on nitric oxide. The purpose of this study was to investigate a potential role for adenosine receptor activation in cutaneous thermal hyperaemia in humans. Six subjects were equipped with four microdialysis fibres on the ventral forearm. Sites were randomly assigned to receive one of the following four treatments: (1) lactated Ringer solution to serve as a control; (2) 4 mM theophylline, a competitive, non-selective A(1)/A(2) adenosine receptor antagonist; (3) 10 mM Nomega(-)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) to inhibit NO synthase; or (4) combined 4 mm theophylline + 10 mM L-NAME. Following baseline measurements, each site was locally heated from a baseline temperature of 33 degrees C to 42 degrees C at a rate of 1 degrees C (10 s)(-1), and skin blood flow was monitored via laser-Doppler flowmetry (LDF). Cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC) was calculated as LDF divided by mean arterial pressure and normalized to maximal values (CVC(max)) via local heating to 43 degrees C and infusion of 28 mM sodium nitroprusside. The initial peak was significantly reduced in theophylline (68 +/- 2% CVC(max)) and L-NAME sites (54 +/- 5% CVC(max)) compared with control sites (81 +/- 2% CVC(max); P < 0.01 and P < 0.001, respectively). Combined theophylline + L-NAME (52 +/- 5% CVC(max)) reduced the initial peak compared with control and theophylline sites, but was not significantly different compared with L-NAME sites. The secondary plateau was attenuated in theophylline (77 +/- 2% CVC(max)), L-NAME (60 +/- 2% CVC(max)) and theophylline + L-NAME (53 +/- 1% CVC(max)) compared with control sites (94 +/- 2% CVC(max); P < 0.001 for all conditions). The secondary plateau was reduced in L-NAME compared with theophylline sites (P < 0.001), and combined theophylline + L-NAME further reduced the secondary plateau compared with theophylline- (P < 0.001) and L-NAME-only sites (P < 0.05). These data suggest that adenosine receptor activation directly contributes to cutaneous thermal hyperaemia, as evidenced by the reduced initial peak and secondary plateau in theophylline sites. These data further suggest that a portion of the NO response may be explained by adenosine receptor activation; however, a substantial portion of the NO response is independent of adenosine receptor activation.

Physical activity reduces systemic blood pressure and improves early markers of atherosclerosis in pre-pubertal obese children.

PubMed

Farpour-Lambert, Nathalie J; Aggoun, Yacine; Marchand, Laetitia M; Martin, Xavier E; Herrmann, François R; Beghetti, Maurice

2009-12-15

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of physical activity on systemic blood pressure (BP) and early markers of atherosclerosis in pre-pubertal obese children. Hypertension and endothelial dysfunction are premature complications of obesity. We performed a 3-month randomized controlled trial with a modified crossover design: 44 pre-pubertal obese children (age 8.9 + or - 1.5 years) were randomly assigned (1:1) to an exercise (n = 22) or a control group (n = 22). We recruited 22 lean children (age 8.5 + or - 1.5 years) for baseline comparison. The exercise group trained 60 min 3 times/week during 3 months, whereas control subjects remained relatively inactive. Then, both groups trained twice/week during 3 months. We assessed changes at 3 and 6 months in office and 24-h BP, arterial intima-media thickness (IMT) and stiffness, endothelial function (flow-mediated dilation), body mass index (BMI), body fat, cardiorespiratory fitness (maximal oxygen consumption [VO(2)max]), physical activity, and biological markers. Obese children had higher BP, arterial stiffness, body weight, BMI, abdominal fat, insulin resistance indexes, and C-reactive protein levels, and lower flow-mediated dilation, VO(2)max, physical activity, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels than lean subjects. At 3 months, we observed significant changes in 24-h systolic BP (exercise -6.9 + or - 13.5 mm Hg vs. control 3.8 + or - 7.9 mm Hg, -0.8 + or - 1.5 standard deviation score [SDS] vs. 0.4 + or - 0.8 SDS), diastolic BP (-0.5 + or - 1.0 SDS vs. 0 + or - 1.4 SDS), hypertension rate (-12% vs. -1%), office BP, BMI z-score, abdominal fat, and VO(2)max. At 6 months, change differences in arterial stiffness and IMT were significant. A regular physical activity program reduces BP, arterial stiffness, and abdominal fat; increases cardiorespiratory fitness; and delays arterial wall remodeling in pre-pubertal obese children. (Effects of Aerobic Exercise Training on Arterial Function and Insulin Resistance Syndrome in Obese Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial; NCT00801645).

A critical issue in model-based inference for studying trait-based community assembly and a solution.

PubMed

Ter Braak, Cajo J F; Peres-Neto, Pedro; Dray, Stéphane

2017-01-01

Statistical testing of trait-environment association from data is a challenge as there is no common unit of observation: the trait is observed on species, the environment on sites and the mediating abundance on species-site combinations. A number of correlation-based methods, such as the community weighted trait means method (CWM), the fourth-corner correlation method and the multivariate method RLQ, have been proposed to estimate such trait-environment associations. In these methods, valid statistical testing proceeds by performing two separate resampling tests, one site-based and the other species-based and by assessing significance by the largest of the two p -values (the p max test). Recently, regression-based methods using generalized linear models (GLM) have been proposed as a promising alternative with statistical inference via site-based resampling. We investigated the performance of this new approach along with approaches that mimicked the p max test using GLM instead of fourth-corner. By simulation using models with additional random variation in the species response to the environment, the site-based resampling tests using GLM are shown to have severely inflated type I error, of up to 90%, when the nominal level is set as 5%. In addition, predictive modelling of such data using site-based cross-validation very often identified trait-environment interactions that had no predictive value. The problem that we identify is not an "omitted variable bias" problem as it occurs even when the additional random variation is independent of the observed trait and environment data. Instead, it is a problem of ignoring a random effect. In the same simulations, the GLM-based p max test controlled the type I error in all models proposed so far in this context, but still gave slightly inflated error in more complex models that included both missing (but important) traits and missing (but important) environmental variables. For screening the importance of single trait-environment combinations, the fourth-corner test is shown to give almost the same results as the GLM-based tests in far less computing time.

The Utility of a Brief Web-Based Prevention Intervention as a Universal Approach for Risky Alcohol Use in College Students: Evidence of Moderation by Family History.

PubMed

Neale, Zoe E; Salvatore, Jessica E; Cooke, Megan E; Savage, Jeanne E; Aliev, Fazil; Donovan, Kristen K; Hancock, Linda C; Dick, Danielle M

2018-01-01

Background: Alcohol use on college campuses is prevalent and contributes to problems that affect the health, emotional wellbeing, and academic success of college students. Risk factors, such as family history of alcohol problems, predict future alcohol problems, but less is known about their potential impact on intervention effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of an intervention implemented in a non-randomized sample of drinking and non-drinking college freshmen. Methods: Freshmen college students recruited for the intervention study ( n = 153) completed a web-adaptation of the Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS) at the start of spring semester. We compared their 30-days post-intervention alcohol initiation, number of drinking days (DAYS), drinks per occasion (DRINKS), maximum drinks in 24 h (MAX24) and alcohol use disorder symptoms (AUDsx) to 151 comparison participants retrospectively matched on demographics and baseline alcohol use behaviors. We also tested baseline DRINKS, DAYS, AUDsx, MAX24, and parental family history (PFH) of alcohol problems as moderators of the effect of the intervention. Results: At follow-up, intervention participants had lower rates of AUDsx than comparison participants, especially among baseline drinkers. Among participants drinking 3+ days/month at baseline, intervention participants showed fewer DAYS at follow-up than the comparison group participants. BASICS was also associated with a decreased likelihood of initiation among baseline non-drinkers. PFH significantly interacted with treatment group, with positive PFH intervention participants reporting significantly fewer AUDsx at follow-up compared to positive PFH comparison participants. We found no evidence for an effect of the intervention on DRINKS or MAX24 in our analyses. Conclusions: Results suggest some indication that novel groups, such as non-drinkers, regular drinkers, and PFH positive students may experience benefits from BASICS. Although conclusions were limited by lack of randomization and short follow-up period, PFH positive and low to moderate drinking groups represent viable targets for future randomized studies.

Impact of PET/CT system, reconstruction protocol, data analysis method, and repositioning on PET/CT precision: An experimental evaluation using an oncology and brain phantom.

PubMed

Mansor, Syahir; Pfaehler, Elisabeth; Heijtel, Dennis; Lodge, Martin A; Boellaard, Ronald; Yaqub, Maqsood

2017-12-01

In longitudinal oncological and brain PET/CT studies, it is important to understand the repeatability of quantitative PET metrics in order to assess change in tracer uptake. The present studies were performed in order to assess precision as function of PET/CT system, reconstruction protocol, analysis method, scan duration (or image noise), and repositioning in the field of view. Multiple (repeated) scans have been performed using a NEMA image quality (IQ) phantom and a 3D Hoffman brain phantom filled with 18 F solutions on two systems. Studies were performed with and without randomly (< 2 cm) repositioning the phantom and all scans (12 replicates for IQ phantom and 10 replicates for Hoffman brain phantom) were performed at equal count statistics. For the NEMA IQ phantom, we studied the recovery coefficients (RC) of the maximum (SUV max ), peak (SUV peak ), and mean (SUV mean ) uptake in each sphere as a function of experimental conditions (noise level, reconstruction settings, and phantom repositioning). For the 3D Hoffman phantom, the mean activity concentration was determined within several volumes of interest and activity recovery and its precision was studied as function of experimental conditions. The impact of phantom repositioning on RC precision was mainly seen on the Philips Ingenuity PET/CT, especially in the case of smaller spheres (< 17 mm diameter, P < 0.05). This effect was much smaller for the Siemens Biograph system. When exploring SUV max , SUV peak , or SUV mean of the spheres in the NEMA IQ phantom, it was observed that precision depended on phantom repositioning, reconstruction algorithm, and scan duration, with SUV max being most and SUV peak least sensitive to phantom repositioning. For the brain phantom, regional averaged SUVs were only minimally affected by phantom repositioning (< 2 cm). The precision of quantitative PET metrics depends on the combination of reconstruction protocol, data analysis methods and scan duration (scan statistics). Moreover, precision was also affected by phantom repositioning but its impact depended on the data analysis method in combination with the reconstructed voxel size (tissue fraction effect). This study suggests that for oncological PET studies the use of SUV peak may be preferred over SUV max because SUV peak is less sensitive to patient repositioning/tumor sampling. © 2017 The Authors. Medical Physics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sierra Thermal/Fluid Team

SIERRA/Aero is a compressible fluid dynamics program intended to solve a wide variety compressible fluid flows including transonic and hypersonic problems. This document describes the commands for assembling a fluid model for analysis with this module, henceforth referred to simply as Aero for brevity. Aero is an application developed using the SIERRA Toolkit (STK). The intent of STK is to provide a set of tools for handling common tasks that programmers encounter when developing a code for numerical simulation. For example, components of STK provide field allocation and management, and parallel input/output of field and mesh data. These services alsomore » allow the development of coupled mechanics analysis software for a massively parallel computing environment. In the definitions of the commands that follow, the term Real_Max denotes the largest floating point value that can be represented on a given computer. Int_Max is the largest such integer value.« less

Use of drinking water treatment residuals as a potential best management practice to reduce phosphorus risk index scores.

PubMed

Dayton, E A; Basta, N T

2005-01-01

The P risk index system has been developed to identify agricultural fields vulnerable to P loss as a step toward protecting surface water. Because of their high Langmuir phosphorus adsorption maxima (P(max)), use of drinking water treatment residuals (WTRs) should be considered as a best management practice (BMP) to lower P risk index scores. This work discusses three WTR application methods that can be used to reduce P risk scores: (i) enhanced buffer strip, (ii) incorporation into a high soil test phosphorus (STP) soil, and (iii) co-blending with manure or biosolids. The relationship between WTR P(max) and reduction in P extractability and runoff P was investigated. In a simulated rainfall experiment, using a buffer strip enhanced with 20 Mg WTR ha(-1), runoff P was reduced by from 66.8 to 86.2% and reductions were related to the WTR P(max). When 25 g kg(-1) WTR was incorporated into a high STP soil of 315 mg kg(-1) determined using Mehlich-3 extraction, 0.01 M calcium chloride-extractable phosphorus (CaCl(2)-P) reductions ranged from 60.9 to 96.0% and were strongly (P < 0.01) related to WTR P(max). At a 100 g kg(-1) WTR addition, Mehlich 3-extractable P reductions ranged from 41.1 to 86.7% and were strongly (P < 0.01) related to WTR P(max). Co-blending WTR at 250 g kg(-1) to manure or biosolids reduced CaCl(2)-P by >75%. The WTR P(max) normalized across WTR application rates (P(max) x WTR application) was significantly related to reductions in CaCl(2)-P or STP. Using WTR as a P risk index modifying factor will promote effective use of WTR as a BMP to reduce P loss from agricultural land.

ASTEROSEISMOLOGY OF RED GIANTS FROM THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF KEPLER DATA: GLOBAL OSCILLATION PARAMETERS FOR 800 STARS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huber, D.; Bedding, T. R.; Stello, D.

2010-11-10

We have studied solar-like oscillations in {approx}800 red giant stars using Kepler long-cadence photometry. The sample includes stars ranging in evolution from the lower part of the red giant branch to the helium main sequence. We investigate the relation between the large frequency separation ({Delta}{nu}) and the frequency of maximum power ({nu}{sub max}) and show that it is different for red giants than for main-sequence stars, which is consistent with evolutionary models and scaling relations. The distributions of {nu}{sub max} and {Delta}{nu} are in qualitative agreement with a simple stellar population model of the Kepler field, including the first evidencemore » for a secondary clump population characterized by M {approx}> 2 M{sub sun} and {nu}{sub max} {approx_equal} 40-110 {mu}Hz. We measured the small frequency separations {delta}{nu}{sub 02} and {delta}{nu}{sub 01} in over 400 stars and {delta}{nu}{sub 03} in over 40. We present C-D diagrams for l = 1, 2, and 3 and show that the frequency separation ratios {delta}{nu}{sub 02}/{Delta}{nu} and {delta}{nu}{sub 01}/{Delta}{nu} have opposite trends as a function of {Delta}{nu}. The data show a narrowing of the l = 1 ridge toward lower {nu}{sub max}, in agreement with models predicting more efficient mode trapping in stars with higher luminosity. We investigate the offset {epsilon} in the asymptotic relation and find a clear correlation with {Delta}{nu}, demonstrating that it is related to fundamental stellar parameters. Finally, we present the first amplitude-{nu}{sub max} relation for Kepler red giants. We observe a lack of low-amplitude stars for {nu}{sub max} {approx}> 110 {mu}Hz and find that, for a given {nu}{sub max} between 40 and 110 {mu}Hz, stars with lower {Delta}{nu} (and consequently higher mass) tend to show lower amplitudes than stars with higher {Delta}{nu}.« less

Efficacy of Metarhizium anisopliae isolate MAX-2 from Shangri-la, China under desiccation stress

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Metarhizium anisopliae, a soil-borne entomopathogen found worldwide, is an interesting fungus for biological control. However, its efficacy in the fields is significantly affected by environmental conditions, particularly moisture. To overcome the weakness of Metarhizium and determine its isolates with antistress capacity, the efficacies of four M. anisopliae isolates, which were collected from arid regions of Yunnan Province in China during the dry season, were determined at different moisture levels, and the efficacy of the isolate MAX-2 from Shangri-la under desiccation stress was evaluated at low moisture level. Results M. anisopliae isolates MAX-2, MAC-6, MAL-1, and MAQ-28 showed gradient descent efficacies against sterile Tenebrio molitor larvae, and gradient descent capacities against desiccation with the decrease in moisture levels. The efficacy of MAX-2 showed no significant differences at 35% moisture level than those of the other isolates. However, significant differences were found at 8% to 30% moisture levels. The efficacies of all isolates decreased with the decrease in moisture levels. MAX-2 was relatively less affected by desiccation stress. Its efficacy was almost unaffected by the decrease at moisture levels > 25%, but slowly decreased at moisture levels < 25%. By contrast, the efficacies of other isolates rapidly decreased with the decrease in moisture levels. MAX-2 caused different infection characteristics on T. molitor larvae under desiccation stress and in wet microhabitat. Local black patches were found on the cuticles of the insects, and the cadavers dried without fungal growth under desiccation stress. However, dark black internodes and fungal growth were found after death of the insects in the wet microhabitat. Conclusions MAX-2 showed significantly higher efficacy and superior antistress capacity than the other isolates under desiccation stress. The infection of sterile T. molitor larvae at low moisture level constituted a valid laboratory bioassay system in evaluating M. anisopliae efficacy under desiccation stress. PMID:24383424

Efficacy of Metarhizium anisopliae isolate MAX-2 from Shangri-la, China under desiccation stress.

PubMed

Chen, Zi-Hong; Xu, Ling; Yang, Feng-lian; Ji, Guang-Hai; Yang, Jing; Wang, Jian-Yun

2014-01-03

Metarhizium anisopliae, a soil-borne entomopathogen found worldwide, is an interesting fungus for biological control. However, its efficacy in the fields is significantly affected by environmental conditions, particularly moisture. To overcome the weakness of Metarhizium and determine its isolates with antistress capacity, the efficacies of four M. anisopliae isolates, which were collected from arid regions of Yunnan Province in China during the dry season, were determined at different moisture levels, and the efficacy of the isolate MAX-2 from Shangri-la under desiccation stress was evaluated at low moisture level. M. anisopliae isolates MAX-2, MAC-6, MAL-1, and MAQ-28 showed gradient descent efficacies against sterile Tenebrio molitor larvae, and gradient descent capacities against desiccation with the decrease in moisture levels. The efficacy of MAX-2 showed no significant differences at 35% moisture level than those of the other isolates. However, significant differences were found at 8% to 30% moisture levels. The efficacies of all isolates decreased with the decrease in moisture levels. MAX-2 was relatively less affected by desiccation stress. Its efficacy was almost unaffected by the decrease at moisture levels > 25%, but slowly decreased at moisture levels < 25%. By contrast, the efficacies of other isolates rapidly decreased with the decrease in moisture levels. MAX-2 caused different infection characteristics on T. molitor larvae under desiccation stress and in wet microhabitat. Local black patches were found on the cuticles of the insects, and the cadavers dried without fungal growth under desiccation stress. However, dark black internodes and fungal growth were found after death of the insects in the wet microhabitat. MAX-2 showed significantly higher efficacy and superior antistress capacity than the other isolates under desiccation stress. The infection of sterile T. molitor larvae at low moisture level constituted a valid laboratory bioassay system in evaluating M. anisopliae efficacy under desiccation stress.

Effects of resistance training at different loads on inflammatory markers in young adults.

PubMed

Forti, Louis Nuvagah; Van Roie, Evelien; Njemini, Rose; Coudyzer, Walter; Beyer, Ingo; Delecluse, Christophe; Bautmans, Ivan

2017-03-01

Suppressing inflammaging at an early stage in life via exercise might prevent chronic diseases later in life. The aim was to investigate the influence of resistance training at different external loads on inflammatory markers in healthy young adults. Serum was collected for basal levels of cytokines (IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-8, sTNFR1, IL-1RA, IL-10 and GM-CSF) before and after 9 weeks exercise from 36 young (22 ± 2 years) healthy subjects who were randomized to three times weekly supervised resistance training at either HI max (n = 12, 1 × 10-12 repetitions at 80% 1RM), LO (n = 12, 1 × 10-12 repetitions at 40% 1RM), or LO max (n = 12, 1 × 10-12 repetitions at 40% 1RM preceded by 60 repetitions at 20-25% 1RM) respectively. Overall, IL-8 increased (p < 0.001) and IL-6 decreased (p = 0.001) after training, but no significant time*group interaction was found (respectively, p = 0.283 and p = 0.058 for IL-8 and IL-6). When analyzed separately, IL-8 increased significantly in HI max (p = 0.022) and LO max (p = 0.024); and IL-6 decreased significantly in LO max (p = 0.009) and LO (p = 0.013). No significant overall time effect was observed for sTNFR1 and IL-1RA; however, in HI max sTNFR1 (p = 0.031) and IL-1RA (p = 0.014) increased significantly, but remained unchanged in LO max and LO. IL-1beta, IL-10 and GM-CSF levels remained undetectable in most participants. Nine weeks of resistance training-irrespective of the external load-have beneficial effects on circulating IL-8 and IL-6. In addition, training at high external load increases the anti-inflammatory cytokines sTNFR1 and IL-1RA. The results of this study show that resistance training has anti-inflammatory effects in healthy young persons and that the response of the different inflammatory mediators depends on the magnitude of the external load.

Fracture resistance of computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing ceramic crowns cemented on solid abutments.

PubMed

Stona, Deborah; Burnett, Luiz Henrique; Mota, Eduardo Gonçalves; Spohr, Ana Maria

2015-07-01

Because no information was found in the dental literature regarding the fracture resistance of all-ceramic crowns using CEREC (Sirona) computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD-CAM) system on solid abutments, the authors conducted a study. Sixty synOcta (Straumann) implant replicas and regular neck solid abutments were embedded in acrylic resin and randomly assigned (n = 20 per group). Three types of ceramics were used: feldspathic, CEREC VITABLOCS Mark II (VITA); leucite, IPS Empress CAD (Ivoclar Vivadent); and lithium disilicate, IPS e.max CAD (Ivoclar Vivadent). The crowns were fabricated by the CEREC CAD-CAM system. After receiving glaze, the crowns were cemented with RelyX U200 (3M ESPE) resin cement under load of 1 kilogram. For each ceramic, one-half of the specimens were subjected to the fracture resistance testing in a universal testing machine with a crosshead speed of 1 millimeter per minute, and the other half were subjected to the fractured resistance testing after 1,000,000 cyclic fatigue loading at 100 newtons. According to a 2-way analysis of variance, the interaction between the material and mechanical cycling was significant (P = .0001). According to a Tukey test (α = .05), the fracture resistance findings with or without cyclic fatigue loading were as follows, respectively: CEREC VITABLOCKS Mark II (405 N/454 N) was statistically lower than IPS Empress CAD (1169 N/1240 N) and IPS e.max CAD (1378 N/1025 N) (P < .05). The IPS Empress CAD and IPS e.max CAD did not differ statistically (P > .05). According to a t test, there was no statistical difference in the fracture resistance with and without cyclic fatigue loading for CEREC VITABLOCS Mark II and IPS Empress CAD (P > .05). For IPS e.max CAD, the fracture resistance without cyclic fatigue loading was statistically superior to that obtained with cyclic fatigue loading (P < .05). The IPS Empress CAD and IPS e.max CAD showed higher fracture resistance compared with CEREC VITABLOCS Mark II. The cyclic fatigue loading negatively influenced only IPS e.max CAD. The CEREC VITABLOCS Mark II, IPS Empress CAD, and IPS e.max CAD ceramic crowns cemented on solid abutments showed sufficient resistance to withstand normal chewing forces. Copyright © 2015 American Dental Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evaluating the Toxicity/Fixation Balance for Corneal Cross-Linking With Sodium Hydroxymethylglycinate (SMG) and Riboflavin-UVA (CXL) in an Ex Vivo Rabbit Model Using Confocal Laser Scanning Fluorescence Microscopy.

PubMed

Kim, Su-Young; Babar, Natasha; Munteanu, Emilia Laura; Takaoka, Anna; Zyablitskaya, Mariya; Nagasaki, Takayuki; Trokel, Stephen L; Paik, David C

2016-04-01

To develop methods to delineate the relationship between endothelial cell toxicity and tissue fixation (toxicity/fixation) using sodium hydroxymethylglycinate (SMG), a formaldehyde releaser, and riboflavin-UVA photochemical corneal cross-linking (CXL) for therapeutic tissue cross-linking of the cornea. Eleven fresh cadaveric rabbit heads were used for ex vivo corneal cross-linking simulation. After epithelial debridement, the tissue was exposed to 1/4 max (9.8 mM) or 1/3 max (13 mM) SMG at pH 8.5 for 30 minutes or riboflavin-UVA (CXL). The contralateral cornea served as a paired control. Postexposure, cross-linking efficacy was determined by thermal denaturation temperature (Tm) and endothelial damage was assessed using calcein AM and ethidium homodimer staining (The Live/Dead Kit). Confocal laser scanning fluorescence microscopy was used to generate live/dead cell counts using a standardized algorithm. The ΔTm after CXL, 1/3 SMG, and 1/4 SMG was 2.2 ± 0.9°C, 1.3 ± 0.5°C, and 1.1 ± 0.5°C, respectively. Endothelial cell damage was expressed as the percent of dead cells/live + dead cells counted per high-power field. The values were 3 ± 1.7% (control) and 8.9 ± 11.1% (CXL) (P = 0.390); 1 ± 0.2% (control) and 19.5 ± 32.2% (1/3 max SMG) (P = 0.426); and 2.7 ± 2.4% (control) and 2.8 ± 2.2% (1/4 max SMG) (P = 0.938). The values for endothelial toxicity were then indexed over the shift in Tm to yield a toxicity/fixation index. The values were as follows: 2.7 for CXL, 14 for 1/3 max, and 0.1 for 1/4 max. Quarter max (1/4 max = 9.8 mM) SMG effectively cross-linked tissue and was nontoxic to endothelial cells. Thus, SMG is potentially a compound that could achieve both desired effects.

Potassium Sodium Niobate-Based Lead-Free Piezoelectric Multilayer Ceramics Co-Fired with Nickel Electrodes.

PubMed

Kawada, Shinichiro; Hayashi, Hiroyuki; Ishii, Hideki; Kimura, Masahiko; Ando, Akira; Omiya, Suetake; Kubodera, Noriyuki

2015-11-03

Although lead-free piezoelectric ceramics have been extensively studied, many problems must still be overcome before they are suitable for practical use. One of the main problems is fabricating a multilayer structure, and one solution attracting growing interest is the use of lead-free multilayer piezoelectric ceramics. The paper reviews work that has been done by the authors on lead-free alkali niobate-based multilayer piezoelectric ceramics co-fired with nickel inner electrodes. Nickel inner electrodes have many advantages, such as high electromigration resistance, high interfacial strength with ceramics, and greater cost effectiveness than silver palladium inner electrodes. However, widely used lead zirconate titanate-based ceramics cannot be co-fired with nickel inner electrodes, and silver palladium inner electrodes are usually used for lead zirconate titanate-based piezoelectric ceramics. A possible alternative is lead-free ceramics co-fired with nickel inner electrodes. We have thus been developing lead-free alkali niobate-based multilayer ceramics co-fired with nickel inner electrodes. The normalized electric-field-induced thickness strain ( S max / E max ) of a representative alkali niobate-based multilayer ceramic structure with nickel inner electrodes was 360 pm/V, where S max denotes the maximum strain and E max denotes the maximum electric field. This value is about half that for the lead zirconate titanate-based ceramics that are widely used. However, a comparable value can be obtained by stacking more ceramic layers with smaller thicknesses. In the paper, the compositional design and process used to co-fire lead-free ceramics with nickel inner electrodes are introduced, and their piezoelectric properties and reliabilities are shown. Recent advances are introduced, and future development is discussed.

A UNIFIED MODEL OF GRAIN ALIGNMENT: RADIATIVE ALIGNMENT OF INTERSTELLAR GRAINS WITH MAGNETIC INCLUSIONS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hoang, Thiem; Lazarian, A.

The radiative torque (RAT) alignment of interstellar grains with ordinary paramagnetic susceptibilities has been supported by earlier studies. The alignment of such grains depends on the so-called RAT parameter q {sup max}, which is determined by the grain shape. In this paper, we elaborate on our model of RAT alignment for grains with enhanced magnetic susceptibility due to iron inclusions, such that RAT alignment is magnetically enhanced, which we term the MRAT mechanism. Such grains can be aligned with high angular momentum at the so-called high- J attractor points, achieving a high degree of alignment. Using our analytical model ofmore » RATs, we derive the critical value of the magnetic relaxation parameter δ {sub m} to produce high- J attractor points as functions of q {sup max} and the anisotropic radiation angle relative to the magnetic field ψ . We find that if about 10% of the total iron abundance present in silicate grains is forming iron clusters, this is sufficient to produce high- J attractor points for all reasonable values of q {sup max}. To calculate the degree of grain alignment, we carry out numerical simulations of MRAT alignment by including stochastic excitations from gas collisions and magnetic fluctuations. We show that large grains can achieve perfect alignment when the high- J attractor point is present, regardless of the values of q {sup max}. Our obtained results pave the way for the physical modeling of polarized thermal dust emission as well as magnetic dipole emission. We also find that millimeter-sized grains in accretion disks may be aligned with the magnetic field if they are incorporated with iron nanoparticles.« less

Robust extraction of functional signals from gene set analysis using a generalized threshold free scoring function

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

Background A central task in contemporary biosciences is the identification of biological processes showing response in genome-wide differential gene expression experiments. Two types of analysis are common. Either, one generates an ordered list based on the differential expression values of the probed genes and examines the tail areas of the list for over-representation of various functional classes. Alternatively, one monitors the average differential expression level of genes belonging to a given functional class. So far these two types of method have not been combined. Results We introduce a scoring function, Gene Set Z-score (GSZ), for the analysis of functional class over-representation that combines two previous analysis methods. GSZ encompasses popular functions such as correlation, hypergeometric test, Max-Mean and Random Sets as limiting cases. GSZ is stable against changes in class size as well as across different positions of the analysed gene list in tests with randomized data. GSZ shows the best overall performance in a detailed comparison to popular functions using artificial data. Likewise, GSZ stands out in a cross-validation of methods using split real data. A comparison of empirical p-values further shows a strong difference in favour of GSZ, which clearly reports better p-values for top classes than the other methods. Furthermore, GSZ detects relevant biological themes that are missed by the other methods. These observations also hold when comparing GSZ with popular program packages. Conclusion GSZ and improved versions of earlier methods are a useful contribution to the analysis of differential gene expression. The methods and supplementary material are available from the website http://ekhidna.biocenter.helsinki.fi/users/petri/public/GSZ/GSZscore.html. PMID:19775443

Effects of Two Chinese Herbal Formulae for the Treatment of Moderate to Severe Stable Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Multicenter, Double-Blind, Randomized Controlled Trial

PubMed Central

Cao, Yuxue; Du, Yijie; Zhang, Hongying; Luo, Qingli; Li, Bei; Wu, Jinfeng; Lv, Yubao; Sun, Jing; Jin, Hualiang; Wei, Kai; Zhao, Zhengxiao; Kong, Lingwen; Zhou, Xianmei; Miao, Qing; Wang, Gang; Zhou, Qingwei; Dong, Jingcheng

2014-01-01

Objective The study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of two Chinese herbal formulae for the treatment of stable COPD. Methods A multicenter, double-blind, double-dummy, and randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted. All groups were treated with additional conventional medicines. There were a 6-month treatment and a 12-month follow-up for 5 times. Primary outcomes included lung function test, exacerbation frequency, score of SGRQ. Second outcomes consisted of 6MWD, BODE index, psychological field score, inflammatory factors and cortisol. Results A total of 331 patients were randomly divided into two active treatment groups (Bushen Yiqi (BY) granule group, n = 109; Bushen Fangchuan (BF) tablet group, n = 109) and a placebo group (n = 113). Finally 262 patients completed the study. BY granule & BF tablet increased the values of VC, FEV1 (%) and FEV1/FVC (%), compared with placebo. BY granule improved PEF. Both treatments reduced acute exacerbation frequency (P = 0.067), BODE index and psychological field score, while improved 6MWD. In terms of descent rang of SGRQ score, both treatments increased (P = 0.01). Both treatments decreased inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-8, and IL-17(P = 0.0219). BY granule obviously descended IL-17(P<0.05), IL-1β (P = 0.05), IL-6, compared with placebo. They improved the level of IL-10 and cortisol. BY granule raised cortisol (P = 0.07) and decreased TNF-α. Both treatments slightly descended TGF-β1. In terms of safety, subject compliance and drug combination, there were no differences (P>0.05) among three groups. Conclusions BY granule and BF tablet were positively effective for the treatment of COPD, and the former performed better in general. Trial Registration Chinese Clinical Trial Register center ChiCTR-TRC-09000530 PMID:25118962

Diurnal depression in leaf hydraulic conductance at ambient and elevated [CO2] reveals anisohydric water management in field-grown soybean

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Diurnal cycles of photosynthesis and water use in field-grown soybean (Glycine max) are tied to light intensity and vapor pressure deficit (VPD). At high mid-day VPD, transpiration rates can lead to a decline in leaf water potential if leaf hydraulic conductance is insufficient to supply water to in...

Diurnal depression in leaf hydraulic conductance at ambient and elevated [CO2] and reveals anisohydric water management in field-grown soybean

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Diurnal cycles of photosynthesis and water use in field-grown soybean (Glycine max) are tied to light intensity and vapor pressure deficit (VPD). At high mid-day VPD, transpiration rates can lead to a decline in leaf water potential ('leaf) if leaf hydraulic conductance (Kleaf) is insufficient to su...

Inverse four-wave-mixing and self-parametric amplification effect in optical fibre

PubMed Central

Turitsyn, Sergei K.; Bednyakova, Anastasia E.; Fedoruk, Mikhail P.; Papernyi, Serguei B.; Clements, Wallace R.L.

2015-01-01

An important group of nonlinear processes in optical fibre involves the mixing of four waves due to the intensity dependence of the refractive index. It is customary to distinguish between nonlinear effects that require external/pumping waves (cross-phase modulation and parametric processes such as four-wave mixing) and self-action of the propagating optical field (self-phase modulation and modulation instability). Here, we present a new nonlinear self-action effect, self-parametric amplification (SPA), which manifests itself as optical spectrum narrowing in normal dispersion fibre, leading to very stable propagation with a distinctive spectral distribution. The narrowing results from an inverse four-wave mixing, resembling an effective parametric amplification of the central part of the spectrum by energy transfer from the spectral tails. SPA and the observed stable nonlinear spectral propagation with random temporal waveform can find applications in optical communications and high power fibre lasers with nonlinear intra-cavity dynamics. PMID:26345290

Fractional quantum Hall effect in strained graphene: Stability of Laughlin states in disordered pseudomagnetic fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bagrov, Andrey A.; Principi, Alessandro; Katsnelson, Mikhail I.

2017-03-01

We address the question of the stability of the fractional quantum Hall effect in the presence of pseudomagnetic disorder generated by mechanical deformations of a graphene sheet. Neglecting the potential disorder and taking into account only strain-induced random pseudomagnetic fields, it is possible to write down a Laughlin-like trial ground-state wave function explicitly. Exploiting the Laughlin plasma analogy, we demonstrate that in the case of fluctuating pseudomagnetic fluxes of a relatively small amplitude, the fractional quantum Hall effect is always stable upon the deformations. By contrast, in the case of bubble-induced pseudomagnetic fields in graphene on a substrate (a small number of large fluxes) the disorder can be strong enough to cause a glass transition in the corresponding classical Coulomb plasma, resulting in the destruction of the fractional quantum Hall regime and in a quantum phase transition to a nonergodic state of the lowest Landau level.

Bioequivalence of cyclobenzaprine hydrochloride extended-release capsule taken intact or sprinkled over applesauce
.

PubMed

Adar, Liat; Zarycranski, William; Conner, Jill B; Dragone, Jeffrey; Janka, Lindsay; Rabinovich-Guilatt, Laura

2017-12-01

Difficulty swallowing pills can compromise pain control in painful musculoskeletal disorders. This open-label, 2-period crossover study assessed pharmacokinetics and safety of cyclobenzaprine extended-release (CER) 30-mg capsule contents sprinkled over applesauce compared with intact capsules in healthy subjects. 32 subjects were randomized to treatment sequences AB or BA (A = single CER intact capsule; B = single CER capsule contents sprinkled over applesauce (15 mL)). Treatments were separated by a ≥ 14-day washout. Pharmacokinetic assessments included maximum observed plasma drug concentration (C_max), time to C_max (t_max), time to first quantifiable plasma drug concentration (t_lag), and area under the plasma drug concentration-vs.-time curve from time 0 to the last measurable drug concentration (AUC_0-t) and extrapolated to infinity (AUC_0-∞). Bioequivalence was established if the 90% confidence intervals (CIs) of the geometric least squares (LS) means ratios of B:A of C_max, AUC_0-t, and AUC_0-∞ were 80 - 125%. Safety was also assessed. Mean plasma drug concentration-vs.-time profiles were similar for CER intact and sprinkled over applesauce. The 90% CIs of LS means ratios indicated bioequivalence: C_max 91.96 - 100.76%, AUC_0-t 96.18 - 103.50%, and AUC_0-∞ 95.70 - 103.07%. Median t_max was not significantly different (p > 0.05), and median t_lag was the same (1 hour). All adverse effects were mild and resolved during the study. No clinically meaningful changes were noted for clinical laboratory values. CER capsules intact and sprinkled over applesauce are bioequivalent. Sprinkling CER capsule contents is not expected to affect efficacy or safety and can, therefore, be an option for patients with musculoskeletal pain and difficulty swallowing capsules.
.

Influence of the surface magnetic field of a cylindrical permanent magnet on the maximum levitation force in high-Tc superconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Xian-Feng; Liu, Yuan

2006-06-01

In this paper we present the dependence of the maximum levitation force (FzMax) of a high-Tc superconductor on the surface magnetic field (Bs) of a cylindrical permanent magnet, based on the Bean critical state model and Ampère's law. A transition point of Bs is found at which the relation between FzMax and Bs changes: while the surface magnetic field is less than the transition point the dependence is subjected to a nonlinear function, otherwise it is a linear one. The two different relations are estimated to correspond to partial penetration of the shielding currents in the interior of the superconductor below the transition point and complete penetration above it, respectively. Furthermore, the influence of the geometrical properties of superconductors on the transition point of Bs is discussed, which shows a quadratic polynomial function between the transition points and the radii and the thickness of superconductors. Some optimum contours of the transition point of Bs are presented in order to achieve large levitation forces.

A Multiscale Software Tool for Field/Circuit Co-Simulation

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-12-15

technology fields: Number of graduating undergraduates who achieved a 3.5 GPA to 4.0 (4.0 max scale): Number of graduating undergraduates funded by a...times more efficient than FDTD for such a problem in 3D . The techniques in class (c) above include the discontinuous Galerkin method and multidomain...implements a finite-differential-time-domain method on single field propagation in a 3D space. We consider a cavity model which includes two electric

Deriving detector-specific correction factors for rectangular small fields using a scintillator detector.

PubMed

Qin, Yujiao; Zhong, Hualiang; Wen, Ning; Snyder, Karen; Huang, Yimei; Chetty, Indrin J

2016-11-08

The goal of this study was to investigate small field output factors (OFs) for flat-tening filter-free (FFF) beams on a dedicated stereotactic linear accelerator-based system. From this data, the collimator exchange effect was quantified, and detector-specific correction factors were generated. Output factors for 16 jaw-collimated small fields (from 0.5 to 2 cm) were measured using five different detectors including an ion chamber (CC01), a stereotactic field diode (SFD), a diode detector (Edge), Gafchromic film (EBT3), and a plastic scintillator detector (PSD, W1). Chamber, diodes, and PSD measurements were performed in a Wellhofer water tank, while films were irradiated in solid water at 100 cm source-to-surface distance and 10 cm depth. The collimator exchange effect was quantified for rectangular fields. Monte Carlo (MC) simulations of the measured configurations were also performed using the EGSnrc/DOSXYZnrc code. Output factors measured by the PSD and verified against film and MC calculations were chosen as the benchmark measurements. Compared with plastic scintillator detector (PSD), the small volume ion chamber (CC01) underestimated output factors by an average of -1.0% ± 4.9% (max. = -11.7% for 0.5 × 0.5 cm2 square field). The stereotactic diode (SFD) overestimated output factors by 2.5% ± 0.4% (max. = 3.3% for 0.5 × 1 cm2 rectangular field). The other diode detector (Edge) also overestimated the OFs by an average of 4.2% ± 0.9% (max. = 6.0% for 1 × 1 cm2 square field). Gafchromic film (EBT3) measure-ments and MC calculations agreed with the scintillator detector measurements within 0.6% ± 1.8% and 1.2% ± 1.5%, respectively. Across all the X and Y jaw combinations, the average collimator exchange effect was computed: 1.4% ± 1.1% (CC01), 5.8% ± 5.4% (SFD), 5.1% ± 4.8% (Edge diode), 3.5% ± 5.0% (Monte Carlo), 3.8% ± 4.7% (film), and 5.5% ± 5.1% (PSD). Small field detectors should be used with caution with a clear understanding of their behaviors, especially for FFF beams and small, elongated fields. The scintillator detector exhibited good agreement against Gafchromic film measurements and MC simulations over the range of field sizes studied. The collimator exchange effect was found to be impor-tant at these small field sizes. Detector-specific correction factors were computed using the scintillator measurements as the benchmark. © 2016 The Authors.

Solar vector magnetograph for Max 1991 programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rust, D. M.; Obyrne, J. W.; Harris, T. J.

1988-01-01

An instrument for measuring solar magnetic fields is under construction. Key requirements for any solar vector magnetograph are high spatial resolution, high optical throughput, fine spectral selectivity, and ultralow instrumental polarization. An available 25 cm Cassegrain telescope will provide 0.5 arcsec spatial resolution. Spectral selection will be accomplished with a 150 mA filter based on electrically tunable solid Fabry-Perot etalon. Filter and polarization analyzer design concepts for the magnetograph are described in detail. The instrument will be tested at JHU/APL, and then moved to the National Solar Observatory in late 1988. It will be available to support the Max 1991 program.

Bioequivalence Study of Rivastigmine 6 mg Capsules (Single Dose) in Healthy Volunteers.

PubMed

Abhyankar, Dhiraj; Shedage, Ashish; Gole, Milind; Raut, Preeti

2017-09-01

To assess the bioequivalence of generic formulation of rivastigmine (test) and Exelon (reference). This randomized, open-label, 2-period, single-dose, 2-treatment, 2-sequence, crossover study was conducted in 40 healthy men under fed condition. Participants were randomized to receive a single dose of Exelon or rivastigmine capsule. A total of 31 participants completed the study. Area under the concentration-time curve from time zero to time t (AUC 0- t ) and area under the concentration-time curve from time zero to infinity (AUC 0-∞ ) for Exelon (mean [standard deviation], h·ng/mL) were 126.40 (56.95) and 129.46 (59.94), respectively, while they were 122.73 (43.46) and 125.08 (45.39) for rivastigmine. Geometric mean ratios of rivastigmine/Exelon were 99.17% for AUC 0- t , 98.81% for AUC 0-∞ , and 105% for maximum observed plasma concentration ( C max ). The 90% confidence intervals (CIs) were 94.14% to 104.46%, 93.77% to 104.12%, and 93.08% to 118.44%, respectively. Both formulations were well tolerated. The generic and reference formulations were bioequivalent, as the 90% CIs for C max , AUC 0- t , and AUC 0-∞ were within the range of 80% to 125%.

Pharmacokinetics of Caffeine following a Single Administration of Coffee Enema versus Oral Coffee Consumption in Healthy Male Subjects

PubMed Central

Tosri, Nisanuch; Rojanasthien, Noppamas; Srichairatanakool, Somdet; Sangdee, Chaichan

2013-01-01

The objective of this study was to determine the pharmacokinetics of caffeine after single administration of a coffee enema versus coffee consumed orally in healthy male subjects. The study design was an open-label, randomized two-phase crossover study. Eleven healthy subjects were randomly assigned either to receive 500 mL of coffee enema for 10 minutes or to consume 180 mL of ready-to-drink coffee beverage. After a washout period of at least 10 days, all the subjects were switched to receive the alternate coffee procedure. Blood samples were collected immediately before and at specific time points until 12 hours after coffee administration in each phase. The mean caffeine content in both the coffee solution prepared for the coffee enema and the ready-to-drink coffee beverage was not statistically different. The C max and AUC of caffeine obtained from the coffee enema were about 3.5 times significantly less than those of the coffee consumed orally, despite having slightly but statistically faster T max. The t 1/2 of caffeine obtained following both coffee procedures did not statistically differ. In summary, the relative bioavailability of caffeine obtained from the coffee enema was about 3.5 times significantly less than those of the coffee consumed orally. PMID:23533801

Formation of correlated states and optimization of nuclear reactions for low-energy particles at nonresonant low-frequency modulation of a potential well

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vysotskii, V. I., E-mail: vivysotskii@gmail.com; Vysotskyy, M. V.

2015-02-15

A method for the formation of correlated coherent states of low-energy particles in a parabolic potential well owing to the full-scale low-frequency modulation ω(t) = ω{sub 0}sinΩt of the parameters of this well has been considered. It has been shown that such a modulation in the absence of a stochastic force acting on a particle results in the fast formation of correlated coherent states and in an increase in the correlation coefficient and transparency of the potential barrier to the limiting values vertical bar r(t) vertical bar {sub max} → 1 and D → 1. The presence of the stochasticmore » force significantly affects the evolution of correlated coherent states, decreasing the rate of an increase in the correlation coefficient vertical bar r(t) vertical bar {sub max} (at Ω ≤ 10{sup −4}ω{sub 0}) and limiting it at the level vertical bar r(∞) vertical bar {sub max} < 1 (at Ω = (0.001–0.1)ω{sub 0}); vertical bar r(∞) vertical bar {sub max} increases with a decrease in the frequency of modulation and decreases with an increase in the intensity of the stochastic force. It has been shown that, at a realistic relation between the parameters, low-frequency modulation can ensure such vertical bar r vertical bar {sub max} value that the transparency of the potential barrier for low-energy particles increases by a factor of 10{sup 50}–10{sup 100} or larger. The mechanism of the formation of correlated coherent states for charged particles in a gas or a low-pressure plasma placed in a low-frequency magnetic field has been considered. We have determined the relation between the magnetic field strength and modulation frequency, as well as the relation between the temperature and density of the gas (plasma), at which the method under consideration can be used to optimize nuclear reactions at low energies.« less

Serial dependence promotes object stability during occlusion

PubMed Central

Liberman, Alina; Zhang, Kathy; Whitney, David

2016-01-01

Object identities somehow appear stable and continuous over time despite eye movements, disruptions in visibility, and constantly changing visual input. Recent results have demonstrated that the perception of orientation, numerosity, and facial identity is systematically biased (i.e., pulled) toward visual input from the recent past. The spatial region over which current orientations or face identities are pulled by previous orientations or identities, respectively, is known as the continuity field, which is temporally tuned over the past several seconds (Fischer & Whitney, 2014). This perceptual pull could contribute to the visual stability of objects over short time periods, but does it also address how perceptual stability occurs during visual discontinuities? Here, we tested whether the continuity field helps maintain perceived object identity during occlusion. Specifically, we found that the perception of an oriented Gabor that emerged from behind an occluder was significantly pulled toward the random (and unrelated) orientation of the Gabor that was seen entering the occluder. Importantly, this serial dependence was stronger for predictable, continuously moving trajectories, compared to unpredictable ones or static displacements. This result suggests that our visual system takes advantage of expectations about a stable world, helping to maintain perceived object continuity despite interrupted visibility. PMID:28006066

Flight test evaluation of predicted light aircraft drag, performance, and stability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smetana, F. O.; Fox, S. R.

1979-01-01

A technique was developed which permits simultaneous extraction of complete lift, drag, and thrust power curves from time histories of a single aircraft maneuver such as a pull up (from V max to V stall) and pushover (to V max for level flight). The technique, which is an extension of nonlinear equations of motion of the parameter identification methods of Iliff and Taylor and includes provisions for internal data compatibility improvement as well, was shown to be capable of correcting random errors in the most sensitive data channel and yielding highly accurate results. Flow charts, listings, sample inputs and outputs for the relevant routines are provided as appendices. This technique was applied to flight data taken on the ATLIT aircraft. Lack of adequate knowledge of the correct full throttle thrust horsepower true airspeed variation and considerable internal data inconsistency made it impossible to apply the trajectory matching features of the technique.

Multipole ordering and collective excitations in the excitonic phase of Pr0.5Ca0.5CoO3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamaguchi, Tomoki; Sugimoto, Koudai; Ohta, Yukinori

2018-05-01

As an extension of our previous paper (Yamaguchi et al., 2017) [24], we study the carrier doping dependence of the excitonic condensation in Pr0.5Ca0.5CoO3 using the random-phase and mean-field approximations for the realistic five-orbital Hubbard model. We show that the spin-triplet excitonic phase with a magnetic multipole ordering is stable against the doping of carriers in a considerable range around Co3+ (or 3d6). We discuss experimental relevance of our results.

Impact of no-till cover cropping of Italian ryegrass on above and below ground faunal communities inhabiting a soybean field with special emphasis on soybean cyst nematodes

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Two field trials were conducted in Maryland to evaluate the ability of an Italian ryegrass (IR) (Lolium multiflorum) cover crop in a no-till soybean (Glycine max) planting to 1) reduce populations of plant-parasitic nematodes (i.e., the soybean cyst nematode, Heterodera glycines and lesion nematodes...

Current-wave spectra coupling project. Volume I. Hurricane fields and cross sections, surface winds and currents, significant waves and wave spectra for potential OTEC sites: (A) Keahole Point, Hawaii, 100 year hurricane; (B) Punta Tuna, Puerto Rico, 100 year hurricane; (C) New Orleans, Louisiana, 100 year hurricane; (D) West Coast of Florida, 100 year hurricane; and for (E) Hurricane Camille (1969) off Louisiana Coast

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bretschneider, C.L.

1980-06-01

This volume is an extension of and consists of several modifications to the earlier report by Bretschneider (April 1979) on the subject of hurricane design wind, wave and current criteria for the four potential OTEC sites. The 100-year hurricane criteria for the design of OTEC plants is included. The criteria, in addition to the maximum conditions of winds, waves and surface current, include: hurricane fields for wind speed U/sub s/ and significant wave height H/sub s/; hurricane fields for modal wave period f/sub 0//sup -1/ and maximum energy density S/sub max/ of the wave spectrum; the corresponding Ekman wind-driven surfacemore » current V/sub s/; tabulated cross-sections for U/sub s/, H/sub s/, f/sub 0//sup -1/ and S/sub max/ through max U/sub s/ and through max H/sub s/ along traverses at right angles to and along traverses parallel to the forward movement of the hurricane; most probable maximum wave height and the expected corresponding wave period, based on statistical analysis of maximum wave heights from five hurricanes; design wave spectra for maximum U/sub s/ and also maximum H/sub s/, since maximum U/sub s/ and maximum H/sub s/ do not occur simultaneously; the envelope of wave spectra through maximum U/sub s/ and through maximum H/sub s/ along traverses parallel to the forward movement of the hurricane; the above same determinations for Hurricane Camille (1969) as for the four OTEC locations; and alternative methods (suggested) for obtaining design wave spectra from the joint probability distribution functions for wave height and period given by Longuet-Higgins (1975) and C.N.E.X.O. after Arhan, et al (1976).« less

Rectal administration of propylthiouracil in hyperthyroid patients: comparison of suspension enema and suppository form.

PubMed

Jongjaroenprasert, W; Akarawut, W; Chantasart, D; Chailurkit, L; Rajatanavin, R

2002-07-01

Previous studies have described the therapeutic effects of propylthiouracil (PTU) and methimazole in normal subjects after rectal suppositories. The goal of our study was to compare the pharmacokinetic and pharmacologic effects of a suppository and suspension form of PTU given per rectum. Fifteen newly diagnosed hyperthyroid patients of both genders (ages 21 to 55 years) were randomly given the drug as follows: group 1 (n = 7), a single enema (400 mg of PTU in 90 mL of sterile water) and group 2 (n = 8), two suppositories of polyethylene glycol base (200 mg of PTU in each). The pharmacokinetic study revealed earlier time to peak levels (T(max)) and significantly greater maximal peak levels (C(max)) in group 1 than in group 2, (85.71 +/- 12.12 minutes vs. 172.5 +/- 26.24 minutes for T(max) and 3.89 +/- 0.34 vs. 2.01 +/- 0.38 microg/mL, p < 0.05 for C(max), respectively). However, the area under the curve (635.16 +/- 105.71 vs. 377.87 +/- 68.09 microg x min/mL) was not statistically different between both groups. Both forms induced a significant decrease in serum free triiodothyronine (FT(3)) levels and an increase in serum rT(3) levels shortly after administration. Four subjects reported a bitter taste 5-10 minutes after receiving the drug. PTU can be effectively absorbed via the rectal route. The enema form appeared to provide better bioavailability than the suppository form. However, both preparations exhibited comparable therapeutic effect.

Dynamic Resource Management for Parallel Tasks in an Oversubscribed Energy-Constrained Heterogeneous Environment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Imam, Neena; Koenig, Gregory A; Machovec, Dylan

2016-01-01

Abstract: The worth of completing parallel tasks is modeled using utility functions, which monotonically-decrease with time and represent the importance and urgency of a task. These functions define the utility earned by a task at the time of its completion. The performance of such a system is measured as the total utility earned by all completed tasks over some interval of time (e.g., 24 hours). To maximize system performance when scheduling dynamically arriving parallel tasks onto a high performance computing (HPC) system that is oversubscribed and energy-constrained, we have designed, analyzed, and compared different heuristic techniques. Four utility-aware heuristics (i.e.,more » Max Utility, Max Utility-per-Time, Max Utility-per-Resource, and Max Utility-per-Energy), three FCFS-based heuristics (Conservative Backfilling, EASY Backfilling, and FCFS with Multiple Queues), and a Random heuristic were examined in this study. A technique that is often used with the FCFS-based heuristics is the concept of a permanent reservation. We compare the performance of permanent reservations with temporary place-holders to demonstrate the advantages that place-holders can provide. We also present a novel energy filtering technique that constrains the maximum energy-per-resource used by each task. We conducted a simulation study to evaluate the performance of these heuristics and techniques in an energy-constrained oversubscribed HPC environment. With place-holders, energy filtering, and dropping tasks with low potential utility, our utility-aware heuristics are able to significantly outperform the existing FCFS-based techniques.« less

Pharmacokinetic and bioequivalence study of itopride HCl in healthy volunteers.

PubMed

Cho, Kyung-Jin; Cho, Wonkyung; Cha, Kwang-Ho; Park, Junsung; Kim, Min-Soo; Kim, Jeong-Soo; Hwang, Sung-Joo

2010-01-01

In the present study two different formulations containing 50 mg itopride HCl (N-[4-12-(dimethylamino)ethoxylbenzyl]-3,4-dimethoxybenzamide HCl, CAS 122898-67-3) were compared in 28 healthy male volunteers in order to compare the bioavailability and prove the bioequivalence. The study was performed in an open, single dose randomized, 2-sequence, crossover design in 28 healthy male volunteers with a one-week washout period. Blood samples for pharmacokinetic profiling were drawn at selected times during 24 h. The serum concentrations of itopride HCl were determined using a specific and sensitive HPLC method with fluorescence detection. The detection limit of itopride HCl was 5 ng/ml and no endogenous compounds were found to interfere with analysis. The mean AUC(0-4h), AUC(0 --> infinity), C(max), T(max) and T1/2 were 865.28 ng x h/ml, 873.04 ng x h/ml, 303.72 ng/ml, 0.75 h, and 2.95 h, respectively, for the test formulations, and 833.00 ng x h/ml, 830.97 ng x h/ml, 268.01 ng/ml, 0.78 h, and 2.83 h, respectively, for the reference formulation. Both primary target parameters AUC(0 --> infinity) and C(max) were log-transformed and tested parametrically by analysis of variance (ANOVA). 90% confidence intervals of AUC(0 --> infinity) and C(max) were 100.57%-109.56% and 105.46%-121.18%, respectively, and were in the range of acceptable limits of bioequivalence (80-125%). Based on these results, the two formulations of itopride HCl are considered to be bioequivalent.

Bioavailability of suppository acetaminophen in healthy and hospitalized ill dogs.

PubMed

Sikina, E R; Bach, J F; Lin, Z; Gehring, R; KuKanich, B

2018-05-13

To determine the plasma pharmacokinetics of suppository acetaminophen (APAP) in healthy dogs and clinically ill dogs. This prospective study used six healthy client-owned and 20 clinically ill hospitalized dogs. The healthy dogs were randomized by coin flip to receive APAP orally or as a suppository in crossover study design. Blood samples were collected up to 10 hr after APAP dosing. The hospitalized dogs were administered APAP as a suppository, and blood collected at 2 and 6 hr after dosing. Plasma samples were analyzed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. In healthy dogs, oral APAP maximal concentration (C MAX =2.69 μg/ml) was reached quickly (T MAX =1.04 hr) and eliminated rapidly (T1/2 = 1.81 hr). Suppository APAP was rapidly, but variably absorbed (C MAX =0.52 μg/ml T MAX =0.67 hr) and eliminated (T 1/2  = 3.21 hr). The relative (to oral) fraction of the suppository dose absorbed was 30% (range <1%-67%). In hospitalized ill dogs, the suppository APAP mean plasma concentration at 2 hr and 6 hr was 1.317 μg/ml and 0.283 μg/ml. Nonlinear mixed-effects modeling did not identify significant covariates affecting variability and was similar to noncompartmental results. Results supported that oral and suppository acetaminophen in healthy and clinical dogs did not reach or sustain concentrations associated with efficacy. Further studies performed on different doses are needed. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Metastability for discontinuous dynamical systems under Lévy noise: Case study on Amazonian Vegetation.

PubMed

Serdukova, Larissa; Zheng, Yayun; Duan, Jinqiao; Kurths, Jürgen

2017-08-24

For the tipping elements in the Earth's climate system, the most important issue to address is how stable is the desirable state against random perturbations. Extreme biotic and climatic events pose severe hazards to tropical rainforests. Their local effects are extremely stochastic and difficult to measure. Moreover, the direction and intensity of the response of forest trees to such perturbations are unknown, especially given the lack of efficient dynamical vegetation models to evaluate forest tree cover changes over time. In this study, we consider randomness in the mathematical modelling of forest trees by incorporating uncertainty through a stochastic differential equation. According to field-based evidence, the interactions between fires and droughts are a more direct mechanism that may describe sudden forest degradation in the south-eastern Amazon. In modeling the Amazonian vegetation system, we include symmetric α-stable Lévy perturbations. We report results of stability analysis of the metastable fertile forest state. We conclude that even a very slight threat to the forest state stability represents L´evy noise with large jumps of low intensity, that can be interpreted as a fire occurring in a non-drought year. During years of severe drought, high-intensity fires significantly accelerate the transition between a forest and savanna state.

Multi-pose system for geometric measurement of large-scale assembled rotational parts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Bowen; Wang, Zhaoba; Jin, Yong; Chen, Youxing

2017-05-01

To achieve virtual assembly of large-scale assembled rotational parts based on in-field geometric data, we develop a multi-pose rotative arm measurement system with a gantry and 2D laser sensor (RAMSGL) to measure and provide the geometry of these parts. We mount a 2D laser sensor onto the end of a six-jointed rotative arm to guarantee the accuracy and efficiency, combine the rotative arm with a gantry to measure pairs of assembled rotational parts. By establishing and using the D-H model of the system, the 2D laser data is turned into point clouds and finally geometry is calculated. In addition, we design three experiments to evaluate the performance of the system. Experimental results show that the system’s max length measuring deviation using gauge blocks is 35 µm, max length measuring deviation using ball plates is 50 µm, max single-point repeatability error is 25 µm, and measurement scope is from a radius of 0 mm to 500 mm.

Quantification of antioxidants by using chlorpromazine hydrochloride: application of the method to food and medicinal plant samples.

PubMed

Nagaraja, Padmarajaiah; Aradhana, Narayanan; Suma, Aandamurthy; Shivakumar, Anantharaman; Chamaraja, Nelligere Arkeshwaraiah

2014-01-01

Chlorpromazine hydrochloride (CPH) (3-(2-chloro-phenothiazine-10-yl)-propyl] dimethylamine hydrochloride) has been the subject of a large number of studies employing a broad spectrum of oxidants, and chosen to examine the course of electron transfer reactions. We report on a method to determine the antioxidant activity of some food and medicinal plants using the oxidation of CPH by chromium(VI) to form a stable CPH radical in the 1:1 orthophosphoric acid-ethyl alcohol (OPA-EtOH) medium. The pink color of the control solution was measured at λ(max) of 530 nm. Nine standard antioxidants have been studied by this method, along with the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method. The EC50, TEC50, antioxidant efficacy and the stoichiometric values for antioxidants have been evaluated. The radical scavenging activity expressed as EC50 ranged from 9.2 μg/mL in Camellia sinensis to 448.18 μg/mL in Cuminum cyminum. The application of a simple and versatile antioxidant capacity assay for dietary polyphenols and medicinal plant extracts, which are commonly used in Ayurveda opens its relevance in the field of antioxidant analysis.

Pharmacokinetics of oral neratinib during co-administration of ketoconazole in healthy subjects.

PubMed

Abbas, Richat; Hug, Bruce A; Leister, Cathie; Burns, Jaime; Sonnichsen, Daryl

2011-04-01

The primary objective was to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of a single dose of neratinib, a potent, low-molecular-weight, orally administered, irreversible pan-ErbB (ErbB-1, -2, -4) receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, during co-administration with ketoconazole, a potent CYP3A4 inhibitor. This was an open-label, randomized, two-period, crossover study. Fasting healthy adults received a single oral dose of neratinib 240 mg alone and with multiple oral doses of ketoconazole 400 mg. Blood samples were collected up to 72 h after each neratinib dose. Plasma concentration data were analyzed using a noncompartmental method. The least square geometric mean ratios [90% confidence interval (CI)] of C(max) (neratinib+ketoconazole): C(max) (neratinib alone), and AUC(neratinib+ketoconazole): AUC(neratinib alone) were assessed. Twenty-four subjects were enrolled. Compared with neratinib administered alone, co-administration of ketoconazole increased neratinib C(max) by 3.2-fold (90% CI: 2.4, 4.3) and AUC by 4.8-fold (3.6, 6.5). Median t(max) was 6.0 h with both regimens. Ketoconazole decreased mean apparent oral clearance of neratinib from 346 lh(-1) to 87.1 lh(-1) and increased mean elimination half-life from 11.7 h to 18.0 h. The incidence of adverse events was comparable between the two regimens (50% neratinib alone, 65% co-administration with ketoconazole). Co-administration of neratinib with ketoconazole, a potent CYP3A inhibitor, increased neratinib C(max) by 3.2-fold and AUC by 4.8-fold compared with administration of neratinib alone. These results indicate that neratinib is a substrate of CYP3A and is susceptible to interaction with potent CYP3A inhibitors and, thus, dose adjustments may be needed if neratinib is administered with such compounds. © 2011 The Authors. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology © 2011 The British Pharmacological Society.

Low-volume, high-intensity, aerobic interval exercise for sedentary adults: VO₂max, cardiac mass, and heart rate recovery.

PubMed

Matsuo, Tomoaki; Saotome, Kousaku; Seino, Satoshi; Eto, Miki; Shimojo, Nobutake; Matsushita, Akira; Iemitsu, Motoyuki; Ohshima, Hiroshi; Tanaka, Kiyoji; Mukai, Chiaki

2014-09-01

The aim of this study was to compare the effects of low-volume, high-intensity aerobic interval training (HAIT) on maximal oxygen consumption (VO₂max), left ventricular (LV) mass, and heart rate recovery (HRR) with high-volume, moderate-intensity continuous aerobic training (CAT) in sedentary adults. Twenty-four healthy but sedentary male adults (aged 29.2 ± 7.2 years) participated in an 8-week, 3-day a week, supervised exercise intervention. They were randomly assigned to either HAIT (18 min, 180 kcal per exercise session) or CAT (45 min, 360 kcal). VO₂max, LV mass (3T-MRI), and HRR at 1 min (HRR-1) and 2 min (HRR-2) after maximal exercise were measured pre- and post-intervention. Changes in VO₂max during the 8-week intervention were significant (P < 0.01) in both groups (HAIT, 8.7 ± 3.2 ml kg(-1) min(-1), 22.4 ± 8.9%; CAT, 5.5 ± 2.8 ml kg(-1) min(-1), 14.7 ± 9.5%), while the VO₂max improvement in HAIT was greater (P = 0.02) than in CAT. LV mass in HAIT increased (5.1 ± 8.4 g, 5.7 ± 9.1%, P = 0.05), but not in CAT (0.9 ± 7.8 g, 1.1 ± 8.4%, P = 0.71). While changes in HRR-1 were not significant in either group, change in HRR-2 for HAIT (9.5 ± 6.4 bpm, 19.0 ± 16.0%, P < 0.01) was greater (P = 0.03) than for CAT (1.6 ± 10.9 bpm, 3.9 ± 16.2%, P = 0.42). This study suggests that HAIT has potential as a time-efficient training mode to improve cardiorespiratory capacity and autonomic nervous system function in sedentary adults.

Practical optimization of Steiner trees via the cavity method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Braunstein, Alfredo; Muntoni, Anna

2016-07-01

The optimization version of the cavity method for single instances, called Max-Sum, has been applied in the past to the minimum Steiner tree problem on graphs and variants. Max-Sum has been shown experimentally to give asymptotically optimal results on certain types of weighted random graphs, and to give good solutions in short computation times for some types of real networks. However, the hypotheses behind the formulation and the cavity method itself limit substantially the class of instances on which the approach gives good results (or even converges). Moreover, in the standard model formulation, the diameter of the tree solution is limited by a predefined bound, that affects both computation time and convergence properties. In this work we describe two main enhancements to the Max-Sum equations to be able to cope with optimization of real-world instances. First, we develop an alternative ‘flat’ model formulation that allows the relevant configuration space to be reduced substantially, making the approach feasible on instances with large solution diameter, in particular when the number of terminal nodes is small. Second, we propose an integration between Max-Sum and three greedy heuristics. This integration allows Max-Sum to be transformed into a highly competitive self-contained algorithm, in which a feasible solution is given at each step of the iterative procedure. Part of this development participated in the 2014 DIMACS Challenge on Steiner problems, and we report the results here. The performance on the challenge of the proposed approach was highly satisfactory: it maintained a small gap to the best bound in most cases, and obtained the best results on several instances in two different categories. We also present several improvements with respect to the version of the algorithm that participated in the competition, including new best solutions for some of the instances of the challenge.

Peak Velocity as an Alternative Method for Training Prescription in Mice.

PubMed

Picoli, Caroline de Carvalho; Romero, Paulo Vitor da Silva; Gilio, Gustavo R; Guariglia, Débora A; Tófolo, Laize P; de Moraes, Solange M F; Machado, Fabiana A; Peres, Sidney B

2018-01-01

Purpose: To compare the efficiency of an aerobic physical training program prescribed according to either velocity associated with maximum oxygen uptake (vVO 2max ) or peak running speed obtained during an incremental treadmill test (V peak_K ) in mice. Methods: Twenty male Swiss mice, 60 days old, were randomly divided into two groups with 10 animals each: 1. group trained by vVO 2max (GVO 2 ), 2. group trained by V peak_K (GVP). After the adaptation training period, an incremental test was performed at the beginning of each week to adjust training load and to determine the amount of VO 2 and VCO 2 fluxes consumed, energy expenditure (EE) and run distance during the incremental test. Mice were submitted to 4 weeks of aerobic exercise training of moderate intensity (velocity referring to 70% of vVO 2max and V peak_K ) in a programmable treadmill. The sessions lasted from 30 to 40 min in the first week, to reach 60 min in the fourth week, in order to provide the mice with a moderate intensity exercise, totaling 20 training sessions. Results: Mice demonstrated increases in VO 2max (ml·kg -1 ·min -1 ) (GVO 2 = 49.1% and GVP = 56.2%), V peak_K (cm·s -1 ) (GVO 2 = 50.9% and GVP = 22.3%), EE (ml·kg -0,75 ·min -1 ) (GVO 2 = 39.9% and GVP = 51.5%), and run distance (cm) (GVO 2 = 43.5% and GVP = 33.4%), after 4 weeks of aerobic training (time effect, P < 0.05); there were no differences between the groups. Conclusions: V peak_K , as well as vVO 2max , can be adopted as an alternative test to determine the performance and correct prescription of systemized aerobic protocol training to mice.

Comparing Change in Anterior Curvature after Corneal Cross-Linking Using Scanning-Slit and Scheimpflug Technology.

PubMed

Lang, Paul Z; Thulasi, Praneetha; Khandelwal, Sumitra S; Hafezi, Farhad; Randleman, J Bradley

2018-05-02

To evaluate the correlation between anterior axial curvature difference maps following corneal cross-linking (CXL) for progressive keratoconus obtained from Scheimpflug-based tomography and Placido-based topography. Between-devices reliability analysis of randomized clinical trial data METHODS: Corneal imaging was collected at a single center institution pre-operatively and at 3, 6, and 12 months post-operatively using Scheimpflug-based tomography (Pentacam, Oculus Inc., Lynnwood, WA) and Scanning-slit, Placido-based topography (Orbscan II, Bausch & Lomb, Rochester, NY) in patients with progressive keratoconus receiving standard protocol CXL (3mW/cm 2 for 30 minutes). Regularization index (RI), absolute maximum keratometry (K Max), and change in (ΔK Max) were compared between the two devices at each time point. 51 eyes from 36 patients were evaluated at all time points. values were significantly different at all time points [56.01±5.3D Scheimpflug vs. 55.04±5.1D scanning-slit pre-operatively (p=0.003); 54.58±5.3D Scheimpflug vs. 53.12±4.9D scanning-slit at 12 months (p<0.0001)] but strongly correlated between devices (r=0.90-0.93) at all time points. The devices were not significantly different at any time point for either ΔK Max or RI but were poorly correlated at all time points (r=0.41-0.53 for ΔK Max, r=0.29-0.48 for RI). At 12 months, 95% LOA was 7.51D for absolute, 8.61D for ΔK Max, and 19.86D for RI. Measurements using Scheimpflug and scanning-slit Placido-based technology are correlated but not interchangeable. Both devices appear reasonable for separately monitoring the cornea's response to CXL; however, caution should be used when comparing results obtained with one measuring technology to the other. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Acarbose bioequivalence: exploration of new pharmacodynamic parameters.

PubMed

Zhang, Min; Yang, Jin; Tao, Lei; Li, Lingjun; Ma, Pengcheng; Fawcett, John Paul

2012-06-01

To investigate bioequivalence (BE) testing of an acarbose formulation in healthy Chinese volunteers through the use of recommended and innovative pharmacodynamic (PD) parameters. Following the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidance, a randomized, cross-over study of acarbose test (T) and reference (R) (Glucobay®) formulations was performed with a 1-week wash-out period. Preliminary pilot studies showed that the appropriate dose of acarbose was 2 × 50 mg, and the required number of subjects was 40. Serum glucose concentrations after sucrose administration (baseline) and co-administration of sucrose/acarbose on the following day were both determined. Three newly defined PD measures of glucose fluctuation (glucose excursion (GE), GE' (glucose excursion without the effect of the homeostatic glucose control), and fAUC (degree of fluctuation of serum glucose based on AUC)), the plateau glucose concentration (C(ss)), and time of maximum reduction in glucose concentration (T (max)) were tested in the evaluation. The adequacy of the two parameters recommended by the FDA, ΔC(SG,max) (maximum reduction in serum glucose concentration) and AUEC((0-4h)) (reduction in the AUC((0-4h)) of glucose between baseline and acarbose formulation) was also evaluated. The T (max) values were comparable, and the 90% confidence intervals of the geometric test/reference ratios (T/R) for ΔC(SG,max), C(ss), GE, and fAUC were all within 80-125%. The parameter GE' was slightly outside the limits, and the parameter AUEC((0-4h)) could not be computed due to the presence of negative values. In acarbose BE evaluation, while the recommended parameter ΔC(SG,max) is valuable, the combination of C(ss) and one of the newly defined glucose fluctuation parameters, GE, GE', and fAUC is preferable than AUEC((0-4h)). The acarbose test formulation can be initially considered to be bioequivalent to Glucobay®.

Pharmacokinetics and relative bioavailability of fixed-dose combination of clopidogrel and aspirin versus coadministration of individual formulations in healthy Korean men.

PubMed

Choi, Hyang-Ki; Ghim, Jong-Lyul; Shon, Jihong; Choi, Young-Kyung; Jung, Jin Ah

2016-01-01

Simultaneous prescription of clopidogrel and low-dose aspirin is recommended for the treatment of acute coronary syndrome because of improvements in efficacy and patient compliance. In this study, the pharmacokinetics of a fixed-dose combination (FDC) of clopidogrel and aspirin was compared with coadministration of individual formulations to clarify the equivalence of the FDC. This was a randomized, open-label, two-period, two-treatment, crossover study in healthy Korean men aged 20-55 years. Subjects received two FDC capsules of clopidogrel/aspirin 75/100 mg (test) or two tablets of clopidogrel 75 mg and two capsules of aspirin 100 mg (reference) with a 14-day washout period. Plasma concentrations of clopidogrel, aspirin, and salicylic acid were measured using validated ultraperformance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Bioequivalence was assessed by analysis of variance and calculation of the 90% confidence intervals (CIs) of the ratios of the geometric means (GMRs) for AUC last and C max for clopidogrel and aspirin. Sixty healthy subjects were enrolled, and 53 completed the study. Clopidogrel, aspirin, and salicylic acid showed similar absorption profiles and no significant differences in C max , AUC last , and T max between FDC administration and coadministration of individual formulations. The GMRs (90% CI) for the C max and AUC last of clopidogrel were 1.08 (0.95, 1.23) and 0.93 (0.84, 1.03), respectively. The GMRs (90% CI) for the C max and AUC last of aspirin were 0.98 (0.84, 1.13) and 0.98 (0.93, 1.04), respectively. Both treatments were well tolerated in the study subjects. The FDC of clopidogrel and aspirin was bioequivalent to coadministration of each individual formulation. The FDC capsule exhibited similar safety and tolerability profiles to the individual formulations. Therefore, clopidogrel/aspirin 75 mg/100 mg FDC capsules can be prescribed to improve patient compliance.

Effect of menstrual cycle phase on exercise performance of high-altitude native women at 3600 m.

PubMed

Brutsaert, Tom D; Spielvogel, Hilde; Caceres, Esperanza; Araoz, Mauricio; Chatterton, Robert T; Vitzthum, Virginia J

2002-01-01

At sea level normally menstruating women show increased ventilation (VE) and hemodynamic changes due to increased progesterone (P) and estrogen (E2) levels during the mid-luteal (L) compared to the mid-follicular (F) phase of the ovarian cycle. Such changes may affect maximal exercise performance. This repeated-measures, randomized study, conducted at 3600 m, tests the hypothesis that a P-mediated increase in VE increases maximal oxygen consumption (V(O(2)max)) during the L phase relative to the F phase in Bolivian women, either born and raised at high altitude (HA), or resident at HA since early childhood. Subjects (N=30) enrolled in the study were aged 27.7 +/- 0.7 years (mean +/- S.E.M.) and non-pregnant, non-lactating, relatively sedentary residents of La Paz, Bolivia, who were not using hormonal contraceptives. Mean salivary P levels at the time of the exercise tests were 63.3 pg ml(-1) and 22.9 pg ml(-1) for the L and F phases, respectively. Subset analyses of submaximal (N=23) and maximal (N=13) exercise responses were conducted only with women showing increased P levels from F to L and, in the latter case, with those also achieving true (V(O(2)max)). Submaximal exercise VE and ventilatory equivalents were higher in the L phase (P<0.001). P levels were significantly correlated to the submaximal exercise VE (r=0.487, P=0.006). Maximal work output (W) was higher (approximately 5 %) during the L phase (P=0.044), but (V(O(2)max)) (l min(-1)) was unchanged (P=0.063). Post-hoc analyses revealed no significant relationship between changes in P levels and changes in (V(O(2)max))) from F to L (P=0.072). In sum, the menstrual cycle phase has relatively modest effects on ventilation, but no effect on (V(O(2)max)) of HA native women.

End Criteria for Reaching Maximal Oxygen Uptake Must Be Strict and Adjusted to Sex and Age: A Cross-Sectional Study

PubMed Central

Edvardsen, Elisabeth; Hem, Erlend; Anderssen, Sigmund A.

2014-01-01

Objective To describe different end criteria for reaching maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) during a continuous graded exercise test on the treadmill, and to explore the manner by which different end criteria have an impact on the magnitude of the VO2max result. Methods A sample of 861 individuals (390 women) aged 20–85 years performed an exercise test on a treadmill until exhaustion. Gas exchange, heart rate, blood lactate concentration and Borg Scale6–20 rating were measured, and the impact of different end criteria on VO2max was studied;VO2 leveling off, maximal heart rate (HRmax), different levels of respiratory exchange ratio (RER), and postexercise blood lactate concentration. Results Eight hundred and four healthy participants (93%) fulfilled the exercise test until voluntary exhaustion. There were no sex-related differences in HRmax, RER, or Borg Scale rating, whereas blood lactate concentration was 18% lower in women (P<0.001). Forty-two percent of the participants achieved a plateau in VO2; these individuals had 5% higher ventilation (P = 0.033), 4% higher RER (P<0.001), and 5% higher blood lactate concentration (P = 0.047) compared with participants who did not reach a VO2 plateau. When using RER ≥1.15 or blood lactate concentration ≥8.0 mmol•L–1, VO2max was 4% (P = 0.012) and 10% greater (P<0.001), respectively. A blood lactate concentration ≥8.0 mmol•L–1 excluded 63% of the participants in the 50–85-year-old cohort. Conclusions A range of typical end criteria are presented in a random sample of subjects aged 20–85 years. The choice of end criteria will have an impact on the number of the participants as well as the VO2max outcome. Suggestions for new recommendations are given. PMID:24454832

[The new magnetic therapy TAMMEF in the treatment of simple shoulder pain].

PubMed

Battisti, E; Bianciardi, L; Albanese, A; Piazza, E; Rigato, M; Galassi, G; Giordano, N

2007-01-01

Numerous studies have demonstrated the utility of extremely low frequencies (ELF) electromagnetic fields in the treatment of pain. Moreover, the effects of these fields seems to depend on their respective codes (frequency, intensity, waveform). In our study we want to assess the effects of the TAMMEF (Therapeutic Application of a Musically Modulated Electromagnetic Field) system, whose field is piloted by a musical signal and its parameters (frequency, intensity, waveform) are modified in time, randomly varying within the respective ranges, so that all possible codes can occur during a single application. Sixty subjects, affected by shoulder periarthritis were enrolled in the study and randomly divided into three groups of 20 patients each: A exposed to TAMMEF, B exposed to ELF, C exposed to a simulated field. All subjects underwent a cycle of 15 daily sessions of 30 minutes each and a clinical examination upon enrollment, after 7 days of therapy, at the end of the cycle and at a follow-up 30 days later. All the patients of groups A and B completed the therapy without the appearance of side effects: they presented a significant improvement of the subjective pain and the functional limitation, which remained stable at the follow-up examination. In group C, there was no improvement of the pain symptoms or articular functionality. This study suggests that the TAMMEF system is efficacious in the control of pain symptoms and in the reduction of functional limitation in patients with shoulder periarthritis. Moreover, the effects of the TAMMEF system cover those produced by the ELF field.

Application of stable isotope tools for evaluating natural and stimulated biodegradation of organic pollutants in field studies.

PubMed

Fischer, Anko; Manefield, Mike; Bombach, Petra

2016-10-01

Stable isotope tools are increasingly applied for in-depth evaluation of biodegradation of organic pollutants at contaminated field sites. They can be divided into three methods i) determination of changes in natural abundance of stable isotopes using compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA), ii) detection of incorporation of stable-isotope label from a stable-isotope labelled target compound into degradation and/or mineralisation products and iii) determination of stable-isotope label incorporation into biomarkers using stable isotope probing (SIP). Stable isotope tools have been applied as key monitoring tools for multiple-line-of-evidence-approaches (MLEA) for sensitive evaluation of pollutant biodegradation. This review highlights the application of CSIA, SIP and MLEA including stable isotope tools for assessing natural and stimulated biodegradation of organic pollutants in field studies dealing with soil and groundwater contaminations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of High-Intensity Interval Training Versus Moderate-Intensity Continuous Training On Blood Pressure in Adults with Pre- to Established Hypertension: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Trials.

PubMed

Costa, Eduardo Caldas; Hay, Jacqueline L; Kehler, Dustin S; Boreskie, Kevin F; Arora, Rakesh C; Umpierre, Daniel; Szwajcer, Andrea; Duhamel, Todd A

2018-06-13

Aerobic exercise reduces blood pressure (BP), but it is unknown whether a high-intensity training approach can elicit a greater BP reduction in populations with elevated BP. This systematic review compared the efficacy of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) versus moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) for reducing BP in adults with pre- to established hypertension. Five electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, PEDro, and SPORTDiscus) were searched for randomized trials comparing the chronic effects of HIIT versus MICT on BP in individuals with resting systolic BP ≥ 130 mmHg and/or diastolic BP ≥ 85 mmHg and/or under antihypertensive medication. Random-effects modelling was used to compare changes from pre- to post-intervention in resting and ambulatory BP between HIIT and MICT. Changes from pre- to post-intervention in maximal oxygen uptake ([Formula: see text]O 2max ) between HIIT and MICT were also meta-analyzed. Data were reported as weighted mean difference (MD) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Ambulatory BP was excluded from the meta-analysis due to the limited number of studies (two studies). Comparing changes from pre- to post-intervention, no differences in resting systolic BP (MD - 0.22 mmHg [CI 95%, - 5.36 to 4.92], p = 0.93, I 2  = 53%) and diastolic BP (MD - 0.38 mmHg [CI 95%, - 3.31 to 2.54], p = 0.74, I 2  = 0%) were found between HIIT and MICT (seven studies; 164 participants). HIIT improved [Formula: see text]O 2max to a greater magnitude than MICT (MD 2.13 ml/kg/min [CI 95%, 1.00 to 3.27], p < 0.01, I 2  = 41%) with similar completion rates of the intervention and attendance at the exercise training sessions (nine studies; 245 participants). Limited data were available to compare the incidence of adverse events between HIIT and MICT. HIIT and MICT provided comparable reductions in resting BP in adults with pre- to established hypertension. HIIT was associated with greater improvements in [Formula: see text]O 2max when compared to MICT. Future randomized trials should investigate the efficacy of HIIT versus MICT for reducing ambulatory BP in adults with pre- to established hypertension. PROSPERO registration (2016: CRD42016041885).

Analysis of the dependence of extreme rainfalls

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Padoan, Simone; Ancey, Christophe; Parlange, Marc

2010-05-01

The aim of spatial analysis is to quantitatively describe the behavior of environmental phenomena such as precipitation levels, wind speed or daily temperatures. A number of generic approaches to spatial modeling have been developed[1], but these are not necessarily ideal for handling extremal aspects given their focus on mean process levels. The areal modelling of the extremes of a natural process observed at points in space is important in environmental statistics; for example, understanding extremal spatial rainfall is crucial in flood protection. In light of recent concerns over climate change, the use of robust mathematical and statistical methods for such analyses has grown in importance. Multivariate extreme value models and the class of maxstable processes [2] have a similar asymptotic motivation to the univariate Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distribution , but providing a general approach to modeling extreme processes incorporating temporal or spatial dependence. Statistical methods for max-stable processes and data analyses of practical problems are discussed by [3] and [4]. This work illustrates methods to the statistical modelling of spatial extremes and gives examples of their use by means of a real extremal data analysis of Switzerland precipitation levels. [1] Cressie, N. A. C. (1993). Statistics for Spatial Data. Wiley, New York. [2] de Haan, L and Ferreria A. (2006). Extreme Value Theory An Introduction. Springer, USA. [3] Padoan, S. A., Ribatet, M and Sisson, S. A. (2009). Likelihood-Based Inference for Max-Stable Processes. Journal of the American Statistical Association, Theory & Methods. In press. [4] Davison, A. C. and Gholamrezaee, M. (2009), Geostatistics of extremes. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series B. To appear.

Effects of a single session of whole body vibration on ankle plantarflexion spasticity and gait performance in patients with chronic stroke: a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Chan, Kwan-Shan; Liu, Chin-Wei; Chen, Tien-Wen; Weng, Ming-Cheng; Huang, Mao-Hsiung; Chen, Chia-Hsin

2012-12-01

To investigate the effects of a single session of whole body vibration training on ankle plantarflexion spasticity and gait performance in chronic stroke patients. Randomized controlled trial. Rehabilitation unit in university hospital. Thirty subjects with chronic stroke were randomized into either a control group (n = 15) or a group receiving a single session of whole body vibration (n = 15). The intervention group was actually treated with whole body vibration while the control group was treated with placebo treatment. The spastic changes were measured clinically and neurophysiologically. Subjective evaluation of ankle spasticity was performed via a visual analogue scale. Gait performances were evaluated by the timed up and go test, 10-meter walk test and cadence. A forceplate was used for measuring foot pressure. The changes between whole body vibration and control groups were significantly different in Modified Ashworth Scale (1.33, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.06~1.60). The H (max)/M (max) ratio (0.14, 95% CI = 0.01~0.26) and visual analogue scale (1.87, 95% CI = 1.15~2.58) were significantly decreased. Whole body vibration could significantly improve gait velocity, timed up and go test (6.03, 95% CI = 3.17~8.89) and 10-meter walk test (1.99, 95% CI = 0.11~3.87). The uneven body weight posture on bilateral feet was also improved after vibration. These results suggest that a single session of whole body vibration training can reduce ankle plantarflexion spasticity in chronic stroke patients, thereby potentially increasing ambulatory capacity.

Estimating ambiguity preferences and perceptions in multiple prior models: Evidence from the field.

PubMed

Dimmock, Stephen G; Kouwenberg, Roy; Mitchell, Olivia S; Peijnenburg, Kim

2015-12-01

We develop a tractable method to estimate multiple prior models of decision-making under ambiguity. In a representative sample of the U.S. population, we measure ambiguity attitudes in the gain and loss domains. We find that ambiguity aversion is common for uncertain events of moderate to high likelihood involving gains, but ambiguity seeking prevails for low likelihoods and for losses. We show that choices made under ambiguity in the gain domain are best explained by the α-MaxMin model, with one parameter measuring ambiguity aversion (ambiguity preferences) and a second parameter quantifying the perceived degree of ambiguity (perceptions about ambiguity). The ambiguity aversion parameter α is constant and prior probability sets are asymmetric for low and high likelihood events. The data reject several other models, such as MaxMin and MaxMax, as well as symmetric probability intervals. Ambiguity aversion and the perceived degree of ambiguity are both higher for men and for the college-educated. Ambiguity aversion (but not perceived ambiguity) is also positively related to risk aversion. In the loss domain, we find evidence of reflection, implying that ambiguity aversion for gains tends to reverse into ambiguity seeking for losses. Our model's estimates for preferences and perceptions about ambiguity can be used to analyze the economic and financial implications of such preferences.

The DiskMass Survey. II. Error Budget

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bershady, Matthew A.; Verheijen, Marc A. W.; Westfall, Kyle B.; Andersen, David R.; Swaters, Rob A.; Martinsson, Thomas

2010-06-01

We present a performance analysis of the DiskMass Survey. The survey uses collisionless tracers in the form of disk stars to measure the surface density of spiral disks, to provide an absolute calibration of the stellar mass-to-light ratio (Υ_{*}), and to yield robust estimates of the dark-matter halo density profile in the inner regions of galaxies. We find that a disk inclination range of 25°-35° is optimal for our measurements, consistent with our survey design to select nearly face-on galaxies. Uncertainties in disk scale heights are significant, but can be estimated from radial scale lengths to 25% now, and more precisely in the future. We detail the spectroscopic analysis used to derive line-of-sight velocity dispersions, precise at low surface-brightness, and accurate in the presence of composite stellar populations. Our methods take full advantage of large-grasp integral-field spectroscopy and an extensive library of observed stars. We show that the baryon-to-total mass fraction ({F}_bar) is not a well-defined observational quantity because it is coupled to the halo mass model. This remains true even when the disk mass is known and spatially extended rotation curves are available. In contrast, the fraction of the rotation speed supplied by the disk at 2.2 scale lengths (disk maximality) is a robust observational indicator of the baryonic disk contribution to the potential. We construct the error budget for the key quantities: dynamical disk mass surface density (Σdyn), disk stellar mass-to-light ratio (Υ^disk_{*}), and disk maximality ({F}_{*,max}^disk≡ V^disk_{*,max}/ V_c). Random and systematic errors in these quantities for individual galaxies will be ~25%, while survey precision for sample quartiles are reduced to 10%, largely devoid of systematic errors outside of distance uncertainties.

Relationship between Aerobic Capacity and Yo-Yo IR1 Performance in Brazilian Professional Futsal Players.

PubMed

Boullosa, Daniel A; Tonello, Lais; Ramos, Isabela; Silva, Alessandro de Oliveira; Simoes, Herbert G; Nakamura, Fabio Y

2013-09-01

To evaluate the relationship between aerobic and intermittent capacities in a team of professional futsal players. FIFTEEN FUTSAL PLAYERS FROM BRAZILIAN FIRST DIVISION (AGE: 25.9±5.1 yrs; height: 1.77±0.04 m, body mass: 74.37±6.02 kg) performed in random order a ramp test and the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1 (Yo-Yo IR1) at the start of the season for determination of maximum oxygen consumption (VO2max), peak running speed (Speak), and intermittent running ability. Mean VO2max was of 57.25±6.35 ml·kg(-1)min(-1) with a Speak of 17.69±1.88 km·h(-1). Yo-Yo IR1 performance was of 1,226±282 m. There was no correlation between VO2max and Yo-Yo performance while Speak and Yo-Yo IR1 performance were correlated (r=0.641; P=0.007). From the current results, it may be suggested that both continuous and intermittent physical evaluations are necessary for obtaining a complete fitness profile of futsal players. The low Yo-Yo IR1 performance of Brazilian futsal players when compared to other elite team sport athletes warrants further investigation.

Relationship between Aerobic Capacity and Yo-Yo IR1 Performance in Brazilian Professional Futsal Players

PubMed Central

Boullosa, Daniel A.; Tonello, Lais; Ramos, Isabela; Silva, Alessandro de Oliveira; Simoes, Herbert G.; Nakamura, Fabio Y.

2013-01-01

Purpose To evaluate the relationship between aerobic and intermittent capacities in a team of professional futsal players. Methods Fifteen futsal players from Brazilian first division (age: 25.9±5.1 yrs; height: 1.77±0.04 m, body mass: 74.37±6.02 kg) performed in random order a ramp test and the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1 (Yo-Yo IR1) at the start of the season for determination of maximum oxygen consumption (VO2max), peak running speed (Speak), and intermittent running ability. Results Mean VO2max was of 57.25±6.35 ml·kg-1min-1 with a Speak of 17.69±1.88 km·h-1. Yo-Yo IR1 performance was of 1,226±282 m. There was no correlation between VO2max and Yo-Yo performance while Speak and Yo-Yo IR1 performance were correlated (r=0.641; P=0.007). Conclusion From the current results, it may be suggested that both continuous and intermittent physical evaluations are necessary for obtaining a complete fitness profile of futsal players. The low Yo-Yo IR1 performance of Brazilian futsal players when compared to other elite team sport athletes warrants further investigation. PMID:24427483

Low-speed static and dynamic force tests of a generic supersonic cruise fighter configuration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hahne, David E.

1989-01-01

Static and dynamic force tests of a generic fighter configuration designed for sustained supersonic flight were conducted in the Langley 30- by 60-foot tunnel. The baseline configuration had a 65 deg arrow wing, twin wing mounted vertical tails and a canard. Results showed that control was available up to C sub L,max (maximum lift coefficient) from aerodynamic controls about all axes but control in the pitch and yaw axes decreased rapidly in the post-stall angle-of-attack region. The baseline configuration showed stable lateral-directional characteristics at low angles of attack but directional stability occurred near alpha = 25 deg as the wing shielded the vertical tails. The configuration showed positive effective dihedral throughout the test angle-of-attack range. Forced oscillation tests indicated that the baseline configuration had stable damping characteristics about the lateral-directional axes.

Pharmacodynamic comparison of two formulations of Acarbose 100-mg tablets.

PubMed

Lee, S; Chung, J Y; Hong, K S; Yang, S-H; Byun, S-Y; Lim, H-S; Shin, S-G; Jang, I-J; Yu, K-S

2012-10-01

Acarbose, an α-glycosidase inhibitor, is used to treat diabetic patients. Pharmacokinetic evaluation of acarbose is difficult because <2% is absorbed systemically. The current investigation evaluated the bioequivalence of two formulations of acarbose through pharmacodynamic comparison. This investigation consisted of a pilot study and a main study. The pilot study had an open, single-dose, single-sequence design. Subjects received placebo and then two tablets of reference formulation (Glucobay(®) 100 mg tablet; Bayer Healthcare) on two consecutive days with sucrose. The main study was an open, randomized, two-period, two-sequence crossover study. Subjects randomly received placebo and two tablets of either test formulation (generic acarbose 100-mg tablet) or reference formulation with sucrose on two consecutive days in the first period. In the second period, placebo and alternative formulation were administered. Serial blood samples for pharmacodynamic assessment were taken after each administration. The maximum serum glucose concentration (G(max)) and the area under the serum glucose concentration-time profile (AUC(gluc)) were determined and compared. Five subjects completed the pilot study. The AUC(gluc) from dosing until 1 h post-dose (AUC(gluc,1 h)) was significantly different between the placebo and acarbose. A total of 33 subjects completed the main study. The mean differences in G(max) (ΔG(max)) and AUC(gluc,1 h) (ΔAUC(gluc,1 h)) for the reference formulation compared with placebo were 22·0 ± 18·3 mg/dL and 928·2 ± 756·0 mg min/dL, respectively. The corresponding values for the test formulation were 23·3 ± 21·2 mg/dL and 923·0 ± 991·4 0 mg min/dL, respectively. The geometric mean ratios (GMRs) of the test formulation to the reference formulation for ΔG(max) and ΔAUC(gluc, 1 h) were 1·06 and 1·00, respectively, and the 90% confidence intervals (CIs) corresponding values were 0·79-1·39 and 0·64-1·36, respectively. The 90% CIs of GMRs for the pharmacodynamic parameters chosen for bioequivalence evaluation of two formulations of acarbose did not meet the commonly accepted regulatory criteria for bioequivalence (0·80-1·25). © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Space allowance influences individually housed Holstein bull calf innate immune measures and standing behaviors after castration at 3 weeks of age.

PubMed

Calvo-Lorenzo, M S; Hulbert, L E; Ballou, M A; Fowler, A L; Luo, Y; Klasing, K C; Mitloehner, F M

2017-03-01

Dairy calves in the Southwest regions of the United States are typically raised individually in wooden hutches with 1.23 m 2 of space. The objective of the study was to determine if increased space allowance in wooden hutches influences measures of innate immunity and behaviors of Holstein bull calves pre- and postcastration. Calves were randomly assigned at 4 d of age to conventional (CONV; 1.23 m 2 of space; n = 18), moderate (MOD; 1.85 m 2 space; n = 17), or maximized space allowance (MAX; 3.71 m 2 space; n = 19) in hutches. Calves were surgically castrated at 24 d of age. Peripheral whole blood samples were collected at -1, +1, +5, and +12 d of castration. Accelerometer loggers (n = 16 calves per treatment) were used from -3 to +5 d of castration to assess standing behaviors. All calves decreased total standing duration the day of castration versus precastration. Overall, MAX spent the most time in the stand position postcastration versus CONV and MOD. Within treatments, MOD and MAX had increased plasma cortisol 1 d postcastration versus precastration. A treatment × time tendency was observed for cortisol at 12 d postcastration; MAX had the least circulating cortisol. A treatment × time tendency for circulating haptoglobin (Hp) was observed and Hp was greatest among CONV 1 d pre- and 12 d postcastration. Compared with precastration, CONV had increased Hp at 1, 5, and 12 d, whereas MOD had increased Hp at 5 d, and Hp remained similar within MAX. A treatment × time tendency for tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) from lipopolysaccharide-stimulated whole blood was observed; at 1 d postcastration, MOD had the most TNF-α, whereas MAX had the least. Within MAX, calves had increased TNF-α from precastration to 5 d postcastration. A treatment × time interaction was observed for whole blood bactericidal activity against Escherichia coli (WB anti-E). The CONV tended to have the greatest WB anti-E at d -1, but at d 1 and 5 postcastration, CONV had the least WB anti-E. Overall, MAX had less intensity of neutrophil oxidative burst versus CONV and MOD. The lower response of neutrophil oxidative burst and slower Hp secretion after castration is indicative that the wound site likely had less microbial exposure. The findings of this study suggest that calves housed with more space are potentially at less risk of too much inflammation after castration, which may likely be due to the effects of increased space on hide cleanliness and increased standing time. Copyright © 2017 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Pharmacokinetics and bioequivalence of atorvastatin calcium tablets in healthy male Chinese volunteers].

PubMed

Shen, Yi; Zhang, Yi-fan; Chen, Xiao-yan; Guo, Li-xia; Zhong, Da-fang

2012-03-01

To compare the bioequivalence and pharmacokinetics of national made and imported atorvastatin in healthy male Chinese volunteers after single oral administration. This randomized sequence, open-label, two-period crossover study with a one-week washout period between doses was performed in 24 fasting healthy Chinese males. They were randomly assigned to receive 20 mg of either the test (national made) or reference (imported) formulation orally. The blood samples were collected over a 72-hour period. Plasma concentrations of parent atorvastatin (AT), ortho-hydroxy-atorvastatin (o-OAT) and para-hydroxy-atorvastatin (p-OAT) were simultaneously determined using the validated liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method, the bioequivalence was also evaluated throughout the study. The main pharmacokinetic parameters of test and reference formulations were as follows: the values of C(max) for AT were (10.6 ± 11.9) µg/L and (10.6 ± 9.8) µg/L, t(1/2z) were (11.4 ± 3.9) h and (11.4 ± 5.3) h, AUC(0-t) were (54.2 ± 37.4) µg×h(-1)×L(-1) and (51.7 ± 34.1) µg×h(-1)×L(-1), respectively. The values of C(max) for o-OAT were (7.8 ± 4.5) µg/L and (7.6 ± 4.3) µg/L, t(1/2z) were (12.3 ± 4.2) h and (11.9 ± 3.4) h, AUC(0-t) were (96.8 ± 48.2) µg×h(-1)×L(-1) and (92.3 ± 44.4) µg×h(-1)×L(-1), respectively. The values of C(max) for p-OAT were (0.5 ± 0.4) µg/L and (0.4 ± 0.3) µg/L, t(1/2z) were (18.4 ± 12.4) h and (23.3 ± 17.8) h, AUC(0-t) were (15.9 ± 12.3) µg×h(-1)×L(-1) and (13.8 ± 8.11) µg×h(-1)×L(-1), respectively. The relative bioavailability of AT and o-OAT in test formulation were (105.3 ± 20.7)% and (107.8 ± 23.2)%, respectively. The 90% confidence interval of the test/reference geometric mean ratios of AUC(0-t) for AT and o-OAT were (97.7 - 110.5)% and (98.3 - 111.3)%, C(max) for AT and o-OAT were (75.8 - 114.0)% and (90.6 - 122.9)%, they were all located within the bioequivalence criteria range (80% - 125% for AUC, and 70% - 143% for C(max)). The result demonstrated that two formulations were bioequivalent.

Glycine accessions evaluated for resistance to Rotylenchulus reniformis

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Identification of resistance to reniform nematode (Rotylenchulus reniformis) is the first step in developing resistant soybean (Glycine max) cultivars that will benefit growers in the Mid South, where soybean acreage on reniform nematode-infested fields has increased in recent years. Seventy-five do...

Determining the best method of Nellcor pulse oximeter sensor application in neonates.

PubMed

Saraswat, A; Simionato, L; Dawson, J A; Thio, M; Kamlin, C O F; Owen, L; Schmölzer, G; Davis, P G

2012-05-01

To identify the optimal sensor application method that gave the quickest display of accurate heart rate (HR) data using the Nellcor OxiMax N-600x pulse oximeter (PO). Stable infants who were monitored with an electrocardiograph were included. Three sensor application techniques were studied: (i) sensor connected to cable, then applied to infant; (ii) sensor connected to cable, applied to investigator's finger, and then to infant; (iii) sensor applied to infant, then connected to cable. The order of techniques tested was randomized for each infant. Time taken to apply the PO sensor, to display data and to display accurate data (HR(PO) = HR(ECG) ± 3 bpm) were recorded using a stopwatch. Forty infants were studied [mean (SD) birthweight, 1455 (872) g; gestational age, 31 (4) weeks; post-menstrual age, 34 (4) weeks]. Method 3 acquired any data significantly faster than methods 1 (p = 0.013; CI, -9.6 to -3.0 sec) and 2 (p = 0.004; CI, -5.9 to -1.2 sec). Method 3 acquired accurate data significantly faster than method 1 (p = 0.016; CI, -9.4 to -1.0 sec), but not method 2 (p = 0.28). Applying the sensor to the infant before connecting it to the cable yields the fastest acquisition of accurate HR data from the Nellcor PO. © 2011 The Author(s)/Acta Paediatrica © 2011 Foundation Acta Paediatrica.

Seismic waveform tomography with shot-encoding using a restarted L-BFGS algorithm.

PubMed

Rao, Ying; Wang, Yanghua

2017-08-17

In seismic waveform tomography, or full-waveform inversion (FWI), one effective strategy used to reduce the computational cost is shot-encoding, which encodes all shots randomly and sums them into one super shot to significantly reduce the number of wavefield simulations in the inversion. However, this process will induce instability in the iterative inversion regardless of whether it uses a robust limited-memory BFGS (L-BFGS) algorithm. The restarted L-BFGS algorithm proposed here is both stable and efficient. This breakthrough ensures, for the first time, the applicability of advanced FWI methods to three-dimensional seismic field data. In a standard L-BFGS algorithm, if the shot-encoding remains unchanged, it will generate a crosstalk effect between different shots. This crosstalk effect can only be suppressed by employing sufficient randomness in the shot-encoding. Therefore, the implementation of the L-BFGS algorithm is restarted at every segment. Each segment consists of a number of iterations; the first few iterations use an invariant encoding, while the remainder use random re-coding. This restarted L-BFGS algorithm balances the computational efficiency of shot-encoding, the convergence stability of the L-BFGS algorithm, and the inversion quality characteristic of random encoding in FWI.

Weak convergence to isotropic complex [Formula: see text] random measure.

PubMed

Wang, Jun; Li, Yunmeng; Sang, Liheng

2017-01-01

In this paper, we prove that an isotropic complex symmetric α -stable random measure ([Formula: see text]) can be approximated by a complex process constructed by integrals based on the Poisson process with random intensity.

Pharmacokinetics and bioequivalence evaluation of two different atorvastatin calcium 10-mg tablets: A single-dose, randomized-sequence, open-label, two-period crossover study in healthy fasted Chinese adult males.

PubMed

Liu, Yan-Mei; Pu, Hua-Hua; Liu, Gang-Yi; Jia, Jing-Ying; Weng, Li-Ping; Xu, Rong-Jing; Li, Guo-Xiu; Wang, Wei; Zhang, Meng-Qi; Lu, Chuan; Yu, Chen

2010-07-01

Atorvastatin calcium is a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitor indicated for the prevention of cardiovascular disease and for the treatment of dyslipidemia. Information on the pharmacokinetics of atorvastatin in a Chinese population is lacking, and regulatory requirements necessitate a bioequivalence study for the marketing of a generic product in China. The aim of the present study was to assess the pharmacokinetics and bioequivalence of a test and branded reference formulation of atorvastatin calcium 10-mg tablets in healthy fasted Chinese male volunteers. This was a single-dose, randomized-sequence, open-label, 2-period crossover study with a 2-week washout period between doses. Healthy Chinese males were randomly assigned to receive 20 mg of either the test or reference formulation, and 13 blood samples were obtained over a 48-hour interval. Plasma concentrations of parent atorvastatin and ortho-hydroxy-atorvastatin (primary active metabolite) were simultaneously determined using a validated liquid chromatography-isotopic dilution mass spectrometry method. Pharmacokinetic parameters, including C(max), T(max), t((1/2)), AUC(0-t), and AUC(0-infinity)), were calculated. The 2 formulations were to be considered bioequivalent if 90% CIs for the log transformed ratios of AUC and C(max) of atorvastatin were within the predetermined bioequivalence range (0.80-1.25 for AUC and 0.70-1.43 for C(max)) as established by the State Food and Drug Administration of China. Tolerability was evaluated throughout the study by vital signs monitoring, physical examinations, 12-lead ECGs, and subject interviews on adverse events (AEs). A total of 66 subjects were assessed for inclusion; 20 were excluded prior to study initiation. Of the 46 healthy subjects (mean [SD] age, 24.1 [2.5] years; height, 170.8 [5.1] cm; weight, 64.6 [6.4] kg; body mass index (BMI), 22.1 [1.7] kg/m(2)) who completed the study, 45 subjects (mean [SD] age, 24.1 [2.5] years; height, 171.1 [4.9] cm; weight, 64.8 [6.3] kg; BMI, 22.1 [1.7] kg/m(2)) were included in the pharmacokinetic and bioequivalence analyses; 1 subject was excluded from these analyses because he mistakenly received the same formulation in both periods. No period or sequence effect was observed. The mean values of C(max), AUC(0-t), and AUC(0-infinity)) for the test and reference formulations of atorvastatin (8.78 and 10.76 ng/mL, 38.22 and 40.02 ng/mL/h, 42.73 and 44.51 ng/mL/h, respectively) and ortho-hydroxy-atorvastatin (5.78 and 5.77 ng/mL, 47.32 and 48.47 ng/mL/h, 52.36 and 53.14 ng/mL/h) were not significantly different. The 90% CIs for natural log-transformed ratios of C(max), AUC(0-t), and AUC(0-infinity)) of both atorvastatin (0.73-0.91, 0.92-1.02, and 0.91-1.01, respectively) and ortho-hydroxy-atorvastatin (0.83-1.05, 0.92-1.02, and 0.93-1.02) were within the bioequivalence acceptance limits. Three subjects (6.5%) reported a total of 4 mild AEs (1 abdominal discomfort and 3 venipuncture syncope), which were not considered to be associated with administration of the study drug. This single-dose (20 mg) study found that the test and reference formulations of atorvastatin calcium 10-mg tablet met the regulatory definition for assuming bioequivalence in these healthy fasted Chinese male volunteers. Both formulations were generally well tolerated in the population studied. Chinese National Registry Code: 2007L02512. 2010 Excerpta Medica Inc. All rights reserved.

Ion dynamics in the magnetospheric flanks of Mercury

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aizawa, S.; Delcourt, D.; Terada, N.

2017-12-01

Because of a large velocity shear in the flanks of Mercury's magnetosphere, Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instability is expected to develop and to play a role in mass and momentum transport across the magnetopause. Using single particle simulations in field configurations obtained from MHD simulations, we investigate the dynamics of ions in this region. We focus on heavy ions of planetary origin (e.g., Na+, K+, Mg+) that may be found on either side of the magnetopause, due to the ionization of exospheric neutrals. Because characteristic spatial and temporal scales of KH instability at Mercury are comparable to or smaller than typical ion scales, we show that under such conditions the guiding center approximation is invalid and that planetary ions may be transported in a non-adiabatic (magnetic moment violation) manner. In this study, we focus on the effect of the electric field that develops within KH vortices. We show that the intensification rather than the change of orientation of this electric field is responsible for large (up to hundreds of eVs or a few keVs) energization of heavy planetary ions. This energization occurs systematically for particles with low initial energies in the perpendicular direction, the energy realized being of the order of the energy corresponding to the maximum ExB drift speed, ɛmax, in a like manner to a pickup ion process. It is also found that particles that have initial energies comparable to ɛmax may be decelerated depending upon gyration phase. Finally, we find that particles with initial perpendicular energies much larger than ɛmax are little affected during transport through KH vortices. We suggest that the development of KH instabilities in Mercury's magnetospheric flanks may lead to significant ion energization and pitch angle diffusion, and may thus play a prominent role in plasma mixing at the magnetopause.

A scaling law for distinct electrocaloric cooling performance in low-dimensional organic, relaxor and anti-ferroelectrics.

PubMed

Shi, Yuping; Huang, Limin; Soh, Ai Kah; Weng, George J; Liu, Shuangyi; Redfern, Simon A T

2017-09-11

Electrocaloric (EC) materials show promise in eco-friendly solid-state refrigeration and integrable on-chip thermal management. While direct measurement of EC thin-films still remains challenging, a generic theoretical framework for quantifying the cooling properties of rich EC materials including normal-, relaxor-, organic- and anti-ferroelectrics is imperative for exploiting new flexible and room-temperature cooling alternatives. Here, we present a versatile theory that combines Master equation with Maxwell relations and analytically relates the macroscopic cooling responses in EC materials with the intrinsic diffuseness of phase transitions and correlation characteristics. Under increased electric fields, both EC entropy and adiabatic temperature changes increase quadratically initially, followed by further linear growth and eventual gradual saturation. The upper bound of entropy change (∆S max ) is limited by distinct correlation volumes (V cr ) and transition diffuseness. The linearity between V cr and the transition diffuseness is emphasized, while ∆S max  = 300 kJ/(K.m 3 ) is obtained for Pb 0.8 Ba 0.2 ZrO 3 . The ∆S max in antiferroelectric Pb 0.95 Zr 0.05 TiO 3 , Pb 0.8 Ba 0.2 ZrO 3 and polymeric ferroelectrics scales proportionally with V cr -2.2 , owing to the one-dimensional structural constraint on lattice-scale depolarization dynamics; whereas ∆S max in relaxor and normal ferroelectrics scales as ∆S max ~ V cr -0.37 , which tallies with a dipolar interaction exponent of 2/3 in EC materials and the well-proven fractional dimensionality of 2.5 for ferroelectric domain walls.

Field Evaluation of Four Spatial Repellent Devices Against Arkansas Rice-Land Mosquitoes

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-03-01

FIELD EVALUATION OF FOUR SPATIAL REPELLENT DEVICES AGAINST ARKANSAS RICE-LAND MOSQUITOES DAVID A. DAME,1 MAX V. MEISCH,2 CAROLYN N. LEWIS,2 DANIEL L... mosquitoes to locate a host. There are many commercially available spatial repellent products currently on the market. These products include...a large rice growing area where late-spring and summer agricultural irriga- tion generates dense mosquito populations. Spatial repellent devices

The distribution of spectral index of magnetic field and ion velocity in Pi2 frequency band in BBFs: THEMIS statistics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Q.; Du, A. M.; Volwerk, M.; Wang, G. Q.

2016-09-01

A statistical study of the THEMIS FGM and ESA data is performed on turbulence of magnetic field and velocity for 218 selected 12 min intervals in BBFs. The spectral index α in the frequency range of 0.005-0.06 Hz are Gaussian distributions. The peaks indexes of total ion velocity Vi and parallel velocity V‖ are 1.95 and 2.07 nearly the spectral index of intermittent low frequency turbulence with large amplitude. However, most probable α of perpendicular velocity V⊥ is about 1.75. It is a little bigger than 5/3 of Kolmogorov (1941). The peak indexes of total magnetic field BT is 1.70 similar to V⊥. Compression magnetic field B‖ are 1.85 which is smaller than 2 and bigger than 5/3 of Kolmogorov (1941). The most probable spectral index of shear B⊥ is about 1.44 which is close to 3/2 of Kraichnan (1965). Max V⊥ have little effect on the power magnitude of VT and V‖ but is positively correlated to spectral index of V⊥. The spectral power of BT, B‖ and B⊥ increase with max perpendicular velocity but spectral indexes of them are negatively correlated to V⊥. The spectral index and the spectral power of magnetic field over the frequency interval 0.005-0.06 Hz is very different from that over 0.08-1 Hz.

Random sex determination: When developmental noise tips the sex balance.

PubMed

Perrin, Nicolas

2016-12-01

Sex-determining factors are usually assumed to be either genetic or environmental. The present paper aims at drawing attention to the potential contribution of developmental noise, an important but often-neglected component of phenotypic variance. Mutual inhibitions between male and female pathways make sex a bistable equilibrium, such that random fluctuations in the expression of genes at the top of the cascade are sufficient to drive individual development toward one or the other stable state. Evolutionary modeling shows that stochastic sex determinants should resist elimination by genetic or environmental sex determinants under ecologically meaningful settings. On the empirical side, many sex-determination systems traditionally considered as environmental or polygenic actually provide evidence for large components of stochasticity. In reviewing the field, I argue that sex-determination systems should be considered within a three-ends continuum, rather than the classical two-ends continuum. © 2016 WILEY Periodicals, Inc.

Development and field validation of a regional, management-scale habitat model: A koala Phascolarctos cinereus case study.

PubMed

Law, Bradley; Caccamo, Gabriele; Roe, Paul; Truskinger, Anthony; Brassil, Traecey; Gonsalves, Leroy; McConville, Anna; Stanton, Matthew

2017-09-01

Species distribution models have great potential to efficiently guide management for threatened species, especially for those that are rare or cryptic. We used MaxEnt to develop a regional-scale model for the koala Phascolarctos cinereus at a resolution (250 m) that could be used to guide management. To ensure the model was fit for purpose, we placed emphasis on validating the model using independently-collected field data. We reduced substantial spatial clustering of records in coastal urban areas using a 2-km spatial filter and by modeling separately two subregions separated by the 500-m elevational contour. A bias file was prepared that accounted for variable survey effort. Frequency of wildfire, soil type, floristics and elevation had the highest relative contribution to the model, while a number of other variables made minor contributions. The model was effective in discriminating different habitat suitability classes when compared with koala records not used in modeling. We validated the MaxEnt model at 65 ground-truth sites using independent data on koala occupancy (acoustic sampling) and habitat quality (browse tree availability). Koala bellows ( n  = 276) were analyzed in an occupancy modeling framework, while site habitat quality was indexed based on browse trees. Field validation demonstrated a linear increase in koala occupancy with higher modeled habitat suitability at ground-truth sites. Similarly, a site habitat quality index at ground-truth sites was correlated positively with modeled habitat suitability. The MaxEnt model provided a better fit to estimated koala occupancy than the site-based habitat quality index, probably because many variables were considered simultaneously by the model rather than just browse species. The positive relationship of the model with both site occupancy and habitat quality indicates that the model is fit for application at relevant management scales. Field-validated models of similar resolution would assist in guiding management of conservation-dependent species.

Effective search for stable segregation configurations at grain boundaries with data-mining techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiyohara, Shin; Mizoguchi, Teruyasu

2018-03-01

Grain boundary segregation of dopants plays a crucial role in materials properties. To investigate the dopant segregation behavior at the grain boundary, an enormous number of combinations have to be considered in the segregation of multiple dopants at the complex grain boundary structures. Here, two data mining techniques, the random-forests regression and the genetic algorithm, were applied to determine stable segregation sites at grain boundaries efficiently. Using the random-forests method, a predictive model was constructed from 2% of the segregation configurations and it has been shown that this model could determine the stable segregation configurations. Furthermore, the genetic algorithm also successfully determined the most stable segregation configuration with great efficiency. We demonstrate that these approaches are quite effective to investigate the dopant segregation behaviors at grain boundaries.

A case study of an iron-deficient female Olympic 1500-m runner.

PubMed

Pedlar, Charles R; Whyte, Gregory P; Burden, Richard; Moore, Brian; Horgan, Gill; Pollock, Noel

2013-11-01

This case study examines the impact of low serum ferritin (sFe) on physiological assessment measures and performance in a young female 1500-m runner undertaking approximately 95-130 km/wk training. The study spans 4 race seasons and an Olympic Games. During this period, 25 venous blood samples were analyzed for sFe and hemoglobin (Hb); running economy, VO(2max), and lactate threshold were measured on 6 occasions separated by 8-10 mo. Training was carefully monitored including 65 monitored treadmill training runs (targeting an intensity associated with the onset of blood lactate accumulation) using blood lactate and heart rate. Performances at competitive track events were recorded. All data were compared longitudinally. Mean sFe was 24.5 ± 7.6 μg/L (range 10-47), appearing to be in gradual decline with the exception of 2 data points (37 and 47 μg/L) after parenteral iron injections before championships, when the lowest values tended to occur, coinciding with peak training volumes. Each season, 1500-m performance improved, from 4:12.8 in year 1 to 4:03.5 in year 4. VO(2max) (69.8 ± 2.0 mL · kg(-1) · min(-1)) and running economy (%VO(2max) at a fixed speed of 16 km/h; max 87.8%, min 80.3%) were stable across time and lactate threshold improved (from 14 to 15.5 km/h). Evidence of anemia (Hb <12 g/dL) was absent. These unique data demonstrate that in 1 endurance athlete, performance can continue to improve despite an apparent iron deficiency. Raising training volume may have caused increased iron utilization; however, the effect of this on performance is unknown. Iron injections were effective in raising sFe in the short term but did not appear to affect the long-term pattern.

Electron Temperature Evolution During Local Helicity Injection on the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schlossberg, D. J.; Barr, J. L.; Bodner, G. M.; Bongard, M. W.; Fonck, R. J.; Perry, J. M.; Reusch, J. A.; Rodriguez Sanchez, C.

2016-10-01

Understanding the electron temperature (Te) evolution during local helicity injection (LHI) is critical for scaling up this non-solenoidal startup technique to MA-class devices. The first comprehensive Te measurements during LHI reveal centrally-peaked profiles with Te > 100 eV for plasma current Ip > 120 kA, toroidal field 0.15 T, and electron density ne 1019 m-3. Te rises and is sustained from just after magnetic relaxation through the plasma decoupling from edge-localized injectors. Results are presented for two injector edge locations: outboard midplane and inboard divertor. Outboard midplane injection couples LHI with inductive drive from poloidal field ramps and radial compression during inward plasma growth. Comparisons of Te at different LHI-to-inductive drive ratios show some profile flattening for higher LHI drive fraction. The latter, constant-shape discharges were necessarily lower performance, with Ip 50 kA and reduced Te , max. Inboard divertor injection achieves higher Ip using minimal inductive drive and thus isolates effects of LHI drive on Te. Initial results in this configuration show Te rising rapidly at the injector location as the discharge grows, settling to a roughly flat profile 100 eV. Thus far, both scenarios provide relatively stable discharges with moderate ne and high-Te, suitable for coupling to auxiliary current drive. Detailed studies of confinement dynamics and discharge optimization are planned for the near future. Work supported by US DOE Grant DE-FG02-96ER54375.

Insect pests and yield potential of vegetable soybean (Endamame) produced in Georgia

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A series of replicated field experiments was conducted with vegetable soybean (edamame), Glycine max (L.) Merrill, to assess the impacts of cultivars, planting dates, and insecticidal controls on insect pest abundance, crop damage and yield potential. The velvetbean caterpillar, Anticarsia gemmatali...

Bioequivalence of generic lamotrigine 100-mg tablets in healthy Thai male volunteers: a randomized, single-dose, two-period, two-sequence crossover study.

PubMed

Srichaiya, Arunee; Longchoopol, Chaowanee; Oo-Puthinan, Sarawut; Sayasathid, Jarun; Sripalakit, Pattana; Viyoch, Jarupa

2008-10-01

Lamotrigine is an antiepileptic drug which has been used in the treatment of epilepsy and bipolar disorder. A search of the literature did not find previously published bioequivalence and pharmacokinetic evaluations of lamotrigine in healthy Thai male volunteers. The aim of this study was to compare the pharmacokinetic parameters between 2 brands of lamotrigine in healthy Thai male volunteers. A randomized, single-dose, 2-period, 2-sequence, crossover study design with a 2-week washout period was conducted in healthy Thai males. Subjects were randomized to receive either the test or reference formulation in the first period. All subjects were required to be nonsmokers and without a history of alcohol or drug abuse. Plasma samples were collected over a 120-hour period after 100-mg lamotrigine administration in each period. A validated high-performance liquid chromatography ultraviolet method was used to analyze lamotrigine concentration in plasma. Pharmacokinetic parameters were determined using a noncompartmental method. Bioequivalence between the test and reference products, as defined by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is determined when the ratio for the 90% CIs of the difference in the means of the log-transformed AUC(0-t), AUC(0-infinity), and C(max) of the 2 products are within 0.80 and 1.25. Adverse events were determined by measuring vital signs after dosing. Subjects were also asked if they suffered from undesirable effects such as nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and headache. This bioequivalence study was performed in 24 healthy Thai males (mean [SD] age, 20.5 [1.3] years; range, 19-24 years; weight, 62.5 [7.4] kg; height, 172.8 [6.9] cm; body mass index, 20.9 [2.0] kg/m(2)). The mean (SD) C(max) and T(max) of the test formulation of lamotrigine were 1.7 (0.3) microg/mL and 1.2 (0.9) hours, respectively. The mean (SD) C(max) and T(max) of the reference formulation of lamotrigine were 1.7 (0.3) microg/mL and 1.4 (1.0) hours, respectively. The mean (SD) AUC(0-t) was 67.1 (13.2) microg/mL x h(-1) for the test product and 66.4 (14.6) microg/mL x h(-1) for the reference product. The mean (SD) AUC(0-infinity) was 74.9 (18.3) microg/mL x h(-1) for the test product and 74.3 (20.5) microg/mL x h(-1) for the reference product. The mean (SD) t((1/2)) values were 35.0 (7.6) hours for the test product and 34.7 (7.6) hours for the reference product. The mean test/reference ratios for AUC(0-t), AUC(0-infinity), and Cmax were 1.01, 1.01, and 1.05, respectively. The parametric 90% CIs for AUC(0-t), AUC(0-infinity), and Cmax were 0.98 to 1.05, 0.98 to 1.06, and 0.98 to 1.13, respectively. Following administration, dizziness or headache was reported in 2 subjects in the test group and 1 subject in the reference group. The results of this study suggest that the test product was bioequivalent to the reference product in these healthy Thai male subjects, based on the US FDA's regulatory definition.

[The Concept of Typology in Psychiatry in the Context of Historical Contributions of Max Weber and Karl Jaspers].

PubMed

Jäger, M; Becker, T; Wigand, M E

2016-08-01

Against the background of Max Weber's and Karl Jaspers' outstanding historical contributions to the conceptual development of different typologies, the importance of a psychiatric typology is examined. The term "ideal type" was introduced into social science by Weber as an analytical construct to describe and classify cultural phenomena. This concept was adopted for the psychiatric context by Jaspers who proposed to establish a typological system in the field of psychotic disturbances without an organic correlate. He emphasized the importance of the course of psychopathological symptoms for such a typological system. The concept of typology can be regarded as a promising heuristic approach in psychiatry, providing a classification system for complex psychopathological symptoms. Even though several historic typologies exist in psychopathology, their usefulness in the fields of therapy and prognosis needs to be critically assessed. Also, new typologies will have to be developed, taking into account neurobiological knowledge now available. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Seasonal variation of carbon dioxide fluxes over irrigated soybean ( Glycine max L.)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Şaylan, Levent; Kimura, Reiji; Munkhtsetseg, Erdenebayar; Kamichika, Makio

2011-08-01

In this study, variations in carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes resulting from gross primary production (GPP), net ecosystem exchange (NEE), and respiration ( R e) of soybean ( Glycine max L.) were investigated by the Eddy Covariance method during the growing period from June to November 2005 on an irrigated sand field at the Arid Land Research Center, Tottori University in Tottori, Japan. Although climatic conditions were humid and temperate, the soybeans required frequent irrigation because of the low water holding capacity of the sandy soil at the field site. Finally, it has been found that the accumulated NEE, GPP, and R e fluxes of soybean over 126 days amount to -93, 319, and 226 gC m-2, respectively. Furthermore, the average ratio of GPP to R e was 1.4 and the average ratio of NEE to GPP was about -0.29 for the growth period of soybean. Daily maximum NEE of -3.8 gC m-2 occurred when LAI was 1.1.

A new acquisition and imaging system for environmental measurements: an experience on the Italian cultural heritage.

PubMed

Leccese, Fabio; Cagnetti, Marco; Calogero, Andrea; Trinca, Daniele; di Pasquale, Stefano; Giarnetti, Sabino; Cozzella, Lorenzo

2014-05-23

A new acquisition system for remote control of wall paintings has been realized and tested in the field. The system measures temperature and atmospheric pressure in an archeological site where a fresco has been put under control. The measuring chain has been designed to be used in unfavorable environments where neither electric power nor telecommunication infrastructures are available. The environmental parameters obtained from the local monitoring are then transferred remotely allowing an easier management by experts in the field of conservation of cultural heritage. The local acquisition system uses an electronic card based on microcontrollers and sends the data to a central unit realized with a Raspberry-Pi. The latter manages a high quality camera to pick up pictures of the fresco. Finally, to realize the remote control at a site not reached by internet signals, a WiMAX connection based on different communication technologies such as WiMAX, Ethernet, GPRS and Satellite, has been set up.

A New Acquisition and Imaging System for Environmental Measurements: An Experience on the Italian Cultural Heritage

PubMed Central

Leccese, Fabio; Cagnetti, Marco; Calogero, Andrea; Trinca, Daniele; di Pasquale, Stefano; Giarnetti, Sabino; Cozzella, Lorenzo

2014-01-01

A new acquisition system for remote control of wall paintings has been realized and tested in the field. The system measures temperature and atmospheric pressure in an archeological site where a fresco has been put under control. The measuring chain has been designed to be used in unfavorable environments where neither electric power nor telecommunication infrastructures are available. The environmental parameters obtained from the local monitoring are then transferred remotely allowing an easier management by experts in the field of conservation of cultural heritage. The local acquisition system uses an electronic card based on microcontrollers and sends the data to a central unit realized with a Raspberry-Pi. The latter manages a high quality camera to pick up pictures of the fresco. Finally, to realize the remote control at a site not reached by internet signals, a WiMAX connection based on different communication technologies such as WiMAX, Ethernet, GPRS and Satellite, has been set up. PMID:24859030

Relations between overturning length scales at the Spanish planetary boundary layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

López, Pilar; Cano, José L.

2016-04-01

We analyze the behavior of the maximum Thorpe displacement (dT)max and the Thorpe scale LTat the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), extending previous research with new data and improving our studies related to the novel use of the Thorpe method applied to ABL. The maximum Thorpe displacements vary between -900 m and 950 m for the different field campaigns. The maximum Thorpe displacement is always greater under convective conditions than under stable ones, independently of its sign. The Thorpe scale LT ranges between 0.2 m and 680 m for the different data sets which cover different stratified mixing conditions (turbulence shear-driven and convective regions). The Thorpe scale does not exceed several tens of meters under stable and neutral stratification conditions related to instantaneous density gradients. In contrast, under convective conditions, Thorpe scales are relatively large, they exceed hundreds of meters which may be related to convective bursts. We analyze the relation between (dT)max and the Thorpe scale LT and we deduce that they verify a power law. We also deduce that there is a difference in exponents of the power laws for convective conditions and shear-driven conditions. These different power laws could identify overturns created under different mechanisms. References Cuxart, J., Yagüe, C., Morales, G., Terradellas, E., Orbe, J., Calvo, J., Fernández, A., Soler, M., Infante, C., Buenestado, P., Espinalt, Joergensen, H., Rees, J., Vilà, J., Redondo, J., Cantalapiedra, I. and Conangla, L.: Stable atmospheric boundary-layer experiment in Spain (Sables 98). A report, Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 96, 337-370, 2000. Dillon, T. M.: Vertical Overturns: A Comparison of Thorpe and Ozmidov Length Scales, J. Geophys. Res., 87(C12), 9601-9613, 1982. Itsweire, E. C.: Measurements of vertical overturns in stably stratified turbulent flow, Phys. Fluids, 27(4), 764-766, 1984. Kitade, Y., Matsuyama, M. and Yoshida, J.: Distribution of overturn induced by internal tides and Thorpe scale in Uchiura Bay, Journal of Oceanography, 59, 845-850, 2003. López P., Cano J. L., Cano D. and Tijera M.: Thorpe method applied to planetary boundary layer data, Il Nuovo Cimento, 31C(5-6), 881-892, 2008. DOI: 10.1393/ncc/i2009-10338-3. Lorke A. and Wüest A.: Probability density of displacement and overturning length scales under diverse stratification, J. Geophys. Res., 107 (C12), 3214-3225, 2002. Piera, J., Roget, E. and Catalan, J.: Turbulent patch identification in microstructure profiles: a method based on wavelet denoising and Thorpe displacement analysis, J. Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 19, 1390-1402, 2002. Piera, J.: Signal processing of microstructure profiles: integrating turbulent spatial scales in aquatic ecological modelling, Ph. D. Thesis, Gerona University, Spain, 2004. Smyth, W. D. and Moum, J. N.: Length scales of turbulence in stably stratified mixing layers, Phys. Fluids., 12, 1327-1342, 2000. Thorpe, S.A.: Turbulence and Mixing in a Scottish Loch, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London (Ser. A), 286(1334), 125-18, 1977.

[Troponin release following exercise test in patients with stable angina pectoris - risk factors and prognostic significance].

PubMed

Kokowicz, Piotr; Stec, Sebastian; Flasińska, Katarzyna; Budaj, Andrzej

2010-04-01

Increase of troponin (cTn) is a marker of myocardial injury caused by different mechanisms. Exercise testing (ExT) is a useful clinical tool in predicting the risk of myocardial ischemia, especially in patients with multivessel coronary artery disease (CAD), who are more often endangered by medical complications. The test is however limited by its low sensitivity and specificity. To evaluate the reasons for troponin I (cTnI) release after ExT, and to determine its clinical and prognostic implications in patients with stable CAD, referred for elective coronary angiography (ANG). 118 patients without signs of systolic heart failure, referred for planned coronary ANG were included in the analysis. After baseline measurements of NT-proBNP, hsCRP, cTnI, CK-MB levels, maximal ExT was performed, followed by the consecutive measurements of cTnI and CK-MB 12 and 24 hours after examination. All patients underwent coronary ANG and ECHO within 7 days of taking blood samples. All patients were followed up on average for 35.5 months. The cTnI elevation > or = 0.14 ng/mL (> or = 99th percentile value of the reference group) after 24 hours of the ExT was observed in 11 (9%) patients. Predictors of cTnI release in patients after ExT were as follows: ejection fraction < or = 50%, lack or insufficient physical activity, max systolic blood pressure > 160 mm Hg at peak of ExT (OR 6.6, 95% CI 1.2-35.4, p = 0.027; OR 5.5, 95% CI 1.1-28.8, p = 0.04; OR 6.3, 95% CI 1.3-31.6, p = 0.025, respectively). Increase of cTnI after ExT did not correlate with multivessel CAD nor with future adverse clinical events. The cTnI release post ExT is more frequently observed in patients with stable CAD with ejection fraction < or = 50%, low physical activity, and max systolic blood pressure > 160 mm Hg at peak ExT. Post ExT cTnI increase in patients with stable CAD did not correlate with the number of atherosclerotic coronary vessels, and had no prognostic implications. Increase of cTnI after ExT did not have any predictive value in respect to acute coronary syndrome and/or death during long-term follow up.

(188)Re-SSS/Lipiodol: Development of a Potential Treatment for HCC from Bench to Bedside.

PubMed

Lepareur, Nicolas; Ardisson, Valérie; Noiret, Nicolas; Garin, Etienne

2012-01-01

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the 5th most common tumour worldwide and has a dark prognosis. For nonoperable cases, metabolic radiotherapy with Lipiodol labelled with β-emitters is a promising therapeutic option. The Comprehensive Cancer Centre Eugène Marquis and the National Graduate School of Chemistry of Rennes (ENSCR) have jointly developed a stable and efficient labelling of Lipiodol with rhenium-188 (E(βmax) = 2.1 MeV) for the treatment of HCC. The major "milestones" of this development, from the first syntheses to the recent first injection in man, are described.

Imaging proliferation in brain tumors with 18F-FLT PET: comparison with 18F-FDG.

PubMed

Chen, Wei; Cloughesy, Timothy; Kamdar, Nirav; Satyamurthy, Nagichettiar; Bergsneider, Marvin; Liau, Linda; Mischel, Paul; Czernin, Johannes; Phelps, Michael E; Silverman, Daniel H S

2005-06-01

3'-Deoxy-3'-(18)F-fluorothymidine ((18)F-FLT) is a recently developed PET tracer to image tumor cell proliferation. We characterized (18)F-FLT PET of brain gliomas and compared (18)F-FLT with (18)F-FDG PET in side-by-side studies of the same patients. Twenty-five patients with newly diagnosed or previously treated glioma underwent PET with (18)F-FLT and (18)F-FDG on consecutive days. Three stable patients in long-term remission were included as negative control subjects. Tracer kinetics in normal brain and tumor were measured. Uptake of (18)F-FLT and (18)F-FDG was quantified by the standardized uptake value (SUV) and the tumor-to-normal tissue (T/N) ratio. The accuracy of (18)F-FLT and (18)F-FDG PET in evaluating newly diagnosed and recurrent gliomas was compared. More than half of the patients underwent resection after the PET study and correlations between PET uptake and the Ki-67 proliferation index were examined. Patients were monitored for a mean of 15.4 mo (range, 12-20 mo). The predictive power of PET for tumor progression and survival was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier statistics. (18)F-FLT uptake in tumors was rapid, peaking at 5-10 min after injection and remaining stable up to 75 min. Hence, a 30-min scan beginning at 5 min after injection was sufficient for imaging. (18)F-FLT visualized all high-grade (grade III or IV) tumors. Grade II tumor did not show appreciable (18)F-FLT uptake and neither did the stable lesions. The absolute uptake of (18)F-FLT was low (maximum-pixel SUV [SUV(max)], 1.33) but image contrast was better than with (18)F-FDG (T/N ratio, 3.85 vs. 1.49). (18)F-FDG PET studies were negative in 5 patients with recurrent high-grade glioma who subsequently suffered tumor progression within 1-3 mo. (18)F-FLT SUV(max) correlated more strongly with Ki-67 index (r = 0.84; P < 0.0001) than (18)F-FDG SUV(max) (r = 0.51; P = 0.07). (18)F-FLT uptake also had more significant predictive power with respect to tumor progression and survival (P = 0.0005 and P = 0.001, respectively). Thirty-minute (18)F-FLT PET 5 min after injection was more sensitive than (18)F-FDG to image recurrent high-grade tumors, correlated better with Ki-67 values, and was a more powerful predictor of tumor progression and survival. Thus, (18)F-FLT appears to be a promising tracer as a surrogate marker of proliferation in high-grade gliomas.

Low-level laser therapy improves the VO2 kinetics in competitive cyclists.

PubMed

Lanferdini, Fábio J; Krüger, Renata L; Baroni, Bruno M; Lazzari, Caetano; Figueiredo, Pedro; Reischak-Oliveira, Alvaro; Vaz, Marco A

2018-04-01

Some evidence supports that low-level laser therapy (LLLT) reduces neuromuscular fatigue, so incrementing sports performance. A previous randomized controlled trial of our group showed increased exercise tolerance in male competitive cyclists treated with three different LLLT doses (3, 6, and 9 J/diode; or 135, 270, and 405 J/thigh) before time-to-exhaustion cycling tests. Now, the present study was designed to evaluate the effects of these LLLT doses on the VO 2 kinetics of athletes during cycling tests. Twenty male competitive cyclists (29 years) participated in a crossover, randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled trial. On the first day, the participants performed an incremental cycling test to exhaustion to determine maximal oxygen uptake (VO 2MAX ) and maximal power output (PO MAX ), as well as a familiarization with the time-to-exhaustion test. In the following days (2 to 5), all participants performed time-to-exhaustion tests at PO MAX . Before the exhaustion test, different doses of LLLT (3, 6, and 9 J/diode; or 135, 270, and 405 J/thigh, respectively) or placebo were applied bilaterally to the quadriceps muscle. All exhaustion tests were monitored online by an open-circuit spirometry system in order to analyze the VO 2 amplitude, VO 2 delay time, time constant (tau), and O 2 deficit. Tau and O 2 deficit were decreased with LLLT applications compared to the placebo condition (p < 0.05). No differences (p > 0.05) were found between the experimental conditions for VO 2 amplitude and VO 2 delay time. In conclusion, LLLT decreases tau and O 2 deficit during time-to-exhaustion tests in competitive cyclists, and these changes in VO 2 kinetics response can be one of the possible mechanisms to explain the ergogenic effect induced by LLLT.

A Home-Based Walking Program Improves Respiratory Endurance in Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Matos-Garcia, Bruna C; Rocco, Isadora S; Maiorano, Lara D; Peixoto, Thatiana C A; Moreira, Rita Simone L; Carvalho, Antonio C C; Catai, Aparecida Maria; Arena, Ross; Gomes, Walter J; Guizilini, Solange

2017-06-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate respiratory muscle strength and endurance in the inpatient period in patients who recently experienced myocardial infarction (MI) and investigate the effects of a home-based walking program on respiratory strength and endurance in low-risk patients after MI. Patients were randomized into a usual-care group (UCG) entailing regular care (n = 23) and an intervention group (IG) entailing an outpatient home-based walking program (n = 31). Healthy sex- and age-matched participants served as a control group for respiratory endurance variables. Respiratory muscle strength was evaluated through maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP) and endurance during the inpatient period, at 15 days, and at 60 days after MI. Submaximal functional capacity was determined by a 6-minute walk test (6MWT) at hospital discharge and 60 days after MI. Both groups showed impaired inspiratory muscle strength at hospital discharge. When compared with healthy individuals, after MI, patients had worse respiratory muscle endurance pressure (PTH max  = 73.02 ± 8.40 vs 44.47 ± 16.32; P < 0.05) and time (Tlim = 324.1 ± 12.2 vs 58.7 ± 93.3; P < 0.05). Only the IG showed a significant improvement in MIP and PTH max at 15 days and 60 days after MI (P < 0.05). When comparing groups, the IG achieved higher values for MIP, PTH max , and Tlim 15 and 60 days after MI (P < 0.01). The 60-day assessment revealed that the 6MWT distance and level of physical activity was significantly higher in the IG compared with the UCG. Low-risk patients recently experiencing MI demonstrate impaired MIP and respiratory endurance compared with healthy participants. A home-based walking program improved respiratory endurance and functional capacity. Copyright © 2017 Canadian Cardiovascular Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The incidence of training responsiveness to cardiorespiratory fitness and cardiometabolic measurements following individualized and standardized exercise prescription: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Weatherwax, Ryan M; Harris, Nigel K; Kilding, Andrew E; Dalleck, Lance C

2016-12-19

There is individual variability to cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) training, but the underlying cause is not well understood. Traditionally, a standardized approach to exercise prescription has utilized relative percentages of maximal heart rate, heart rate reserve (HRR), maximal oxygen uptake (VO 2 max), or VO 2 reserve to establish exercise intensity. However, this model fails to take into consideration individual metabolic responses to exercise and may attribute to the variability in training responses. It has been proposed that an individualized approach would take into consideration metabolic responses to exercises to increase responsiveness to training. In this randomized control trial, participants will undergo a 12-week exercise intervention using individualized (ventilatory thresholds) and standardized (HRR) methods to prescribe CRF training intensity. Following the intervention, participants will be categorized as responders or non-responders based on changes in maximal aerobic abilities. Participants who are non-responders will complete a second 12-week intervention in a crossover design to determine whether they can become responders with a differing exercise prescription. There are four main research outcomes: (1) determine the cohort-specific technical error to use in the categorization of response rate; (2) determine if an individualized intensity prescription is superior to a standard approach in regards to VO 2 max and cardiometabolic risk factors; (3) investigate the time course changes throughout 12 weeks of CRF training between the two intervention groups; and (4) determine if non-responders can become responders if the exercise prescription is modified. The findings from this research will provide evidence on the effectiveness of individualized exercise prescription related to training responsiveness of VO 2 max and cardiometabolic risk factors compared to a standardized approach and further our understanding of individual exercise responses. If the individualized approach proposed is deemed effective, it may change the way exercise specialists prescribe exercise intensity to enhance training responsiveness. ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02868710 . Registered on 15 August 2016.

Pharmacokinetics of surotomycin from phase 1 single and multiple ascending dose studies in healthy volunteers.

PubMed

Chandorkar, Gurudatt; Zhan, Qiao; Donovan, Julie; Rege, Shruta; Patino, Hernando

2017-03-28

Surotomycin, a novel, orally administered, cyclic, lipopeptide antibacterial in development for the treatment of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea, has demonstrated minimal intestinal absorption in animal models. Safety, tolerability, and plasma pharmacokinetics of single and multiple ascending oral doses (SAD/MAD) of surotomycin in healthy volunteers were characterized in two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 1 studies. Participants were sequentially enrolled into one of four SAD (500, 1000, 2000, 4000 mg surotomycin) or three MAD (250, 500, 1000 mg surotomycin twice/day for 14 days) cohorts. Ten subjects were randomized 4:1 into each cohort to receive surotomycin or placebo. Surotomycin plasma concentrations rose as dose increased (maximum plasma concentration [C max ]: 10.5, 21.5, 66.6, and 86.7 ng/mL). Systemic levels were generally low, with peak median surotomycin plasma concentrations observed 6-12 h after the first dose. In the MAD study, surotomycin plasma concentrations were higher on day 14 (C max : 25.5, 37.6, and 93.5 ng/mL) than on day 1 (C max : 6.8, 11.0, and 21.1 ng/mL for increasing doses), indicating accumulation. In the SAD study, <0.01% of the administered dose was recovered in urine. Mean surotomycin stool concentration from the 1000 mg MAD cohort was 6394 μg/g on day 5. Both cohorts were well tolerated with all adverse events reported as mild to moderate. Both SAD and MAD studies of surotomycin demonstrated minimal systemic exposure, with feces the primary route of elimination following oral administration; consistent with observations with similar compounds, such as fidaxomicin. Results of these phase 1 studies support the continued clinical development of surotomycin for the treatment of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea. NCT02835118 and NCT02835105 . Retrospectively registered, July 13 2016.

A Phase 1, Open-Label, Randomized, Crossover Study Evaluating the Bioavailability of TAS-102 (Trifluridine/Tipiracil) Tablets Relative to an Oral Solution Containing Equivalent Amounts of Trifluridine and Tipiracil.

PubMed

Becerra, Carlos R; Yoshida, Kenichiro; Mizuguchi, Hirokazu; Patel, Manish; Von Hoff, Daniel

2017-06-01

TAS-102 (trifluridine/tipiracil) is composed of an antineoplastic thymidine-based nucleoside analogue trifluridine (FTD), and a thymidine phosphorylase inhibitor, tipiracil (TPI), at a molar ratio of 1:0.5 (weight ratio, 1:0.471). A phase 1 study evaluated relative bioavailability of TAS-102 tablets compared with an oral solution containing equivalent amounts of FTD and TPI. In an open-label, 2-sequence, 3-period, crossover bioavailability study (part 1), patients 18 years or older with advanced solid tumors were randomized to receive TAS-102 tablets (60 mg; 3 × 20-mg tablets) on day 1 and TAS-102 oral solution (60 mg) on days 8 and 15, or the opposite sequence. In an extension (part 2), all patients received TAS-102 tablets. Of the 46 patients treated in the crossover study, 38 were evaluable in the crossover bioavailability pharmacokinetic population. For area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) 0-∞ and AUC 0-last for FTD and TPI, and maximum plasma concentration (C max ) for TPI, the 90% confidence intervals (CIs) of the geometric mean ratios were within the 0.80 to 1.25 boundary for demonstration of bioequivalence; for FTD C max , the lower limit of the 90%CI was 0.786. The most frequently reported treatment-related grade 3 or 4 adverse events were neutropenia (7 patients) and decreased neutrophil count (3 patients). Although the lower limit of the 90%CI for the geometric mean ratio of FTD C max was slightly lower than 0.80, the bioavailability of the TAS-102 tablet is considered clinically similar to that of a TAS-102 oral solution. TAS-102 was well tolerated in this population of patients with advanced solid tumors. © 2016, The American College of Clinical Pharmacology.

Maximum Energies of Shock-Accelerated Electrons in Young Shell Supernova Remnants

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reynolds, Stephen P.; Keohane, Jonathan W.; White, Nicholas E. (Technical Monitor)

1999-01-01

Young supernova remnants (SNRs) are often assumed to be the source of cosmic rays up to energies approaching the slight steepening in the cosmic ray spectrum at around 1000 TeV, known as the "knee." We show that the observed X-ray emission of 14 radio-bright shell remnants, including all five historical shells, can be used to put limits on E(sub max), the energy at which the electron energy distribution must steepen from its slope at radio-emitting energies. Most of the remnants show thermal spectra, so any synchrotron component must fall below the observed X-ray fluxes. We obtain upper limits on E(sub max) by considering the most rapid physically plausible cutoff in the relativistic electron distribution, an exponential, which is as sharp or sharper than found in any more elaborate models. This maximally curved model then gives us the highest possible E(sub max) consistent with not exceeding observed X-rays. Our results are thus independent of particular models for the electron spectrum in SNRs. Assuming homogeneous emitting volumes with a constant magnetic field strength of 10 uG, no object could reach 1000 TeV, and only one, Kes 73, has an upper limit on E(sub max), above 100 TeV. All the other remnants have limits at or below 80 TeV. E(sub max) is probably set by the finite remnant lifetime rather than by synchrotron losses for remnants younger than a few thousand years, so that an observed electron steepening should be accompanied by steepening at the same energy for protons. More complicated, inhomogeneous models could allow higher values of E(sub max) in parts of the remnant, but the emission-weighted average value, that characteristic of typical electrons, should obey these limits. The young remnants are not expected to improve much over their remaining lives at producing the highest energy Galactic cosmic rays; if they cannot, this picture of cosmic-ray origin may need major alteration.

Structures Of Magnetically-Supported Filaments And Their Appearance In The Linear Polarization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tomisaka, Kohji

2017-10-01

Dust thermal emissions observed with Herschel have revealed that interstellar molecular clouds consist of many filaments. Polarization observation of interstellar extinctions in the optical and near IR wavelengths shows that the dense filaments are extending perpendicular to the interstellar magnetic field. Magnetohydrostatic structures of such filaments are studied. It is well known that a hydrostatic filament without magnetic field has a maximum line mass of ¥lambda_max=2c_s^2/G (c_s:the isothermal sound speed and G: the gravitational constant). On the other hand, the magnetically-supported maximum line mass increases in proportion to the magnetic flux per unit length threading the filament (¥phi), as ¥lambda_max 2c_s^2/G + ¥phi/(2¥pi G^1/2). Comparison is made with 3D clouds. Stability of these magnetized filaments is studied using time-dependent 3D MHD simulations to discuss star formation in the filaments. Polarization pattern expected for the magnetically subcritical filaments is calculated. The distribution function of the angle between B-field and the axis of the filament, which is obtained with Planck Satellite, is compared with this mock observation.

[Design of longitudinal auto-tracking of the detector on X-ray in digital radiography].

PubMed

Yu, Xiaomin; Jiang, Tianhao; Liu, Zhihong; Zhao, Xu

2018-04-01

One algorithm is designed to implement longitudinal auto-tracking of the the detector on X-ray in the digital radiography system (DR) with manual collimator. In this study, when the longitudinal length of field of view (LFOV) on the detector is coincided with the longitudinal effective imaging size of the detector, the collimator half open angle ( Ψ ), the maximum centric distance ( e max ) between the center of X-ray field of view and the projection center of the focal spot, and the detector moving distance for auto-traking can be calculated automatically. When LFOV is smaller than the longitudinal effective imaging size of the detector by reducing Ψ , the e max can still be used to calculate the detector moving distance. Using this auto-tracking algorithm in DR with manual collimator, the tested results show that the X-ray projection is totally covered by the effective imaging area of the detector, although the center of the field of view is not aligned with the center of the effective imaging area of the detector. As a simple and low-cost design, the algorithm can be used for longitudinal auto-tracking of the detector on X-ray in the manual collimator DR.

Magnetic property in the ferromagnetic superconductor UGe2 at pressures above the ferromagnetic critical pressure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tateiwa, Naoyuki; Haga, Yoshinori; Matsuda, Tatsuma D.; Yamamoto, Etsuji; Ōnuki, Yoshichika; Fisk, Zachary

2013-08-01

We have studied the high-pressure magnetic property in UGe2 where ferromagnetic superconductivity appears under high pressure. In this study, we focus on the magnetic property at pressures above the ferromagnetic critical pressure P c =1.6 GPa. The temperature and magnetic field dependences of the dc-magnetization have been measured under high pressures up to 5.1 GPa by using a ceramic anvil high pressure cell. At pressures above P c , the magnetic susceptibility x shows a broad maximum around T χmax and the magnetization at 2.0 K shows an abrupt increase (metamagnetic transition) at H c . With increasing pressure, the peak structure in x becomes broader, and the peak position T χmax moves to the higher temperature region. The metamagnetic field H c increases rapidly with increasing pressure. At pressures above 4.1 GPa, x shows a simple temperature dependence, and the magnetization increases linearly with increasing field. These phenomena in UGe2 resemble to those in the intermetallic compounds of 3 d transition metals such as Co(S1- x Se x ) and YCo2. We discuss the experimental results by using the phenomenological spin-fluctuation theory.

Turbulent mixing of a critical fluid: The non-perturbative renormalization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hnatič, M.; Kalagov, G.; Nalimov, M.

2018-01-01

Non-perturbative Renormalization Group (NPRG) technique is applied to a stochastical model of a non-conserved scalar order parameter near its critical point, subject to turbulent advection. The compressible advecting flow is modeled by a random Gaussian velocity field with zero mean and correlation function 〈υjυi 〉 ∼ (Pji⊥ + αPji∥) /k d + ζ. Depending on the relations between the parameters ζ, α and the space dimensionality d, the model reveals several types of scaling regimes. Some of them are well known (model A of equilibrium critical dynamics and linear passive scalar field advected by a random turbulent flow), but there is a new nonequilibrium regime (universality class) associated with new nontrivial fixed points of the renormalization group equations. We have obtained the phase diagram (d, ζ) of possible scaling regimes in the system. The physical point d = 3, ζ = 4 / 3 corresponding to three-dimensional fully developed Kolmogorov's turbulence, where critical fluctuations are irrelevant, is stable for α ≲ 2.26. Otherwise, in the case of "strong compressibility" α ≳ 2.26, the critical fluctuations of the order parameter become relevant for three-dimensional turbulence. Estimations of critical exponents for each scaling regime are presented.

Linking Land-Use to Submarine Groundwater Discharge Nutrient Fluxes on Maui, Hawaii

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bishop, J. M.; Glenn, C. R.; Amato, D. W.; Dulaiova, H.

2014-12-01

Fertilized agricultural lands, wastewater injection, and areas with high septic system density each have substantial potential for contributing excess nutrients to the coastal waters of islands via submarine groundwater discharge (SGD). We evaluated the coastal impacts of such land-use around the island of Maui using stable isotopes (δ15N of NO3-; δ18O and δ2H of H2O) and nutrient concentrations from wells, springs, beach seeps, SGD, and coastal waters, and coupled these to coastal water SGD and nutrient fluxes using 222Rn mass balance. Flowpaths and recharge elevations for groundwater samples were determined using the δ18OH2O of samples, recharge data, modeled groundwater head, and published local meteoric water lines. Coastal groundwater samples whose flowpaths transect sugarcane plots showed highest dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN - NO3- + NO2-) concentrations, ranging from 225 - 450 µM, and the δ15N of those samples was on average 3.3 ± 0.6 ‰ (n = 15), as expected for urea fertilizers applied to commercial sugarcane. Samples whose flowpaths transect large amounts of septic sources showed moderate DIN concentrations (max. 100 µM), but had higher δ15N values (9.7 ± 4.8 ‰, n = 5), reflecting their sewage influence. Due to nitrate reduction during subterranean transit, groundwater and coastal waters proximal to deep, near-coast wastewater injection (Kahului) display the highest average δ15N values encountered (δ15NNO3- 18.8 ± 11.1 ‰, n = 19) and moderate DIN concentrations (max 90 µM). Average SGD nutrient fluxes among the different field sites ranged from 700 - 1,500,000 µmol/d/m of shoreline for DIN and 600 - 22,000 µmol/d/m for orthophosphate. These results indicate that areas with the highest N and P fluxes are areas where coastal groundwater flowpaths transect large tracts of sugarcane production. Although highest SGD rates occur near the Kahului wastewater injection wells (~ 2800 m3/day) the relatively low nutrient concentrations in the groundwater end member lead to comparatively modest nutrient fluxes of 270,000 and 13,000 μmol/d/m for DIN and orthophosphate, respectively. This study demonstrates the utility of coupling stable isotope and SGD-radioisotope tracers to (1) determine the source of nutrients in SGD as well as (2) the trajectories and specific fluxes of those nutrients to the coast.

Ballistic Evaluation of 7085 Aluminum

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-01

direct-fire threats and a lower strength, higher ductility variant, 7085-T7E02, for underbody blast protection kits. Ballistic evaluation was...direct-fire threats and a lower strength, higher ductility variant, 7085-T7E02, for underbody blast protection kits. The U.S. Army Research Laboratory...0.40 max 0.25 max a 0.10 max 0.12 max Titanium 0.06 max 0.10 max 0.15 max 0.02–0.10 0.15 max 0.10 max Zinc 7.0–8.0 3.50–4.50 0.25 max 0.10 max 0.25

Combined effects of endurance training and dietary unsaturated fatty acids on physical performance, fat oxidation and insulin sensitivity.

PubMed

Boss, Andreas; Lecoultre, Virgile; Ruffieux, Christiane; Tappy, Luc; Schneiter, Philippe

2010-04-01

Endurance training improves exercise performance and insulin sensitivity, and these effects may be in part mediated by an enhanced fat oxidation. Since n-3 and n-9 unsaturated fatty acids may also increase fat oxidation, we hypothesised that a diet enriched in these fatty acids may enhance the effects of endurance training on exercise performance, insulin sensitivity and fat oxidation. To assess this hypothesis, sixteen normal-weight sedentary male subjects were randomly assigned to an isoenergetic diet enriched with fish and olive oils (unsaturated fatty acid group (UFA): 52 % carbohydrates, 34 % fat (12 % SFA, 12 % MUFA, 5 % PUFA), 14 % protein), or a control diet (control group (CON): 62 % carbohydrates, 24 % fat (12 % SFA, 6 % MUFA, 2 % PUFA), 14 % protein) and underwent a 10 d gradual endurance training protocol. Exercise performance was evaluated by measuring VO2max and the time to exhaustion during a cycling exercise at 80 % VO2max; glucose homeostasis was assessed after ingestion of a test meal. Fat oxidation was assessed by indirect calorimetry at rest and during an exercise at 50 % VO2max. Training significantly increased time to exhaustion, but not VO2max, and lowered incremental insulin area under the curve after the test meal, indicating improved insulin sensitivity. Those effects were, however, of similar magnitude in UFA and CON. Fat oxidation tended to increase in UFA, but not in CON. This difference was, however, not significant. It is concluded that a diet enriched with fish- and olive oil does not substantially enhance the effects of a short-term endurance training protocol in healthy young subjects.

The effects of concurrent administration of cytochrome P-450 inhibitors on the pharmacokinetics of oral methadone in healthy dogs.

PubMed

Kukanich, Butch; Kukanich, Kate S; Rodriguez, Jessica R

2011-05-01

The objective was to examine the effects of inhibiting cytochrome P450 (CYP) on the pharmacokinetics of oral methadone in dogs. Prospective non-randomized experimental trial. Six healthy Greyhounds (three male and three female). The study was divided into two phases. Oral methadone (mean = 2.1 mg kg(-1) PO) was administered as whole tablets in Phase 1. In Phase 2 oral methadone (2.1 mg kg(-1) PO) was administered concurrently with ketoconazole (13.0 mg kg(-1) PO q 24 hours), chloramphenicol (48.7 mg kg(-1) PO q 12 hours), fluoxetine (1.3 mg kg(-1) PO q 24 hours), and trimethoprim (6.5 mg kg(-1) PO q 24 hours). Blood was obtained for analysis of methadone plasma concentrations by liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry. The maximum plasma concentration (C(max)), time to C(max) (T(max)), and the area under the curve from time 0 to the last measurable time point above the limit of quantification of the analytical assay (AUC(0-LAST)) were compared statistically. The C(max) of methadone was significantly different (p=0.016) for Phase 1 (5.5 ng mL(-1)) and Phase 2 (171.9 ng mL(-1)). The AUC(0-LAST) was also significantly different (p=0.004) for Phase 1 (13.1 hour ng mL(-1)) and Phase 2 (3075.2 hour ng mL(-1)). Concurrent administration of CYP inhibitors with methadone significantly increased the area under the curve and plasma concentrations of methadone after oral administration to dogs. Further studies are needed assessing more clinically relevant combinations of methadone and CYP inhibitors. © 2011 The Authors. Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia © 2011 Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists and the American College of Veterinary Anesthesiologists.

Comparison of energy expenditure and heart rate responses between three commercial group fitness classes.

PubMed

Wickham, James B; Mullen, Nicholas J; Whyte, Douglas G; Cannon, Jack

2017-07-01

The objectives of this study were to compare the energy expenditure and heart rate responses between three commercial group fitness classes (group resistance exercise [PUMP]; indoor stationary cycling [RIDE]; and step aerobics [STEP]). One-Way Repeated Measures incorporating a Latin Square Design for class randomisation. Ten participants (5 males and 5 females) completed each group fitness class in random order with energy expenditure and heart rate determined using an Actiheart monitor. STEP and RIDE produced significantly (p<0.05) higher average heart rates (HR avg ) (85.8±5.1% and 86.4±4.3% of HR max , respectively) compared to PUMP (73.7±7% of HR max ). HR peak was also significantly (p<0.05) higher in STEP and RIDE (97.1±4.7% and 95.6±4.5% of HR max, respectively) when compared with the PUMP class (90±5.9% of HR max ). Total energy expenditure (TEE), both absolute and relative, were significantly (p<0.05) higher for STEP (2101.7±560.2kJ and 0.59±0.07kJkg -1 min -1 ) and RIDE (1880.4±420kJ and 0.58±0.03kJkg -1 min -1 ) when compared with the PUMP class (1385.1±504kJ and 0.36±0.07kJkg -1 min -1 ). These data suggest that overall exercise intensity and energy expenditure was highly comparable between RIDE and STEP, which suggests these group fitness classes are more effective for developing cardiovascular fitness and assisting with weight management compared with group resistance exercise classes when performed on a regular basis. Copyright © 2017 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cardioprotective Effect of High Intensity Interval Training and Nitric Oxide Metabolites (NO2 (-), NO3 (-)).

PubMed

Fallahi, Aliasghar; Gaeini, Abbasali; Shekarfroush, Shahnaz; Khoshbaten, Ali

2015-09-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) on nitric oxide metabolites (NO2(-), NO3(-)) and myocardial infarct size after Ischemia/Reperfusion (I/R) injury in healthy male rats. A total of 44 Wistar rats were randomly divided into 4 groups including HIIT (n=8), HIIT + IR protocol (n=14), control (n=8), and control + IR (n=14). Each training session of HIIT consisted of 1 hour of exercise in three stages: 6-minute running at 50-60% VO2max for warm-up; 7 intervals of 7-minute running on treadmill with a slope of 5° to 20° (4 minutes with an intensity of 80-100% VO2max and 3 minutes at 50-60% VO2max); and 5-minute running at 50-60% VO2max for cool-down. The control group did not participate in any exercise program. Nitric Oxide (NO) and its metabolites were measured by using Griess reaction test. The results showed that eight weeks of exercise training exerted a significantly increasing effect on nitrite (8.55 μmol per liter, equivalent to 34.79%), nitrate (62.02 μmol per liter, equivalent to 149.48%), and NOx (66 μmol per liter, equivalent to 98.11%) in the HIIT group compared with the control group. The results showed myocardial infract size (IS) was significantly smaller (23.2%, P<0.001) in the exercise training group compared with the control group. Incremental changes in NO-NO3 (-), NO2 (-) axis are one of mechanisms through which HIIT program can protect the heart from I/R injury and decrease myocardial infarction.

Comparison of different threshold values r for approximate entropy: application to investigate the heart rate variability between heart failure and healthy control groups.

PubMed

Liu, Chengyu; Liu, Changchun; Shao, Peng; Li, Liping; Sun, Xin; Wang, Xinpei; Liu, Feng

2011-02-01

Approximate entropy (ApEn) is widely accepted as a complexity measure of the heart rate variability (HRV) signal, but selecting the criteria for the threshold value r is controversial. This paper aims to verify whether Chon's method of forecasting the r(max) is an appropriate one for the HRV signal. The standard limb lead ECG signals of 120 subjects were recorded for 10 min in a supine position. The subjects were divided into two groups: the heart failure (22 females and 38 males, median age 62.4 ± 12.6) and healthy control group (33 females and 27 males, median age 51.5 ± 16.9). Three types of ApEn were calculated: the ApEn(0.2) using the recommended constant r = 0.2, the ApEn(chon) using Chon's method and the ApEn(max) using the true r(max). A Wilcoxon rank sum test showed that the ApEn(0.2) (p = 0.267) and the ApEn(max) (p = 0.813) had no statistical differences between the two groups, while the ApEn(chon) (p = 0.040) had. We generated a synthetic database to study the effect of two influential factors (the signal length N and the ratio of short- and long-term variability sd(1)/sd(2)) on the empirical formula in Chon's method (Chon et al 2009 IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Mag. 28 18-23). The results showed that the empirical formula proposed by Chon et al is a good method for analyzing the random signal, but not an appropriate tool for analyzing nonlinear signals, such as the logistic or HRV signals.

Crossover and maximal fat-oxidation points in sedentary healthy subjects: methodological issues.

PubMed

Gmada, N; Marzouki, H; Haboubi, M; Tabka, Z; Shephard, R J; Bouhlel, E

2012-02-01

Our study aimed to assess the influence of protocol on the crossover point and maximal fat-oxidation (LIPOX(max)) values in sedentary, but otherwise healthy, young men. Maximal oxygen intake was assessed in 23 subjects, using a progressive maximal cycle ergometer test. Twelve sedentary males (aged 20.5±1.0 years) whose directly measured maximal aerobic power (MAP) values were lower than their theoretical maximal values (tMAP) were selected from this group. These individuals performed, in random sequence, three submaximal graded exercise tests, separated by three-day intervals; work rates were based on the tMAP in one test and on MAP in the remaining two. The third test was used to assess the reliability of data. Heart rate, respiratory parameters, blood lactate, the crossover point and LIPOX(max) values were measured during each of these tests. The crossover point and LIPOX(max) values were significantly lower when the testing protocol was based on tMAP rather than on MAP (P<0.001). Respiratory exchange ratios were significantly lower with MAP than with tMAP at 30, 40, 50 and 60% of maximal aerobic power (P<0.01). At the crossover point, lactate and 5-min postexercise oxygen consumption (EPOC(5 min)) values were significantly higher using tMAP rather than MAP (P<0.001). During the first 5 min of recovery, EPOC(5 min) and blood lactate were significantly correlated (r=0.89; P<0.001). Our data show that, to assess the crossover point and LIPOX(max) values for research purposes, the protocol must be based on the measured MAP rather than on a theoretical value. Such a determination should improve individualization of training for initially sedentary subjects. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Benefits of combined aerobic/resistance/inspiratory training in patients with chronic heart failure. A complete exercise model? A prospective randomised study.

PubMed

Laoutaris, Ioannis D; Adamopoulos, Stamatis; Manginas, Athanassios; Panagiotakos, Demosthenes B; Kallistratos, Manolis S; Doulaptsis, Costas; Kouloubinis, Alexandros; Voudris, Vasilis; Pavlides, Gregory; Cokkinos, Dennis V; Dritsas, Athanasios

2013-09-01

We hypothesised that combined aerobic training (AT) with resistance training (RT) and inspiratory muscle training (IMT) could result in additional benefits over AT alone in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). Twenty-seven patients, age 58 ± 9 years, NYHA II/III and LVEF 29 ± 7% were randomly assigned to a 12-week AT (n=14) or a combined AT/RT/IMT (ARIS) (n=13) exercise program. AT consisted of bike exercise at 70-80% of max heart rate. ARIS training consisted of AT with RT of the quadriceps at 50% of 1 repetition maximum (1RM) and upper limb exercises using dumbbells of 1-2 kg as well as IMT at 60% of sustained maximal inspiratory pressure (SPI(max)). At baseline and after intervention patients underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing, echocardiography, evaluation of dyspnea, muscle function and quality of life (QoL) scores. The ARIS program as compared to AT alone, resulted in additional improvement in quadriceps muscle strength (1RM, p=0.005) and endurance (50%1 RM × number of max repetitions, p=0.01), SPI(max) (p<0.001), exercise time (p=0.01), circulatory power (peak oxygen consumption × peak systolic blood pressure, p=0.05), dyspnea (p=0.03) and QoL (p=0.03). ARIS training was safe and resulted in incremental benefits in both peripheral and respiratory muscle weakness, cardiopulmonary function and QoL compared to that of AT. The present findings may add a new prospective to cardiac rehabilitation programs of heart failure patients whilst the clinical significance of these outcomes need to be addressed in larger randomised studies. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Novel ω-3 Acid Ethyl Ester Formulation Incorporating Advanced Lipid TechnologiesTM (ALT®) Improves Docosahexaenoic Acid and Eicosapentaenoic Acid Bioavailability Compared with Lovaza®.

PubMed

Lopez-Toledano, Miguel A; Thorsteinsson, Thorsteinn; Daak, Ahmed; Maki, Kevin C; Johns, Colleen; Rabinowicz, Adrian L; Sancilio, Frederick D

2017-03-01

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved several highly purified ω-3 fatty acid prescription drugs for the treatment of severe hypertriglyceridemia. These differ in the amounts and forms of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and/or eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). This study compared the bioavailability of SC401 (1530 mg EPA-ethyl esters [EEs] and DHA-EEs plus Advanced Lipid Technologies ⁎ [ALT † ], a proprietary lipid-delivery platform to improve absorption), with. Lovaza ‡ (3600 mg ω-3, primarily EPA-EEs and DHA-EEs) under low-fat feeding conditions. This was a Phase I, randomized, open-label, single-dose, 2-way crossover study in healthy participants housed from day -3 to day 2 in each treatment period. Blood samples for pharmacokinetic measurements were collected before and after dosing, and safety profile and tolerability were assessed. In unadjusted analyses, SC401 had 5% lower C max and approximately the same AUC 0-last of EPA + DHA total lipids compared with Lovaza. When adjusted for baseline, SC401 had ~6% higher C max and 18% higher AUC 0-last for EPA + DHA total lipids, and dose- and baseline-adjusted analyses found that SC401 had ~149% higher C max and 178% higher AUC 0-last than Lovaza for EPA + DHA total lipids. The T max was also substantially longer with Lovaza (~10 hours) than with SC401 (~6 hours). These results indicate that SC401, an ω-3 acid EE formulation containing ALT † achieved high bioavailability of EPA and DHA, at a lower dose (1530 mg) than Lovaza (3600 mg), under low-fat feeding conditions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier HS Journals, Inc. All rights reserved.

Physiological responses to indoor rock-climbing and their relationship to maximal cycle ergometry.

PubMed

Sheel, A William; Seddon, Nicholas; Knight, Andrew; McKenzie, Donald C; R Warburton, Darren E

2003-07-01

To quantify the cardiorespiratory responses to indoor climbing during two increasingly difficult climbs and relate them to whole-body dynamic exercise. It was hypothesized that as climbing difficulty increased, oxygen consumption ([V02] and heart rate would increase, and that climbing would require utilization of a significant fraction of maximal cycling values. Elite competitive sport rock climbers (6 male, 3 female) completed two data collection sessions. The first session was completed at an indoor climbing facility, and the second session was an incremental cycle test to exhaustion. During indoor climbing subjects were randomly assigned to climb two routes designated as "harder" or "easier" based on their previous best climb. Subjects wore a portable metabolic system, which allowed measurement of oxygen consumption [V02], minute ventilation ([V02]E), respiratory exchange ratio (RER), and heart rate. During the second session, maximal values for [V02], [V02]E, RER, and heart rate were determined during an incremental cycle test to exhaustion. Heart rate and [VO2], expressed as percent of cycling maximum, were significantly higher during harder climbing compared with easier climbing. During harder climbing, %HR(max) was significantly higher than %[V02] (2max) (89.6% vs 51.2%), and during easier climbing, %HR(max) was significantly higher than %[V02] (2max) (66.9% vs 45.3%). With increasing levels of climbing difficulty, there is a rise in both heart rate and [V02]. However, there is a disproportional rise in heart rate compared with [V02], which we attribute to the fact that climbing requires the use of intermittent isometric contractions of the arm musculature and the reliance of both anaerobic and aerobic metabolism.

Phase 1 and Pharmacokinetic Drug-Drug Interaction Study of Metformin, Losartan, and Linagliptin Coadministered With DW1029M in Healthy Volunteers.

PubMed

Moon, Seol Ju; Kim, Sun-Young; Lim, Cheol-Hee; Jang, Hwan Bong; Kim, Min-Gul; Jeon, Ji-Young

2017-07-01

We investigated botanical drug-pharmaceutical drug interactions between DW1029M (a botanical extract of Morus alba linne root bark and Puerariae radix) and metformin, losartan, and linagliptin in the steady state. Three studies were conducted as randomized, open-label, 2-period, 2-treatment, multiple-dose, 2-way crossover designs. Eligible subjects received metformin (500 mg twice daily), losartan (50 mg once daily), or linagliptin (5 mg once daily) with DW1029M (300 mg × 2T twice daily) every 12 hours on days 1 through 6 and a single dose on the morning of day 7. Coadministration of DW1029M with metformin, losartan, or linagliptin had no clinically relevant effects based on the area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC τ ) geometric least-squares mean ratio (GMR) - AUC τ GMR, 89.7; 90% confidence interval (CI), 81.0-99.4 for metformin; AUC τ GMR, 96.2; 90%CI, 86.3-107.1 for losartan; and AUC τ GMR, 89.7; 90%CI, 83.2-96.6 for linagliptin. In addition, coadministration of DW1029M did not have any clinically meaningful effect on the maximum plasma concentration (C max,ss ) - C max,ss GMR, 87.3; 90%CI, 76.2-100.0 for metformin; C max,ss GMR, 90.5; 90%CI, 78.3-104.6 for losartan; and C max,ss GMR, 81.4; 90%CI, 69.5-95.3 for linagliptin. Coadministration of DW1029M with metformin, losartan, or linagliptin was well tolerated. © 2016, The American College of Clinical Pharmacology.

The effect of high intensity interval training on cardioprotection against ischemia-reperfusion injury in wistar rats

PubMed Central

Rahimi, Mostafa; Shekarforoush, Shahnaz; Asgari, Ali Reza; Khoshbaten, Ali; Rajabi, Hamid; Bazgir, Behzad; Mohammadi, Mohammad Taghi; Sobhani, Vahid; Shakibaee, Abolfazl

2015-01-01

The aims of the present study were to determine whether short term high intensity interval training (HIIT) could protect the heart against ischemia reperfusion (IR) injury; and if so, to evaluate how long the exercise-associated protection can be lasted. Sixty-three rats were randomly assigned into sedentary (n = 15), sham (n = 7), and exercise groups (n = 41). Rats in the exercise groups performed 5 consecutive days of HIIT on treadmill: 5 min warm up with 50 % VO2max, 6×2 min with 95-105 % VO2max (about 40 to 45 m/min), 5×2 min recovery with 65-75 % VO2max (about 28 to 32 m/min), and 3 min cool down with 50 % VO2max, all at 0 % grade. Animals exposed to an in vivo cardiac IR surgery, performed at days 1, 7, and 14 following the final exercise session. Ischemia-induced arrhythmias, myocardial infarct size (IS), plasma lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and creatine kinase (CK) activities were measured in all animals. Compared to sedentary rats, exercised animals sustained less IR injury as evidenced by a lower size of infarction and lower levels of LDH and CK at day one and day 7 post exercise. In comparison of sedentary group, IS significantly decreased in EX-IR1 and EX-IR7 groups (50 and 35 %, respectively), but not in EX-IR14 group (19 %). The exercise-induced cardioprotection disappeared 14 days following exercise cessation. There were no significant changes in ischemia-induced arrhythmia between exercised and sedentary rats. The results clearly demonstrate that HIIT protects the heart against myocardial IR injury. This protective effect can be sustained for at least one week following the cessation of the training. PMID:26417361

Comparative single-dose pharmacokinetics of clonazepam following intravenous, intramuscular and oral administration to healthy volunteers.

PubMed

Crevoisier, C; Delisle, M C; Joseph, I; Foletti, G

2003-01-01

The objective was to assess the single-dose pharmacokinetics of clonazepam following i.m., p.o. and i.v. administration. In an open-label, three-way crossover study, 12 healthy volunteers were randomized to receive a single dose of 2 mg clonazepam either by the i.m., p.o. or i.v. route. Serial blood samples were collected up to 120 h after drug administration. Plasma concentrations of clonazepam were determined by electron-capture gas-liquid chromatography. The absorption rates of clonazepam after i.m. and p.o. administration of clonazepam were significantly different from each other, as reflected by the respective mean values of maximum plasma concentration (C(max) 11.0 vs. 14.9 ng.ml(-1)) and time to reach maximum concentration (t(max) 3.1 vs. 1.7 h). Secondary plasma peaks of clonazepam were observed in 9 volunteers after i.m. injection (C(max) 9.9 ng.ml(-1); t(max) 10.4 h). A comparison of the area under the plasma concentration-time curves (AUC) shows that the i.m. route is equivalent to the oral route (AUC(0- infinity ) 620 vs. 561 ng.h.ml(-1)). Clonazepam was almost completely absorbed after i.m. and p.o. administration, as shown by the mean absolute bioavailability of 93 and 90%, respectively. No significant differences existed between the elimination half-lives (i.v. 38.0 h; i.m. 43.6 h; p.o. 39.0 h). The average clearance and volume of distribution (V(Z)) were 55 ml.min(-1) and 180 liters, respectively. In conclusion, the observed differences in C(max) and t(max) after i.m. and p.o. administration were consistent with a slower absorption rate of clonazepam after i.m. injection. The systemic exposure to clonazepam was not affected by the route of extravascular administration. Statistical evaluation of these kinetic data showed differences in the absorption rate, so that clonazepam given by the i.m. route is not bioequivalent to the oral route. On the basis of the results of this study, we would recommend the same i.m. and p.o. dose in epileptic patients, but therapeutic response would be expected to be less predictable and to occur later in the case of i.m. administration. Copyright 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel

Active Recovery After High-Intensity Interval-Training Does Not Attenuate Training Adaptation.

PubMed

Wiewelhove, Thimo; Schneider, Christoph; Schmidt, Alina; Döweling, Alexander; Meyer, Tim; Kellmann, Michael; Pfeiffer, Mark; Ferrauti, Alexander

2018-01-01

Objective: High-intensity interval training (HIIT) can be extremely demanding and can consequently produce high blood lactate levels. Previous studies have shown that lactate is a potent metabolic stimulus, which is important for adaptation. Active recovery (ACT) after intensive exercise, however, enhances blood lactate removal in comparison with passive recovery (PAS) and, consequently, may attenuate endurance performance improvements. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the influence of regular ACT on training adaptations during a HIIT mesocycle. Methods: Twenty-six well-trained male intermittent sport athletes (age: 23.5 ± 2.5 years; O 2 max: 55.36 ± 3.69 ml min kg -1 ) participated in a randomized controlled trial consisting of 4 weeks of a running-based HIIT mesocycle with a total of 12 HIIT sessions. After each training session, participants completed 15 min of either moderate jogging (ACT) or PAS. Subjects were matched to the ACT or PAS groups according to age and performance. Before the HIIT program and 1 week after the last training session, the athletes performed a progressive incremental exercise test on a motor-driven treadmill to determine O 2 max, maximum running velocity (vmax), the running velocity at which O 2 max occurs (vO 2 max), and anaerobic lactate threshold (AT). Furthermore, repeated sprint ability (RSA) were determined. Results: In the whole group the HIIT mesocycle induced significant or small to moderate changes in vmax ( p < 0.001, effect size [ES] = 0.65,), vO 2 max ( p < 0.001, ES = 0.62), and AT ( p < 0.001, ES = 0.56) compared with the values before the intervention. O 2 max and RSA remained unchanged throughout the study. In addition, no significant differences in the changes were noted in any of the parameters between ACT and PAS except for AT ( p < 0.05, ES = 0.57). Conclusion: Regular use of individualized ACT did not attenuate training adaptations during a HIIT mesocycle compared to PAS. Interestingly, we found that the ACT group obtained a significantly higher AT following the training program compared to the PAS group. This could be because ACT allows a continuation of the training at a low intensity and may activate specific adaptive mechanisms that are not triggered during PAS.

Active Recovery After High-Intensity Interval-Training Does Not Attenuate Training Adaptation

PubMed Central

Wiewelhove, Thimo; Schneider, Christoph; Schmidt, Alina; Döweling, Alexander; Meyer, Tim; Kellmann, Michael; Pfeiffer, Mark; Ferrauti, Alexander

2018-01-01

Objective: High-intensity interval training (HIIT) can be extremely demanding and can consequently produce high blood lactate levels. Previous studies have shown that lactate is a potent metabolic stimulus, which is important for adaptation. Active recovery (ACT) after intensive exercise, however, enhances blood lactate removal in comparison with passive recovery (PAS) and, consequently, may attenuate endurance performance improvements. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the influence of regular ACT on training adaptations during a HIIT mesocycle. Methods: Twenty-six well-trained male intermittent sport athletes (age: 23.5 ± 2.5 years; O2max: 55.36 ± 3.69 ml min kg-1) participated in a randomized controlled trial consisting of 4 weeks of a running-based HIIT mesocycle with a total of 12 HIIT sessions. After each training session, participants completed 15 min of either moderate jogging (ACT) or PAS. Subjects were matched to the ACT or PAS groups according to age and performance. Before the HIIT program and 1 week after the last training session, the athletes performed a progressive incremental exercise test on a motor-driven treadmill to determine O2max, maximum running velocity (vmax), the running velocity at which O2max occurs (vO2max), and anaerobic lactate threshold (AT). Furthermore, repeated sprint ability (RSA) were determined. Results: In the whole group the HIIT mesocycle induced significant or small to moderate changes in vmax (p < 0.001, effect size [ES] = 0.65,), vO2max (p < 0.001, ES = 0.62), and AT (p < 0.001, ES = 0.56) compared with the values before the intervention. O2max and RSA remained unchanged throughout the study. In addition, no significant differences in the changes were noted in any of the parameters between ACT and PAS except for AT (p < 0.05, ES = 0.57). Conclusion: Regular use of individualized ACT did not attenuate training adaptations during a HIIT mesocycle compared to PAS. Interestingly, we found that the ACT group obtained a significantly higher AT following the training program compared to the PAS group. This could be because ACT allows a continuation of the training at a low intensity and may activate specific adaptive mechanisms that are not triggered during PAS. PMID:29720949

Cardiac risk index as a simple geometric indicator to select patients for the heart-sparing radiotherapy of left-sided breast cancer.

PubMed

Sung, KiHoon; Choi, Young Eun; Lee, Kyu Chan

2017-06-01

This is a dosimetric study to identify a simple geometric indicator to discriminate patients who meet the selection criterion for heart-sparing radiotherapy (RT). The authors proposed a cardiac risk index (CRI), directly measurable from the CT images at the time of scanning. Treatment plans were regenerated using the CT data of 312 consecutive patients with left-sided breast cancer. Dosimetric analysis was performed to estimate the risk of cardiac mortality using cardiac dosimetric parameters, such as the relative heart volumes receiving ≥25 Gy (heart V 25 ). For each CT data set, in-field heart depth (HD) and in-field heart width (HW) were measured to generate the geometric parameters, including maximum HW (HW max ) and maximum HD (HD max ). Seven geometric parameters were evaluated as candidates for CRI. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were used to examine the overall discriminatory power of the geometric parameters to select high-risk patients (heart V 25  ≥ 10%). Seventy-one high-risk (22.8%) and 241 low-risk patients (77.2%) were identified by dosimetric analysis. The geometric and dosimetric parameters were significantly higher in the high-risk group. Heart V 25 showed the strong positive correlations with all geometric parameters examined (r > 0.8, p < 0.001). The product of HD max and HW max (CRI) revealed the largest area under the curve (AUC) value (0.969) and maintained 100% sensitivity and 88% specificity at the optimal cut-off value of 14.58 cm 2 . Cardiac risk index proposed as a simple geometric indicator to select high-risk patients provides useful guidance for clinicians considering optimal implementation of heart-sparing RT. © 2016 The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists.

An indirect continuous running multistage field test: the Université de Montréal track test.

PubMed

Léger, L; Boucher, R

1980-06-01

The object of this study was to report on the validity and reliability of the Université de Montréal Track Test (UM-TT). The UM-TT is a continuous maximal indirect multistage running field test based on the energy cost of running. The first stage is set at a walking speed that requires 5 Mets; thereafter the speed is increased by 1 Met every two minutes. In order to assess the validity of the UM-TT, 25 subjects, 24.4 +/- 2.8 years old (X +/- SD) had their VO2max predicted with the UM-TT and measured directly with a running multistage treadmill test. Averages (+/- SD) were not significantly different (61.5 +/- 10.6 and 61.4 +/- 10.9 ml O2 . kg-1 . min-1, respectively), other statistics being r = 0.96, delta = 0.09 +/- 2.90 ml O2 . kg-1 . min-1 and Syx = 2.81 ml O2 . kg-1 . min-1. Seven males, 20.6 +/- 1.0 years old, had also their VO2max measured directly during the UM-TT. Comparison of predicted and directly measured VO2max yielded similar results: 70.0 +/- 4.5 and 70.7 +/- 6.0 ml O2 . kg-1 . min-1, respectively with r = 0.66, delta = 0.67 +/- 4.53 and Syx = 3.71. Reliability of the UM-TT was assessed by repeating the test twice on 60 subjects (49 males and 11 females; 39 subjects below 30 years old and 21, above; and 30 subjects below and above 15 Mets). Results were as follows: X +/- SD = 54.1 +/- 8.2 and 54.2 +/- 8.5, r = 0.97, delta 0.11 +/- 1.92, and Syx = 1.92. Similar reliability trends were observed for each one of the subgroups of subjects. It is concluded that the UM-TT is valid and reliable to estimate the VO2max of trained and untrained young and middle-age males and females.

Comparison of Early Total Thyroidectomy with Antithyroid Treatment in Patients with Moderate-Severe Graves' Orbitopathy: A Randomized Prospective Trial

PubMed Central

Erdoğan, Murat Faik; Demir, Özgür; Ersoy, Reyhan Ünlü; Gül, Kamile; Aydoğan, Berna İmge; Üç, Ziynet Alphan; Mete, Türkan; Ertek, Sibel; Ünlütürk, Uğur; Çakır, Bekir; Aral, Yalçın; Güler, Serdar; Güllü, Sevim; Çorapçıoğlu, Demet; Dağdelen, Selçuk; Erdoğan, Gürbüz

2016-01-01

Background The optimal therapeutic choice for Graves' hyperthyroidism in the presence of moderate-severe Graves' orbitopathy (GO) remains controversial. Objectives We aimed to compare GO course in patients with moderate-severe GO treated with early total thyroidectomy (TTx) versus antithyroid drug (ATD) regimens, in a prospective, randomized manner. Methods Forty-two patients with moderate-severe GO were enrolled. A total of 4.5 g of pulse corticosteroids were given intravenously to all patients before randomization. Patients in the first group were given TTx, whereas patients in the second group were treated with ATDs. TSH was kept between 0.4 and 1 mIU/l. The clinical course of GO was evaluated with proptosis, lid aperture, clinical activity score (CAS), and diplopia. Results Eighteen and 24 patients were randomized to the TTx and ATD groups, respectively. Thyroid autoantibodies decreased significantly, and there were significant improvements in proptosis, lid aperture, and CAS in the TTx group. While in the ATD group the decrement in thyroid autoantibodies was not significant, there were significant improvements in proptosis and CAS. When the TTx group was compared with the ATD group, anti-TPO, anti-Tg, and TSH-receptor antibodies were significantly decreased in the TTx group (p < 0.01), but there was no significant difference with respect to proptosis, lid aperture, CAS, and diplopia between the two groups during a median (min.-max.) follow-up period of 60 months (36-72). Conclusion Although no definitive conclusions could be drawn from the study, mainly due to limited power, early TTx and the ATD treatment regimens, followed by intravenous pulse corticosteroid therapy, seemed to be equally effective on the course of GO in this relatively small group of patients with moderate-severe GO during a median (min.-max.) follow-up period of 60 months (36-72). PMID:27493884

Comparison of Early Total Thyroidectomy with Antithyroid Treatment in Patients with Moderate-Severe Graves' Orbitopathy: A Randomized Prospective Trial.

PubMed

Erdoğan, Murat Faik; Demir, Özgür; Ersoy, Reyhan Ünlü; Gül, Kamile; Aydoğan, Berna İmge; Üç, Ziynet Alphan; Mete, Türkan; Ertek, Sibel; Ünlütürk, Uğur; Çakır, Bekir; Aral, Yalçın; Güler, Serdar; Güllü, Sevim; Çorapçıoğlu, Demet; Dağdelen, Selçuk; Erdoğan, Gürbüz

2016-07-01

The optimal therapeutic choice for Graves' hyperthyroidism in the presence of moderate-severe Graves' orbitopathy (GO) remains controversial. We aimed to compare GO course in patients with moderate-severe GO treated with early total thyroidectomy (TTx) versus antithyroid drug (ATD) regimens, in a prospective, randomized manner. Forty-two patients with moderate-severe GO were enrolled. A total of 4.5 g of pulse corticosteroids were given intravenously to all patients before randomization. Patients in the first group were given TTx, whereas patients in the second group were treated with ATDs. TSH was kept between 0.4 and 1 mIU/l. The clinical course of GO was evaluated with proptosis, lid aperture, clinical activity score (CAS), and diplopia. Eighteen and 24 patients were randomized to the TTx and ATD groups, respectively. Thyroid autoantibodies decreased significantly, and there were significant improvements in proptosis, lid aperture, and CAS in the TTx group. While in the ATD group the decrement in thyroid autoantibodies was not significant, there were significant improvements in proptosis and CAS. When the TTx group was compared with the ATD group, anti-TPO, anti-Tg, and TSH-receptor antibodies were significantly decreased in the TTx group (p < 0.01), but there was no significant difference with respect to proptosis, lid aperture, CAS, and diplopia between the two groups during a median (min.-max.) follow-up period of 60 months (36-72). Although no definitive conclusions could be drawn from the study, mainly due to limited power, early TTx and the ATD treatment regimens, followed by intravenous pulse corticosteroid therapy, seemed to be equally effective on the course of GO in this relatively small group of patients with moderate-severe GO during a median (min.-max.) follow-up period of 60 months (36-72).

Nonlinear Effects in High Electric Fields

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-04-06

ion microscope above protruding atoms. Experiments to verify our theoret- ical predictions have been performed at the Fritz - Haber -Institute, see...Block’s experimental group at the Fritz - Haber -Institut in Berlin. A recent topic was thermal field desorption of hydrogen for which we have been able...Suchorskil, W. A. Schmidt’, J. H. Block’ and H. J. Kreuzer2 To be published in Surface Science ’Fitz- Haber Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Difference method to search for the anisotropy of primary cosmic radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pavlyuchenko, V. P.; Martirosov, R. M.; Nikolskaya, N. M.; Erlykin, A. D.

2018-01-01

The original difference method used in the search for an anisotropy of primary cosmic radiation at the knee region of its energy spectrum is considered. Its methodical features and properties are analyzed. It is shown that this method, in which properties of particle fluxes (rather than an intensity) are investigated, is stable against random experimental errors and allows one to separate anomalies connected with the laboratory coordinate system from anomalies in the celestial coordinate system. The method uses the multiple scattering of charged particles in the magnetic fields of the Galaxy to study the whole celestial sphere, including the regions outside the line of sight of the installation.

Persistent stability of a chaotic system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huber, Greg; Pradas, Marc; Pumir, Alain; Wilkinson, Michael

2018-02-01

We report that trajectories of a one-dimensional model for inertial particles in a random velocity field can remain stable for a surprisingly long time, despite the fact that the system is chaotic. We provide a detailed quantitative description of this effect by developing the large-deviation theory for fluctuations of the finite-time Lyapunov exponent of this system. Specifically, the determination of the entropy function for the distribution reduces to the analysis of a Schrödinger equation, which is tackled by semi-classical methods. The system has 'generic' instability properties, and we consider the broader implications of our observation of long-term stability in chaotic systems.

Nicotine pharmacokinetic profiles of the Tobacco Heating System 2.2, cigarettes and nicotine gum in Japanese smokers.

PubMed

Brossard, Patrick; Weitkunat, Rolf; Poux, Valerie; Lama, Nicola; Haziza, Christelle; Picavet, Patrick; Baker, Gizelle; Lüdicke, Frank

2017-10-01

Two open-label randomized cross-over studies in Japanese smokers investigated the single-use nicotine pharmacokinetic profile of the Tobacco Heating System (THS) 2.2, cigarettes (CC) and nicotine replacement therapy (Gum). In each study, one on the regular and one on the menthol variants of the THS and CC, both using Gum as reference, 62 subjects were randomized to four sequences: Sequence 1: THS - CC (n = 22); Sequence 2: CC - THS (n = 22); Sequence 3: THS - Gum (n = 9); Sequence 4: Gum - THS (n = 9). Plasma nicotine concentrations were measured in 16 blood samples collected over 24 h after single use. Maximal nicotine concentration (C max ) and area under the curve from start of product use to time of last quantifiable concentration (AUC 0-last ) were similar between THS and CC in both studies, with ratios varying from 88 to 104% for C max and from 96 to 98% for AUC 0-last . Urge-to-smoke total scores were comparable between THS and CC. The THS nicotine pharmacokinetic profile was close to CC, with similar levels of urge-to-smoke. This suggests that THS can satisfy smokers and be a viable alternative to cigarettes for adult smokers who want to continue using tobacco. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Physical exercise in the treatment of alcohol use disorder (AUD) patients affects their drinking habits: A randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Jensen, Kurt; Nielsen, Charlotte; Ekstrøm, Claus Thorn; Roessler, Kirsten K

2018-02-01

The aim of this study is to compare the effect of exercise training on physical capacity and alcohol consumption in alcohol use disorder (AUD) patients. One hundred and five AUD patients were randomly assigned to treatment as usual combined with running and brisk walking for 30-45 min twice a week, either in small supervised groups (GR) or individually (IND), or to a control group with no running (C). Assessments were made after 6 and 12 months of training. Training volume was estimated as 36 min per training bout at an intensity of 78% of HR max with no differences between GR and IND ( p>.05). A highly significant reduction in training frequency was seen in both training groups after the first month ( p<.0001). Only IND increased VO 2max , by 5.7% ( p<.05), while no differences were seen between GR, IND and C. Alcohol intake decreased from 219 to 41 units per 30 days as the average for the entire sample with no significant difference of drinking outcomes between groups ( p<.0001). We saw an effect on drinking habits after running in both groups. However, no additional effect was seen when compared with the control group. A drop in the training frequency during the intervention might have resulted in an insignificant training stimulus.

Tecarfarin, a novel vitamin K reductase antagonist, is not affected by CYP2C9 and CYP3A4 inhibition following concomitant administration of fluconazole in healthy participants.

PubMed

Bavisotto, Linda M; Ellis, David J; Milner, Peter G; Combs, Daniel L; Irwin, Ian; Canafax, Daniel M

2011-04-01

Comparative pharmacokinetics of vitamin K epoxide reductase antagonists tecarfarin and warfarin were assessed before and after coadministration for 21 days of the CYP450 inhibitor fluconazole in a randomized, open-label, single-center drug interaction study. Twenty healthy adult participants were randomized 1:1 to receive approximately equipotent single oral doses of tecarfarin (50 mg) or warfarin (17.5 mg). Following 7 days of baseline serial blood level collections, each participant received oral fluconazole 400 mg daily for 21 days. A second identical single oral dose of tecarfarin or warfarin was given 14 days after starting fluconazole with serial pharmacokinetic sampling. Key pharmacokinetic parameters C(max), t(max), AUC(0-168), apparent clearance, and t(1/2) demonstrated no tecarfarin-fluconazole interaction but a strong warfarin-fluconazole interaction. The ratio of log-transformed mean AUC(0-168) with versus without fluconazole for tecarfarin was 91.2% (90% confidence interval [CI]: 83.3-99.8) and for racemic warfarin was 213% (90% CI: 202-226). The 90% CI was entirely within the standard 80% to 125% bioequivalence interval for tecarfarin but well outside the bioequivalence interval for warfarin, confirming a clinically significant pharmacokinetic interaction between warfarin and fluconazole. In contrast, tecarfarin pharmacokinetics were apparently unchanged by fluconazole.

Biochemical acclimation, stomatal limitation and precipitation patterns underlie decreases in photosynthetic stimulation of soybean (Glycine max) at elevated [CO₂] and temperatures under fully open air field conditions.

PubMed

Rosenthal, David M; Ruiz-Vera, Ursula M; Siebers, Matthew H; Gray, Sharon B; Bernacchi, Carl J; Ort, Donald R

2014-09-01

The net effect of elevated [CO2] and temperature on photosynthetic acclimation and plant productivity is poorly resolved. We assessed the effects of canopy warming and fully open air [CO2] enrichment on (1) the acclimation of two biochemical parameters that frequently limit photosynthesis (A), the maximum carboxylation capacity of Rubisco (Vc,max) and the maximum potential linear electron flux through photosystem II (Jmax), (2) the associated responses of leaf structural and chemical properties related to A, as well as (3) the stomatal limitation (l) imposed on A, for soybean over two growing seasons in a conventionally managed agricultural field in Illinois, USA. Acclimation to elevated [CO2] was consistent over two growing seasons with respect to Vc,max and Jmax. However, elevated temperature significantly decreased Jmax contributing to lower photosynthetic stimulation by elevated CO2. Large seasonal differences in precipitation altered soil moisture availability modulating the complex effects of elevated temperature and CO2 on biochemical and structural properties related to A. Elevated temperature also reduced the benefit of elevated [CO2] by eliminating decreases in stomatal limitation at elevated [CO2]. These results highlight the critical importance of considering multiple environmental factors (i.e. temperature, moisture, [CO2]) when trying to predict plant productivity in the context of climate change. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Perception of multi-stable dot lattices in the visual periphery: an effect of internal positional noise.

PubMed

Põder, Endel

2011-02-16

Dot lattices are very simple multi-stable images where the dots can be perceived as being grouped in different ways. The probabilities of grouping along different orientations as dependent on inter-dot distances along these orientations can be predicted by a simple quantitative model. L. Bleumers, P. De Graef, K. Verfaillie, and J. Wagemans (2008) found that for peripheral presentation, this model should be combined with random guesses on a proportion of trials. The present study shows that the probability of random responses decreases with decreasing ambiguity of lattices and is different for bi-stable and tri-stable lattices. With central presentation, similar effects can be produced by adding positional noise to the dots. The results suggest that different levels of internal positional noise might explain the differences between peripheral and central proximity grouping.

Estimating ambiguity preferences and perceptions in multiple prior models: Evidence from the field

PubMed Central

Dimmock, Stephen G.; Kouwenberg, Roy; Mitchell, Olivia S.; Peijnenburg, Kim

2016-01-01

We develop a tractable method to estimate multiple prior models of decision-making under ambiguity. In a representative sample of the U.S. population, we measure ambiguity attitudes in the gain and loss domains. We find that ambiguity aversion is common for uncertain events of moderate to high likelihood involving gains, but ambiguity seeking prevails for low likelihoods and for losses. We show that choices made under ambiguity in the gain domain are best explained by the α-MaxMin model, with one parameter measuring ambiguity aversion (ambiguity preferences) and a second parameter quantifying the perceived degree of ambiguity (perceptions about ambiguity). The ambiguity aversion parameter α is constant and prior probability sets are asymmetric for low and high likelihood events. The data reject several other models, such as MaxMin and MaxMax, as well as symmetric probability intervals. Ambiguity aversion and the perceived degree of ambiguity are both higher for men and for the college-educated. Ambiguity aversion (but not perceived ambiguity) is also positively related to risk aversion. In the loss domain, we find evidence of reflection, implying that ambiguity aversion for gains tends to reverse into ambiguity seeking for losses. Our model’s estimates for preferences and perceptions about ambiguity can be used to analyze the economic and financial implications of such preferences. PMID:26924890

Very long transients, irregular firing, and chaotic dynamics in networks of randomly connected inhibitory integrate-and-fire neurons.

PubMed

Zillmer, Rüdiger; Brunel, Nicolas; Hansel, David

2009-03-01

We present results of an extensive numerical study of the dynamics of networks of integrate-and-fire neurons connected randomly through inhibitory interactions. We first consider delayed interactions with infinitely fast rise and decay. Depending on the parameters, the network displays transients which are short or exponentially long in the network size. At the end of these transients, the dynamics settle on a periodic attractor. If the number of connections per neuron is large ( approximately 1000) , this attractor is a cluster state with a short period. In contrast, if the number of connections per neuron is small ( approximately 100) , the attractor has complex dynamics and very long period. During the long transients the neurons fire in a highly irregular manner. They can be viewed as quasistationary states in which, depending on the coupling strength, the pattern of activity is asynchronous or displays population oscillations. In the first case, the average firing rates and the variability of the single-neuron activity are well described by a mean-field theory valid in the thermodynamic limit. Bifurcations of the long transient dynamics from asynchronous to synchronous activity are also well predicted by this theory. The transient dynamics display features reminiscent of stable chaos. In particular, despite being linearly stable, the trajectories of the transient dynamics are destabilized by finite perturbations as small as O(1/N) . We further show that stable chaos is also observed for postsynaptic currents with finite decay time. However, we report in this type of network that chaotic dynamics characterized by positive Lyapunov exponents can also be observed. We show in fact that chaos occurs when the decay time of the synaptic currents is long compared to the synaptic delay, provided that the network is sufficiently large.

Influence of Terrestrial Weathering on the Magnetic Record of a LL Chondrite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kohout, T.; Kletetschka, G.; Wasilewski, P.

2001-12-01

The origin of our solar system may have been accompanied by transient energetic events capable of magnetizing the materials from which the solid bodies in the solar system formed. The magnetic field associated with some of some of these events should have been recorded by the magnetic mineralogy contained within meteorites. To extract this information from meteorites many noise components must be carefully eliminated. The fusion crust has long been established as restricted to a thin layer on the surface of meteorite. Magnetic screening of the fusion crust that relates to Murchison meteorite indicates that during the entry and landing at least 6 mm thick layer is affected by terrestrial TRM acquisition. Many of the meteorite finds have long term residence in the terrestrial oxidized environment. This weathering is the subject of this study. The meteorite in question landed in the Libya stony desert and has obvious surface weathering that can be referred to as desert varnish. The consequent iron oxide mineralization introduced very stable origin of very stable chemical remanent magnetization. The magnetic remanence in fragments without the desert varnish is between 20 - 50 % of the oxidized ones. The orientation of this CRM appears to be random indicating that the sample may have rotated during the long period of aeolian transport and varnish formation. Magnetization of the white matrix samples (20 - 50 % of weathered ones) is thermally more stable and also randomly oriented. The range of NRM/SIRM values for both mineralogies varies between 10-2 and 10-3. Acknowledgements: This work would not be possible without help of following people: Jakub Haloda, Petr Jakes, Marcela Bukovanska, Petr Pruner, Vladimir Kohout, Libuse Kohoutova, Vladimir Kohout, Olga Kohoutova.

Cranberry fruit powder (Flowens™) improves lower urinary tract symptoms in men: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study.

PubMed

Vidlar, Ales; Student, Vladimir; Vostalova, Jitka; Fromentin, Emilie; Roller, Marc; Simanek, Vilím; Student, Vladimir

2016-03-01

Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and benign prostatic hyperplasia increase with age. To date, several medications are available to treat LUTS, including herbal remedies which offer less side effects but lack robust efficacy studies. This 6-month, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study aimed at evaluating the dose effect of 250 or 500 mg cranberry powder (Flowens™) on LUTS and uroflowmetry in men over the age of 45. A total of 124 volunteers with PSA levels <2.5 ng/mL and an international prostate symptoms score (IPSS) score ≥8 were recruited and randomized. The primary outcome measure was the IPSS, evaluated at 3 and 6 months. Secondary outcome measures included quality of life, bladder volume (Vol), maximum urinary flow rate (Q max), average urinary flow rate (Q ave), ultrasound-estimated post-void residual urine volume (PVR), serum prostate-specific antigen, selenium, interleukin 6, and C-reactive protein at 6 months. After 6 months, subjects in both Flowens™ groups had a lower IPSS (-3.1 and -4.1 in the 250- and 500-mg groups, p = 0.05 and p < 0.001, respectively) versus the placebo group (-1.5), and a dose-response effect was observed. There were significant differences in Q max, Q ave, PVR, and Vol in the Flowens™ 500-mg group versus baseline (p < 0.05). A dose-dependent effect on Vol was observed, as well as on PVR, for participants with a nonzero PVR. There was no effect on clinical chemistry or hematology markers. Flowens™ showed a clinically relevant, dose-dependent, and significant reduction in LUTS in men over 45.

[Evaluation of methodological quality in published RCTs on cataract surgery : Pilot study on the degree of adherence to CONSORT statement requirements and their qualitative validity].

PubMed

Baulig, C; Krummenauer, F; Knippschild, S

2018-01-01

The CONSORT statement can be considered as a guideline to ensure transparency in the reporting of randomized clinical trials (RCT), in addition to specific author instructions and requirements of journals. It provides a total of 25 criteria and 12 additional subcriteria on methodological and regulatorical determinants of clinical trials. The availability of the CONSORT recommendations, however, does not necessarily imply adherence to their obligations and correct realisation of the latter from a methodological perspective, so that even in ophthalmology a lack of transparency in trial reporting cannot be excluded. The question was whether a consistent consideration of the CONSORT checklist criteria by authors actually implied transparent reporting of underlying study results. This pilot study was based on a random sample of six published RCTs on cataract surgery extracted from an existing trial publication register. Compliance with each of the 25 CONSORT criteria and its 12 subcriteria and the content accuracy of the latter were independently assessed by two parallel raters for the six trial publications. The median compliance with the 37 CONSORT criteria and subcriteria was 62% [min-max 48-81%]; the median fraction of their correct implementation was 47% [min-max 34-69%]. Promotion of transparent reporting by means of the CONSORT statement appears to be problematic in implementation. There is a discrepancy between information as required by CONSORT and the content accuracy of its actual presentation. Thus, in particular, reviewers of clinical trial publications should not only check for the presence of data to be provided according to CONSORT, but also verify the meaningfulness in the respective context, at least on a random basis.

Minocycline in Acute Cerebral Hemorrhage: An Early Phase Randomized Trial.

PubMed

Fouda, Abdelrahman Y; Newsome, Andrea S; Spellicy, Samantha; Waller, Jennifer L; Zhi, Wenbo; Hess, David C; Ergul, Adviye; Edwards, David J; Fagan, Susan C; Switzer, Jeffrey A

2017-10-01

Minocycline is under investigation as a neurovascular protective agent for stroke. This study evaluated the pharmacokinetic, anti-inflammatory, and safety profile of minocycline after intracerebral hemorrhage. This study was a single-site, randomized controlled trial of minocycline conducted from 2013 to 2016. Adults ≥18 years with primary intracerebral hemorrhage who could have study drug administered within 24 hours of onset were included. Patients received 400 mg of intravenous minocycline, followed by 400 mg minocycline oral daily for 4 days. Serum concentrations of minocycline after the last oral dose and biomarkers were sampled to determine the peak concentration, half-life, and anti-inflammatory profile. A total of 16 consecutive eligible patients were enrolled, with 8 randomized to minocycline. Although the literature supports a time to peak concentration (T max ) of 1 hour for oral minocycline, the T max was estimated to be at least 6 hours in this cohort. The elimination half-life (available on 7 patients) was 17.5 hours (SD±3.5). No differences were observed in inflammatory biomarkers, hematoma volume, or perihematomal edema. Concentrations remained at neuroprotective levels (>3 mg/L) throughout the dosing interval in 5 of 7 patients. In intracerebral hemorrhage, a 400 mg dose of minocycline was safe and achieved neuroprotective serum concentrations. However, oral administration led to delayed absorption in these critically ill patients and should not be used when rapid, high concentrations are desired. Given the safety and pharmacokinetic profile of minocycline in intracerebral hemorrhage and promising data in the treatment of ischemic stroke, intravenous minocycline is an excellent candidate for a prehospital treatment trial. URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01805895. © 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.

The anomalous demagnetization behaviour of chondritic meteorites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morden, S. J.

1992-06-01

Alternating field (AF) demagnetization of chondritic samples often shows anomalous results such as large directional and intensity changes; 'saw-tooth' intensity vs. demagnetizing field curves are also prevalent. An attempt to explain this behaviour is presented, using a computer model in which individual 'mineral grains' can be 'magnetized' in a variety of different ways. A simulated demagnetization can then be carried out to examine the results. It was found that the experimental behaviour of chondrites can be successfully mimicked by loading the computer model with a series of randomly orientated and sized vectors. The parameters of the model can be changed to reflect different trends seen in experimental data. Many published results can be modelled using this method. A known magnetic mineralogy can be modelled, and an unknown mineralogy deduced from AF demagnetization curves. Only by comparing data from mutually orientated samples can true stable regions for palaeointensity measurements be identified, calling into question some previous estimates of field strength from meteorites.

Vertical columns of NO2, HONO, HCHO, CHOCHO and aerosol extinction: diurnal and seasonal variations in context of CalNex and CARES

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ortega, I.; Coburn, S.; Oetjen, H.; Sinreich, R.; Thalman, R. M.; Waxman, E.; Volkamer, R.

2011-12-01

We present results from two ground-based University of Colorado Multi Axis Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (CU-MAX-DOAS) instruments that were deployed during the CALNEX and CARES 2010 field campaigns. Ground based CU-MAX-DOAS measurements were carried out through Dec 2010, and measured vertical column abundances of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), nitrous acid (HONO), formaldehyde (HCHO), glyoxal (CHOCHO), and aerosol extinction, which is determined indirectly from observing the oxygen dimers (O4). The measurements were acquired on the top of Millikan library at Caltech, Pasadena, CA, at the Fontana Arrows site located 60 Km east of Caltech, and for a limited period also downwind of Sacramento at T1 site during CARES. In the South Coast Air Basin, the MAX-DOAS instruments at both sites collected an extended time series of use to test satellites, and atmospheric chemistry models. We determine the state of the planetary boundary layer by comparing the columns observations with in-situ sensors, and place the CALNEX and CARES measurements intensive into seasonal context.

Reliability and intensity of the six-minute walk test in healthy elderly subjects.

PubMed

Kervio, Gaelle; Carre, Francois; Ville, Nathalie S

2003-01-01

The 6-min walk test (6-MWT) is an easy and validated field test, generally used in patients to assess their physical capacity. We think that the 6-MWT could also be conducted in the same perspective in healthy subjects, aged 60-70 yr. However, little is known about the effect of the familiarization on the 6-MWT performance and the relative intensity of this test. The aims of this study were therefore to bring precision to the 6-MWT reliability and intensity in this population. METHODS; Over 3 d, 12 subjects performed two maximal exercise tests on treadmill and five 6-MWT (two in the morning and three in the afternoon) with a portable metabolic measurement system (Cosmed K4, Rome, Italy). The distance, walking speed, oxygen uptake (VO2 (max)), and heart rate (HR) values were measured during the 6-MWT. Distance, walking speed, and VO2(max) were only lower during the first two 6-MWT (respectively, P< 0.001, P< 0.001, and P< 0.05). HR was reliable from the first 6-MWT and was higher during the tests performed in the afternoon (P< 0.001). The intensity of the 6-MWT corresponded to 79.6 +/- 4.5% of the VO2(max), 85.8 +/- 2.5% of the HR (max), and 78.0 +/- 6.3% of the HR (reserve). Moreover, it was higher than the ventilatory threshold in each subject (P< 0.01). In healthy elderly subjects, the 6-MWT represents a submaximal exercise, but at almost 80% of the VO2(max). To be exploitable, two familiarization attempts are required to limit the learning effect. Finally, the 6-MWT time of day must be taken into account when assessing HR.

Observations of the vertical distributions of summertime atmospheric pollutants and the corresponding ozone production in Shanghai, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xing, Chengzhi; Liu, Cheng; Wang, Shanshan; Chan, Ka Lok; Gao, Yang; Huang, Xin; Su, Wenjing; Zhang, Chengxin; Dong, Yunsheng; Fan, Guangqiang; Zhang, Tianshu; Chen, Zhenyi; Hu, Qihou; Su, Hang; Xie, Zhouqing; Liu, Jianguo

2017-12-01

Ground-based multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) and lidar measurements were performed in Shanghai, China, during May 2016 to investigate the vertical distribution of summertime atmospheric pollutants. In this study, vertical profiles of aerosol extinction coefficient, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and formaldehyde (HCHO) concentrations were retrieved from MAX-DOAS measurements using the Heidelberg Profile (HEIPRO) algorithm, while vertical distribution of ozone (O3) was obtained from an ozone lidar. Sensitivity study of the MAX-DOAS aerosol profile retrieval shows that the a priori aerosol profile shape has significant influences on the aerosol profile retrieval. Aerosol profiles retrieved from MAX-DOAS measurements with Gaussian a priori profile demonstrate the best agreements with simultaneous lidar measurements and vehicle-based tethered-balloon observations among all a priori aerosol profiles. Tropospheric NO2 vertical column densities (VCDs) measured with MAX-DOAS show a good agreement with OMI satellite observations with a Pearson correlation coefficient (R) of 0.95. In addition, measurements of the O3 vertical distribution indicate that the ozone productions do not only occur at surface level but also at higher altitudes (about 1.1 km). Planetary boundary layer (PBL) height and horizontal and vertical wind field information were integrated to discuss the ozone formation at upper altitudes. The results reveal that enhanced ozone concentrations at ground level and upper altitudes are not directly related to horizontal and vertical transportation. Similar patterns of O3 and HCHO vertical distributions were observed during this campaign, which implies that the ozone productions near the surface and at higher altitudes are mainly influenced by the abundance of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the lower troposphere.

Metal Complexation in Xylem Fluid 1

PubMed Central

White, Michael C.; Chaney, Rufus L.; Decker, A. Morris

1981-01-01

The capacity of ligands in xylem fluid to form metal complexes was tested with a series of in vitro experiments using paper electrophoresis and radiographs. The xylem fluid was collected hourly for 8 hours from soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) plants grown in normal and Zn-phytotoxic nutrient solutions. Metal complexation was assayed by anodic or reduced cathodic movement of radionuclides (63Ni, 65Zn, 109Cd, 54Mn) that were presumed to have formed negatively charged complexes. Electrophoretic migration of Ni, Zn, Cd, and Mn added to xylem exudate and spotted on KCl- or KNO3-wetted paper showed that stable Ni, Zn, and Cd metal complexes were formed by exudate ligands. No anodic Mn complexes were observed in this test system. Solution pH, plant species, exudate collection time, and Zn phytotoxicity all affected the amount of metal complex formed in exudate. As the pH increased, there was increased anodic metal movement. Soybean exudate generally bound more of each metal than did tomato exudate. Metal binding usually decreased with increasing exudate collection time, and less metal was bound by the high-Zn exudate. Ni, Zn, Cd, and Mn in exudate added to exudate-wetted paper demonstrated the effect of ligand concentration on stable metal complex formation. Complexes for each metal were demonstratable with this method. Cathodic metal movement increased with time of exudate collection, and it was greater in the high-Zn exudate than in the normal-Zn exudate. A model study illustrated the effect of ligand concentration on metal complex stability in the electrophoretic field. Higher ligand (citric acid) concentrations increased the stability for all metals tested. Images PMID:16661666

Biochemical and thermodynamic characteristics of thermo-alkali-stable xylanase from a novel polyextremophilic Bacillus halodurans TSEV1.

PubMed

Kumar, Vikash; Satyanarayana, T

2013-09-01

The purified extracellular xylanase of polyextremophilic Bacillus halodurans TSEV1 has been visualized as a single band on SDS-PAGE and eluted as single peak by gel filtration, with a molecular mass of 40 kDa. The peptide finger print and cloned xylanase gene sequence analyses indicate that this enzyme belongs to GH family 10. The active site carboxyl residues are mainly involved in catalysis, while tryptophan residues are involved in substrate binding. The enzyme is optimally active at 80 °C and pH 9.0, and stable in the pH range of 7.0-12.0 with T 1/2 of 35 min at 80 °C (pH 9.0). Activation energy for birch wood xylan hydrolysis is 30.51 kJ mol(-1). The K m, V max and k cat (birchwood xylan) are 2.05 mg ml(-1), 333.33 μmol mg(-1 )min(-1) and 3.33 × 10(4) min(-1), respectively. The pKa1 and pKa2 of ionizable groups of the active site that influence V max are 8.51 and 11.0. The analysis of thermodynamic parameters for xylan hydrolysis suggests this as a spontaneous process. The enzyme is resistant to chemical denaturants like urea and guanidinium-HCl. The site-directed mutagenesis of catalytic glutamic acid residues (E196 and E301) resulted in a complete loss of activity. The birch wood xylan hydrolyzate contained xylobiose and xylotriose as the main products without any trace of xylose, and the enzyme hydrolyzes xylotetraose and xylopentaose rapidly to xylobiose. Thermo-alkali-stability, resistance to various chemical denaturants and mode of action make it a useful biocatalyst for generating xylo-oligosaccharides from agro-residues and bleaching of pulp in paper industries.

Effect of Preexercise Ingestion of Modified Amylomaize Starch on Glycemic Response While Cycling.

PubMed

Parks, Rachel B; Angus, Hector F; King, Douglas S; Sharp, Rick L

2018-01-01

Amylomaize-7 is classified as a resistant corn starch and is 68% digestible. When modified by partial hydrolysis in ethanol and hydrochloric acid its digestibility is 92%, yet retains its low glycemic and insulinemic properties. The purpose of this study was to characterize the metabolic response when modified amylomaize-7 or dextrose is consumed in the hour before exercise, and to compare the effect on performance of a brief high-intensity cycling trial. Ten male, trained cyclists were given 1 g/kg body mass of dextrose (DEX) or modified amylomaize-7 (AMY-7) or a flavored water placebo (PL) 45 min prior to exercise on a cycle ergometer. A 15-min ride at 60% W max was immediately followed by a self-paced time trial (TT) equivalent to 15 min at 80% W max . When cyclists consumed DEX, mean serum glucose concentration increased by 3.3 ± 2.1 mmol/L before exercise, compared to stable serum glucose observed for AMY-7 or PL. Glucose concentrations returned to baseline by pre-TT in all treatments. However, the mean post-TT glucose concentration of the DEX group was significantly lower than baseline, AMY-7, or PL. Serum insulin concentration increased nine-fold from baseline to preexercise in the DEX trial, whereas PL or AMY-7 remained unchanged. Time required to complete the performance trial was not significantly different between DEX, AMY-7 or PL. Preexercise ingestion of modified amylomaize-7 compared to dextrose resulted in a more stable serum glucose concentration, but did not offer a performance advantage in this high-intensity cycling trial.

The feasibility and stability of large complex biological networks: a random matrix approach.

PubMed

Stone, Lewi

2018-05-29

In the 70's, Robert May demonstrated that complexity creates instability in generic models of ecological networks having random interaction matrices A. Similar random matrix models have since been applied in many disciplines. Central to assessing stability is the "circular law" since it describes the eigenvalue distribution for an important class of random matrices A. However, despite widespread adoption, the "circular law" does not apply for ecological systems in which density-dependence operates (i.e., where a species growth is determined by its density). Instead one needs to study the far more complicated eigenvalue distribution of the community matrix S = DA, where D is a diagonal matrix of population equilibrium values. Here we obtain this eigenvalue distribution. We show that if the random matrix A is locally stable, the community matrix S = DA will also be locally stable, providing the system is feasible (i.e., all species have positive equilibria D > 0). This helps explain why, unusually, nearly all feasible systems studied here are locally stable. Large complex systems may thus be even more fragile than May predicted, given the difficulty of assembling a feasible system. It was also found that the degree of stability, or resilience of a system, depended on the minimum equilibrium population.

Tillage and crop rotation effects on soil quality in two Iowa fields

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Soil quality is affected by inherent (parent material, climate, and topography) and anthropogenic (tillage and crop rotation) factors. We evaluated effects of five tillage treatments on 23 potential soil quality indicators after 31 years in a corn (Zea mays L.)/soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] rotat...

Laboratory evaluations of Lepidopteran-active soybean seed treatments on survivorship of fall armyworm (Lepidoptera:Noctuidae) larvae

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Two anthranilic diamide insecticides, chlorantraniliprole and cyantraniliprole, were evaluated as soybean, Glycine max L., seed treatments for control of fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith). Bioassays were conducted using 2nd instar larvae and plants from both field and greenhouse gr...

Influence of grid bar shape on field cleaner performance - Screening tests

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Extractor type cleaners are used on cotton strippers and in the seed cotton cleaning machinery in the ginning process to remove large foreign material such as burrs and sticks. Previous research on the development of extractor type cleaners focused on machine design and operating parameters that max...

The Rationalization of Everything? Using Ritzer's McDonaldization Thesis To Teach Weber.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lippmann, Stephen; Aldrich, Howard

2003-01-01

Outlines a plan for helping undergraduate students appreciate Max Weber's theoretical achievements, teaching critical thinking about what constitutes 'the good life' in rationalized societies. Uses the book "The McDonaldization of Society" (George Ritzer) to encourage student interest in Weber's work. Describes field exercises and…

A protocol of histone modification-based mechanistic study of acupuncture in patients with stable angina pectoris.

PubMed

Wang, Ning; Lu, Sheng-Feng; Chen, Hui; Wang, Jian-Fei; Fu, Shu-Ping; Hu, Chen-Jun; Yang, Yi; Liang, Fan-Rong; Zhu, Bing-Mei

2015-04-30

Angina pectoris (Angina) is a medical condition related to myocardial ischemia. Although acupuncture has been widely accepted as a clinical approach for angina, there is no sufficient evidence of its effectiveness against this syndrome, and its mechanisms have not yet been well elucidated. We develop this protocol to confirm the clinical efficacy of electro-acupuncture on stable angina pectoris by needling on acupoint Neiguan (PC6). Furthermore, we employ high-throughput sequencing technology to investigate the gene expression profiling and determine involvement of histone modifications in the regulation of genes after electro-acupuncture treatment. A randomized, controlled, double-blinded (assessor and patients) trial will be carried out. Sixty participants will be randomly assigned to two acupuncture treatment groups and one control group in a 1:1:1 ratio. Participants in acupuncture groups will receive 12 sessions of electro-acupuncture treatment across 4 weeks, followed by a 12-week randomization period. The acupuncture groups are divided into Neiguan (PC6) on Pericardium Meridian of Hand-jueyin or a non-acupoint. The primary clinical measure of effect is the frequency of angina attacks between these groups for four weeks after randomization. RNAs are extracted from peripheral neutrophils collected from all participants on day 0, day 30, and week 16, and are processed to RNA-Seq. We then investigate profiles of histone modifications by ChIP-Seq, for H3 Lysine 4 (H3K4me) and acetylation of H3 Lysine 27 (H3K27ac), in the presence or absence of acupuncture treatment. This study determines the efficacy and mechanisms of electro-acupuncture on stable angina pectoris. We focus on effectiveness of acupuncture on alleviating symptoms of myocardial ischemia and the gene regulation and the chromatin remodeling marks, including H3K4me1, H3K4me2, and H3K27ac, which could be key factors for regulating gene expressions caused by electro-acupuncture treatment at Neiguan. This is the first genome-wide study of electro-acupuncture treatment in angina patients, and will provide valuable information for future studies in the fields of acupuncture and its underlying mechanisms. Fourteen patients have been recruited since recruitment opened in November of 2012. This study is scheduled to end in November of 2014. ChiCTR-TRC-12002668.

Identification of stable fly attractant compounds in vinasse, a byproduct of sugarcane-ethanol distillation.

PubMed

Jelvez Serra, N S; Goulart, H F; Triana, M F; Dos Santos Tavares, S; Almeida, C I M; DA Costa, J G; Santana, A E G; Zhu, J J

2017-12-01

The stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans (Diptera: Muscidae), is a worldwide pest of livestock. Recent outbreaks of stable flies in sugarcane fields in Brazil have become a serious problem for livestock producers. Larvae and pupae found inside sugarcane stems after harvesting may indicate that stable flies use these stems as potential oviposition or larval development sites. Field observations suggest that outbreaks of stable flies are associated with the vinasse and filter cake derived from biomass distillation in sugarcane ethanol production that are used as fertilizers in sugarcane fields. Adult stable flies are attracted to vinasse, which appears to present an ideal larval development site. The primary goal of the present study is to demonstrate the role of vinasse in influencing the sensory physiological and behavioural responses of stable flies, and to identify its associated volatile attractant compounds. Both laboratory and field studies showed that vinasse is extremely attractive to adult stable flies. Chemical analyses of volatiles collected revealed a wide range of carboxylic acids, alcohols, phenols and aldehydes as potential attractant compounds. These newly identified attractants could be used to develop a tool for the attractant-baited mass trapping of stable flies in order to reduce infestations. Published 2017. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Searching for magnetic fields in 11 Wolf-Rayet stars: Analysis of circular polarization measurements from ESPaDOnS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

De la Chevrotière, A.; St-Louis, N.; Moffat, A. F. J.

With recent detections of magnetic fields in some of their progenitor O stars, combined with known strong fields in their possible descendant neutron stars, it is natural to search for magnetic fields in Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars, despite the problems associated with the presence of winds enhanced by an order of magnitude over those of O stars. We continue our search among a sample of 11 bright WR stars following our introductory study in a previous paper of WR6 = EZ CMa using the spectropolarimeter ESPaDOnS at Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, most of them in all four Stokes parameters. This sample includes sixmore » WN stars and five WC stars encompassing a range of spectral subclasses. Six are medium/long-period binaries and three show corotating interaction regions. We report no definite detections of a magnetic field in the winds in which the lines form (which is about the same distance from the center of the star as it is from the surface of the progenitor O star) for any of the eleven stars. Possible reasons and their implications are discussed. Nonetheless, the data show evidence supporting marginal detections for WR134, WR137, and WR138. According to the Bayesian analysis, the most probable field intensities are B {sub wind} ∼ 200, 130, and 80 G, respectively, with a 95.4% probability that the magnetic fields present in the observable parts of their stellar wind, if stronger, does not exceed B{sub wind}{sup max}∼1900 G, ∼1500 G, and ∼1500 G, respectively. In the case of non-detections, we report an average field strength upper limit of B{sub wind}{sup max}∼500 G.« less

Single-Dose Pharmacokinetics of Oral Cannabidiol Following Administration of PTL101: A New Formulation Based on Gelatin Matrix Pellets Technology.

PubMed

Atsmon, Jacob; Heffetz, Daphna; Deutsch, Lisa; Deutsch, Frederic; Sacks, Hagit

2017-11-10

Cannabidiol (CBD) is the main nonpsychoactive component of the cannabis plant. It has been associated with antiseizure, antioxidant, neuroprotective, anxiolytic, anti-inflammatory, antidepressant, and antipsychotic effects. PTL101 is an oral gelatin matrix pellets technology-based formulation containing highly purified CBD embedded in seamless gelatin matrix beadlets. Study objectives were to evaluate the safety and tolerability of PTL101 containing 10 and 100 mg CBD, following single administrations to healthy volunteers and to compare the pharmacokinetic profiles and relative bioavailability of CBD with Sativex oromucosal spray (the reference product) in a randomized, crossover study design. Administration of PTL101 containing 10 CBD, led to a 1.7-fold higher C max and 1.3-fold higher AUC compared with the oromucosal spray. T max following both modes of delivery was 3-3.5 hours postdosing. CBD exhibited about a 1-hour lag in absorption when delivered via PTL101. A 10-fold increase in the dose resulted in an ∼15-fold increase in C max and AUC. Bioavailability of CBD in the 10-mg PTL101 dose was 134% relative to the reference spray. PTL101 is a pharmaceutical-grade, user-friendly oral formulation that demonstrated safe and efficient delivery of CBD and therefore could be an attractive candidate for therapeutic indications. © 2017, The American College of Clinical Pharmacology.

Factors associated to acceptable treatment adherence among children with chronic kidney disease in Guatemala

PubMed Central

Cerón, Alejandro; Méndez-Alburez, Luis Pablo; Lou-Meda, Randall

2017-01-01

Pediatric patients with Chronic Kidney Disease face several barriers to medication adherence that, if addressed, may improve clinical care outcomes. A cross sectional questionnaire was administered in the Foundation for Children with Kidney Disease (FUNDANIER, Guatemala City) from September of 2015 to April of 2016 to identify the predisposing factors, enabling factors and need factors related to medication adherence. Sample size was calculated using simple random sampling with a confidence level of 95%, confidence interval of 0.05 and a proportion of 87%. A total of 103 participants responded to the questionnaire (calculated sample size was 96). Independent variables were defined and described, and the bivariate relationship to dependent variables was determined using Odds Ratio. Multivariate analysis was carried out using logistic regression. The mean adherence of study population was 78% (SD 0.08, max = 96%, min = 55%). The mean adherence in transplant patients was 82% (SD 7.8, max 96%, min 63%), and the mean adherence in dialysis patients was 76% (SD 7.8 max 90%, min 55%). Adherence was positively associated to the mother’s educational level and to higher monthly household income. Together predisposing, enabling and need factors illustrate the complexities surrounding adherence in this pediatric CKD population. Public policy strategies aimed at improving access to comprehensive treatment regimens may facilitate treatment access, alleviating economic strain on caregivers and may improve adherence outcomes. PMID:29036228

Effects of Exercise Intensity on Postexercise Endothelial Function and Oxidative Stress

PubMed Central

McClean, Conor; Harris, Ryan A.; Brown, Malcolm; Brown, John C.; Davison, Gareth W.

2015-01-01

Purpose. To measure endothelial function and oxidative stress immediately, 90 minutes, and three hours after exercise of varying intensities. Methods. Sixteen apparently healthy men completed three exercise bouts of treadmill running for 30 minutes at 55% V˙O2max (mild); 20 minutes at 75% V˙O2max (moderate); or 5 minutes at 100% V˙O2max (maximal) in random order. Brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) was assessed with venous blood samples drawn for measurement of endothelin-1 (ET-1), lipid hydroperoxides (LOOHs), and lipid soluble antioxidants. Results. LOOH increased immediately following moderate exercise (P < 0.05). ET-1 was higher immediately after exercise and 3 hours after exercise in the mild trial compared to maximal one (P < 0.05). Transient decreases were detected for ΔFMD/ShearAUC from baseline following maximal exercise, but it normalised at 3 hours after exercise (P < 0.05). Shear rate was higher immediately after exercise in the maximal trial compared to mild exercise (P < 0.05). No changes in baseline diameter, peak diameter, absolute change in diameter, or FMD were observed following any of the exercise trials (P > 0.05). Conclusions. Acute exercise at different intensities elicits varied effects on oxidative stress, shear rate, and ET-1 that do not appear to mediate changes in endothelial function measured by FMD. PMID:26583061

Factors associated to acceptable treatment adherence among children with chronic kidney disease in Guatemala.

PubMed

Ramay, Brooke M; Cerón, Alejandro; Méndez-Alburez, Luis Pablo; Lou-Meda, Randall

2017-01-01

Pediatric patients with Chronic Kidney Disease face several barriers to medication adherence that, if addressed, may improve clinical care outcomes. A cross sectional questionnaire was administered in the Foundation for Children with Kidney Disease (FUNDANIER, Guatemala City) from September of 2015 to April of 2016 to identify the predisposing factors, enabling factors and need factors related to medication adherence. Sample size was calculated using simple random sampling with a confidence level of 95%, confidence interval of 0.05 and a proportion of 87%. A total of 103 participants responded to the questionnaire (calculated sample size was 96). Independent variables were defined and described, and the bivariate relationship to dependent variables was determined using Odds Ratio. Multivariate analysis was carried out using logistic regression. The mean adherence of study population was 78% (SD 0.08, max = 96%, min = 55%). The mean adherence in transplant patients was 82% (SD 7.8, max 96%, min 63%), and the mean adherence in dialysis patients was 76% (SD 7.8 max 90%, min 55%). Adherence was positively associated to the mother's educational level and to higher monthly household income. Together predisposing, enabling and need factors illustrate the complexities surrounding adherence in this pediatric CKD population. Public policy strategies aimed at improving access to comprehensive treatment regimens may facilitate treatment access, alleviating economic strain on caregivers and may improve adherence outcomes.

Gemfibrozil markedly increases the plasma concentrations of montelukast: a previously unrecognized role for CYP2C8 in the metabolism of montelukast.

PubMed

Karonen, T; Filppula, A; Laitila, J; Niemi, M; Neuvonen, P J; Backman, J T

2010-08-01

According to available information, montelukast is metabolized by cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4 and 2C9. In order to study the significance of CYP2C8 in the pharmacokinetics of montelukast, 10 healthy subjects were administered gemfibrozil 600 mg or placebo twice daily for 3 days, and 10 mg montelukast on day 3, in a randomized, crossover study. Gemfibrozil increased the mean area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC)(0-infinity), peak plasma concentration (C(max)), and elimination half-life (t(1/2)) of montelukast 4.5-fold, 1.5-fold, and 3.0-fold, respectively (P < 0.001). After administration of gemfibrozil, the time to reach C(max) (t(max)) of the montelukast metabolite M6 was prolonged threefold (P = 0.005), its AUC(0-7) was reduced by 40% (P = 0.027), and the AUC(0-24) of the secondary metabolite M4 was reduced by >90% (P < 0.001). In human liver microsomes, gemfibrozil 1-O-beta glucuronide inhibited the formation of M6 (but not of M5) from montelukast 35-fold more potently than did gemfibrozil (half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) 3.0 and 107 micromol/l, respectively). In conclusion, gemfibrozil markedly increases the plasma concentrations of montelukast, indicating that CYP2C8 is crucial in the elimination of montelukast.

Likely additive ergogenic effects of combined preexercise dietary nitrate and caffeine ingestion in trained cyclists.

PubMed

Handzlik, Michal K; Gleeson, Michael

2013-01-01

Aims. To evaluate the possible additive effects of beetroot juice plus caffeine on exercise performance. Methods. In a randomized, double-blinded study design, fourteen healthy well-trained men aged 22 ± 3 years performed four trials on different occasions following preexercise ingestion of placebo (PLA), PLA plus 5 mg/kg caffeine (PLA+C), beetroot juice providing 8 mmol of nitrate (BR), and beetroot juice plus caffeine (BR+C). Participants cycled at 60% maximal oxygen uptake ([Formula: see text]max) for 30 min followed by a time to exhaustion (TTE) trial at 80% [Formula: see text]max. Saliva was collected before supplement ingestion, before exercise, and after the TTE trial for salivary nitrate, nitrite, and cortisol analysis. Results. In beetroot trials, saliva nitrate and nitrite increased >10-fold before exercise compared with preingestion (P ≤ 0.002). TTE in BR+C was 46% higher than in PLA (P = 0.096) and 18% and 27% nonsignificant TTE improvements were observed on BR+C compared with BR and PLA+C alone, respectively. Lower ratings of perceived exertion during TTE were found during 80% [Formula: see text]max on BR+C compared with PLA and PLA+C (P < 0.05 for both). Conclusions. Acute preexercise beetroot juice coingestion with caffeine likely has additive effects on exercise performance compared with either beetroot or caffeine alone.

Numerical analyses of trapped field magnet and stable levitation region of HTSC

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tsuchimoto, M.; Kojima, T.; Waki, H.

Stable levitation with a permanent magnet and a bulk high {Tc} superconductor (HTSC) is examined numerically by using the critical state model and the frozen field model. Differences between a permanent magnet and a trapped field magnet are first discussed from property of levitation force. Stable levitation region of the HTSC on a ring magnet and on a solenoid coil are calculated with the numerical methods. Obtained results are discussed from difference of the magnetic field configuration.

Petrographic maturity parameters of a Devonian shale maturation series, Appalachian Basin, USA. ICCP Thermal Indices Working Group interlaboratory exercise

USGS Publications Warehouse

Araujo, Carla Viviane; Borrego, Angeles G.; Cardott, Brian; das Chagas, Renata Brenand A.; Flores, Deolinda; Goncalves, Paula; Hackley, Paul C.; Hower, James C.; Kern, Marcio Luciano; Kus, Jolanta; Mastalerz, Maria; Filho, João Graciano Mendonça; de Oliveira Mendonça, Joalice; Rego Menezes, Taissa; Newman, Jane; Suarez-Ruiz, Isabel; Sobrinho da Silva, Frederico; Viegas de Souza, Igor

2014-01-01

This paper presents results of an interlaboratory exercise on organic matter optical maturity parameters using a natural maturation series comprised by three Devonian shale samples (Huron Member, Ohio Shale) from the Appalachian Basin, USA. This work was conducted by the Thermal Indices Working Group of the International Committee for Coal and Organic Petrology (ICCP) Commission II (Geological Applications of Organic Petrology). This study aimed to compare: 1. maturation predicted by different types of petrographic parameters (vitrinite reflectance and spectral fluorescence of telalginite), 2. reproducibility of the results for these maturation parameters obtained by different laboratories, and 3. improvements in the spectral fluorescence measurement obtained using modern detection systems in comparison with the results from historical round robin exercises.Mean random vitrinite reflectance measurements presented the highest level of reproducibility (group standard deviation 0.05) for low maturity and reproducibility diminished with increasing maturation (group standard deviation 0.12).Corrected fluorescence spectra, provided by 14 participants, showed a fair to good correspondence. Standard deviation of the mean values for spectral parameters was lowest for the low maturity sample but was also fairly low for higher maturity samples.A significant improvement in the reproducibility of corrected spectral fluorescence curves was obtained in the current exercise compared to a previous investigation of Toarcian organic matter spectra in a maturation series from the Paris Basin. This improvement is demonstrated by lower values of standard deviation and is interpreted to reflect better performance of newer photo-optical measuring systems.Fluorescence parameters measured here are in good agreement with vitrinite reflectance values for the least mature shale but indicate higher maturity than shown by vitrinite reflectance for the two more mature shales. This red shift in λmax beyond 0.65% vitrinite reflectance was also observed in studies of Devonian shale in other basins, suggesting that the accepted correlation for these two petrographic thermal maturity parameters needs to be re-evaluated.A good linear correlation between λmax and Tmax for this maturation series was observed and λmax 600 nm corresponds to Tmax of 440 °C. Nevertheless if a larger set of Devonian samples is included, the correlation is polynomial with a jump in λmax ranging from 540 to 570 nm. Up to 440 °C of Tmax, the λmax, mostly, reaches up to 500 nm; beyond a Tmax of 440 °C, λmax is in the range of 580–600 nm. This relationship places the “red shift” when the onset of the oil window is reached at Tmax of 440 °C. Moreover, the correlation between HI and λmax (r2 = 0.70) shows a striking inflection and decrease in HI above a λmax of 600 nm, coincident with the approximate onset of hydrocarbon generation in these rocks.

Ratings of perceived exertion in braille: validity and reliability in production mode.

PubMed

Buckley, J P; Eston, R G; Sim, J

2000-08-01

(a) To assess the validity and reliability of producing and reproducing a given exercise intensity during cycle ergometry using a braille version of Borg's standard 6-20 rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scale, and (b) to determine whether the exercise responses of blind participants, at a given produced RPE, were similar to those reported in recognised guidelines for sighted subjects. Ten healthy registered blind volunteer participants (four women, six men; mean (SD) age 23.2 (9.0) years) performed an initial graded exercise cycle test to determine maximal heart rate (HRMAx) and maximal oxygen uptake (VO2MAX). Three trials of three exercise bouts at RPEs 9, 11, and 13 were then performed in random order on three separate days of the same week, with expired air and heart rate measured continuously. Each exercise bout was followed by 10 minutes of rest. The validity of the scale as a means of producing different exercise intensities was assessed using a two factor (RPE x trial) repeated measures analysis of variance. Intertrial reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and the bias +/-95% limits of agreement (95%LoA) procedure. Participants reported no difficulty in using the braille RPE scale. When asked to produce exercise intensities equating to RPE 9, 11, and 13, they elicited mean %VO2MAX values of 47%, 53%, and 63% respectively. Analysis of variance showed no significant differences in either %HRMAx or %VO2MAX between trials at each of the three RPEs, but there was a significant difference (p<0.001) in both %HRMAx and %VO2MAX between the three RPE levels. All pairwise comparisons of the three different RPEs were significantly different (p<0.016). The ICC between the second and third trial for %HRMAx was significant (p <0.05) for all three RPEs. Similarly for %VO2MAX, the ICC was significant for RPE 9 and 11 but not 13. The 95%LoA decreased for both %HRMAx and %VO2MAX with each successive trial. Blind participants were successful in using a braille RPE scale to differentiate exercise intensity on a cycle ergometer. In every trial at RPE 13, all participants achieved %HRMAX and %VO2MAX levels, which fell within the recommendedrange for developing cardiorespiratory fitness. Using %HRMAx as a judge of intertrial reliability, the participants were able to repeat similar exercise intensities after two trials at each of the three RPEs (9, 11,13). The same was true for RPE 9 and 11, when %VO2MAX was used as a judge, but further trials were required to achieve similar reliability at RPE 13. A braille RPE scale can be used by healthy blind people during cycle ergometry, with similar effect to the visual analogue scale recommended for use in healthy sighted people.

NASA/Max Planck Institute Barium Ion Cloud Project.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brence, W. A.; Carr, R. E.; Gerlach, J. C.; Neuss, H.

1973-01-01

NASA and the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE), Munich, Germany, conducted a cooperative experiment involving the release and study of a barium cloud at 31,500 km altitude near the equatorial plane. The release was made near local magnetic midnight on Sept. 21, 1971. The MPE-built spacecraft contained a canister of 16 kg of Ba CuO mixture, a two-axis magnetometer, and other payload instrumentation. The objectives of the experiment were to investigate the interaction of the ionized barium cloud with the ambient medium and to deduce the properties of electric fields in the proximity of the release. An overview of the project is given to briefly summarize the organization, responsibilities, objectives, instrumentation, and operational aspects of the project.

Time-resolved monitoring of cavitation activity in megasonic cleaning systems.

PubMed

Hauptmann, M; Brems, S; Struyf, H; Mertens, P; Heyns, M; De Gendt, S; Glorieux, C

2012-03-01

The occurrence of acoustic cavitation in the cleaning liquid is a crucial precondition for the performance of megasonic cleaning systems. Hence, a fundamental understanding of the impact of different parameters of the megasonic process on cavitation activity is necessary. A setup capable of synchronously measuring sonoluminescence and acoustic emission originating from acoustically active bubbles is presented. The system also includes a high-speed-stroboscopic Schlieren imaging system to directly visualize the influence of cavitation activity on the Schlieren contrast and resolvable bubbles. This allows a thorough characterization of the mutual interaction of cavitation bubbles with the sound field and with each other. Results obtained during continuous sonication of argon-saturated water at various nominal power densities indicate that acoustic cavitation occurs in a cyclic manner, during which periods of stable and inertial cavitation activity alternate. The occurrence of higher and ultraharmonics in the acoustic emission spectra is characteristic for the stable cavitation state. The inertial cavitation state is characterized by a strong attenuation of the sound field, the explosive growth of bubbles and the occurrence of broadband components in the acoustic spectra. Both states can only be sustained at sufficiently high intensities of the sound field. At lower intensities, their occurrences are limited to short, random bursts. Cleaning activity can be linked to the cavitation activity through the measurement of particle removal on standard 200 mm silicon wafers. It is found that the particle removal efficiency is reduced, when a continuous state of cavitation activity ceases to exist.

Exact extreme-value statistics at mixed-order transitions.

PubMed

Bar, Amir; Majumdar, Satya N; Schehr, Grégory; Mukamel, David

2016-05-01

We study extreme-value statistics for spatially extended models exhibiting mixed-order phase transitions (MOT). These are phase transitions that exhibit features common to both first-order (discontinuity of the order parameter) and second-order (diverging correlation length) transitions. We consider here the truncated inverse distance squared Ising model, which is a prototypical model exhibiting MOT, and study analytically the extreme-value statistics of the domain lengths The lengths of the domains are identically distributed random variables except for the global constraint that their sum equals the total system size L. In addition, the number of such domains is also a fluctuating variable, and not fixed. In the paramagnetic phase, we show that the distribution of the largest domain length l_{max} converges, in the large L limit, to a Gumbel distribution. However, at the critical point (for a certain range of parameters) and in the ferromagnetic phase, we show that the fluctuations of l_{max} are governed by novel distributions, which we compute exactly. Our main analytical results are verified by numerical simulations.

Relationship between frequency of hypoglycemic episodes and changes in carotid atherosclerosis in insulin-treated patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

PubMed

Mita, Tomoya; Katakami, Naoto; Shiraiwa, Toshihiko; Yoshii, Hidenori; Kuribayashi, Nobuichi; Osonoi, Takeshi; Kaneto, Hideaki; Kosugi, Keisuke; Umayahara, Yutaka; Gosho, Masahiko; Shimomura, Iichiro; Watada, Hirotaka

2017-01-09

The effect of hypoglycemia on the progression of atherosclerosis in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) remains largely unknown. This is a post hoc analysis of a randomized trial to investigate the relationship between hypoglycemic episodes and changes in carotid intima-media thickness (IMT). Among 274 study subjects, 104 patients experienced hypoglycemic episodes. Increases in the mean IMT and left maximum IMT of the common carotid arteries (CCA) were significantly greater in patients with hypoglycemia compared to those without hypoglycemia. Classification of the patients into three groups according to the frequency of hypoglycemic episodes showed that high frequency of hypoglycemic events was associated with increases in mean IMT-CCA, and left max-IMT-CCA and right max-IMT-CCA. In addition, repetitive episodes of hypoglycemia were associated with a reduction in the beneficial effects of sitagliptin on carotid IMT. Our data suggest that frequency of hypoglycemic episodes was associated with changes in carotid atherosclerosis.

Ordered mesoporous silica to enhance the bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs: Proof of concept in man.

PubMed

Bukara, Katarina; Schueller, Laurent; Rosier, Jan; Martens, Mark A; Daems, Tinne; Verheyden, Loes; Eelen, Siemon; Van Speybroeck, Michiel; Libanati, Cristian; Martens, Johan A; Van Den Mooter, Guy; Frérart, Françoise; Jolling, Koen; De Gieter, Marjan; Bugarski, Branko; Kiekens, Filip

2016-11-01

Formulating poorly water soluble drugs using ordered mesoporous silica materials is an emerging approach to tackle solubility-related bioavailability problems. The current study was conducted to assess the bioavailability-enhancing potential of ordered mesoporous silica in man. In this open-label, randomized, two-way cross-over study, 12 overnight fasted healthy volunteers received a single dose of fenofibrate formulated with ordered mesoporous silica or a marketed product based on micronized fenofibrate. Plasma concentrations of fenofibric acid, the pharmacologically active metabolite of fenofibrate, were monitored up to 96h post-dose. The rate (C max /dose increased by 77%; t max reduced by 0.75h) and extent of absorption (AUC 0-24h /dose increased by 54%) of fenofibrate were significantly enhanced following administration of the ordered mesoporous silica based formulation. The results of this study serve as a proof of concept in man for this novel formulation approach. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The effect of inspiratory and expiratory respiratory muscle training in rowers.

PubMed

Forbes, S; Game, A; Syrotuik, D; Jones, R; Bell, G J

2011-10-01

This study examined inspiratory and expiratory resistive loading combined with strength and endurance training on pulmonary function and rowing performance. Twenty-one male (n = 9) and female (n = 12) rowers were matched on 2000 m simulated rowing race time and gender and randomly assigned to two groups. The experimental group trained respiratory muscles using a device that provided both an inspiratory and expiratory resistance while the control group used a SHAM device. Respiratory muscle training (RMT) or SHAM was performed 6 d/wk concurrent with strength (3 d/wk) and endurance (3 d/wk) training on alternate days for 10 weeks. Respiratory muscle training (RMT) enhanced maximum inspiratory (PI(max)) and expiratory (PE(max)) strength at rest and during recovery from exercise (P < 0.05). Both groups showed improvements in peak VO2, strength, and 2000 m performance time (P < 0.05). It was concluded that RMT is effective for improving respiratory strength but did not facilitate greater improvements to simulated 2000 m rowing performance.

Simulation of Co-Seismic Off-Fault Stress Effects: Influence of Fault Roughness and Pore Pressure Coupling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fälth, B.; Lund, B.; Hökmark, H.

2017-12-01

Aiming at improved safety assessment of geological nuclear waste repositories, we use dynamic 3D earthquake simulations to estimate the potential for co-seismic off-fault distributed fracture slip. Our model comprises a 12.5 x 8.5 km strike-slip fault embedded in a full space continuum where we apply a homogeneous initial stress field. In the reference case (Case 1) the fault is planar and oriented optimally for slip, given the assumed stress field. To examine the potential impact of fault roughness, we also study cases where the fault surface has undulations with self-similar fractal properties. In both the planar and the undulated cases the fault has homogeneous frictional properties. In a set of ten rough fault models (Case 2), the fault friction is equal to that of Case 1, meaning that these models generate lower seismic moments than Case 1. In another set of ten rough fault models (Case 3), the fault dynamic friction is adjusted such that seismic moments on par with that of Case 1 are generated. For the propagation of the earthquake rupture we adopt the linear slip-weakening law and obtain Mw 6.4 in Case 1 and Case 3, and Mw 6.3 in Case 2 (35 % lower moment than Case 1). During rupture we monitor the off-fault stress evolution along the fault plane at 250 m distance and calculate the corresponding evolution of the Coulomb Failure Stress (CFS) on optimally oriented hypothetical fracture planes. For the stress-pore pressure coupling, we assume Skempton's coefficient B = 0.5 as a base case value, but also examine the sensitivity to variations of B. We observe the following: (I) The CFS values, and thus the potential for fracture slip, tend to increase with the distance from the hypocenter. This is in accordance with results by other authors. (II) The highest CFS values are generated by quasi-static stress concentrations around fault edges and around large scale fault bends, where we obtain values of the order of 10 MPa. (III) Locally, fault roughness may have a significant impact. The ratios (max CFS in Case 2) / (max CFS in Case 1) = 1.1 and (max CFS in Case 3) / (max CFS in Case 1) = 1.2 indicate a minor impact. However, at specific locations, CFS in Case 2 and Case 3 may be more than 5 times higher than in Case 1. (IV) The sensitivity to variations of B is modest; (max CFS in Case 1 with B = 0) / (max CFS in Case 1 with B = 1) = 1.15.

Cellular cAMP uptake as trigger for electrotaxis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guido, Isabella; Bodenschatz, Eberhard

Cells have the ability to detect continuous current electric fields and respond to them with a directed migratory movement. Dictyostelium discoideum cells, a key model organism for the study of eukaryotic chemotaxis, orient and migrate toward the cathode under the influence of an electric field. The underlying sensing mechanism and whether it is shared by the chemotactic response pathway remains unknown. By investigating the migration in the electric field of cell strains unable to migrate chemotactically (Amib-null) and with defective cAMP relay (ACA-null) we show that the starvation-induced transcription of a set of genes involved in the early developmental stage is not necessary for electrotaxis. However, the analysis of electrotaxis of vegetative cells as well as shortly starved cells shows that cells need to be stimulated with cAMP in order for them to migrate electrotactically. Indeed 30 minutes stimulation with cAMP pulses is enough to let cells orienting with the electric field although during this time the expression of receptors and the beginning of the development has not happened yet. We believe that the reason for this observed phenomenon lies on the endocytosis of the external cAMP which triggers electrotaxis as long as endocytosis and exocytosis are not balanced. This work is part of the MaxSynBio Consortium which is jointly funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany and the Max Planck Society.