The Sleep Heart Health Study: design, rationale, and methods

The Sleep Heart Health Study (SHHS) is a prospective cohort study designed to investigate obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and other sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) as risk factors for the development of cardiovascular disease. The study is designed to enroll 6,600 adult participants aged 40 years and older who will undergo a home polysomnogram to assess the presence of OSA and other SDB. Participants in SHHS have been recruited from cohort studies in progress. Therefore, SHHS adds the assessment of OSA to the protocols of these studies and will use already collected data on the principal risk factors for cardiovascular disease as well as follow-up and outcome information pertaining to cardiovascular disease. Parent cohort studies and recruitment targets for these cohorts are the following: Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (1,750 participants), Cardiovascular Health Study (1,350 participants), Framingham Heart Study (1,000 participants), Strong Heart Study (600 participants), New York Hypertension Cohorts (1,000 participants), and Tucson Epidemiologic Study of Airways Obstructive Diseases and the Health and Environment Study (900 participants). As part of the parent study follow-up procedures, participants will be surveyed at periodic intervals for the incidence and recurrence of cardiovascular disease events. The study provides sufficient statistical power for assessing OSA and other SDB as risk factors for major cardiovascular events, including myocardial infarction and stroke.     

The N-terminal half of the influenza virus NS1 protein is sufficient for nuclear retention of mRNA and enhancement of viral mRNA translation

A collection of C-terminal deletion mutants of the influenza A virus NS1 gene has been used to define the regions of the NS1 protein involved in its functionality. Immunofluorescence analyses showed that the NS1 protein sequences downstream from position 81 are not required for nuclear transport. The capacity of these mutants to bind RNA was studied by in vitro binding tests using a model vRNA probe. These experiments showed that the N-terminal 81 amino acids of NS1 protein are sufficient for RNA binding activity. The collection of mutants also served to map the NS1 sequences required for nuclear retention of mRNA and for stimulation of viral mRNA translation, using the NP gene as reporter. The results obtained indicated that the N-terminal 113 amino acids of NS1 protein are sufficient for nuclear retention of mRNA and stimulation of viral mRNA translation. The possibility that this region of the protein may be sufficient for virus viability is discussed in relation to the sequences of NS1 genes of field isolates and to the phenotype of known viral mutants affected in the NS1 gene.     

Changes in plasma and colonic mucosa fatty acid profiles in rats with ulcerative colitis induced by trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid

Polyunsaturated fatty acids have a key role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease since some of the arachidonic acid-derived eicosanoids have been found to be increased in inflamed intestinal mucosa in the acute phase of human disease. The aim of this study was to prospectively assess plasma and colon mucosa fatty acid patterns in rats with experimental ulcerative colitis. Twenty rats were treated with trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid and 20 with NaCl; two groups were killed after one week and two after two weeks to evaluate colon damage. Plasma was obtained by aortic puncture and colonic mucosa was scraped off and the fatty acid pattern was determined by gas-liquid chromatography. Total, saturated, and monounsaturated plasma fatty acids were significantly higher in both periods of ulcerative colitis as compared to controls. Plasma n-6 fatty acids were increased after treatment, but no significant changes were observed concerning to n-3 fatty acids. With regard to colon mucosa, saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids did not change because of the disease; however, n-6 fatty acids decreased in the first week and increased in the second week and n-3 fatty acids were increased. Changes on the fatty acid distribution in plasma did not parallel to those of colonic mucosa except for 22:6(n-3). We have also found that experimental ulcerative colitis induced by trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid reproduces many of the features related to changes in plasma and colon mucosa fatty acids observed in the human disease.     

Usefulness of the genetic study in the diagnosis of medullary carcinoma of the thyroid

Germ-line mutations in the RET proto-oncogene are associated with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A (MEN 2A) and with familial medullary thyroid carcinoma (FMTC). Detection of these mutations allows the identification of the affected kindred members, who will develop medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) in 100% of cases. We studied 24 patients of two kindreds (MEN 2A and FMTC). Basal calcitonin levels and pentagastrin-stimulated calcitonin were measured in all patients. The RET mutations were detected by DNA analysis. The RET mutations were identified in 14 patients. Two of them had been operated in the past, 2 refused operation and 4 were living abroad. In the 6 remaining, only one showed a thyroid mass, basal calcitonin was normal in all patients except one, and pentagastrin-stimulated calcitonin was negative in 2 patients. Total thyroidectomy was performed in all cases. Histology showed C-cell hyperplasia in all patients and MTC in 5 of them. In MEN 2A and FMTC DNA analysis allows the identification of RET mutation carriers, in which presymptomatic thyroidectomy allows and improvement in survival.     

BETaaS: A Platform for Development and Execution of Machine-to-Machine Applications in the Internet of Things

Wireless Personal Communications - The integration of everyday objects into the Internet represents the foundation of the forthcoming Internet of Things (IoT). Smart objects will be the building...     

Full label space reduction in MPLS networks: asymmetric merged tunneling

Traffic Engineering objective is to optimize network resource utilization. Although several works have been published about minimizing network resource utilization in MPLS networks, few of them have been focused in LSR label space reduction. This letter studies Asymmetric Merged Tunneling (AMT) as a new method for reducing the label space in MPLS network. The proposed method may be regarded as a combination of label merging (proposed in the MPLS architecture) and asymmetric tunneling (proposed recently in our previous works). Finally, simulation results are performed by comparing AMT with both ancestors. They show a great improvement in the label space reduction factor.     

The influence of cardiac frequency on the hemodynamic consequences of mitral stenosis (author's transl)

In eleven patients with isolated mitral stenosis and regular sinus rhythm a right cardiac catheterization was performed and the wedged pulmonary capillary pressure recorded at rest and during electrical pacing of the right atrium at successive frequencies of 100, 120, 140, and, occasionally, 160 and 180 beats/min, while cardiac output was estimated by the Fick's principle. In all cases a significant elevation of pulmonary capillary pressure with a simultaneous reduction in cardiac output was obtained. The rise of wedged pulmonary pressure was proportional to the increment in cardiac frequency and related also to the calculated area of the mitral valve. The influence of active atrial contraction upon pulmonary pressure and cardiac output is discussed and comparisons with other studies are made. Emphasis is made on the value of atrial pacing as a diagnostic method in mitral stenosis, especially in cases in whom classical effort manoeuvres can not be applied or are insufficient to rise cardiac frequency.     

Progressive spatial restriction of Sek-1 and Krox-20 gene expression during hindbrain segmentation

After segmentation of the vertebrate hindbrain, expression of the zinc-finger gene Krox-20 and the receptor tyrosine kinase gene Sek-1 is precisely restricted to rhombomeres (r) 3 and 5. This precise segmental expression is likely to reflect a critical requirement for these rhombomeres to acquire a distinct and homogeneous identity and raises the question as to how this relates to the intermingling and restriction of cell movement during segmentation. We have analysed Krox-20 and Sek-1 expression in the mouse and chick hindbrain at single-cell resolution using whole-mount in situ hybridisation and immunocytochemistry. We find that, in the mouse, the presumptive r3 and r5 expression domains each arise as narrow stripes that then broaden, suggestive of a recruitment of cells to an r3/r5 identity and/or a segmental regulation of cell proliferation. In addition, we find that expression of these genes initially occurs in fuzzy domains, and that these are progressively restricted to segmental domains, although occasional "violating" cells are observed even after segmentation. We propose that the establishment and maintenance of these segmental domains may involve both a dynamic regulation of r3/r5 identity and the restriction of cell movement across rhombomere boundaries.