The prevalence of Addison's disease in Coventry, UK

The prevalence of Addison's disease (chronic adrenal failure) has not been widely investigated and is usually given as 39 in a million. We conducted a prevalence study using a postal survey of general practitioners in Coventry. Three quarters (139/188) replied, representing 79/85 (93%) of the practices. Thirty cases of Addision's disease were found from a total patient list of 323852, of which a third were tuberculous in origin and two-thirds non-tuberculous (12/30 autoimmune, 8/30 unclassified). We conclude that Addison's disease is 2.4 times more common than previously reported. The tuberculous group was older, 65 vs 52 years (p < 0.05), and had had the disease for longer than the non-tuberculous group, 20 vs 12 years (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the age at diagnosis.     

Pharmaceuticals, hormones and bisphenol A in untreated source and finished drinking water in Ontario, Canada--occurrence and treatment efficiency

The Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE) conducted a survey in 2006 on emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) which included pharmaceuticals, hormones and bisphenol A (BPA). The survey collected 258 samples over a 16 month period from selected source waters and 17 drinking water systems (DWSs), and analyzed them for 48 EOCs using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS) for the highest precision and accuracy of analytical data possible. 27 of the 48 target EOCs were detected in source water, finished drinking water, or both. DWSs using river and lake source water accounted for > 90% detections. Of the 27 EOCs found, we also reported the first detection of two antibiotics roxithromycin and enrofloxacin in environmental samples. The most frequently detected compounds (≥ 10%) in finished drinking water were carbamazepine (CBZ), gemfibrozil (GFB), ibuprofen (IBU), and BPA; with their concentrations accurately determined by using IDMS and calculated to be 4 to 10 times lower than those measured in the source water. Comparison of plant specific data allowed us to determine removal efficiency (RE) of these four most frequently detected compounds in Ontario DWSs. The RE of CBZ was determined to be from 71 to 93% for DWSs using granulated activated carbon (GAC); and was 75% for DWSs using GAC followed by ultraviolet irradiation (UV). The observed RE of GFB was between 44 and 55% in DWSs using GAC and increased to 82% when GAC was followed by UV. The use of GAC or GAC followed by UV provided an RE improvement of BPA from 80 to 99%. These detected concentration levels are well below the predicted no effect concentration or total allowable concentration reported in the literature. Additional targeted, site specific comparative research is required to fully assess the effectiveness of Ontario DWSs to remove particular compounds of concern.     

The Role of DAMPS in Burns and Hemorrhagic Shock Immune Response: Pathophysiology and Clinical Issues. Review

Severe or major burns induce a pathophysiological, immune, and inflammatory response that can persist for a long time and affect morbidity and mortality. Severe burns are followed by a “hypermetabolic response”, an inflammatory process that can be extensive and become uncontrolled, leading to a generalized catabolic state and delayed healing. Catabolism causes the upregulation of inflammatory cells and innate immune markers in various organs, which may lead to multiorgan failure and death. Burns activate immune cells and cytokine production regulated by damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). Trauma has similar injury-related immune responses, whereby DAMPs are massively released in musculoskeletal injuries and elicit widespread systemic inflammation. Hemorrhagic shock is the main cause of death in trauma. It is hypovolemic, and the consequence of volume loss and the speed of blood loss manifest immediately after injury. In burns, the shock becomes evident within the first 24 h and is hypovolemic-distributive due to the severely compromised regulation of tissue perfusion and oxygen delivery caused by capillary leakage, whereby fluids shift from the intravascular to the interstitial space. In this review, we compare the pathophysiological responses to burns and trauma including their associated clinical patterns.     

Measurement of the Adhesion of a Viscoelastic Sphere to a Flat Non-Compliant Substrate

The adhesion between a single polystyrene bead (radius, 27 μm) and a flat silica surface has been measured with an atomic force microscope as a function of two variables: (a) The maximum applied load and, (b) the loading time at a constant maximum applied load. Analysis of the results indicates significant plastic deformation of the bead under the action of the load forces. There is also evidence for time-dependent viscoelastic effects as a load is exerted on the bead. The contact zone of the polystyrene bead used for these experiments was examined using Scanning Electron Microscopy. The microscope images revealed a surface covered in small polymer beads with a radius of only 115 nm. In the contact zone these beads had undergone substantial and permanent deformation as a function of the applied load. Basic geometric analysis reveals that the large sphere is not contacting the flat surface under any load. The results presented here indicate the value of being able to measure adhesion using an atomic force microscope. The importance of being able to characterise the contact zone accurately is also highlighted.     

Effect of a Mutant Danbaekkong Allele on Soybean Seed Yield,Protein, and Oil Concentration

There is a known negative correlation between soybean [Glycine max [L.] Merr.] seed protein and oil and between protein and yield. This challenges breeders to increase protein concentration while maintaining oil concentration and yield. The objective of this study was to determine if marker-assisted selection for the Danbaekkong (Dan) protein allele on chromosome 20 influences seed yield and quality traits in near isogenic genetic backgrounds. A population of 24 F₇-derived near isogenic lines (NIL) of soybean was created by crossing G03-3101 × LD00-2817P. The 24 NIL consisted of 12 wild type (WT) and 12 mutant Dan type lines. These NIL were grown in 2016 and 2017 field seasons in replicated field trials in nine environments, with six in Tennessee and one each in Arkansas, Missouri, and North Carolina. There were significant (P < 0.05) differences in yield, protein, and oil concentrations between the two experimental groups. The Dan group had significantly (P < 0.05) more protein (421 g kg⁻¹), less oil (192 g kg⁻¹), and lower yield (3143 kg ha⁻¹) than the WT group (390 g kg⁻¹ protein, 210 g kg⁻¹ oil, and 3281 kg ha⁻¹ yield). These results support previous research and corroborate the overall negative genetic correlations. Nevertheless, seed yield of several higher-protein Dan lines MC-13, MC-16, MC-19, and MC-24 exceeded seed yield of lower protein WT lines MC-2, MC-3, MC-6, and MC-10. The higher-protein lines represent genetic resources for reducing the negative correlation between protein and yield.     

Persistent diarrhoea in children admitted to Port Moresby General Hospital

A retrospective study of the records of children admitted to Port Moresby General Hospital with diarrhoea during 1992 and 1993 was carried out to determine the morbidity, mortality and risk factors associated with persistent diarrhoea. 858 admissions of children under five years of age who had diarrhoea were identified from the ward admission registers, and case records for 724 were studied. Persistent diarrhoea occurred in 20%, and nearly half of these were in the 12-23 months age group. Children with persistent diarrhoea had a case fatality rate of 4.9%. Seasonality was similar for both persistent and non-persistent diarrhoea. In the crude analysis children of 12 months and older had a greater risk of developing persistent diarrhoea than those less than 12 months (odds ratio for children 12-23 months was 2.0 and for children 24-59 months 1.7; confidence intervals were 1.2-3.1 and 1.0-2.9 respectively); however, this difference was not found after logistic regression analysis. Poor nutritional status was a significant risk factor for persistent diarrhoea and remained so after controlling for confounding variables (odds ratio 2.7; confidence interval 1.8-4.0).     

A novel lifecycle model for Web-based application development in small and medium enterprises

Software engineering’s lifecycle models have proven to be very important for traditional software development. However, can these models be applied to the development of Web-based applications as well? In recent years, Web-based applications have become more and more complicated and a lot of efforts have been placed on introducing new technologies such as J2EE, PhP, and.NET, etc., which have been universally accepted as the development technologies for Web-based applications. However, there is no universally accepted process model for the development of Web-based applications. Moreover, shaping the process model for small medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which have limited resources, has been relatively neglected. Based on our previous work, this paper presents an expanded lifecycle process model for the development of Web-based applications in SMEs. It consists of three sets of processes, i.e., requirement processes, development processes, and evolution processes. Particularly, the post-delivery evolution processes are important to SMEs to develop and maintain quality web applications with limited resources and time.     

A continuous-flow mini-diluter system for toxicity testing

A space saving portable mini-diluter exposure system for testing early life stages of fish and invertebrates has been developed and successfully used both in the laboratory and on-site with single chemicals and with complex effluents. This gravity-operated system can also be installed in a compact, vented enclosure to permit safe testing of hazardous volatile chemicals. The mini-diluter test system has several additional advantages over other widely used dosing systems in that it: (1) uses small volumes of complex effluents and/or single chemicals which reduces the problem of removing hazardous material from the test system's waste water; (2) works well with waste containing suspended solids; and (3) can maintain normal operation for up to 10 h if the effluent headbox supply pump fails and up to 4 h if the diluent water headbox supply pump fails.     

Regularized autoregressive analysis of intravascular ultrasound backscatter: improvement in spatial accuracy of tissue maps

Autoregressive (AR) models are qualified for analysis of stochastic, short-time data, such as intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) backscatter. Regularization is required for AR analysis of short data lengths with an aim to increase spatial accuracy of predicted plaque composition and was achieved by determining suitable AR orders for short data records. Conventional methods of determining order were compared to the use of trend in the mean square error for determining order. Radio-frequency data from 101 fibrous, 56 fibro-lipidic, 50 calcified, and 70 lipid-core regions of interest (ROIs) were collected ex vivo from 51 human coronary arteries with 30 MHz unfocused IVUS transducers. Spectra were computed for AR model orders between 3-20 for data representing ROIs of two sizes (32 and 16 samples at 100 MHz sampling frequency) and were analyzed in the 17-42 MHz bandwidth. These spectra were characterized based on eight previously identified parameters. Statistical classification schemes were computed from 75% of the data and cross-validated with the remaining 25% using matched histology. The results determined the suitable AR order numbers for the two ROI sizes. Conventional methods of determining order did not perform well. Trend in the mean square error was identified as the most suitable factor for regularization of short record lengths.