Long-term evaluation of the ventricular defibrillation energy requirement

INTRODUCTION: Defibrillation energy requirements in patients with nonthoracotomy defibrillators may increase within several months after implantation. However, the stability of the defibrillation energy requirement beyond 1 year has not been reported. The purpose of this study was to characterize the defibrillation energy requirement during 2 years of clinical follow-up. METHODS AND RESULTS: Thirty-one consecutive patients with a biphasic nonthoracotomy defibrillation system underwent defibrillation energy requirement testing using a step-down technique (20, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 J) during defibrillator implantation, and then 24 hours, 2 months, 1 year, and 2 years after implantation. The mean defibrillation energy requirement during these evaluations was 10.9+/-5.5 J, 12.3+/-7.3 J, 11.7+/-5.6 J, 10.2+/-4.0 J, and 11.7+/-7.4 J, respectively (P = 0.4). The defibrillation energy requirement was noted to have increased by 10 J or more after 2 years of follow-up in five patients. In one of these patients, the defibrillation energy requirement was no longer associated with an adequate safety margin, necessitating revision of the defibrillation system. There were no identifiable clinical characteristics that distinguished patients who did and did not develop a 10-J or more increase in the defibrillation energy requirement. CONCLUSION: The mean defibrillation energy requirement does not change significantly after 2 years of biphasic nonthoracotomy defibrillator system implantation. However, approximately 15% of patients develop a 10-J or greater elevation in the defibrillation energy requirement, and 3% may require a defibrillation system revision. Therefore, a yearly evaluation of the defibrillation energy requirement may be appropriate.     

虚拟数据中心的数据映射与数据路由策略研究

数据中心基础数据积累通常使用三种手段:1)ETL技术;2)数据联邦技术;3)中间件技术.但三种技术侧重各有不同,不能同时满足数据集成的持久性与可用性.结合技术优势提出数据虚拟整合,为解决数据虚拟异构数据模型间的数据转换问题,通过对数据虚拟的分析,提出了一种基于元数据驱动的数据虚拟系统体系结构.构建了用于描述和存储映射策略的支撑元模型,并建立了相应数据路由策略.提出了对等主键思想,降低了处理阻抗.     

基于EPICENTRE的海洋钻探数据库构建方法研究

随着海洋在经济发展中的地位日益突出,海洋地质调查越来越重要,如何合理地管理使用海洋地质调查数据成为研究热点.文中以海洋钻探为例,采用面向对象的技术方法,提出了基于EPICENTRE数据模型的海洋钻探数据库构建方法,实现了海洋钻探业务与EPICENTRE数据模型的关联.该方法得到的海洋钻探数据库是面向业务的,与传统的关系数据库相比具有良好的可扩展性,稳定性以及关联性等优点.文中重点对业务模型与逻辑模型的关联技术进行了介绍.     

基于算术傅里叶变换的离散Hartley变换的快速算法

离散Hartley变换是一种有用的实值正交变换。文中对其快速算法进行研究,首先介绍利用算术傅里叶变换（AFT）计算离散傅里叶变换（DFT）可使其乘法计算量仅为O（N）,然后文章根据这一特点,分析离散Hartley变换（DHT）的结构特征,通过DFT将AFT和DHT建立了直接联系,提出了一种新的快速DHT算法。算法的计算复杂度能够达到线性O（N）,且算法结构简单,公式统一且易于实现,并与其他快速算法进行了比较,分析可知在数据长度不是2的幂次方时,文中提出的算法的计算时间明显比其他算法的计算时间要小。实验结果也验证了文中算法的有效性,从而为DHT的快速计算开辟了新的思路和途径。     

High nutrient loading and climatic parameters influence the dominance and dissimilarity of toxigenic cyanobacteria in northern bays of Lake Victoria

Eutrophication of Lake Victoria led to changes in its phytoplankton communities. However, different levels of eutrophication exist in the open lake and the bays, and between embayments. This study utilized spatial and temporal sampling of Napoleon Gulf and Murchison Bay, exhibiting different trophic conditions. Over one year, we investigated phytoplankton biomass, richness, diversity and dissimilarity, and related the dynamics of the dominant species to the limnological and climatic conditions. The results confirmed that Napoleon Gulf and Murchison Bay showed large differences in eutrophication status, with lower nutrient concentrations in Napoleon Gulf than in Murchison Bay, where a strong gradient was observed from inshore to offshore areas. These nutrient dynamics resulted in a 4 to 10 fold higher chlorophyll-a in Murchison Bay than in Napoleon Gulf. From the embayments, 135 phytoplankton taxa were recorded with no significant differences in alpha diversity. However, high dissimilarity in community structure was observed in beta diversity, mostly due to a turnover among the dominant toxigenic species. Thus, from a similar species pool, there was a shift in the dominant toxigenic cyanobacteria from Microcystis flos-aquae and M. aeruginosa in Murchison Bay, Dolichospermum circinale and Planktolyngbya circumcreta in Napoleon Gulf to D. circinale in the offshore stations. These cyanobacteria are toxigenic taxa with known health hazards. Using partial least square models, we showed that both climatic variables (e.g. wind, solar radiation) and levels of inorganic dissolved nutrients (e.g. SRP, NO₃^–, and NH₄⁺) are the main drivers of differences and dominance in cyanobacteria communities in northern Lake Victoria.     

Observing Inequality: Can Ergonomic Observations Help Interventions Transform the Role of Gender in Work Activity?

Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) - Work activity ergonomics (sometimes called francophone ergonomics) draws heavily on observation in order to support transformation of work to arrive at...     

Valuation of online social networks taking into account users’ interconnectedness

Online social networks have been gaining increasing economic importance in light of the rising number of their users. Numerous recent acquisitions priced at enormous amounts have illustrated this development and revealed the need for adequate business valuation models. The value of an online social network is largely determined by the value of its users, the relationships between these users, and the resulting network effects. Therefore, the interconnectedness of a user within the network has to be considered explicitly to get a reasonable estimate for its economic value. Established standard business valuation models, however, do not account for these aspects sufficiently. Thus, we propose an economic model for the valuation of online social networks, which takes into account the users’ interconnectedness within the network. Furthermore, we analyze different centrality measures, which can be used to quantify users’ interconnectedness in online social networks and propose a measure which is based on the PageRank-algorithm. Finally, the practical application of the model is illustrated by an example of the European online social network XING.com.     

基于流式细胞仪和高通量测序技术联用的超微藻检测方法

了解超微藻结构的动态变化规律有利于更好的评估水体水质情况,然而由于现有技术手段和表征方法的限制,对超微藻检测的准确性还较低.提出综合运用流式细胞仪和高通量测序技术,实现超微藻检测方法体系的构建和运用,对超微藻细胞进行定性和定量分析.以上海金泽水库水体样本为试验材料,验证此方法具有可行性,能够有效提高超微藻检测的准确性.     

Electrospun fibers based on porcine plasma: a rheological and morphological study

Iranian Polymer Journal - The present work focuses on the assessment of the ability of porcine plasma protein (PPP) to be electrospun satisfactorily to form fibre mats, and their rheological and...     

Annexin 1 Is a Component of eATP-Induced Cytosolic Calcium Elevation in Arabidopsis thaliana Roots

Extracellular ATP (eATP) has long been established in animals as an important signalling molecule but this is less understood in plants. The identification of Arabidopsis thaliana DORN1 (Does Not Respond to Nucleotides) as the first plant eATP receptor has shown that it is fundamental to the elevation of cytosolic free Ca²⁺ ([Ca²⁺]_cyt) as a possible second messenger. eATP causes other downstream responses such as increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide, plus changes in gene expression. The plasma membrane Ca²⁺ influx channels involved in eATP-induced [Ca²⁺]_cyt increase remain unknown at the genetic level. Arabidopsis thaliana Annexin 1 has been found to mediate ROS-activated Ca²⁺ influx in root epidermis, consistent with its operating as a transport pathway. In this study, the loss of function Annexin 1 mutant was found to have impaired [Ca²⁺]_cyt elevation in roots in response to eATP or eADP. Additionally, this annexin was implicated in modulating eATP-induced intracellular ROS accumulation in roots as well as expression of eATP-responsive genes.