Racial differences in incidence, outcome, and quality of life for African-Americans on hemodialysis

African-Americans are the fastest growing racial minority with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in the United States. Although comprising < 15% of the US population, African-Americans comprise approximately 31% of the ESRD population. African-Americans are approximately 7 years younger than their white counterparts with ESRD. Surprisingly, although African-Americans systematically receive less dialysis than whites, their survival with ESRD is greatly improved. This improved survival with ESRD is accompanied by an improved quality of life for African-Americans. In this review, we will examine the reasons why African-Americans have an excessive incidence of selective diseases that culminate in ESRD. Furthermore, we will judge several hypotheses that may account for the improved survival enjoyed by African-Americans with ESRD. We contend that research targeted to clarify the basis for these differences between African-Americans and whites with ESRD will improve the outcomes for both populations.     

Lithium/polymer electrolyte interfacial instability

The stability of evaporated lithium with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), poly(propylene oxide) (PPO) and oxyethylene-oxymethylene copolymer, doped with lithium perchlorate, in ultra-thin-film cells, was studied by impedance spectroscopy at room temperature. The formation and growth of a passivating film at the lithium/PEO interface has been observed, under open circuit conditions. The thickness of the passivating layer was estimated by assuming the dielectric constant of the interfacial product. A more extensive interfacial reaction was observed in the case of PPO. A very fast interfacial reaction was observed between lithium and amorphous copolymer.     

Antiretroviral therapies

We describe an algorithm which enables us to search the conformational space of the side chains of a protein to identify the global minimum energy combination of side chain conformations as well as all other conformations within a specified energy cutoff of the global energy minimum. The program is used to explore the side chain conformational energy surface of a number of proteins, to investigate how this surface varies with the energy model used to describe the interactions within the system and the rotamer library. Enumeration of the rotamer combinations enables us to directly evaluate the partition function, and thus calculate the side chain contribution to the conformational entropy of the folded protein. An investigation of these conformations and the relationships between them shows that most of the conformations near to the global energy minimum arise from changes in side chain conformations that are essentially independent; very few result from a concerted change in conformation of two or more residues. Some of the limitations of the approach are discussed.     

Preparing for Program Accreditation Review Under ABET Engineering Criteria 2000: Choosing Outcome Indicators

This paper examines a variety of outcome indicators that might be used by an engineering program in meeting the assessment requirements of ABET Engineering Criteria 2000. Several categories of indicator are identified and key characteristics of these means of assessment are discussed. Also noted are some of the engineering applications of outcome indicators documented on the World Wide Web. Finally, the results of a recent telephone/fax survey on the use of outcome indicators in engineering program assessment are summarized.     

Elasto-plastic analysis of anisotropic plates and shells by the Semiloof element

An elasto-plastic analysis of thin plates and shells by means of the finite element displacement method is considered for anisotropic materials, using the Semiloof curved shell element. The elasto-plastic analysis is based on the Huber-Mises yield criterion extended by Hill for anisotropic materials. The yield function is generalized by introducing anisotropic parameters of plasticity which are updated during the material strain hardening history. Numerical examples are presented and compared with available solutions. The effects of anisotropy on these solutions are also discussed. The practical problem of an aerofoil blade is also considered and some results presented.     

Strain hardening representation for implicit quasistatic elasto-viscoplastic algorithms

Time integration processes for the solution of elasto-viscoplastic problems are briefly reviewed. For materials which strain harden, additional terms which arise from the variation in yield level occurring during a time increment are included in the expression of the viscoplastic strain rate. The influence of these additional terms is discussed and illustrated by the solution of numerical examples.     

The influence of hydrogen bonding on mechanical anisotropy in oriented nylon-12

The anisotropy of dynamic tensile modulus in uniaxially and uniplanar-axially oriented nylon-12 sheets has been measured over the temperature range encompassing the α′-relaxation process. The influence of hydrogen bonding on the mechanical behaviour has been demonstrated by comparing these anisotropy measurements for specimens which have been subjected to different thermal treatments.     

The flavour components of plum

Summary Gas chromatographic and gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric examination of the aroma components of canned plums obtained by both atmospheric distillation and headspace techniques showed them to be both quantitatively and qualitatively different from those of fresh plums. 25 components were identified, the major ones being 3-hydroxy-butan-2-one, benzaldehyde, nonanal and 2-furaldehyde. Benzaldehyde and nonanal together with benzyl acetate are believed to make a significant contribution to the aroma of canned plums.

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Die Geschmackskomponenten der Pflaume:Eine Untersuchung über die flüchtigen Inhaltsstoffe der Pflaumen in Dosen

Zusammenfassung Gaschromatographische und gaschromatographische-massenspektrometrische Analysen zeigten, daß die Aromastoffe der dosenkonservier ten Pflaumen, sowohl durch atmosphärische Destillation als auch nach der Kopfraum-Technik erhalten, quantitativ sowie qualitativ verschieden von denen der frischen Pflaumen sind. Es wurden 25 Komponenten identifiziert, darunter als Hauptbestandteile 3-Hydroxy-butan-2-on, Benzaldehyd, Nonanal und 2-Furfurol. Benzaldehyd und Nonanal zusammen mit Benzylacetat stellen einen bedeutsamen Beitrag zum Aroma dosenkonservierter Pflaumen dar.