Double-blind comparison of lansoprazole 15 mg, lansoprazole 30 mg, and placebo in the maintenance of healed gastric ulcer

Traditionally health care outcomes have been evaluated by measuring immediate and long-term survival. This paper demonstrates the importance of quality of life as an alternative outcome indicator by considering two dimensions of quality of life and how they affect patients following liver transplantation. These two dimensions are physical recovery and functional recovery and they are considered by analysing the literature exploring quality of life following liver transplantation. Physical recovery is be subdivided into sleep, pain and mobility and functional recovery is subdivided into occupational rehabilitation and domestic rehabilitation.     

Influence of communication during the distant phase of the 1996 republican presidential primary campaign

This study examines the influence of five communication modalities on voters' perceptions of candidates during what Popkin terms 'the distant phase' of the presidential primary campaign. During the final week of the New Hampshire primary campaign, researchers surveyed 315 prospective votes in four states whose primaries followed New Hampshire's by 1, 2, 4, and 5 weeks. The results revealed that political talk radio exerted the greatest influence on voters' perceptions of Bob Dole and considerable impact on perceptions of Steve Forbes. In addition, prospective voters' conversations with other people, television news, and candidate spots (only for Forbes) exerted modest influence on voters' perceptions of Republican candidates.     

Blood-to-brain glucose transport and cerebral glucose metabolism are not reduced in poorly controlled type 1 diabetes

Clinical and epidemiological studies suggest that thiazide diuretics can prevent bone loss and decrease the incidence of hip fractures. However, the mechanism of the effect of diuretics on bone is not clearly established. Indapamide (IDP), a sulfonamide diuretic related to thiazides, is used to treat hypertension. Sixty spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) were divided into four groups and treated with or without IDP (1.5 mg/kg/day) during 8 weeks in the presence or absence of a high sodium load (8% NaCl supplementation in the diet). Sodium and calcium excretions were increased in the rats receiving the high sodium load (SHR + 8% NaCl) comparatively with control rats (SHR). IDP decreased and increased, respectively, calcium and sodium excretions. Serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) was unchanged in any group. Bone density was measured at the femur, tibia, and vertebrae, and bone morphometry was performed at the metaphysis of the femur to evaluate bone architecture. Rats fed a high sodium diet had an average 5.5% decreased bone density at every site except the femoral diaphysis. The trabecular bone volume was also decreased (SHR + 8% NaCl vs. SHR, 11.99+/-0.78 vs. 17.51+/-1.5%, p < 0.05). An increase in trabecular separation suggested that these changes were due to increased bone resorption. In the SHR + 8% NaCl + IDP group, IDP increased bone density and trabecular bone volume (SHR + 8% NaCl + IDP vs. SHR + 8% NaCl, 16.52+/-1.04 vs. 11.99+/-0.78%, p < 0.05). Trabecular separation and pyridinoline/creatinine excretion (SHR + 8% NaCl + IDP vs. SHR + 8% NaCl, 136.39+/-9.62 vs. 195.18+/-22.34 nmol/mmol, p < 0.05) were also decreased by IDP. These results show that in rats receiving a high sodium diet, IDP can reverse sodium-induced bone loss and increased bone resorption independently of changes in serum PTH.     

Prevalence of malaria in Dakar, Senegal. Comparative study of the plasmodial indices in pregnant and non-pregnant women

One hundred ASA I orthopaedic surgical patients (four randomized groups) were anaesthetized using continuous propofol and intermittent fentanyl (TIVA), with controlled ventilation via a tracheal tube in groups 1 and 2, and a laryngeal mask airway (LMA) in groups 3 and 4. Neuromuscular blockers were used in groups 1 and 3 only. There were no significant differences between groups in total anaesthetic requirements, as assessed by cardiovascular variables and movement. Coughing interfered with surgery and made controlled ventilation difficult to manage. In contrast, movement not associated with coughing did not impair surgery or ventilation. Patients in group 2 (tracheal tube, no neuromuscular blocker) required more interventions for coughing than the other groups, while patients in group 4 (LMA, no neuromuscular blocker) needed more boluses for movement than groups 1 and 3. Groups 1 and 2 (tracheal tube) had significantly higher heart rates and mean arterial pressures than groups 3 and 4 for varying periods up to 5 min after insertion of the airway management device. There was no correlation between mean arterial pressure and plasma concentrations of catecholamines related to insertion of either the tracheal tube or LMA. The LMA was found to be a highly effective device for controlled ventilation in TIVA and easier to manage than the tracheal tube in the absence of neuromuscular blockers.     

Implications of N and C-terminal proximity for protein folding

We have investigated the proximity of the N and C termini in protein structures, and developed a model to test the theoretical possibility that proteins fold with their termini closely associated. On average, the distance between the termini is not significantly different from what would be expected based on chance. However, the theoretical model indicated that it is possible to greatly decrease the N-to-C terminal distance by allowing small (approximately six amino acid residues) solvent-accessible terminal fragments to move. Subsequent to this distance minimization method, more than 90% of the proteins studied had smaller-than-expected N-to-C distances, but only minor structural modification.     

New perspectives on the biology and treatment of X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets

This article updates the practicing pediatrician's knowledge of the hypophophatemic disorders that may occur in children. The classic X-linked disorder is emphasized. Details of clinical manifestations, the wide spectrum of disease severity, and complications of the disorder in adults are reviewed. Recent research, new genetic findings, and speculations regarding pathophysiology are discussed. A strategy for approaching medical treatment of X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets is provided, together with complications of treatment and treatment after cessation of growth.     

(s,Q) Spare Parts Provisioning Strategy for Periodically Replaced Systems

A joint preventive maintenance and spare parts provisioning strategy is suggested for a failure prone system. Replacements are carried-out at failure, if spare parts are available, and at spare parts replenishment delivery instants. Spare parts are provisioned according to an (s, Q) control policy. The ordering parameters, and preventive maintenance interval are derived from a mathematical model which aims at maximizing the system's availability under a budget constraint. The model takes into account the system lifetime distribution, the preventive and corrective maintenance costs and durations, as well as the total spare parts inventory management cost. Unlike classical inventory management models, the s-expected total cost is derived using the system lifetime distribution. Because each demand for spare parts is triggered by failure, the probabilities of shortage, and surplus will be evaluated based on the system failure distribution rather than the demand distribution during the lead-time. Numerical results have been obtained for an illustrative example.     

Reconstructing the flight kinematics of swarming and mating in wild mosquitoes

We describe a novel tracking system for reconstructing three-dimensional tracks of individual mosquitoes in wild swarms and present the results of validating the system by filming swarms and mating events of the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae in Mali. The tracking system is designed to address noisy, low frame-rate (25 frames per second) video streams from a stereo camera system. Because flying A. gambiae move at 1–4 m s⁻¹, they appear as faded streaks in the images or sometimes do not appear at all. We provide an adaptive algorithm to search for missing streaks and a likelihood function that uses streak endpoints to extract velocity information. A modified multi-hypothesis tracker probabilistically addresses occlusions and a particle filter estimates the trajectories. The output of the tracking algorithm is a set of track segments with an average length of 0.6–1 s. The segments are verified and combined under human supervision to create individual tracks up to the duration of the video (90 s). We evaluate tracking performance using an established metric for multi-target tracking and validate the accuracy using independent stereo measurements of a single swarm. Three-dimensional reconstructions of A. gambiae swarming and mating events are presented.     

NSTX plasma operation with a Liquid Lithium Divertor

NSTX 2010 experiments were conducted using a molybdenum Liquid Lithium Divertor (LLD) surface installed on the outer part of the lower divertor. This tested the effectiveness of maintaining the deuterium retention properties of a static liquid lithium surface when refreshed by lithium evaporation as an approximation to a flowing liquid lithium surface. The LLD molybdenum front face has a 45% porosity to provide sufficient wetting to spread 37 g of lithium, and to retain it in the presence of magnetic forces. Lithium Evaporators were used to deposit lithium on the LLD surface. At the beginning of discharges, the LLD lithium surface ranged from solid to liquefied depending on the amount of applied and plasma heating. Noteworthy improvements in plasma performance were obtained similar to those obtained previously with lithiated graphite, e.g., ELM-free, quiescent edge, H-modes. During these experiments with the plasma outer strike point on the LLD, the rate of deuterium retention in the LLD, as indicated by the fueling needed to achieve and maintain stable plasma conditions, was the about the same as that for solid lithium coatings on the graphite prior to the installation of the LLD, i.e., about two times that of no-lithium conditions. The role of lithium impurities in this result is discussed. Following the 2010 experimental campaign, inspection of the LLD found mechanical damage to the plate supports, and other hardware resulting from forces following plasma current disruptions. The LLD was removed, upgraded, and reinstalled. A row of molybdenum tiles was installed inboard of the LLD for 2011 experiments with both inner and outer strike points on lithiated molybdenum to allow investigation of lithium plasma facing issues encountered in the first testing of the LLD.