Xenobiotic Metabolism: The Effect of Acute Kidney Injury on Non-Renal Drug Clearance and Hepatic Drug Metabolism

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication of critical illness, and evidence is emerging that suggests AKI disrupts the function of other organs. It is a recognized phenomenon that patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have reduced hepatic metabolism of drugs, via the cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzyme group, and drug dosing guidelines in AKI are often extrapolated from data obtained from patients with CKD. This approach, however, is flawed because several confounding factors exist in AKI. The data from animal studies investigating the effects of AKI on CYP activity are conflicting, although the results of the majority do suggest that AKI impairs hepatic CYP activity. More recently, human study data have also demonstrated decreased CYP activity associated with AKI, in particular the CYP3A subtypes. Furthermore, preliminary data suggest that patients expressing the functional allele variant CYP3A5*1 may be protected from the deleterious effects of AKI when compared with patients homozygous for the variant CYP3A5*3, which codes for a non-functional protein. In conclusion, there is a need to individualize drug prescribing, particularly for the more sick and vulnerable patients, but this needs to be explored in greater depth.     

我真不是素描

<正>简单的纯白瓷块加上素描感十足的黑色包边,营造出立体插画般的视觉错觉。英国陶艺家Katharine Morling用坚硬的陶瓷创作出其他瓶瓶罐罐绝对没有的3D梦幻感。一台堪称古董级别的收银机内似乎装了太多的硬币,抽屉怎么也关不上,一旁放着订书机、记事本、笔筒等小杂物。如果不是有一圈黑色包边清晰地勾勒出轮廓,它们就像是微融的白巧克力。再仔细一看,似乎又像用柔软的纸张剪出的纸艺美物。然而轻轻敲几下,清脆     

Commercial Runner peanut cultivars in the USA: Fatty acid composition

Though peanuts are classified as a high‐fat food, they possess good proportions of fatty acids deemed as heart healthy. The fatty acid compositions of Runner peanuts were determined for commercially grown cultivars over two recent crop years. GC‐FID analyses revealed that the fatty acid levels for Runner peanuts were significantly (p <0.05) different among the normal, mid‐, and high‐oleic peanuts investigated. Oleic acid‐to‐linoleic acid (O/L) ratios were found to be 1.93 ± 0.30, 5.25 ± 1.12, and 16.9 ± 5.20 for normal, mid‐, and high‐oleic peanut lipids, respectively. Tamrun OL01 possessed a fatty acid profile characteristic of a mid‐oleic cultivar. From the sample set (n = 151), mean % weights for oleic acid and linoleic acid were 52.09 ± 2.84 and 27.38 ± 2.60 in normal, 69.33 ± 3.18 and 13.66 ± 2.35 in mid‐oleic, and 78.45 ± 2.05 and 5.11 ± 1.67 in high‐oleic peanuts, respectively. Cluster analysis segregated cultivars based on fatty acids into normal, mid‐, and high‐oleic groups. Factorial analysis revealed that cultivar effects were significant (p <0.01) for all fatty acids, except for lignoceric acid. Cultivar effects were also highly significant (p <0.001) for O/L, IV, unsaturated/saturated fatty acid (U/S) ratio, and % saturation. Significant crop year effects were shown for palmitic, oleic, arachidic, gondoic, and lignoceric acids, as well as U/S ratio and % saturation. Healthy unsaturated fats accounted for ?80% in all crop years and cultivars.     

Increase of catalyst utilization in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells by shape-selected Pt nanoparticles

In the present work, we succeeded in supporting predominantly cuboctahedral Pt nanoparticles onto high surface area carbons while maintaining their shape. These novel catalysts were applied in a realistic fuel cell set-up for the first time and showed remarkable fuel cell performance. A 95% fraction of cuboctahedral Pt nanoparticles was synthesized using tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (TTAB) as a stabilizer. Transmission electron micrographs of the synthesized samples demonstrated the presence of monodispersed cuboctahedral particles of 12 nm in size. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) studies of the unsupported cuboctahedral nanoparticles revealed the presence of Pt (110) and (100) facets. The shape-selected Pt nanoparticles were let to absorb onto Vulcan carbon by a simple dispersing procedure to obtain supported shape-selected Pt nanoparticles. Only by this gentle adsorption step of the surfactant-stabilized nanoparticles on the carbonaceous support material, the nanoparticles retained their shape. Finally an MEA was fabricated using the supported shape-selected nanoparticles and tested in a realistic H₂-PEM fuel cell environment. In terms of Pt utilization, shape-selected Pt particles were found to be more effective by a factor of four in weight compared to the commercial catalyst.     

Light flicker test in the United States

Home appliances, like washers, dryers, refrigerators, etc., can cause voltage fluctuations and light flicker. A standardized flicker test has been established in Europe (IEC 1000-3-3). However, the European test is designed for 230-V 50-Hz power and needs to be modified for a 115-V 60-Hz supply. In this paper, the reference impedance and the limits of flicker tests for 115 V/60 Hz systems are proposed. A high-performance power analysis system, the Xitron 2803AH power analyzer, was used to study the voltage fluctuations and flicker caused by some washing machines. The analysis and test results provided in this paper can serve as a proposal for establishing a US light flicker testing standard for 115 V/60 Hz     

Use it or lose it: Engaged lifestyle as a buffer of cognitive decline in aging?

Data from the Victoria Longitudinal Study were used to examine the hypothesis that maintaining intellectual engagement through participation in everyday activities buffers individuals against cognitive decline in later life. The sample consisted of 250 middle-aged and older adults tested 3 times over 6 years. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to examine the relationships among changes in lifestyle variables and an array of cognitive variables. There was a relationship between changes in intellectually related activities and changes in cognitive functioning. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that intellectually engaging activities serve to buffer individuals against decline. However, an alternative model suggested the findings were also consistent with the hypothesis that high-ability individuals lead intellectually active lives until cognitive decline in old age limits their activities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Large scale computer modeling of molecular systems at du pont

Computer modeling of molecular systems is becoming important in the chemical industry. Much of this work has been directed towards empirical studies of biochemical systems using molecular graphics techniques. It has now become possible, with the development of both new software and new hardware, to use more rigorous theoretical methods to study molecules of interest to the chemical industry. The interest at du Pont is in theoretical studies of organic systems, especially those of interest in the field of polymers, such as fluorocarbons. The electronic and molecular structure of models for perfluoropolyacetylene (perfluoro-1, 3-butadiene) and Teflon® (perfluoro-n-butane) will be discussed. A brief discussion of the application of theoretical techniques to energetic calculations will be presented with the focus being on molecular ion affinities. Such results are also useful in modeling plasmas and interstellar reactions.     

The 1990 Banff Annual Seminar in Cognitive Science.

The Banff Annual Seminar in Cognitive Science (BASICS) was founded in 1982 and has met each spring since then in Banff, Alberta. BASICS was originated to provide an informal atmosphere for the in-depth discussion of a wide variety of research topics within the broadly defined domain of cognitive psychology. Topics covered in this year's seminar included visual spatial attention and target detection, attention and eye movements during reading, the integration of information across eye movements, language production and its dependency on structure, and parallel distributed processing models. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Crime News and Racialized Beliefs: Understanding the Relationship Between Local News Viewing and Perceptions of African Americans and Crime

A survey of Los Angeles County adults was undertaken to determine whether exposure to the overrepresentation of Blacks as criminals on local news programs, attention to crime news, and news trust predicted perceptions of Blacks and crime. After controlling for a number of factors including the diversity of respondents' neighborhood and neighborhood crime rate, attention to crime news was positively related to concern about crime. In addition, attention to crime news was positively associated with harsher culpability ratings of a hypothetical race-unidentified suspect and a Black suspect but not a White suspect. Finally, heavier consumption of Blacks' overrepresentation as criminals on local television news was positively related to the perception of Blacks as violent. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed in light of chronic activation and accessibility of stereotypical constructs.