Retained fetal lung liquid in congenital lobar emphysema: a possible predictor of polyalveolar lobe

The purpose of this study was to determine whether retention of fetal lung liquid is more prevalent in polyalveolar congenital lobar emphysema than in conventional congenital lobar emphysema. Two patients with congenital lobar emphysema were prospectively identified in a 3-year period. Twenty-five such patients were identified in a retrospective study covering 39 years. Medical records were available for 22 patients who had 23 emphysematous lobes. Both babies from the prospective study and six subjects from the retrospective group had respiratory symptoms and underwent chest X-ray in the first day of life. Six of the eight babies with respiratory symptoms and chest imaging in the first day of life had retention of fetal lung liquid in an emphysematous lobe. All six of these lobes were polyalveolar. The lobe in one child was a polyalveolar lobe but without retained fetal lung liquid, and one child exhibited conventional lobar emphysema also without retained fetal lung liquid. One polyalveolar lobe caused no neonatal symptoms and was not imaged until the child was 3 months old. No baby with conventional lobar emphysema was shown to have retained fetal lung liquid. There seems to be a correlation between polyalveolar lobe and onset of respiratory symptoms in the first day of life. Retention of fetal lung liquid within the affected lobe was documented only in cases of polyalveolar lobe.     

No Direct Postconditioning Effect of Poloxamer 188 on Mitochondrial Function after Ischemia Reperfusion Injury in Rat Isolated Hearts

Myocardial infarction is a leading cause for morbidity and mortality worldwide. The only viable treatment for the ischemic insult is timely reperfusion, which further exacerbates myocardial injury. Maintaining mitochondrial function is crucial in preserving cardiomyocyte function in ischemia reperfusion (IR) injury. Poloxamer (P) 188 has been shown to improve cardiac IR injury by improving cellular and mitochondrial function. The aim of this study was to show if P188 postconditioning has direct protective effects on mitochondrial function in the heart. Langendorff prepared rat hearts were subjected to IR injury ex-vivo and reperfused for 10 min with 1 mM P188 vs. vehicle. Cardiac mitochondria were isolated with 1 mM P188 vs. 1 mM polyethylene glycol (PEG) vs. vehicle by differential centrifugation. Mitochondrial function was assessed by adenosine triphosphate synthesis, oxygen consumption, and calcium retention capacity. Mitochondrial function decreased significantly after ischemia and showed mild improvement with reperfusion. P188 did not improve mitochondrial function in the ex-vivo heart, and neither further P188 nor PEG induced direct mitochondrial protection after IR injury in this model.     

Aesthetics and complexity in digital layout systems

Abstract

The layout of pages which carry information is the bread and butter of the graphic design profession. The rationale of what elements are chosen and where they are placed is based on tacit knowledge gained over a number of years of experience. The aesthetics associated with the overall finished design are often based on a style. Important elements of style are complexity and aesthetic value. In this paper I explore how various mathematical aesthetic functions can use complexity as an arousal enhancing or limiting mechanism in the application of layout designs.     

Reliability of lightning-resistant overhead lines

Lightning continues to be the major cause of outages on overhead power distribution lines. Through laboratory testing and field observations and measurements, the properties of a lightning stroke and its effects on electrical distribution system components are fairly well-understood phenomena. A meticulous compilation of 32 years of historical records has been kept for outage causes, duration, and locations for eight distribution feeders at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Due to the limited growth of ORNL, the number, length, and location of the 13.8 kV overhead lines have remained the same between 1960 and 1992. Except for noted differences (voltage construction class, length, age, and maximum elevation above a reference level), other factors that could influence the reliability of an overhead line have remained nearly the same. This allowed a meaningful reliability study to be performed on the entire ORNL electrical distribution system. In this article, the main findings of the reliability assessment as it relates to lightning-resistant overhead line construction techniques are out-lined, and a simple and cost-effective method to reduce lightning caused outages is offered. In addition, comparisons are made between the failure rates and causes experienced at ORNL and those in industry surveys. Where large discrepancies exist between survey data and experiences at ORNL, evidence is presented to explain the differences between ORNL's distribution system and those typical of industry     

Fitting Time Series Models for Prediction

The mathematical theory of the best linear prediction of stationary time series presumes that the model generating the series, which can be specified by either the autocovariance function or the spectral density, is known. The true model is, of course, not known in practice, and the procedure is to fit a model and predict as if this fitted model were the truth. The question then is one of deciding whether the resulting predictions are about as good as could be gotten if the truth were known. This paper describes a method for assessing the predictions of the fitting model by an analysis of residuals. In particular, it is argued that the traditional tests of hypothesis for white noise are inappropriate if prediction is the goal, and a method is described for determining whether or not the mean square errors of the predictions arising from the fitted model can be measurably reduced.     

Neuro-semantic prediction of user decisions to contribute content to online social networks

Neural Computing and Applications - Understanding at microscopic level the generation of contents in an online social network (OSN) is highly desirable for an improved management of the OSN and the...     

v-raf suppresses apoptosis and promotes growth of interleukin-3-dependent myeloid cells

Interleukin-3 (IL-3) is required for the proliferation, survival and differentiation of myeloid progenitors. In the absence of IL-3, murine myeloid 32D.3 cells accumulate in the G1 phase of the cell cycle and subsequently undergo programmed cell death, or apoptosis. Here we demonstrate that enforced expression of the v-raf oncogene suppresses apoptosis of myeloid 32D.3 cells following the withdrawal of IL-3. Surprisingly, steady state levels of Bcl-2, an oncogene known to suppress apoptosis, were not dependent upon IL-3 in 32D.3 cells and its levels were not augmented in v-raf clones. This suggests that ability of v-raf to suppress apoptosis in the absence of ligand is either Bcl-2 independent or that v-raf kinase promotes Bcl-2 function. v-raf also promoted growth of these cells in the presence of IL-3. v-raf clones proliferated at an increased rate due to a shortened G1 phase and had decreased requirements for IL-3 for growth. Therefore, transformation of myeloid cells by v-raf involves signaling pathways which promote both cell cycle progression and cell survival.     

The effects of person and job stereotypes on two personnel decisions.

Two studies investigated whether the effects of incumbent age on personnel decisions are different in a stereotypically older job than in a stereotypically younger job. In Exp I, 19 26–52 yr old managers were asked to make awards recommendations and overall evaluations for 18 hypothetical employees in 3 jobs that varied in age stereotype. Hypothetical employees varied in age and exhibited either a stereotypically older performance pattern or a stereotypically younger pattern of performance. Significant Job?×?Performance Pattern and Target Age?×?Pattern interactions were found in the awards exercises. In Exp II, 19 26–62 yr old managers were asked to make promotion decisions for 18 hypothetical employees in 3 jobs. Again, the Job?×?Pattern interaction was significant. Overall results suggest that when the pattern of performance is inconsistent with the age stereotype of the job, employees receive lower ratings than when behavior is consistent with the job stereotype. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of galactose and sugar substitutes on blood insulin levels in normal and obese individuals

Eighteen male patients between the ages of 25 and 50 were given on a double blind randomized basis (A) 40 gms. galactose (B) 50 gms. arabinogalactan and 0.11 gm. sodium saccharin (C) 2 gm. methyl cellulose and 0.083 gm. sodium saccharin and (D) 4 gm. galactose, all in 200 ml water. Blood glucose, galactose and insulin levels were determined during a six hour period before and after ingestion. The three first mentioned solutions tasted equally sweet, the fourth was essentially tasteless. None of these feedings altered plasma insulin or glucose levels. It appears that in contrast to other conclusions reached by earlier investigators sweet taste is unable to induce insulin secretion through neurogenic pathways.