Association Between Blood Pressure and Adverse Renal Events in Type 1 Diabetes.

ObjectiveTo compare different blood pressure (BP) levels in their association with the risk of renal outcomes in type 1 diabetes and to determine whether an intensive glycemic control strategy modifies this association.Research design and methodsWe included 1,441 participants with type 1 diabetes between the ages of 13 and 39 years who had previously been randomized to receive intensive versus conventional glycemic control in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT). The exposures of interest were time-updated systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) categories. Outcomes included macroalbuminuria (>300 mg/24 h) or stage III chronic kidney disease (CKD) (sustained estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/min/1.73 m2).ResultsDuring a median follow-up time of 24 years, there were 84 cases of stage III CKD and 169 cases of macroalbuminuria. In adjusted models, SBP in the <120 mmHg range was associated with a 0.59 times higher risk of macroalbuminuria (95% CI 0.37-0.95) and a 0.32 times higher risk of stage III CKD (95% CI 0.14-0.75) compared with SBPs between 130 and 140 mmHg. DBP in the <70 mmHg range were associated with a 0.73 times higher risk of macroalbuminuria (95% CI 0.44-1.18) and a 0.47 times higher risk of stage III CKD (95% CI 0.21-1.05) compared with DBPs between 80 and 90 mmHg. No interaction was noted between BP and prior DCCT-assigned glycemic control strategy (all P > 0.05).ConclusionsA lower BP (<120/70 mmHg) was associated with a substantially lower risk of adverse renal outcomes, regardless of the prior assigned glycemic control strategy. Interventional trials may be useful to help determine whether the currently recommended BP target of 140/90 mmHg may be too high for optimal renal protection in type 1 diabetes

Recombinant Vgr-1/BMP-6-expressing tumors induce fibrosis and endochondral bone formation in vivo.

Members of the TGF-beta superfamily appear to modulate mesenchymal differentiation, including the processes of cartilage and bone formation. Nothing is yet known about the function of the TGF-beta-related factor vgr-1, also called bone morphogenetic protein-6 (BMP-6), and only limited studies have been conducted on the most closely related factors BMP-5, osteogenic protein-1 (OP-1) or BMP-7, and OP-2. Because vgr-1 mRNA has been localized in hypertrophic cartilage, this factor may play a vital role in endochondral bone formation. We developed antibodies to vgr-1, and documented that vgr-1 protein was expressed in hypertrophic cartilage of mice. To further characterize the role of this protein in bone differentiation, we generated CHO cells that overexpressed recombinant murine vgr-1 protein. Western blot analysis documented that recombinant vgr-1 protein was secreted into the media and was proteolytically processed to yield the mature vgr-1 molecule. To assess the biological activity of recombinant vgr-1 in vivo, we introduced the vgr-1-expressing CHO cells directly into the subcutaneous tissue of athymic nude mice. CHO-vgr-1 cells produced localized tumors, and the continuous secretion of vgr-1 resulted in tumors with a strikingly different gross and histological appearance as compared to the parental CHO cells. The tumors of control CHO cells were hemorrhagic, necrotic, and friable, whereas the CHO-vgr-1 tumors were dense, firm, and fibrotic. In contrast with control CHO tumors, the nests of CHO-vgr-1 tumor cells were surrounded by extensive connective tissue, which contained large regions of cartilage and bone. Further analysis indicated that secretion of vgr-1 from the transfected CHO tumor cells induced the surrounding host mesenchymal cells to develop along the endochondral bone pathway. These findings suggest that endochondral bone formation

Modeling and simulation of Li-Ion conduction in POLY(Ethylene Oxide

Prof. Moshe Israeli passed away on Feburary 18, 2007. This paper is dedicated to his memory Polyethylene oxide (PEO) containing a lithium salt (e.g. LiI) serves as a solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) in thin-film batteries and its ionic conductivity is a key parameter of their performance. We model and simulate Li + ion conduction in a single PEO molecule. Our simplified stochastic model of ionic motion is based on an analogy between protein channels of biological membranes that conduct Na +, K +, and other ions, and the PEO helical chain that conducts Li + ions. In contrast with protein channels and salt solutions, the PEO is both the channel and the solvent for the lithium salt (e.g., LiI). The mobile ions are treated as charged spherical Brownian particles. We simulate Smoluchowski dynamics in channels with a radius of ca 0.1nm and study the effect of stretching and temperature on ion conductivity. We assume that each helix (molecule) forms a random angle with the axis between these electrodes and the polymeric film is composed of many uniformly distributed oriented boxes that include molecules with the same direction. We further assume that mechanical stretching aligns the molecular structures in each box along the axis of stretching (intra-box alignment). Our model thus predicts the PEO conductivity as a function of the stretching, the salt concentration and the temperature. The computed enhancement of the ionic conductivity in the stretch direction is in good agreement with experimental results. The simulation results are also in qualitative agreement with recent theoretical and experimental results.

The ins and outs of participation in a weather information system

In this paper our aim is to show even though access to technology, information or data holds the potential for improved participation, participation is wired into a larger network of actors, artefacts and information practices. We draw on a case study of a weather information system developed and implemented by a non-profit organisation to both describe the configuration of participation, but also critically assess inclusion and exclusion. We present a set of four questions - a basic, practical toolkit - by which we together with the organisation made sense of and evaluated participation in the system

Antithymocyte Globulin Plus G-CSF Combination Therapy Leads to Sustained Immunomodulatory and Metabolic Effects in a Subset of Responders With Established Type 1 Diabetes.

Low-dose antithymocyte globulin (ATG) plus pegylated granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) preserves β-cell function for at least 12 months in type 1 diabetes. Herein, we describe metabolic and immunological parameters 24 months following treatment. Patients with established type 1 diabetes (duration 4-24 months) were randomized to ATG and pegylated G-CSF (ATG+G-CSF) (N = 17) or placebo (N = 8). Primary outcomes included C-peptide area under the curve (AUC) following a mixed-meal tolerance test (MMTT) and flow cytometry. "Responders" (12-month C-peptide ≥ baseline), "super responders" (24-month C-peptide ≥ baseline), and "nonresponders" (12-month C-peptide < baseline) were evaluated for biomarkers of outcome. At 24 months, MMTT-stimulated AUC C-peptide was not significantly different in ATG+G-CSF (0.49 nmol/L/min) versus placebo (0.29 nmol/L/min). Subjects treated with ATG+G-CSF demonstrated reduced CD4+ T cells and CD4+/CD8+ T-cell ratio and increased CD16+CD56hi natural killer cells (NK), CD4+ effector memory T cells (Tem), CD4+PD-1+ central memory T cells (Tcm), Tcm PD-1 expression, and neutrophils. FOXP3+Helios+ regulatory T cells (Treg) were elevated in ATG+G-CSF subjects at 6, 12, and 18 but not 24 months. Immunophenotyping identified differential HLA-DR expression on monocytes and NK and altered CXCR3 and PD-1 expression on T-cell subsets. As such, a group of metabolic and immunological responders was identified. A phase II study of ATG+G-CSF in patients with new-onset type 1 diabetes is ongoing and may support ATG+G-CSF as a prevention strategy in high-risk subjects

(G)hosting television: Ghostwatch and its medium

This article’s subject is Ghostwatch (BBC, 1992), a drama broadcast on Halloween night of 1992 which adopted the rhetoric of live non-fiction programming, and attracted controversy and ultimately censure from the Broadcasting Standards Council. In what follows, we argue that Ghostwatch must be understood as a televisually-specific artwork and artefact. We discuss the programme’s ludic relationship with some key features of television during what Ellis (2000) has termed its era of ‘availability’, principally liveness, mass simultaneous viewing, and the flow of the television super-text. We trace the programme’s television-specific historicity whilst acknowledging its allusions and debts to other media (most notably film and radio). We explore the sophisticated ways in which Ghostwatch’s visual grammar and vocabulary and deployment of ‘broadcast talk’ (Scannell 1991) variously ape, comment upon and subvert the rhetoric of factual programming, and the ends to which these strategies are put. We hope that these arguments collectively demonstrate the aesthetic and historical significance of Ghostwatch and identify its relationship to its medium and that medium’s history. We offer the programme as an historically-reflexive artefact, and as an exemplary instance of the work of art in television’s age of broadcasting, liveness and co-presence

A177: Program Evaluation of the ACR/CARRA Inter‐Institutional Mentoring Program (AMIGO) in Pediatric Rheumatology

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106776/1/art38603.pd

Comparison of competitiveness of grid companies and industrial companies' own generating units

In contemporary Russia, the existing electricity supply model is gradually changing, the focus shifting to the priority development of small-scale distributed power generation. It is, however, impossible to significantly reduce grid electricity consumption in the near future. Conditions for grid companies are getting increasingly competitive, which may result in higher tariffs for consumers. At the same time, the development of small-scale power generation in this country is chaotic and its efficiency has never been adequately compared to that of grid electricity consumption. The article looks at factors and conditions that may help boost grid companies' competitiveness. It also provides a new developed methodology for comparative analysis of the efficiency of the construction of a company's own generating unit as opposed to consuming grid electricity. The article contains estimates of the cost of connection technologies to the grid and electricity tariffs for different scenarios of development. The article looks at the potential for tariff reduction and reveals peculiarities and the cost of construction and operation of generating units for industrial companies. The methodology was tested in Chelyabinsk Region which is served by JSC "Interregional Distribution Grid Company of Ural". © 2017 WIT Press

Datatrust: Or, the political quest for numerical evidence and the epistemologies of Big Data

Recently, there has been renewed interest in so-called evidence-based policy making. Enticed by the grand promises of Big Data, public officials seem increasingly inclined to experiment with more data-driven forms of governance. But while the rise of Big Data and related consequences has been a major issue of concern across different disciplines, attempts to develop a better understanding of the phenomenon's historical foundations have been rare. This short commentary addresses this gap by situating the current push for numerical evidence within a broader socio-political context, demonstrating how the epistemological claims of Big Data science intersect with specific forms of trust, truth, and objectivity. We conclude by arguing that regulators' faith in numbers can be attributed to a distinct political culture, a representative democracy undermined by pervasive public distrust and uncertainty