Color Stability of a Pigmented Elastomer for Maxillofacial Appliances

The color stability of a series of eleven maxillofacial pigments was determined after accelerated aging using reflection spectrophotometry. The results indicate that seven of the pigments demonstrated good to excellent color stability, while four of the pigments were less promising for clinical use.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67027/2/10.1177_00220345790580050301.pd

Spatial scaling properties of coral reef benthic communities

The spatial structure of ecological communities on tropical coral reefs across seascapes and geographies have historically been poorly understood. Here we addressed this for the first time using spatially expansive and thematically resolved benthic community data collected around five uninhabited central Pacific oceanic islands, spanning 6° latitude and 17° longitude. Using towed-diver digital image surveys over ~140 linear km of shallow (8–20 m depth) tropical reef, we highlight the autocorrelated nature of coral reef seascapes. Benthic functional groups and hard coral morphologies displayed significant spatial clustering (positive autocorrelation) up to kilometre-scales around all islands, in some instances dominating entire sections of coastline. The scale and strength of these autocorrelation patterns showed differences across geographies, but patterns were more similar between islands in closer proximity and of a similar size. For example, crustose coralline algae (CCA) were clustered up to scales of 0.3 km at neighbouring Howland and Baker Islands and macroalgae were spatially clustered at scales up to ~3 km at both neighbouring Kingman Reef and Palmyra Atoll. Of all the functional groups, macroalgae had the highest levels of spatial clustering across geographies at the finest resolution of our data (100 m). There were several cases where the upper scale at which benthic community members showed evidence of spatial clustering correlated highly with the upper scales at which concurrent gradients in physical environmental drivers were spatially clustered. These correlations were stronger for surface wave energy than subsurface temperature (regardless of benthic group) and turf algae and CCA had the closest alignments in scale with wave energy across functional groups and geographies. Our findings suggest such physical drivers not only limit or promote the abundance of various benthic competitors on coral reefs, but also play a key role in governing their spatial scaling properties across seascapes

Performance evaluation of digital pulse position modulation for wavelength division multiplexing FSO systems impaired by interchannel crosstalk

Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) has been proposed for fibre, intersatellite, free space and indoor optical communication systems. Digital pulse position modulation (DPPM) is a more power efficient modulation format than on-off keying (OOK) and a strong contender for the modulation of free-space systems. Although DPPM obtains this advantage in exchange for a bandwidth expansion, WDM systems using it are still potentially attractive, particularly for moderate coding levels. However, WDM systems are susceptible to interchannel crosstalk and modelling this in a WDM DPPM system is necessary. Models of varying complexity, based on simplifying assumptions, are presented and evaluated for the case of a single crosstalk wavelength. For a single crosstalk, results can be straightforwardly obtained by artificially imposing the computationally convenient constraint that frames (and thus slots also) align. Multiple crosstalk effects are additionally investigated, for the most practically relevant cases of modest coding level, and using both simulation and analytical methods. In general, DPPM maintains its sensitivity advantage over OOK even in the presence of crosstalk while predicting lower power penalty at low coding level in WDM systems

The INNs and outs of antibody nonproprietary names

An important step in drug development is the assignment of an International Nonproprietary Name (INN) by the World Health Organization (WHO) that provides healthcare professionals with a unique and universally available designated name to identify each pharmaceutical substance. Monoclonal antibody INNs comprise a –mab suffix preceded by a substem indicating the antibody type, e.g., chimeric (-xi-), humanized (-zu-), or human (-u-). The WHO publishes INN definitions that specify how new monoclonal antibody therapeutics are categorized and adapts the definitions to new technologies. However, rapid progress in antibody technologies has blurred the boundaries between existing antibody categories and created a burgeoning array of new antibody formats. Thus, revising the INN system for antibodies is akin to aiming for a rapidly moving target. The WHO recently revised INN definitions for antibodies now to be based on amino acid sequence identity. These new definitions, however, are critically flawed as they are ambiguous and go against decades of scientific literature. A key concern is the imposition of an arbitrary threshold for identity against human germline antibody variable region sequences. This leads to inconsistent classification of somatically mutated human antibodies, humanized antibodies as well as antibodies derived from semi-synthetic/synthetic libraries and transgenic animals. Such sequence-based classification implies clear functional distinction between categories (e.g., immunogenicity). However, there is no scientific evidence to support this. Dialog between the WHO INN Expert Group and key stakeholders is needed to develop a new INN system for antibodies and to avoid confusion and miscommunication between researchers and clinicians prescribing antibodies

Urinary Trace Elements Are Biomarkers for Early Detection of Acute Kidney Injury

IntroductionAcute kidney injury (AKI) is common in hospitalized patients and associated with poor outcomes. Current methods for identifying AKI (rise in serum creatinine [sCr] or fall in urine output [UO]) are inadequate and delay detection. Early detection of AKI with easily measurable biomarkers might improve outcomes by facilitating early implementation of AKI care pathways.MethodsFrom a porcine model of AKI, we identified trace elements (TEs) in urine that were associated with subsequent development of AKI. We tested these putative biomarkers in 2 observational cohort studies of patients at high risk of AKI: 151 patients undergoing cardiac surgery and 150 patients admitted to a general adult intensive care unit (ICU).ResultsIn humans, urinary zinc (Zn) was associated with AKI. In adults admitted to the ICU, urinary cadmium (Cd) (adjusted for urinary creatinine) had area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) 0.70 and negative predictive value (NPV) 89%; copper (Cu) had AUROC 0.76 and NPV 91%; and Zn had AUROC 0.67 and NPV 80%. In patients undergoing cardiac surgery, Zn had AUROC 0.77 and NPV 91% and urinary Cd and Cu had poor AUROC but NPV of 93% and 95%, respectively. In control studies, we found that the urinary biomarkers are stable at room temperature for at least 14 days and are not affected by other confounding factors, such as chronic kidney disease (CKD).ConclusionUrinary Cd, Cu, and Zn are novel biomarkers for early detection of AKI. Urinary trace metals have advantages over proteins as AKI biomarkers because they are stable at room temperature and have potential for cheap point-of-care testing using electrochemistry

“Dogged” Search of Fresh Nakhla Surfaces Reveals New Alteration Textures

Special Issue: 74th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, August 8-12, 2011, London, U.K.International audienceCarbonaceous chondrites are considered as amongst the most primitive Solar System samples available. One of their primitive characteristics is their enrichment in volatile elements.This includes hydrogen, which is present in hydrated and hydroxylated minerals. More precisely, the mineralogy is expected to be dominated by phyllosilicates in the case of CM chondrites, and by Montmorillonite type clays in the case of CI. Here, in order to characterize and quantify the abundance of lowtemperature minerals in carbonaceous chondrites, we performed thermogravimetric analysis of matrix fragments of Tagish Lake, Murchison and Orgueil

Clinical predictors of 3- and 6-month outcome for mild traumatic brain injury patients with a negative head CT scan in the emergency department: A TRACK-TBI pilot study

Aconsiderable subset of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) patients fail to return to baseline functional status at or beyond 3 months postinjury. Identifying at-risk patients for poor outcome in the emergency department (ED) may improve surveillance strategies and referral to care. Subjects with mTBI (Glasgow Coma Scale 13–15) and negative ED initial head CT < 24 h of injury, completing 3- or 6-month functional outcome (Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended; GOSE), were extracted from the prospective, multicenter Transforming Research and Clinical Knowledge in Traumatic Brain Injury (TRACK-TBI) Pilot study. Outcomes were dichotomized to full recovery (GOSE = 8) vs functional deficits (GOSE < 8). Univariate predictors with p < 0.10 were considered for multivariable regression. Adjusted odds ratios (AOR) were reported for outcome predictors. Significance was assessed at p < 0.05. Subjects who completed GOSE at 3- and 6-month were 211 (GOSE < 8: 60%) and 185 (GOSE < 8: 65%). Risk factors for 6-month GOSE < 8 included less education (AOR = 0.85 per-year increase, 95% CI: (0.74–0.98)), prior psychiatric history (AOR = 3.75 (1.73–8.12)), Asian/minority race (American Indian/Alaskan/Hawaiian/Pacific Islander) (AOR = 23.99 (2.93–196.84)), and Hispanic ethnicity (AOR = 3.48 (1.29–9.37)). Risk factors for 3-month GOSE < 8 were similar with the addition of injury by assault predicting poorer outcome (AOR = 3.53 (1.17–10.63)). In mTBI patients seen in urban trauma center EDs with negative CT, education, injury by assault, Asian/minority race, and prior psychiatric history emerged as risk factors for prolonged disability

Collision, Collusion and Coincidence: Pop Art’s Fairground Parallel

This article looks at parallel methods, motivations and modes of consumption between formative British pop art and British fairground art. I focus on two strands, the emergent critical work of the Independent Group and the school of artists based at the Royal College of Art under the nominal leadership of Peter Blake. I use iconographical and iconological methods to compare the content of the art, and then examine how pop art tried to create both a critical and playful distancing from established rules and practices of the artistic canon. I focus on non-institutional cultural groupings and diffuse production and consumption models

Search for Higgs Bosons in e+e- Collisions at 183 GeV

The data collected by the OPAL experiment at sqrts=183 GeV were used to search for Higgs bosons which are predicted by the Standard Model and various extensions, such as general models with two Higgs field doublets and the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of approximately 54pb-1. None of the searches for neutral and charged Higgs bosons have revealed an excess of events beyond the expected background. This negative outcome, in combination with similar results from searches at lower energies, leads to new limits for the Higgs boson masses and other model parameters. In particular, the 95% confidence level lower limit for the mass of the Standard Model Higgs boson is 88.3 GeV. Charged Higgs bosons can be excluded for masses up to 59.5 GeV. In the MSSM, mh > 70.5 GeV and mA > 72.0 GeV are obtained for tan{beta}>1, no and maximal scalar top mixing and soft SUSY-breaking masses of 1 TeV. The range 0.8 < tanb < 1.9 is excluded for minimal scalar top mixing and m{top} < 175 GeV. More general scans of the MSSM parameter space are also considered.Comment: 49 pages. LaTeX, including 33 eps figures, submitted to European Physical Journal

A Measurement of the Product Branching Ratio f(b->Lambda_b).BR(Lambda_b->Lambda X) in Z0 Decays

The product branching ratio, f(b->Lambda_b).BR(Lambda_b->Lambda X), where Lambda_b denotes any weakly-decaying b-baryon, has been measured using the OPAL detector at LEP. Lambda_b are selected by the presence of energetic Lambda particles in bottom events tagged by the presence of displaced secondary vertices. A fit to the momenta of the Lambda particles separates signal from B meson and fragmentation backgrounds. The measured product branching ratio is f(b->Lambda_b).BR(Lambda_b->Lambda X) = (2.67+-0.38(stat)+0.67-0.60(sys))% Combined with a previous OPAL measurement, one obtains f(b->Lambda_b).BR(Lambda_b->Lambda X) = (3.50+-0.32(stat)+-0.35(sys))%.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX, 3 eps figs included, submitted to the European Physical Journal