Should Status II Patients Be Removed From the Pediatric Heart Transplant Waiting List? A Multi-institutional Study

The survival benefit of cardiac transplantation (CTx) among Status 2 (stable outpatient) adult recipients has been questioned, but few studies have addressed this issue in pediatric patients. This study examined the following hypothesis: “Status 2 pediatric recipients have a survival benefit with CTx.” Between 1993 and 2003, 2,375 patients were listed for CTx at 24 institutions; 614 (26%) of these patients were Status 2. By multivariate competing outcomes hazard function analysis, death after listing and post-transplant survival were analyzed. A single-phase hazard function described the risk of death after listing, with 20% actual mortality within 2 months after Status 1 listing. The “natural history” of Status 2–listed patients was estimated by the risk of death, whereas waiting and risk of deterioration to Status 1 at CTx (weighted by the probability of death at 3 months after Status 1 listing). At 4 months after CTx, survival with CTx exceeded the predicted “natural Hx” survival in all diagnostic categories out to 4 years of follow-up. Pediatric patients currently listed as Status 2 have a survival benefit with transplant out to at least 4 years. A pediatric allocation system restricted to Status 1 patients could only be justified if the vast majority of such patients could be transplanted within 1 to 2 months

Carbono, nitrogênio e atividade da biomassa microbiana em diferentes estruturas de serapilheira de uma floresta natural Carbon, nitrogen, and microbial biomass activity in different litter structures of a natural forest

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a influência da qualidade nutricional e orgânica sobre a atividade C e N da biomassa microbiana em diferentes estruturas da serapilheira de uma mata atlântica montana no entorno do Parque Estadual do Desengano-RJ. As amostras de serapilheira foram coletadas em setembro de 1999. Realizou-se a separação das estruturas em: folhas, galhos e raízes superficiais; mistura de material mais fragmentado (estrutura F) e matéria orgânica menor que 2 mm (estrutura H). A qualidade nutricional e orgânica da serapilheira influenciou a atividade da biomassa microbiana. Das estruturas, as folhas apresentaram uma biomassa microbiana mais eficiente na imobilização de C e N. O qCO2 foi um indicador de condições de estresse, presença de celulose e polifenol, para a biomassa microbiana nas diferentes estruturas. Utilizando a técnica de agrupamento de Tocher, observou-se a formação de três grupos distintos. Um constituído pelas raízes superficiais e estrutura H; o segundo pelas folhas e o terceiro grupo pela estrutura F. Por meio da contribuição relativa dos caracteres para a divergência entre as estruturas, a variável que mais contribuiu foi a relação polifenol: N, seguida do carbono da biomassa microbiana, polifenol, celusose e relação lignina: N.<br>The objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of the organic and nutritional quality on the activity and C and N contents of the microbial biomass in different structures of litter from a Mountain Atlantic Forest from around the Desengano State Park-RJ, Brazil. Litter samples were collected in September 1999. The litter structures were leaves, branches, and superficial roots; fine debris (F structure); and organic matter smaller than 2 mm (H structure). The nutritional and organic litter quality influenced the activity of the microbial biomass. The leaves had the most efficient microbial biomass in the immobilization of C and N. The qCO2 (metabolic quotient) was an indicator for the stress condition and presence of cellulose and polyphenol for the microbial biomass in the different structures. The formation of three distinct groups was observed by the Tocher group technique. The first group consisted of superficial roots and H strucuture; the second comprised leaves and the third group consisted of F strucuture. Through the relative contribution of the characters to the divergence between components, the variable that most contributed was polifenol: N ratio, followed by carbon microbial biomass, polifenol, cellulose and lignin: N ratio

No-choice ovipositional nonpreference of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) B biotype on tomato genotypes Não-preferência para oviposição de Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) biótipo B em genótipos de tomateiro em teste sem chance de escolha

Brazil is one of the main tomato producers worldwide. Nevertheless, 40 to 70% of the production is lost due to Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) B biotype attacks. Resistant plant germplasm can be an important method for controlling this pest in an integrated pest management program. This research aimed to evaluate the no-choice ovipositional preference of B. tabaci B biotype on 18 tomato genotypes with different densities and types of trichomes testing two screening techniques and to determine the influence of trichomes on whitefly ovipositional preference. Two methods of confinement experiments were used. Leaflets detached from the upper third part of the tomato plants (first experiment) and 30-day-old plants (second experiment) were infested with whiteflies during 24 h. For the first experiment, simple linear correlation tests between the number of insects and eggs, and number of trichomes in the tomato genotypes were carried out. The first technique was better than the second one, as it was easier to carry out and the evaluation demanded less time and as well as was effective to discriminate the resistance level of the evaluated genotypes. Glandular trichomes had a negative correlation with attracted adults and number of eggs deposited, and a positive correlation with number of trapped insects. Negative correlations were observed between number of nonglandular trichomes and trapped insects, and also between total number of trichomes and attracted and trapped insects. Positive correlations were observed between number of total trichomes and eggs cm-2 and nonglandular trichomes and number of eggs. Both confinement methods efficiently discriminated whitefly oviposition among genotypes, especially the resistant ones. High levels of antixenosis for oviposition related to type IV glandular trichomes were exhibited by genotypes LA716, PI134417 and PI134418. The high level of ovipositional preference by B. tabaci for genotypes LA1963 and NAV1062 was related to a high density of type V nonglandular trichomes.<br>O Brasil é um dos maiores produtores mundiais de tomate, porém grande parte da produção é perdida devido ao ataque de Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) biótipo B. Entre as táticas de controle dessa praga num manejo integrado de pragas, pode-se relacionar a resistência de plantas. Avaliou-se a preferência para oviposição de B. tabaci biótipo B por 18 genótipos de tomateiro com diferentes densidades e tipos de tricomas utilizando-se dois métodos e estudou-se a influência dos tricomas nesta preferência, utilizando-se dois métodos para os experimentos de confinamento. Folíolos seccionados do terço superior dos tomateiros (primeiro método) e plantas com 30 dias de idade (segundo método) foram infestados com moscas-brancas durante 24 h. Para o primeiro experimento, foram realizados testes de correlação linear simples entre o número de insetos e de ovos e o número de tricomas nos tomateiros. O primeiro método foi melhor que o segundo, pois foi mais fácil de ser conduzido e demandou menos tempo para as avaliações, além disso, foi efetivo em discriminar o nível de resistência dos genótipos avaliados. Tricomas glandulares correlacionaram-se negativamente com adultos atraídos e com ovos, e positivamente com adultos capturados. Correlações negativas ocorreram entre o número de tricomas não-glandulares e o número de insetos capturados, e entre o número de tricomas totais e o número de insetos atraídos e capturados. Correlações positivas ocorreram entre o número de tricomas totais e o número de ovos cm-2 e de tricomas não-glandulares e o número de ovos. Ambos os métodos foram eficientes para discriminar os genótipos, principalmente os resistentes, com destaque para LA716, PI134417 e PI134418, que apresentaram altíssima antixenose para oviposição relacionada à presença de tricomas glandulares tipo IV. A preferência para oviposição de B. tabaci pelos genótipos LA1963 e NAV1062 está relacionada à alta densidade de tricomas não-glandulares tipo V

Fundamentals of fault-tolerant distributed computing in asynchronous environments

Fault tolerance in distributed computing is a wide area with a significant body of literature that is vastly diverse in methodology and terminology. This paper aims at structuring the area and thus guiding readers into this interesting field of computer science. The paper uses a formal approach to define important terms like fault, fault tolerance and redundancy. This leads to four distinct forms of fault tolerance and to the two main phases in achieving them called detection and correction. It is shown that this can help reveal fundamental structures inherent in the field that contribute to the understanding and unification of methods and terminology. By doing this, many existing methodologies of this area of computer science are surveyed and their relations are discussed. The underlying system model is the close-to-reality asynchronous message-passing model of distributed computations