Surfactant status and respiratory outcome in premature infants receiving late surfactant treatment.

BACKGROUND:Many premature infants with respiratory failure are deficient in surfactant, but the relationship to occurrence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is uncertain. METHODS:Tracheal aspirates were collected from 209 treated and control infants enrolled at 7-14 days in the Trial of Late Surfactant. The content of phospholipid, surfactant protein B, and total protein were determined in large aggregate (active) surfactant. RESULTS:At 24 h, surfactant treatment transiently increased surfactant protein B content (70%, p < 0.01), but did not affect recovered airway surfactant or total protein/phospholipid. The level of recovered surfactant during dosing was directly associated with content of surfactant protein B (r = 0.50, p < 0.00001) and inversely related to total protein (r = 0.39, p < 0.0001). For all infants, occurrence of BPD was associated with lower levels of recovered large aggregate surfactant, higher protein content, and lower SP-B levels. Tracheal aspirates with lower amounts of recovered surfactant had an increased proportion of small vesicle (inactive) surfactant. CONCLUSIONS:We conclude that many intubated premature infants are deficient in active surfactant, in part due to increased intra-alveolar metabolism, low SP-B content, and protein inhibition, and that the severity of this deficit is predictive of BPD. Late surfactant treatment at the frequency used did not provide a sustained increase in airway surfactant

Development of Guidelines for Inspection, Repair, and Use of Portable Concrete Barriers\u2014Volume 1: Technical Report

Project 0-7059Defining the service life of portable concrete barriers (PCBs) is important to reduce the risk of inferior, unsafe barriers being used on Texas roadways. The Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) implementation agreement allows state transportation agencies to continue the use of PCBs manufactured on or before December 31, 2019, and successfully tested to standards in National Cooperative Highway Research Program Report 350 or the 2009 edition of MASH throughout their normal service life. Damage to the precast barriers can occur in transit, in storage, or due to vehicular impact. When damage to the connections occurs, cracks, broken corners, and many other forms of damage can be sustained by the barrier. No federal guidance, however, has been developed to determine life expectancy for PCBs. There is a need to develop guidelines addressing the type and extent of barrier damage that constitute replacement of the segment

Placing Joseph Banks in the North Pacific

The South Pacific was a fulcrum of Joseph Banks's maritime world and global networks. The North Pacific was a distance and intangible fringe. This article is concerned with how Banks should be ‘placed’ in the North Pacific. It tracks how Banks's activities have been delineated in terms of languages and categories of global and local, and centre and margin, and then considers the historical and geographical specifics apposite to his connection to the North Pacific. In this setting, ideas of place (as location and assignment) and capital (as a circulatory and everyday practice of exchange and opportunism) come into view and question the distinction between science and commerce in Banks historiography. The article considers a diverse group of non-Indigenous figures – explorers, traders, cartographers, scientists, collectors – operating in the North Pacific in the 1780s and 1790s whose initiatives and missives passed across Banks's desk, and assesses their place in Banks's archive by drawing on Peter Sloterdijk's ideas about the interiorising and exteriorising logic of capital.PostprintPeer reviewe

Phosphorylated Dihydroceramides from Common Human Bacteria Are Recovered in Human Tissues

Novel phosphorylated dihydroceramide (PDHC) lipids produced by the periodontal pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis include phosphoethanolamine (PE DHC) and phosphoglycerol dihydroceramides (PG DHC) lipids. These PDHC lipids mediate cellular effects through Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) including promotion of IL-6 secretion from dendritic cells and inhibition of osteoblast differentiation and function in vitro and in vivo. The PE DHC lipids also enhance (TLR2)-dependent murine experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a model for multiple sclerosis. The unique non-mammalian structures of these lipids allows for their specific quantification in bacteria and human tissues using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM)-mass spectrometry (MS). Synthesis of these lipids by other common human bacteria and the presence of these lipids in human tissues have not yet been determined. We now report that synthesis of these lipids can be attributed to a small number of intestinal and oral organisms within the Bacteroides, Parabacteroides, Prevotella, Tannerella and Porphyromonas genera. Additionally, the PDHCs are not only present in gingival tissues, but are also present in human blood, vasculature tissues and brain. Finally, the distribution of these TLR2-activating lipids in human tissues varies with both the tissue site and disease status of the tissue suggesting a role for PDHCs in human disease

Osh4p exchanges sterols for phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate between lipid bilayers

The yeast Kes1p/Osh4p protein functions as a sterol/PI(4)P exchanger between lipid membranes, which suggests the possibility of creating a sterol gradient via phosphoinositide metabolism

Response of Benthic Foraminifera to organic matter quantity and quality and bioavailable concentrations of metals in Aveiro Lagoon (Portugal)

This work analyses the distribution of living benthic foraminiferal assemblages of surface sediments in different intertidal areas of Ria de Aveiro (Portugal), a polihaline and anthropized coastal lagoon. The relationships among foraminiferal assemblages in association with environmental parameters (temperature, salinity, Eh and pH), grain size, the quantity and quality of organic matter (enrichment in carbohydrates, proteins and lipids), pollution caused by metals, and mineralogical data are studied in an attempt to identify indicators of adaptability to environmental stress. In particular, concentrations of selected metals in the surficial sediment are investigated to assess environmental pollution levels that are further synthetically parameterised by the Pollution Load Index (PLI). The PLI variations allowed the identification of five main polluted areas. Concentrations of metals were also analysed in three extracted phases to evaluate their possible mobility, bioavailability and toxicity in the surficial sediment. Polluted sediment in the form of both organic matter and metals can be found in the most confined zones. Whereas enrichment in organic matter and related biopolymers causes an increase in foraminifera density, pollution by metals leads to a decline in foraminiferal abundance and diversity in those zones. The first situation may be justified by the existence of opportunistic species (with high reproduction rate) that can live in low oxic conditions. The second is explained by the sensitivity of some species to pressure caused by metals. The quality of the organic matter found in these places and the option of a different food source should also explain the tolerance of several species to pollution caused by metals, despite their low reproductive rate in the most polluted areas. In this study, species that are sensitive and tolerant to organic matter and metal enrichment are identified, as is the differential sensitivity/tolerance of some species to metals enrichment.CNPq [401803/2010-4]; [PEst-OE/CTE/UI4035/2014]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Determination of Cellular Lipids Bound to Human CD1d Molecules

CD1 molecules are glycoproteins that present lipid antigens at the cell surface for immunological recognition by specialized populations of T lymphocytes. Prior experimental data suggest a wide variety of lipid species can bind to CD1 molecules, but little is known about the characteristics of cellular ligands that are selected for presentation. Here we have molecularly characterized lipids bound to the human CD1d isoform. Ligands were eluted from secreted CD1d molecules and separated by normal phase HPLC, then characterized by mass spectroscopy. A total of 177 lipid species were molecularly identified, comprising glycerophospholipids and sphingolipids. The glycerophospholipids included common diacylglycerol species, reduced forms known as plasmalogens, lyso-phospholipids (monoacyl species), and cardiolipins (tetraacyl species). The sphingolipids included sphingomyelins and glycosylated forms, such as the ganglioside GM3. These results demonstrate that human CD1d molecules bind a surprising diversity of lipid structures within the secretory pathway, including compounds that have been reported to play roles in cancer, autoimmune diseases, lipid signaling, and cell death

Alternative film production

Typically a film producer expects the director and actors to 'do their job' within a scheduled timeframe. Rather than expecting the creative principals to just deliver, a production model can be tailored to help this creative team produce successful outcomes. This research paper contrasts alternative production models with a traditional (or standard) production and presents possibilities for producers to emphasise the collaborative potential for their production

The mutiny on board H.M.S. bounty

189 p. ; 18 cm