Total serum calcium and corrected calcium as severity predictors in acute pancreatitis

AbstractObjectivesTo evaluate total serum calcium (TC) and albumin-corrected calcium (ACC) as prognostic severity factors in acute pancreatitis (AP).MethodsNinety-six patients were included in the study. They were diagnosed with AP and admitted to the Hospital Regional de Veracruz within the time frame of January 2010 to December 2012. AP severity was determined through the updated Atlanta Classification (2013). TC and ACC values were measured in the first 24hours of admittance and the percentages of sensitivity (S), specificity (Sp), positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), positive likelihood ratio (LR+), and negative likelihood ratio (LR-) were calculated through ROC curves and contingency tables.ResultsIn accordance with the updated Atlanta Classification, 70 patients presented with mild AP, 17 with moderately severe AP, and 9 with severe AP. Of the patient total, 61.5% were women, and 69.8% presented with biliary etiology. The maximum TC cut-off point was 7.5mg/dL, with values of S, 67%; Sp, 82%; PPV, 27%, and NPV, 96%. The maximum ACC cut-off point was 7.5mg/dL, with values of S, 67%; Sp, 90%; PPV, 40%; NPV, 96%. Both had values similar to those of the Ranson and APACHE II prognostic scales.ConclusionsTC and ACC, measured within the first 24hours, are useful severity predictors in acute pancreatitis, with sensitivity and predictive values comparable or superior to those of the conventional prognostic scales

An artificial immune system for fuzzy-rule induction in data mining

This work proposes a classification-rule discovery algorithm integrating artificial immune systems and fuzzy systems. The algorithm consists of two parts: a sequential covering procedure and a rule evolution procedure. Each antibody (candidate solution) corresponds to a classification rule. The classification of new examples (antigens) considers not only the fitness of a fuzzy rule based on the entire training set, but also the affinity between the rule and the new example. This affinity must be greater than a threshold in order for the fuzzy rule to be activated, and it is proposed an adaptive procedure for computing this threshold for each rule. This paper reports results for the proposed algorithm in several data sets. Results are analyzed with respect to both predictive accuracy and rule set simplicity, and are compared with C4.5rules, a very popular data mining algorithm

N=2 Super-Born-Infeld from Partially Broken N=3 Supersymmetry in d=4

We employ the non-linear realization techniques to relate the N=1 chiral, and the N=2 vector multiplets to the Goldstone spin 1/2 superfield arising from partial supersymmetry breaking of N=2 and N=3 respectively. In both cases, we obtain a family of non-linear transformation laws realizing an extra supersymmetry. In the N=2 case, we find an invariant action which is the low energy limit of the supersymmetric Born-Infeld theory expected to describe a D3-brane in six dimensions.Comment: 15 pages, no figures, RevTeX4, new comments and references added, some equations corrected, discussion at end of sec. 3 change

Displasia renal em um bezerro Limousin

Descreve-se um caso de displasia renal em um bezerro Limousin, macho, de quatro meses. O animal apresentava perda de peso, baixa taxa de crescimento, anorexia, apatia, diarréia escura fétida e uremia, sem melhora apesar de tratamento. O bezerro foi sacrificado para interromper o sofrimento adicional e submetido à necropsia. Ao exame foi observado que os rins estavam pequenos, firmes, pálidos e com superfície rugosa. A cápsula estava aderida à uma superfície subcapsular irregular. O córtex tinha aparência difusamente pálida e fibrosa e apresentava múltiplos focos brancos de fibrose. A junção córtico-medular estava indistinta. O exame histologico dos rins revelou múltiplos glomérulos imaturos com núcleo periférico, capilares inaparentes e padrão arbóreo. O córtex renal apresentou túbulos primitivos com epitélio cubóide ou cilíndrico envolvido por mesênquima corado somente pelo alcian blue e não pelo tricrômico de Masson. Foi também observada leve fibrose intersticial na medula renal. Os rins mostravam estruturas em estágio inapropriado de desenvolvimento ou anômalas

Impurity effects in unconventional density waves in the unitary limit

We investigate the effect of strong, nonmagnetic impurities on quasi-one-dimensional conventional and unconventional density waves (DW and UDW). The conventional case remains unaffected similarly to s-wave superconductors in the presence of weak, nonmagnetic impurities. The thermodynamic properties of UDW were found to be identical to those of a d-wave superconductor in the unitary limit. The real and imaginary part of the optical conductivity is determined for electric fields applied in the perpendicular directions. A new structure can be present corresponding to excitations from the bound state at the Fermi energy to the gap maximum in addition to the usual peak at 2\Delta. In the dc limit, universal electric conductivity is found.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Efeitos alelopáticos de algumas leguminosas e gramíneas sobre a flora invasora

The alellopathic effects produced by five vegetables species: Avena sativa L., Lolium multiflorum Lam., Vicia sp., Medicago sativa L. and Trifolium repens L. were studied as to their effect on weeds. Individual plots were prepared, fertis. A high weed incidence was noted in the plots of Trifolized and sowed according to the usual recomendationlium repens L. and Medicago sativa L.; in the plots of Avena sativa L. and Lolium multiflorum Lam. , few weed specimens were found; the plot of Vicia sp. maintained an intermediate position. Based on the data obtained it is possible to recommend the two grass species as alellopathic plants to cover the soil. Vicia sp. is indicated when besides the reduction of weed plants, organic matter is desired for incorporation.Foram estudados os efeitos alelopáticos produzidos por cinco espécies vegetais: as gramíneas Avena sativa L., e Lolium multiflorum Lamb.; e as leguminosas Vicia sp., Mediaago sativa L. e Trifolium repens L. Canteiros isolados foram preparados, adubados e semeados de acordo com as recomendações técnicas usuais. Nos resultados obtidos observou-se alta incidência de invasoras nos canteiros de Trifolium repens L. e Medicago sativa L., contrastando com os canteiros de Avena sativa L. e Lolium multiflorum Lamb., onde poucas foram as espécies encontradas; enquanto o canteiro de Vicia sp. manteve posição intermediária. Com base nos dados obtidos, pode-se recomendar as duas gramíneas como cultura de cobertura com propriedades alelopáticas, assim como a Vicia sp. quando desejar-se além da redução das plantas invasoras, matéria orgânica para incorporação

Measuring Electrical And Mechanical Properties Of Red Blood Cells With A Double Optical Tweezers

The fluid lipid bilayer viscoelastic membrane of red blood cells (RBC) contains antigen glycolproteins and proteins which can interact with antibodies to cause cell agglutination. This is the basis of most of the immunohematologic tests in blood banks and the identification of the antibodies against the erythrocyte antigens is of fundamental importance for transfusional routines. The negative charges of the RBCs creates a repulsive electric (zeta) potential between the cells and prevents their aggregation in the blood stream. The first counterions cloud strongly binded moving together with the RBC is called the compact layer. This report proposes the use of a double optical tweezers for a new procedure for measuring: (1) the apparent membrane viscosity, (2) the cell adhesion, (3) the zeta potential and (4) the compact layer's size of the charges formed around the cell in the electrolytic solution. To measure the membrane viscosity we trapped silica beads strongly attached to agglutinated RBCs and measured the force to slide one RBC over the other as a function of the relative velocity. The RBC adhesion was measured by slowly displacing two RBCs apart until the disagglutination happens. The compact layer's size was measured using the force on the silica bead attached to a single RBC in response to an applied voltage and the zeta potential was obtained by measuring the terminal velocity after releasing the RBC from the optical trap at the last applied voltage. We believe that the methodology here proposed can improve the methods of diagnosis in blood banks.6326Eylar, E.H., Madoff, M.A., Brody, O.V., Oncley, J.L., The contribution of sialic acid to the surface charge of the erythrocyte (1962) J. Biol. Chem., 237, pp. 1992-2000Pollack, W., Reckel, R.P., A reappraisal of the forces involved in Hemagglutination (1977) Int Archs Allergy Appl. Immun., 54, pp. 29-42Ashkin, A., Dziedzic, J.M., Bjorkholm, J.E., Chu, S., Observation of a single-beam gradient force trap for dielectric particles (1986) Opt. Lett., 11, pp. 288-290Ashkin, A., Dziedzic, J.M., Optical trapping and manipulation of viruses and bacteria (1987) Science, 235, pp. 1517-1520Grier, D.G., A revolution in optical manipulation (2003) Nature, 424, pp. 810-816Zhu, C., Bao, G., Wang, N., Cell Mechanics: Mechanical response, cell adhesion, and molecular deformation (2000) Annu. Rev. Biomed. Eng., 2, pp. 189-226Neuman, K.C., Block, S., Optical trapping (2004) Rev. Sci. Instrum., 75, pp. 2787-2809Saffman, P.G., Delbruck, M., Brownian motion in biological membranes (1975) Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA, 72, pp. 3111-3113Dimova, R., Danov, K., Pouligny, B., Ivanov, I.B., Drag of a solid particle trapped in a thin film or at an interface: Influence of surface viscosity and elasticity (2000) J. Colloid and Interface Science, 226, pp. 35-43Hochmuth, R., Worthy, P., Evans, E., Red cell extensional recovery and the determination of membrane viscosity (1979) Biophys. J., 26, pp. 101-114Sze, A., Erickson, D., Ren, L., Li, D., Zeta-potential measurement using the Smoluchowski equation and the slope of the current-time relationship in electroosmotic flow (2003) J. Colloid and Interface Science, 261, pp. 402-410Hunter, R.J., (1981) Zeta Potential in Colloid Science, , Academic Press, New YorkPollack, W., Hager, H.J., Reckel, R., Toren, D.A., Singher, H.O., A study of the forces involved in the second stage of hemaggltination (1965) Transfusion, 5, pp. 158-183Chelidze, T., Dielectric spectroscopy of blood (2002) J. Non-crystalline Solids, 305, pp. 285-294Hymer, W.C., Barlow, G.H., Blaisdell, S.J., Continuous flow electrophoretic separation of proteins and cells from mammalian tissues (1987) Cell Biophys., 10, pp. 61-85Hashimoto, N., Fujita, S., Yokoyama, T., Cell electrophoretic mobility and glycerol lysis of human erythrocytes in various diseases (1998) Electrophoresis, 19, pp. 1227-123

Reguladores vegetais no enraizamento e desenvolvimento de gemas de cana-de-açúcar tratadas termicamente

The effect of growth regulators on the germination and initial development of sugar cane shoots submitted to high temperature treatment by the moist method was studied. The shoots were treated during 1 hour with indoleacetic´acid (IAA) and naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) at the concentrations of 10, 25, 50 and 100 ppm, with indolebutyric acid (IBA) at the concentrations of 10 and 25 ppm and with pure water (control). Immediately after the treatment, the shoots were planted in sand germinators. The results showed that treatment with IBA 10 ppm promote a tendency to induce germination and roots development. The root system development was not affected by other treatments, but the development of the aerial portion was adversely affected by NAA 100 ppm. The results showed that, after 60 days, the number of emerged shoots was significantly lower than that of the control in the plots treated with 100 ppm of NAA.Este trabalho teve por finalidade estudar o efeito de reguladores vegetais sobre a emergência e desenvolvimento inicial de gemas de cana-de-açúcar 'IAC 52-150', submetidas ao tratamento térmico por via úmida. Para tanto, as gemas foram tratadas durante uma hora em soluções de ácido indolilacético (IAA) e ácido naftalenacêtico (NAA), nas concentrações de 10, 25, 50 e 100 ppm, em ácido indolbutírico (IBA) nas concentrações de 10 e 25 ppm e em água pura (testemunha). Imediatamente após o tratamento, as gemas foram plantadas em germinadores de areia. IBA 10 ppm tendeu a favorecer a emergência e o enraizamento das gemas. IAA não afetou a emergência, enraizamento e peso da parte aérea da cana-de-açúcar. Aplicação de NAA 100 ppm reduziu a porcentagem de emergência e o peso da parte aérea do cultivar IAC 52-150