Features or forensic pathology in sudden cardiac death: are there histologic indicators of acute myocardial ischemia?

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston UniversityThe following thesis proposes the question if current scientific data supports the hypothesis that an acute myocardial infarction, not identified by gross symptoms, can be visualized by using apoptotic signaling biomarkers as a diagnostic tool to complement a post-mortem autopsy. The biochemistry and mechanisms of irreversible cellular death is presented and supported through published experimental, clinical and case studies. Furthermore, the aforesaid biomarkers have been observed in the cardiac myocyte in elevated levels associated with hypoxic ischemia. In addition, the physical characteristic of DNA fragmentation is addressed to visualize apoptotic injury due to hypoxic ischemic conditions. Although the quality of evidence lacked published data to suggest one immunochemical staining method positively identifies a myocardial infarction, there is adequate data to suggest that a combination of staining methods can be utilized as a tool to positively identify and diagnose an acute myocardial infarction

Vertical Integration, Exclusivity and Game Sales Performance in the US Video Game Industry

This paper empirically investigates the relation between vertical integration and video game performance in the US video game industry. For this purpose, we use a widely used data set from NPD on video game monthly sales from October 2000 to October 2007. We complement these data with handly collected information on video game developers for all games in the sample and the timing of all mergers and acquisitions during that period. By doing this, we are able to separate vertically integrated games from those that are just exclusive to a platform. First, we show that vertically integrated games produce higher revenues and sell more units at higher prices than independent games. Second, we explore the causal effect of vertical integration and find that, for the average integrated game, most of the difference in performance comes from better release and marketing strategies that soften competition and not from ex-ante differences in video game quality. We also find that exclusivity is associated with lower demand. Our estimates suggest that consumers value vertical integration features in their games between 4 and 34 dollars per game

Anaerobic oxidation of methane and associated microbiome in anoxic water of Northwestern Siberian lakes

Arctic lakes emit methane (CH4) to the atmosphere. The magnitude of this flux could increase with permafrost thaw but might also be mitigated by microbial CH4 oxidation. Methane oxidation in oxic water has been extensively studied, while the contribution of anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) to CH4 mitigation is not fully understood. We have investigated four Northern Siberian stratified lakes in an area of discontinuous permafrost nearby Igarka, Russia. Analyses of CH4 concentrations in the water column demonstrated that 60 to 100% of upward diffusing CH4 was oxidized in the anoxic layers of the four lakes. A combination of pmoA and mcrA gene qPCR and 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding showed that the same taxa, all within Methylomonadaceae and including the predominant genus Methylobacter as well as Crenothrix, could be the major methane-oxidizing bacteria (MOB) in the anoxic water of the four lakes. Correlation between Methylomonadaceae and OTUs within Methylotenera, Geothrix and Geobacter genera indicated that AOM might occur in an interaction between MOB, denitrifiers and iron-cycling partners. We conclude that MOB within Methylomonadaceae could have a crucial impact on CH4 cycling in these Siberian Arctic lakes by mitigating the majority of produced CH4 before it leaves the anoxic zone. This finding emphasizes the importance of AOM by Methylomonadaceae and extends our knowledge about CH4 cycle in lakes, a crucial component of the global CH4 cycle

Evaluación comparativa mediante simulación con EnergyPlus del comportamiento energético de una vivienda tipo dúplex y su mejoramiento térmico

El objetivo del trabajo consiste en mostrar un protocolo de capacitación para el uso del programa Energy Plus mediante la modelización de viviendas unifamiliares usuales en La Plata y a partir de su comportamiento higrotérmico y energético implementar mejoras tendientes a transformarlas en viviendas de baja energía. Los casos de partida surgen de relevamientos realizados con anterioridad y responden a los sistemas constructivos encontrados en la región. El modo e intensidad de uso de los casos se sustenta en una media del comportamiento social encuestado por los proyectos de investigación del laboratorio. En cuanto a ocupación se determinó en primer lugar el comportamiento térmico de los casos en evolución natural sin personas. Se presentan resultados y se los discute a fin de obtener entrenamiento en modelización y simulación numérica.The aim of this work is to show the training protocol for the use of Energy Plus program by modeling conventional single-family homes in La Plata and from their hygrothermal and energetic behavior to introduce improvements which are aimed at transforming them into low-energy houses. The cases arise from surveys conducted before and respond to the building systems found in the region. The mode and intensity of using of these cases is based on an average of social behavior surveyed by laboratory research projects. Concerning occupation first is determined the thermal behavior of natural evolution without people. Results are presented and are discussed in order to obtain training in modeling and numerical simulation.Asociación Argentina de Energías Renovables y Medio Ambiente (ASADES

The diagnosis of rupture of fetal membranes (ROM): a meta-analysis

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the performance of tests based on the detection of insulin-like growth factor binding protein 1 (IGFBP-1) and placental α-microglobulin-1 (PAMG-1) in diagnosing rupture of fetal membranes (ROM) across different patient populations. Methods: A meta-analysis was conducted on prospective observational or cohort studies investigating ROM tests based on the detection of IGFBP-1 and PAMG-1 meeting the following criteria: (1) performance metrics calculated by comparing results to an adequate reference method; (2) sensitivity thresholds of the investigated tests matching those of the currently available tests; (3) study population, as a minimum, included patients between 25 and 37 weeks of gestation. Sensitivities, specificities, and diagnostic odds ratios were calculated. Results: Across all patient populations, the analyzed performance measures of the PAMG-1 test were significantly superior compared with those of the IGFBP-1 test. Of particular clinical relevance, PAMG-1 outperformed IGFBP-1 in the equivocal group, which comprised patients with uncertain rupture of membranes (sensitivity, 96.0% vs. 73.9%; specificity, 98.9% vs. 77.8%; PAMG-1 vs. IGFBP-1 tests, respectively). Conclusions: Compared with its performance in women with known membrane status, the accuracy of the IGFBP-1 test decreases significantly when used on patients whose membrane status is unknown. In this latter clinically relevant population, the PAMG-1 test has higher accuracy than the IGFBP-1 tes

Suborbital Flight: An Affordable and Feasible Option for Mexican Aerospace Development

Suborbital flights are a low-cost option for universities. To perform suborbital missions, it is necessary to design, plan, test, verify, and validate each and every one of the subsystems that integrate the payload without leaving the Earth. In Mexico, some experiments have been carried out since the 1990s to test communication systems in case of disaster and emergency. The Mexican Service Gondola (CSM) from 2015 to date has made suborbital flights in conjunction with the National Polytechnic Institute and the group of Protective Coatings Resistant to Thermal Changes and Cosmic Radiation (CRTCR) to test communication systems and glass-ceramic coatings. Suborbital flights are a great opportunity to explore the national territory and test new communication systems, structures, and materials

Assessment of algorithms for mitosis detection in breast cancer histopathology images

The proliferative activity of breast tumors, which is routinely estimated by counting of mitotic figures in hematoxylin and eosin stained histology sections, is considered to be one of the most important prognostic markers. However, mitosis counting is laborious, subjective and may suffer from low inter-observer agreement. With the wider acceptance of whole slide images in pathology labs, automatic image analysis has been proposed as a potential solution for these issues. In this paper, the results from the Assessment of Mitosis Detection Algorithms 2013 (AMIDA13) challenge are described. The challenge was based on a data set consisting of 12 training and 11 testing subjects, with more than one thousand annotated mitotic figures by multiple observers. Short descriptions and results from the evaluation of eleven methods are presented. The top performing method has an error rate that is comparable to the inter-observer agreement among pathologists