Impedance of a Coil in the Vicinity of a Crack

In the design of electromagnetic NDE systems for the detection and examination of cracks and other defects in conducting materials, it is desirable to have a quantitative description of the fields in the vicinity of the defect. In previous work by this author and co-workers [1,2], the fields in the vicinity of a crack were calculated for models based on excitation by a spatially uniform applied field, as in the interior of a solenoid. The present work reports on an improved model which includes non-uniformity of the field of the exciting coil and the effects of coil size and position relative to the crack

Impairment in Activities of Daily Living, Care Receipt, and Unmet Needs in a Middle-Aged and Older Rural South African Population: Findings From the HAALSI Study

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to analyze the degree to which care needs are met in an aging rural African population. METHOD: Using data from the Health and Aging in Africa: Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community (HAALSI) baseline survey, which interviewed 5,059 adults aged older than 40 years in rural South Africa, we assessed the levels of limitations in activities of daily living (ADLs) and in unmet care for these ADLs, and evaluated their association with sociodemographic and health characteristics. RESULTS: ADL impairment was reported by 12.2% of respondents, with the proportion increasing with age. Among those with ADL impairment, 23.9% reported an unmet need and 51.4% more a partially met need. Relatives provided help most often; formal care provision was rare. Unmet needs were more frequent among younger people and women, and were associated with physical and cognitive deficits, but not income or household size. DISCUSSION: Unmet care needs in rural South Africa are often found among individuals less expected to require care

Indices of insulin sensitivity and secretion from a standard liquid meal test in subjects with type 2 diabetes, impaired or normal fasting glucose

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To provide an initial evaluation of insulin sensitivity and secretion indices derived from a standard liquid meal tolerance test protocol in subjects with normal (NFG), impaired fasting glucose (IFG) or type 2 diabetes mellitus.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Areas under the curve (AUC) for glucose, insulin and C-peptide from pre-meal to 120 min after consumption of a liquid meal were calculated, as were homeostasis model assessments of insulin resistance (HOMA2-IR) and the Matsuda index of insulin sensitivity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Subjects with NFG (n = 19), IFG (n = 19), and diabetes (n = 35) had mean ± SEM HOMA2-IR values of 1.0 ± 0.1, 1.6 ± 0.2 and 2.5 ± 0.3 and Matsuda insulin sensitivity index values of 15.6 ± 2.0, 8.8 ± 1.2 and 6.0 ± 0.6, respectively. The log-transformed values for these variables were highly correlated overall and within each fasting glucose category (r = -0.91 to -0.94, all p < 0.001). Values for the product of the insulin/glucose AUC ratio and the Matsuda index, an indicator of the ability of the pancreas to match insulin secretion to the degree of insulin resistance, were 995.6 ± 80.7 (NFG), 684.0 ± 57.3 (IFG) and 188.3 ± 16.1 (diabetes) and discriminated significantly between fasting glucose categories (p < 0.001 for each comparison).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results provide initial evidence to support the usefulness of a standard liquid meal tolerance test for evaluation of insulin secretion and sensitivity in clinical and population studies.</p

The Poincaré Polynomial of a Linear Code

We introduce the Poincaré polynomial of a linear q-ary code and its relation to the corresponding weight enumerator. The question of whether the Poincaré polynomial is a complete invariant is answered affirmatively for q = 2, 3 and negatively for q ≥ 4. Finally we determine this polynomial for MDS codes and, by means of a recursive formula, for binary Reed-Muller codes

A Comparison of Different Approaches to Unravel the Latent Structure within Metabolic Syndrome

Background: Exploratory factor analysis is a commonly used statistical technique in metabolic syndrome research to uncover latent structure amongst metabolic variables. The application of factor analysis requires methodological decisions that reflect the hypothesis of the metabolic syndrome construct. These decisions often raise the complexity of the interpretation from the output. We propose two alternative techniques developed from cluster analysis which can achieve a clinically relevant structure, whilst maintaining intuitive advantages of clustering methodology. Methods: Two advanced techniques of clustering in the VARCLUS and matroid methods are discussed and implemented on a metabolic syndrome data set to analyze the structure of ten metabolic risk factors. The subjects were selected from the normative aging study based in Boston, Massachusetts. The sample included a total of 847 men aged between 21 and 81 years who provided complete data on selected risk factors during the period 1987 to 1991. Results: Four core components were identified by the clustering methods. These are labelled obesity, lipids, insulin resistance and blood pressure. The exploratory factor analysis with oblique rotation suggested an overlap of the loadings identified on the insulin resistance and obesity factors. The VARCLUS and matroid analyses separated these components and were able to demonstrate associations between individual risk factors. Conclusions: An oblique rotation can be selected to reflect the clinical concept of a single underlying syndrome, howeve

The effectiveness of a preferred intensity exercise programme on the mental health outcomes of young people with depression: a sequential mixed methods evaluation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>People with mental illness are more likely to suffer physical health problems than comparable populations who do not have mental illness. There is evidence to suggest that exercise, as well has having obvious physical benefits, also has positive effects on mental health. There is a distinct paucity of research testing its effects on young people seeking help for mental health issues. Additionally, it is generally found that compliance with prescribed exercise programmes is low. As such, encouraging young people to exercise at levels recommended by national guidelines may be unrealistic considering their struggle with mental health difficulties. It is proposed that an exercise intervention tailored to young people's preferred intensity may improve mental health outcomes, overall quality of life, and reduce exercise attrition rates.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>A sequential mixed methods design will be utilised to assess the effectiveness of an individually tailored exercise programme on the mental health outcomes of young people with depression. The mixed methods design incorporates a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT), focus groups and interviews and an economic evaluation. <it>Participants: </it>158 young people (14-17 years) recruited from primary care and voluntary services randomly allocated to either the intervention group or control group. <it>Intervention group</it>: Participants will undertake a 12 week exercise programme of 12 × 60 minutes of preferred intensity aerobic exercise receiving motivational coaching and support throughout. Participants will also be invited to attend focus groups and 1-1 interviews following completion of the exercise programme to illicit potential barriers facilitators to participation. <it>Control group</it>: Participants will receive treatment as usual. <it>Primary Outcome measure</it>: Depression using the Children's Depression Inventory 2 (CDI-2). <it>Secondary Outcome measures</it>: Quality of Life (EQ-5D), physical fitness (Borg RPE scale, heart rate), incidents of self-harm, treatment received and compliance with treatment, and the cost effectiveness of the intervention. Outcome measures will be taken at baseline, post intervention and 6 month follow up.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The results of this study will inform policy makers of the effectiveness of preferred intensity exercise on the mental health outcomes of young people with depression, the acceptability of such an intervention to this population and its cost effectiveness.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov: <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01474837">NCT01474837</a></p

Protection of pancreatic INS-1 β-cells from glucose- and fructose-induced cell death by inhibiting mitochondrial permeability transition with cyclosporin A or metformin

Hyperglycemia is detrimental to β-cell viability, playing a major role in the progression of β-cell loss in diabetes mellitus. The permeability transition pore (PTP) is a mitochondrial channel involved in cell death. Recent evidence suggests that PTP inhibitors prevent hyperglycemia-induced cell death in human endothelial cells. In this work, we have examined the involvement of PTP opening in INS-1 cell death induced by high levels of glucose or fructose. PTP regulation was studied by measuring the calcium retention capacity in permeabilized INS-1 cells and by confocal microscopy in intact INS-1 cells. Cell death was analyzed by flow cytometry. We first reported that metformin and cyclosporin A (CsA) prevented Ca2+-induced PTP opening in permeabilized and intact INS-1 cells. We then showed that incubation of INS-1 cells in the presence of 30 mM glucose or 2.5 mM fructose induced PTP opening and led to cell death. As both metformin and CsA prevented glucose- and fructose- induced PTP opening, and hampered glucose- and fructose- induced cell death, we conclude that PTP opening is involved in high glucose- and high fructose- induced INS-1 cell death. We therefore suggest that preventing PTP opening might be a new approach to preserve β-cell viability

Detection of Head-to-Tail DNA Sequences of Human Bocavirus in Clinical Samples

Parvoviruses are single stranded DNA viruses that replicate in a so called “rolling-hairpin” mechanism, a variant of the rolling circle replication known for bacteriophages like ϕX174. The replication intermediates of parvoviruses thus are concatemers of head-to-head or tail-to-tail structure. Surprisingly, in case of the novel human bocavirus, neither head-to-head nor tail-to-tail DNA sequences were detected in clinical isolates; in contrast head-to-tail DNA sequences were identified by PCR and sequencing. Thereby, the head-to-tail sequences were linked by a novel sequence of 54 bp of which 20 bp also occur as conserved structures of the palindromic ends of parvovirus MVC which in turn is a close relative to human bocavirus